Taking Credit for Others Work

Have you ever taken credit for others work? For something you didn’t do? For something that wasn’t yours? 

I know I have…

In fact, I’ve never admitted the following story to anyone…ever. So here we go.

That shoe wasn’t mine. Yet I took it home and pretended that it was mine. I took credit for it. My teacher and my parents thought it was gorgeous. But the stark truth is that it wasn’t actually my work.

I’m talking about a clay model of a shoe…

Now to my defense, when I grabbed that shoe, I honestly thought it was mine. After all, it had the Nike swoosh on it and it was a high top. And while those two characteristics of a clay shoe didn’t necessarily thin the pack or narrow the options, when I grabbed that shoe, I was convinced it was mine.

Okay…I wasn’t fully convinced, since there was another shoe on the table that had the same characteristics. But surely, that ugly thing wasn’t my creation. I was definitely more talented than that. After all, doesn’t baking clay get rid of all the imperfections?

It wasn’t until another student went to the teacher, and I overheard him describe what his shoe looked like, that I realized I had taken the wrong one. But at that point, it was too late. I had already committed. And I didn’t want to say anything.

So I just kept the shoe, took credit for it, and brought it home.

While that might seem like a silly story, it revealed something about my heart, and the condition of the human heart.

It’s much easier to be prideful, than humble.
It’s much easier to go with the flow, than disrupt the status quo.
It’s much easier to say yes, than no.

This past week, while I was doing my daily Bible reading, the first few verses in 1 Samuel 13 stood out to me in a fresh way. Although I had read this chapter multiple times over the years, since the book of 1 Samuel is one of my favorite books of the Bible, I had never noticed this particular detail.

Unfortunately, it’s much easier to go with the flow, than disrupt the status quo.
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Here it is in the CSB translation. Let’s see if you notice it too.

1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel. 2 He chose three thousand men from Israel for himself: two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land saying, “Let the Hebrews hear! ” 4 And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

What stood out to you in this passage?

Was it the fact that Saul was thirty years old when he became king?
That he reigned forty-two years over Israel?
That there are two major characters in these verses, King Saul and his son, Jonathan?
That Saul took more men to be with him than his son, Benjamin?
That Jonathan was the one that attacked, rather than Saul?
Or, was it the fact that Saul took credit for what Jonathan did?

Let’s take a deeper look at this.

It’s great that Jonathan was the one that attacked the Philistines. It’s also great that Saul decided to announce the news to the Israelites all throughout the land. But what wasn’t great is that he said to everyone—all throughout Israel—that “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison…”

Sure, Saul was the king and he had every right to do this. After all, the army was his, the people were his, and he was the one that made the announcement.

However, given the fact that it wasn’t some random corporal or captain that led the charge, but it was his son, you’d think he would announce the news as it really happened. On top of that, it wasn’t like his army had thousands of divisions either. There were 3000 men in his army and they were only divided into two camps: his and his son’s.

Yet Saul decided to take all the credit for himself. He took credit for others work. He took credit for something he didn’t do.

What’s God saying to you right now? Can you think of a moment when you’ve done the same?

Let’s choose to be different. Let’s choose to be people of integrity.  Let’s give credit to whom credit is due.

And even when we are acknowledged and celebrated for work that we’ve actually done, let’s find ways to pass on the credit and share that joy with others.

But most of all, let’s give it all back to God—because it’s “in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).

Always find ways to pass on the credit and share that joy with others.
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