Cart Before the Horse

The above is an American expression to show something is out of sequence or contrary to nature. Usually, horses are before the carts pulling them, not after the carts running behind them.

When John the Baptizer came and baptized people by Jordan, the ordinary folks and tax collectors went to him to be baptized by him. “They justified (dikaioo) God” in their action (Luke 7:29). We usually think of God justifying people, but the Hebrews also thought gods could act justly or unjustly. YHWH God always acted justly, and sending John to cleanse them and receive them into his rule was another example of God standing just and people vindicating him as just God by baptizing.

The Pharisees and the scribes, however, “set aside God’s will” and refused to be baptized by John (Luke 7:30). They didn’t think baptism was needed, and the offer to enter God’s rule was genuine. They didn’t think God was justified in these demands and didn’t vindicate him as a just God.

So, the Lord Jesus said,

“What shall I compare the people of this generation? To whom? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, shouting to others, ‘We played the flute, and you didn’t dance. We lamented, and you didn’t cry.’” (Luke 7:31–32)

Cart before the horse. Usually, when people started dancing, others joined in and played their music. At someone’s death, they cried, and others joined in. One didn’t play a flute expecting others to dance; or cry, hoping others would join in. But that was what the street kids did, hoping people would follow their lead instead of following other’s lead.

God had sent John the Baptizer. Instead of submitting to him and taking John’s baptism, the Pharisees and scribes found fault with God’s provisions, both John and Jesus.

“John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He has a demon.’ I, the son of man, came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘I am a glutton, drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” (Luke 7:33–34)

Instead of following the lead of the messengers, John and Jesus, and doing what they asked the people to do, such as take baptism and fellowship with sinners and tax collectors to draw them into God’s rule, the Pharisees and scribes wanted John and Jesus to follow their prescribed methodologies – for John to eat regular food, not locust and honey, and for Jesus to stop eating with sinners and tax collectors. They wanted John and James to follow their prescribed food laws. Cart before the horse. They weren’t willing to follow God’s will and vindicate him. Instead, they wanted God and his messengers to fit their mold.

Jesus said, “Wisdom is vindicated by her children” (Luke 7:35), meaning wise people follow God’s lead, not try to dictate him. Just as they vindicated God by taking John’s baptism, they vindicated wisdom when they obeyed God’s methodology, not people’s.

When I went to the States in the 1980s, many churches had a piano and an organ for music. Preachers spoke against drums and electric guitars, claiming they were demonic! Now, music with drums and guitars is called “worship.”

We can’t evaluate one’s spirituality by outward religious manifestations like closing eyes when one prays, standing when one sings, bringing a hard copy of the Bible to church, having daily quiet time, going on spiritual retreats or prayer walks, etc. These are people-made measures of spirituality. True spirituality is agreeing with God’s commands and obeying them unconditionally.