Leader Devotional: The Disguise of Success

Based on Luke 14:16-23 & Revelation 3:17-20 Estimated time: 15 minutes

---

Read (3 minutes)

Read Luke 14:16-23 slowly, paying attention to the people who decline the invitation and why they decline it. Then read Revelation 3:17 and Revelation 3:20.

'You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.' — Revelation 3:17

'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.' — Revelation 3:20

---

Reflect (7 minutes)

As a small group leader, you carry a profound responsibility: you are regularly the servant in this parable. You are the one the Master sends. And the people you lead aren't just the visibly broken — they may include the high-achieving, the polished, the seemingly self-sufficient members of your group who sit across from you every week.

Pastor Jared said something worth sitting with: 'We allow someone's external condition to dictate their internal need.' As a leader, you may be tempted to invest your deepest pastoral energy into the people who most visibly seem to need it. But Jesus' pattern — seen in both the parable and His letter to Laodicea — is to move toward the successful, the self-sufficient, and the spiritually comfortable with particular urgency.

Consider your group. Who in your circle is the person that everyone else assumes is fine? Who is the high-performer, the put-together parent, the driven professional who rarely opens up? The one who always seems to have the answers but never seems to need prayer?

Ask yourself honestly: Have I stopped pursuing them because I assumed they were okay?

Jesus, after rebuking the wealthiest church in the New Testament, didn't walk away. He stood at their door and knocked. He still wanted to come in and eat with them. That is the heart you carry into your group tonight.

---

Pray (5 minutes)

Pray through these three areas before your group meets:

1. Clarity — Ask God to give you eyes to see the true spiritual condition of the people in your group, not just the version they present.

2. Courage — Ask for boldness to ask deeper questions, to pursue the person others overlook, and to love people past their carefully constructed exteriors.

3. Surrender — Spend a moment examining your own heart. Are there any areas where your own comfort, competence, or busyness has become a subtle substitute for dependence on God? Bring those to Him before you lead others.

Lord, make me a servant who compels. Give me eyes that see past the highlight reel. Give me the courage to knock on doors that others walk past because they assume no one is home. Amen.