You’ve got to love Peter. Good, bad, or ugly, he was always the first to wade into a situation. Every now and then it was an open-mouth, insert-foot moment. On one occasion, he spectacularly hit it out of the park!

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ …. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’” —Matthew 16:13-19, 21-23 (ESV)

This is what I frequently refer to as a “good news, bad news” scenario. Jesus in essence told Peter, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news is that God has revealed to you that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. The bad news is that you just threw that all out the window when you began to rebuke me!

To put this is the modern vernacular, Peter is essence cited an oxymoron. Merriam-Webster defines oxymoron as “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (such as cruel kindness).” Let me put it in guy language: An oxymoron would be “jumbo shrimp”; another would be (as my sister service members are often fond of reminding me) “Marine Corps intelligence.” It’s like the two terms don’t really go together. In one instance, Peter is saying to Jesus, You are Lord, and then he says, That’s so not happening (referring to Jesus going to the Cross). I know that there is a translation out there that says, “Not so, Lord”!

We can always feel good about the fact that we’ve never been in that position of saying “not so” to the Lord of the universe — or have we? We often say “not so” when we make decisions without consulting Him first. One of our greatest not-so moments comes when we think that God’s directions in our life don’t make sense, and we elevate our “common sense” above God’s still-small voice. Isaiah tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Common sense would not have led Abram from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan.

Common sense would not have led David to face Goliath with a sling and a handful of stones.

Common sense would not have led Jesus to pick a dozen of the least-likely-to-succeed candidates and send them out to turn the world right side up (notice that I did not say upside down).

Common sense may not lead you to start a Bible study, witness to a neighbor or coworker, or instruct children in church. It wouldn’t lead you to get up early and spend time reading your Bible and praying for your family. How many times in our commonsense approach have we said, “Not so, Lord”? The deal is, either He is Lord of all, or Lord not at all! God is looking for men He can use to turn the world right side up. (Contrary to Act 17:6, in which Paul was accused of turning the world upside down, the world has been upside down ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden).

Are you willing to be one of those men? Is Jesus Lord of all, or Lord not at all? You need to decide today — which one is it going to be?

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” —Joshua 24:15 (emphasis mine)

What say ye, Man of Valor?