The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle

10.5.25 [Luke 17:1-10] River of Life (17th Sunday after Pentecost)

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

How did they get that job?

At times, this question is merely a matter of curiosity, especially when the job is interesting or niche. But there are times when this question is more than a mere curiosity. There are times when we look at someone and the job title they hold with frustration, aggravation, and downright disgust. How did they get that job? 

Sometimes a person gets a job because of things that have nothing to do with the work. Maybe it’s because they’re related, connected, blessed with really good genes, or just have a really low handicap. 

But just as often people get a great new job because they were good at their old job. Unfortunately, that success doesn’t necessarily mean they will be good at their new job. 

So many of our favorite TV shows riff on this reality. Col. Klink from Hogan’s Heroes won two Iron Crosses as a pilot. But success in air didn’t mean he had any command of Stalag 13. Michael Scott was a two-time top salesman of the year for Dunder Mifflin, but that didn’t make him a great regional manager at the Scranton branch. 

But this isn’t just a TV thing. It happens in real life, too. Great engineers can be bad project managers. Great chefs launch restaurants that flop. Great teachers can be bad administrators. You see it a lot in sports. At least eight Patriots assistant coaches went on to be head coaches. Only one had a winning record. Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky were generational players who disappointed as owners and coaches. 

This has been dubbed “the Peter Principle” named after it Dr. Laurence Peter, a professor and researcher, who made this observation famous. 

It’s frustrating to watch someone get promoted to a job that is beyond them. But imagine being that person. You take a job and quickly come to the realization that is way beyond your skills and abilities. 

That’s how the disciples felt in our text from Luke 17 today. And if we listen carefully to what Jesus is saying, and we recognize that he is also speaking to you and me—we will understand why they felt that way. 

This teaching section concludes with a illustration that is foreign to us: a master & a servant. But we need to get it, to get what is going on here.  

Jesus reminds his disciples of the dynamics between a master and a servant. A servant isn’t responsible for just one task. He is responsible to the master. If he’s a shepherd or a fieldworker, he may still need to serve his master dinner. This is how a dutiful servant behaves. He doesn’t say: That’s not my job. He doesn’t ask: Does this come with a bonus? Perhaps the closest modern cousin to this concept is chores. Maybe one kid is responsible for taking out the trash. They may also be tasked with bringing in the groceries or setting the table. Even when they receive an allowance for their regular duties, they don’t have the right to re-negotiate when they are given a new task. 

Jesus outlines the actions and attitude he expects of us. Lk. 17:10 When you have done everything you were told to do, you ought to say: We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty.  

So what are the tasks? What is our duty? 

Jesus points out two things. The first is that we are to do everything within in our power to not lead other people to sin—especially little ones. The second is that we are to forgive anyone who repents. 

At first glance, those tasks don’t seem imposing. But there is more to it than first meets the eye. Jesus is telling us that we have a responsibility to serve those who are spiritually immature and those who have sinned against us. We must lead both of them to the certainty of God’s grace. 

You are called to be a shining example of sanctification. You are called to speak in a way that is seasoned with the salt of the Scriptures. You are called to love them as their Lord defines love. To be patient and kind, selfless and gentle, truthful, hopeful, and perseverant. You are called 1 Tim. 4:16 to watch your life and your doctrine closely.  You and I must not say or do anything that puts children in a spot where they need to be the voice of spiritual reason. That affects what we consume, how we talk, and how we act and react.

Jesus has called you to set the tone and the schedule for the people around you who look to you for spiritual guidance. In our culture, that means saying no to a number of fine things. We cannot fill our weekends with all kinds of fine activities if going to those places and doing those things means we are spiritually starving or malnourished. We cannot work such long hours that we don’t have the time or the energy to lead them in reading God’s Word or praying in his name. We cannot leave them to figure out life’s big questions on their own. We must habitually and intentionally lead every little one we love to the feet of our Lord Jesus. 

But Jesus’ category of little ones is wider than just children. 

It includes all those who are spiritually immature. New to the Bible. New to the faith. New to the church. At times, we cause them to stumble without realizing what we are doing. At times, our expectations of them go beyond the Word of God. We are surprised when they confess that they struggle with a particular sin. We subconsciously expect people to have their lives together, to see things in this world the way we do. We see someone new and we immediately want to pass the baton of duty to them. We meet someone new and we unload everything that frustrates us about our country, our community, or even our church. 

Jesus says it is your duty to guide people with the light of God’s Word. Tell them how it guides you and then show them how it does in your life. 

And as we do that, as we share space with fellow Christians, there is one inescapable inevitability. We will sin against each other. The more hours we spend with a person, the more we will sin against them and they against us. Jesus knew this well. So he guides us well. 

And what he says here is even more demanding than the previous duty. If they sin, rebuke them. If they repent, forgive them. Every. Single. Time. This flies in the face of every thing we think we know about people. Won’t they abuse my good-nature? Won’t they just pretend to repent and not really mean it? Won’t this make sin become accepted?

And now, as we stand back and examine what God has tasked us to do, we begin to wonder: How did I get this job? I’m grossly unqualified!

And you’re right. On your own, you cannot do this. Neither can I. We are all unworthy of this weighty work. Even the apostles exclaimed: Lk. 17:5 Increase our faith!  

We can’t help but let our weaknesses, our selfishness, our personal preferences create obstacles and injure others. We know we should be helping little ones mature in their faith. We know we should be eager to forgive as we have been forgiven. But we can’t! We aren’t! We don’t!

We struggle because we have lost sight of how our Lord has dealt with us while we were still taking spiritual baby steps. We are reluctant to forgive freely because we have forgotten the tremendous sin debt that Christ erased. We need an increase in our faith. So how do we do that?

Rom. 10:17 Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Every single time we struggle to be patient with little ones and the spiritually immature, to be persistent in rebuking, and earnest in forgiving it is because we have lost sight of the message about our Master Jesus Christ. 

The very things that Christ commands his disciples to do, he has already done for them.

When little ones came to him—even though he had a busy day—he welcomed them with open arms. Literally. He blessed them. When Jesus came across people who were still taking baby steps in the faith, Jesus was gentle & kind, merciful & tender-hearted. Jesus never told a blind person or paralytic they’d have to reschedule. 

He didn't tell the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, listen you're living in sin and until you get that fixed and worship in the right place, I can’t share the good news with you. He offered her living water, the full forgiveness of sin, God’s unconditional love & rebuked her sin. 

He did the same with his disciples. Think about how many times they acted with little faith. Jesus never told them, hey I’d love to help you out but you just don't believe in me enough. No, he calmed the storm. He reached out his hand and saved Peter from drowning. He acted powerfully even when they were overcome with weakness. 

Not only that, but God forgave repeat offenders. How many times did Israel forget about God in the book of Judges? How many times did Jerusalem kill the Lord’s prophets? Yet God kept sending them judges and prophets because he loved sinners and longed for them to turn from their evil ways. Jesus did the same. Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times in a few hours. But Jesus restored Peter gently and called him to be his apostle. That’s the guiding Peter principle for us as Christians. God takes people who are incapable and makes them capable. God promotes sin-sick people to be those who triage and surgically deal with the cancer of sin. God uses people with mustard-seed-sized faith to uproot centuries old trees and toss them into the sea. God chooses people who crack under pressure to shepherd his sheep. 

How did we get this job? Why are we so favored? Because we have received God’s favor. 

That sounds impossible, but what we are called and equipped to do is even more impressive and important. We lead people from life to death. From darkness to light. From guilt to God’s grace. From shame to their Savior’s side. How did we get that job? Jesus. He is our Master, our Muscle, and our Mission. Amen.