52 Men of the Bible - The StudiesSample

# 49\. Simon the Sorcerer ## Explore This week let’s explore the story of Simon the Sorcerer and how he went about trying to buy some power and ability from the disciples, essentially he had totally missed the point. My guess is that your life is probably miles from trying to follow a big name preacher and offer him money so you can do the ‘miracles’ he is doing. But, I think this stuff still has a few things for us to drill into. Idea 1: Position Simon had sniffed out an opportunity to enhance his career and learn a few more tricks to position himself as the next big shot. Trouble is that isn’t how the kingdom of God works, at all. Simon had drastically got the situation wrong and the disciples called him out on it. You may not have a direct comparison here, in buying spiritual power, but what about work? Is there a route that needs you to ‘buy in’ or ‘pay the right lip service to the right people’ for you to get to where you think you need to be? ‘Sure’ you might reply, ‘that’s just called smart networking, we all do that in some form’. I agree that that is how the world turns and works, but I want to tease a different way. Men in the Bible often found themselves before kings, gate keepers, men of influence and power not through working crafty angles and orchestrated conversations, but through prayer, faith and trust that God would open the doors no man can open. Does this hold any water? Or have I lost it with this one? I don’t mind if I have! Idea 2: Power & Influence Off the back of that, I was reminded of a men’s event I was at recently. This guy got up and absolutely wowed everyone. He had been explaining that he was part of a design team that helped produce and market the Apple brand, he had made millions and was a man of influence and power. I was listening, and he captured my attention straight away. Then he said this (please forgive the expression!) ‘The last 20 minutes of this talk was all bollocks, I made it all up. I actually work as a print shop manager, make little money, have little influence and impact with my 9 to 5 job, and probably am just like lots of you. ‘ It was brilliant! He suckered us all in, because deep down we lean towards the power, influence and success of others to inspire us and motivate us. We admire these qualities. Would you say this was true for you? Can we break free from this stuff? Idea 3: Walk the path of humility Simon the Sorcerer had missed the vital ingredient in the walk Jesus calls his men to be on, it is the path of humility. This is not to suggest that we walk about with our heads down, letting people walk on us and never push forward with any conviction, drive or gut. Humility in this respect is the ongoing decision and call to encourage, empower, build up others and not seek the glory, centre stage and artificial praise of man for ourselves. This humility is about really knowing the King, and being committed to his cause, for his glory. Simon had missed it. ## Action Take some time at the end of this session to explore this stuff with the group, be real and honest about where you are in this.  Reflect on the moments of challenge where it is tough to live this out, but also the wins too.