Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch
Several years ago, someone put several counterfeit $100 bills in the offering during one of the worship services at the church that I am privileged to serve. No one on the team that collects, counts and deposits the church offerings recognized the bills as counterfeit, so they were deposited with the rest of the funds. A few days later, we received a telephone call from officials at the bank informing us of the counterfeit bills. We were asked a few questions, had to fill out a few forms, and advised both to be cautious and concerned.
When I was first informed of the situation, my emotional state morphed from disappointment to disbelief. I was disappointed that someone would feel as though giving a fake offering was necessary. But that disappointment soon hardened into disbelief. What kind of person would knowingly use counterfeit money in church, of all places??? Of course, my feelings about the matter assumed that the person knew that the bills were counterfeit, but the possibility did exist that they were unaware of that fact. The ensuing weeks seemed to confirm that they were not, as the responsible party approached one of our team members and said that he had unknowingly put the counterfeit bills in the service and apologized for the misunderstanding. But his apology was worth as much as the bills that he gave, for the perpetrator neither replaced the counterfeit bills, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. LOL.
According to the United States Treasury Department, there is anywhere between $70-$200 million in counterfeit currency circulating at any given time. But the counterfeit industry is much larger than currency. The counterfeit economy of purses, watches, designer clothing exceeds $4 trillion. And I wish that the counterfeit label only applied to money and physical products. But there are counterfeit people. There are counterfeit Christians, and there are counterfeit virtues.
Every virtue has its counterfeit. Every positive attribute has a negative attribute that has a superficial resemblance to its authentic expression. It is easy to confuse rashness with courage, lust with love, patience with resignation, toleration with conviction, and being helpful with meddling. And one of the most dangerous counterfeits is presumption. Far too often, we confuse faith and presumption.
In his book The Theology of Hope, Jurgen Moltmann pointed out that there are two sins against hope. The first (and more common) sin against hope is despair, which he defined as the non-anticipation of God’s will. Behind despair lurks the idea that God has abandoned us or is either unwilling or unable to intervene on our behalf. The second (and more dangerous) sin against hope is presumption, which he defined as the premature anticipation of God’s will. Behind presumption lurks the idea that we alone can make things happen, and we make decisions in anticipation of outcomes that may not be God’s will. My mother had a phrase for this phenomenon. She called it “counting your chickens before they hatch,” and it is a mistake that we all make entirely too much. I know that I have been guilty of this far more than I would like to admit.
One of the best biblical examples of this phenomenon is found in Numbers 14. God told Moses to send a delegation of 12 men to spy out the Promised Land that he had promised to give them. The men surveyed the land and secured ample proof of its abundance. But they also took note of the fact that the land was already inhabited and reported to the community that the likelihood of them ever possessing it was slim at best. Two of the spies (Joshua and Caleb) insisted that success was possible because God was on their side. However, they were overruled by the fear of the majority, and discontent spread through the camp. In response, God announced a devastating judgement. The entire community would have to spend forty years wandering in the wilderness, and all of them except Joshua and Caleb would die in the wilderness. When this judgment was announced, Numbers 14:39-44 tells us what happened next:
When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you, and you will fall by the sword.” Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Presumption is when you decide to move forward without divine direction, protection, or connection. As a result, they were unsuccessful. Here’s today’s question: how often have you confused faith with presumption?
As one of my favorite preachers once said, there is a difference between faith and foolishness! Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Wait for God to open the door before you run through it.