If you are a Southern Baptist you’ve likely heard the news that the IMB has put in place a plan to reduce the total number of personnel by 600-800 people over the next six months. This is terribly sad news as this means it is likely that less people from unreached people groups will be hearing the gospel.

Southern Baptists, as we are prone to do, have been chewing on this news over the last week. There is one thing that I keep hearing that I’d like to address. Some are wondering about the salary of David Platt. At present we don’t make the salary of our executives (like seminary Presidents) public. This has led some to wonder whether or not the author of Radical is practicing what he is preaching. Is he making the same sacrifice that others are making? Or is he taking a cozy salary and living it up in an air-conditioned office making decisions to cut the salary of hard-working missionaries out on the field? Shouldn’t Mr. Radical be making some radical sacrifices and perhaps making the same as the missionaries on the field?

Whenever I hear statements like this my mind goes to John 21. This is where Jesus restores Peter and lets him know that Peter will indeed glorify God by his death. After chewing on this information for a bit, Peter’s eyes land on the beloved disciple. In light of the revelation of his own lot of suffering Peter wonders “what about this man?”

What about this man?

Is he going to suffer as much as me? Is he going to pull his weight? Or is it just me, Lord?

With this Peter’s eyes have shifted. They’ve shifted away from the Lord and what the Lord is calling him to do. He’s now wondering about the life of another disciple. What does God have in store for him? He’s playing the comparison game—and you get the idea from Jesus’ response that Peter doesn’t like the result. Or maybe he figures his suffering will be a little better so long as the beloved disciple is suffering too.

When our eyes start shifting to the other guy, Jesus’ response to Peter should be a helpful rebuke. “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

If David Platt makes $800,000 per year “what is that to you…”? I understand that this comparison is a bit apples to oranges. As Southern Baptist our giving provides for Platt’s salary. We do have some sort of say in the matter and we ought to be asking questions of how we are spending our money. So, I get that it’s not a one to one comparison, but the heart of the thing is still there.

Even if we knew David Platt’s salary we have no idea how he spends his money. And frankly a good deal of that is between he and the Lord. If God wants to give David Platt a ton of money per year then that is His prerogative. If he wants to make me destitute that is also His prerogative. As we read in Hebrews 11 some “conquered kingdoms…stopped the mouths of lions…escaped the edge of the sword” and others “suffered mocking and flogging…were sawn in two…and went about destitute, afflicted, mistreated”. We don’t get to decide which of those is our lot. And according to our Lord we shouldn’t be concerned about what He has decided for the other guy.

Jesus said to Peter, “You follow me!”

I love those words. Don’t worry about what John does. Don’t worry about his obedience or lack thereof. You follow me. It’s as if he is saying, “Peter, you’re going to have a hard enough time following me on your own. You don’t have the grace to worry about John’s obedience and your own.”

Again, I know there are a ton of “yeah, buts” in here. All I’m asking is that we consider the state of our hearts when we start asking tough questions about the salaries of our entity heads. Is it possible that we are being a bit much like Peter, and need to be rebuked by Jesus for focusing on how God is using someone else? Is it possible that we ought to be asking tough questions of our own heart—and focusing on our obedience to the Great Commission—before we start wondering about the other guy?

Is David Platt being radical? I don’t know. The better is question is, am I?