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‘When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”’ — Acts 10:25-26

A gentile military officer named of Cornelius, who lived in Caesarea, is described in Acts 10 as one “who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” (v. 2). One day an angel of God appeared to him and instructed him to send for Peter. On his part, Peter, a Jew, who was in Joppa at the time, also received a revelation through a trance regarding his next ministry assignment, along with an instruction not to hesitate to follow Cornelius’ emissaries to Caesarea

A NATURAL RESPONSE TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD

The main text above reports the immediate events that took place upon Peter’s arrival at Cornelius’ home. When Peter entered his house, Cornelius the centurion, didn’t think too highly of his military rank but laid all that aside. He fell down at Peter’s feet and worshiped him. While that was not the correct thing to do, as Jesus clearly said, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10), it is a common response of any man who perceives the presence of God anywhere, including in the life of God’s servant. When Peter and John healed the lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, he did something similar (Acts 2:1-16). The people of Lystra responded in like manner when Paul and Barnabas healed a man who was crippled from birth and had never walked before (Acts 14:8-18).

It is necessary to separate God from his servants, and the respect that God’s servants deserve from the worship that is due only to God.

It is necessary to separate God from his servants, and the respect that God’s servants deserve from the worship that is due only to God.

RESPONDING TO ADULATION

The main focus of this meditation is the response of Peter to Cornelius’ reverence. When Cornelius fell at Peter’s feet and worshiped him, Peter immediately lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” He didn’t accept it as something that belonged to him by right. His words revealed his estimation of who he was: “I too am a man.” Every one of us sent by God is a mere mortal, or to use Jesus’ words in Luke 17:10, “We are unworthy servants.”

That mindset that never forgets that “I too am only a man” is a prerequisite for serving God acceptably; it is essential if the work of God will not spoil in your hands. That is what Peter exemplified here. It is the same attitude we saw with him in Acts 2 and with Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14. Paul and Barnabas were quite vehement in their reaction to the adulation directed at them. They ‘tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd shouting: “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.”’

Dear Man of God, aka MOG, you are only a man. Are you a Pastor or the head of a congregation, a fellowship president, a sub-unit leader in a church, or the head of an organization or a family? You are only a man, a mere mortal human. Some of the reverence that some of you in various leadership roles are sucking up, basking in and even demanding for more doesn’t show that you are conscious of the fact that you were made from dust. You belong to the same species as those whom you lead; your leadership is one of a first among equals. Some of you reading these lines may be young and just starting out in leadership roles, yet you bear titles like ‘Papa’. To think that these are mere nicknames imported from what you see outside, you act the names. You have young sisters in fellowship queuing up to cook for you and sundry other services that you gleefully receive as the supreme. Please be informed that you are only a man. As you walk with God, he is going to increasingly expose you to big things; you will grow. If God does big things through you, will you forget that you are still a man and take his glory or will you stay human? Let it be engraved on the tablets of your heart that you are only a man no matter how high you rise in this life and whatever power God displays through you. 

Dear Man of God, aka MOG, you are only a man. Are you a Pastor or the head of a congregation, a fellowship president, a sub-unit leader in a church, or the head of an organization or a family? You are only a man, a mere mortal human

THE ONE WHO DESERVES WORSHIP

Beyond deflecting men’s worship from ourselves, it must also be directed to the one who truly deserves it. God himself has been very clear: “I will not give my glory to another” (Isaiah 42:8). Scripture also says, “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

In the response of Paul and Barnabas to the deification by the people, we see where all glory should be directed. They said, “We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.” Like Jesus said and we mentioned earlier, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” It is what we were created for; nay, it is what everything is about – the glory of God. As the songwriter says, “All glory must be to the Lord, for he is worthy of all praise. No man on earth should give glory to himself, all the glory must be to the Lord.”

GOD’S RESPONSE TO MISDIRECTED WORSHIP AND PRIDE

One thing that accompanies the acceptance of hero worship is pride. As I’ve referenced previously, God opposes the proud; his grace, however, is extended to the humble. The matter under consideration is no small one. God frowns at entities who compete with him for the glory that is exclusively his. It is what made Lucifer lose his exalted position in heaven and hurled him down to earth. Nebuchadnezzar, for his part, was driven away from people to live with the wild animals until he acknowledged “that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes” (Daniel 4:25). 

A classic example is that of King Herod in Acts 12:19-25. One day he sat on his throne and delivered an address to the people. ‘They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.’ If God removes his hand of grace from any of us, we will stink with maggots.

God frowns at humans who suck up human praise meant for him without remembering that they are mere mortals.

God frowns at humans who suck up human praise meant for him without remembering that they are mere mortals.

 A BROADER APPLICATION

Beyond the immediate context of Peter’s response, “I too am a man”, which is about deflecting human praise from ourselves as God’s servants and directing that to God, the term can be instructive in broader contexts.

The first broader application to note here is the proneness to fall that we all possess. James says, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). The knowledge of this should keep any person watchful and remove presumption from us. The counsel of Scripture is this: “So let the man who feels sure of his standing today be careful that he does not fall tomorrow” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Remembering that we are mere mortals keeps us grounded. Being human is a prerequisite for ministering to men. Hebrews 5:1-2 says, “Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God … And because he is a man, he can deal gently with other men, though they are foolish and ignorant, for he, too, is surrounded with the same temptations and understands their problems very well.” Angels, who have not experienced human limitations and struggles, cannot be high priests that meet our need. It was one of the reasons why Jesus had to come in the flesh. Hebrews also says, “For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18). For Jesus to be the kind of high priest that we need, he had to be human; he had to be incarnated and birthed by Mary. If he remained in his deity, he wouldn’t be the kind of high priest that meets our need. Your being human is also part of what qualifies you to be God’s representative in service to men. There are things that angels as ministering spirits are sent to do on behalf of those who will inherit eternal life, but there are also things that can only be done by humans who feel and know what it means to be human. So, your being human is something that can be employed to serve the purpose of God, where even angels cannot. 

This also means that as a fallible human, you should deal gently with other members of your species who are prone to fall or actually fall. If you do not, perhaps you need to learn to be you – a human.

This also means that as a fallible human, you should deal gently with other members of your species who are prone to fall or actually fall. If you do not, perhaps you need to learn to be you – a human.

Yet another side to the humanity question is that it qualifies us for divine help. Hebrews 2:16 says, “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abrahams’s descendants. So, when Satan and his fellow fallen angels fell, Jesus didn’t give them a helping hand, but when humans did, he took up their nature and died for them. Being a man qualifies us in this sense to be helped by Christ.

Therefore, mere human, never forget that you are dust and to dust you will return. In your standing, take heed that you don’t fall. As a human, do not take the glory that belongs to God. Remember also that it is your humanity that partly qualifies you for ministry to humans. This same humanity qualifies you for the divine help reserved for men.