Articles
Act Well Your Part, There All The Honor Lies
I recently came across an article written a few years ago with the same title as above. The article’s author (Chuck Durham) reprinted excerpts of letters exchanged between Major General David Hunter and President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. In a letter dated December 23, 1861 Major General Hunter complained about his recent assignment to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He writes:
“To His Excellency The President:
Dear Sir: I am very deeply mortified, humiliated, insulted and disgraced. You did me the honor to select me as a Major General and I am confident you intended I should have a Major General’s command. Yet strange as it may appear I am sent here into banishment with not three thousand effective men under my command, while of the Brigadiers, General Buell, is in command of near one hundred thousand men in Kentucky…
Very respectfully,
D. Hunter – Major General”
Mr. Lincoln replied from the Executive Mansion in Washington on December 31, 1861:
“Major General Hunter,
Dear Sir: Yours of the 23rd is received; and I am constrained to say it is difficult to answer so ugly a letter in good temper. I am, as you intimate, losing much of the great confidence I placed in you, not from any act or omission of yours touching the public service, up to the time you were sent to Leavenworth, but from the flood of grumbling dispatches and letter I have seen from you since…I thought [at the time of your appointment], and think yet, the position assigned to you is as responsible, and as honorable, as that assigned to Buell…You constantly speak of being placed in command of only 3000. Now tell me, is this not mere impatience?...I have been, and am sincerely your friend; and if, as such, I dare to make a suggestion, I would say you are adopting the best possible way to ruin yourself. “Act well your part, there all the honor lies.” He who does something at the head of one Regiment will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred.
Your friend as ever,
A. Lincoln” (letters quoted from Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President)
How often we feel like Major General Hunter! Especially when we compare ourselves to others we feel that we should be serving in a more honorable role in the Lord’s kingdom, or at least enjoying the praise and credit we deserve. Perhaps we notice the accomplishments and abilities of someone else and wish we had the same gifts as them. We might even justify such feelings by claiming it is for the betterment of God’s kingdom: “If only God would use me somewhere or somehow other than how He is using me now I would be a much better servant.” Yet all of this is motivated by nothing less than pride (Romans 12:16). I speak as one who has felt this temptation! If Jesus is the king, He knows far better than me what is best for His kingdom. And what’s best for the kingdom is for me to serve the best I can exactly where He has put me.
How often we need President Lincoln’s reminder: “Act well your part, there all the honor lies.” But Lincoln was only restating a principle from the Bible, applied in Romans 12:6-8 to a Christian’s role in the kingdom: “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
By God’s design we are not all commanders of a hundred thousand men, but He has given each of us a job to do and He expects us to do it well. The fact that it is God’s work gives each role its importance, not how visible or honorable in men’s eyes it may be. If we cannot serve well in a “minor” role, what makes us think we will succeed in a “major” role? Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10). The greatest honor is found not in those exalted positions we sometimes envy but in serving God, even (and especially) if we play second fiddle.
Chuck Durham's article can be found in Focus Magazine, vol. 4 num. 9. Sept. 2000, pp. 26-27.
