Called or Chosen? 
By Mike Rule

The Lord has been challenging me on the passage of Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The last verse is the one that I have really been wrestling with: "Many are called, but few are chosen…" and in particular, the word chosen. The word in the Greek here is eklektos, which means "to gather or pick out of." The implication is "from the many." Many times this word is translated as the "elect" and is often misused as a foundation for predestination theology. But I have been wrestling with this in the greater context of both scripture and who God really is. In the places where the word is used in reference to Christ, it is obvious that the translation literally means "pre-ordained." But in reference to us as His children, the translation begins to get a little vague. Therefore the passage must be put in the light of the story it is summarizing.

The issue at hand is a people who are complaining about how the landowner chooses to compensate his workers. They feel it is unfair that those who had little to no contribution receive as large a wage as those who worked all day. The called, those whom the landowner has employed in his vineyard, represent all believers in Jesus Christ. They have responded to His call to be set apart and saved. The chosen are those of the called who are willing to receive whatever God decides. God asks us to humble ourselves and receive His good pleasure. He asks us to be willing to be last, to make no contribution at all. When we elevate self and attempt to be first, thinking that our contribution matters, we end up last. If we are willing to be last, we will end up first. If we set out to be first, we end up last. If we set out to be last so that we can be first, we still end up last. Totally surrendering to His way means forgetting completely about results and position. The difference between the called and the chosen is found in the heart.

The heart of the called refuses to let go of effort and strength. They believe they have a contribution that is of value to God. The chosen are willing to surrender effort and strength, and are willing to receive whatever God chooses to give. They are just happy to receive at all. Imagine God having everyone stand in line and asking those who feel they have worked the hardest to come to the head of the line. As people fall in line according to what they feel they deserve, the ones who are just happy to be in line at all quickly file to the end. Then imagine Him saying, "Now everyone turn around. Those who were happy to accept My ways and receive My good pleasure are the most pleasing to Me. You have seen that you have no contribution."

The list of Jesus' parables and teachings with this theme is extensive: for example, the prodigal son, the wedding feast, the rich young ruler, and the pearl of great price. Think of Jesus' interaction with the Pharisees. In each story Jesus clearly says that only those who are willing to surrender all and submit to the Master -- the ones who look least deserving and most unlikely -- are safe to receive what they know they do not deserve. "To be the greatest in the kingdom of God, you must be the servant of all." "He uses the weak things to confound the wise."

"Many are called but few are chosen." In other words, many are called but few are willing to make the necessary choices to be gathered from among the many and receive the good pleasure of God. It costs you everything to purchase the thing you cannot afford to buy, but cannot afford to miss. It costs our individual kingdoms, glory, pride, effort, reputation, righteousness, effort, strength, and self. It can only be received by realizing that we have no contribution because everything we have comes from God.

Verses for Reflection 

"But what do you think? A man had two children, and coming to the first he said, Child, go today; work in my vineyard. And answering, he said, I will not. But afterward, having regretted, he went. And having come to the second, he said the same. And answering, he said, I go, sir; but he did not leave. Which of the two did the will of the father? They said to Him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, The tax collectors and the harlots go before you into the kingdom of God." Matthew 21:28-31 LITV

"For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 MRC

"The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash - along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ." Philippians 3:7 The Message

"So, then, every one of you who doth not take leave of all that he himself hath, is not able to be my disciple." Luke 14:33 YLT

"And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you that a rich man (plousios: one abounding) will with great difficulty enter into the kingdom of Heaven… But many first ones shall be last, and last ones first." Matthew 19:23 and 30 LITV

"And the disciples were astonished at His Words. And answering again, Jesus said to them, Children, how hard it is for those trusting on riches (chrema: something useful or needed) to enter the kingdom of God! …But many first shall be last, and the last shall be first." Mark 10:24 and 31 LITV

"For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn't everything you have and everything you are a sheer gift from God? So what's the point of all this comparing and competing?" I Corinthians 4:7 The Message

"Thus said Jehovah: Let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Let not the rich boast himself in his riches, But - in this let the boaster boast himself, In understanding and knowing Me, For I am Jehovah, doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, For in these I have delighted…" Jeremiah 9:23,24 YLT