Watch Out for Opportunist

Mark 4:11

They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

There are people assigned to do nothing more than bring you down. The only reason they are in your life is to look for an opportunity to make money at your expense. The sad thing is that some of them are supposed to be your closest friends, relatives, and even members of your organization/church. This is the risk we run in life. There will always be people who want to get close to you, some who are genuine, and some who will bless you and others who will burn you. You can’t go through life paranoid of being in relationship because you are suspicious of opportunists and miss your opportunity for genuine relationship, but you should be prayerful and discerning.

Jesus had twelve disciples and one of them was an opportunist. Judas ironically enough was responsible for watching the money for Jesus. On one occasion a woman anointed Jesus with a very expensive bottle of perfume worth a year’s wages. Judas complains that the money could have been used for the poor but he was really mad because he wanted to the money for himself. He was stealing money from Jesus. After Jesus taught a lesson on ministry motives and blessed the woman for her sacrificial gift Judas got angry. He left the house to go talk to the Pharisees on how he might betray Jesus for money.

This is the way you can identify an opportunist:

1. Through arguments. Oftentimes, you can see where a person stands just by listening for their heart in the midst of an argument. People argue for what they are passionate about.

2. They only come around when there’s money involved. You got to make sure that the people on your team are there for ministry and not money. People should be compensated for what they do but if all they do is show up for money then they are not effective in ministry.

3. They make deals with your enemies. Delilah pretended to love Samson while she was making deals with the Philistines. Anybody on your team that spends a lot of time talking to your enemies could be an opportunist.

4. They smile in your face but make deals behind yoru back. In the movie “Good Deeds” The main character’s brother kept making deals behind his brother’s back. He finally realized that his brother was sabotaging the business. You don’t make deals behind your brother’s/sister’s back.

5. They betray you with a kiss. Judas told the Pharisees that the one I kiss is Jesus. A kiss is an intimate activity shared between two people who trust one another. Be careful that you are not intimate with opportunist.

6. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Jesus knew who Judas was. He told his disciples that one of them would betray him. It would be the one who dipped his hand in the eating bowl. That’s close! A wise leader knows who is with him and who is against him while still allowing God to work through the opportunist. Judas fulfilled Jesus destiny through his betrayal. God will use your enemies even when they think they are getting over.

7. Release your opportunist. Jesus told Judas, “Friend what you do, do it quickly.” At some point you have to tell your opportunist that you see them and release them to go do what they need to do. It is what it is now go do what you need to do. God is in control.

Dear God,

Help me to discern friend from foe. Let me invest more time with disciples and less time with opportunist.

In Jesus Name,
Amen