What Is That to You?

Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
John 21:21–22 (NKJV)

There is a photograph that hangs in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. It is a famous image from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, with Tommy Smith and John Carlos on the medal podium, fists raised in protest. But if you look closely, there is a third man on the podium. His name is Peter Norman. He decided he would stand in solidarity with them, supporting their protest. History remembers Smith and Carlos. Peter Norman, though—most people don’t even know he ever existed.

Norman paid a dear price for his choice. When he returned to Australia, he was ostracized by his own country’s Olympic committee. History says he was excluded from the 1972 Olympics despite qualifying multiple times. Somehow, he scratched out a living as a butcher. He eventually became a gym teacher, but he never received the recognition his athletic achievements deserved. And here’s what makes his story so haunting: Peter Norman spent years watching Smith and Carlos receive honors, invitations, commendations, and accolades, while he essentially remained forgotten to human history. Same podium, same Olympics, same protest, different destinies.

But Norman never demanded to know, “Why them and not me?” He understood something many of us are still learning: Your calling is never contingent upon somebody else’s recognition. Your destiny is not diminished by somebody else’s elevation. Your assignment from God cannot be measured by comparing your journey to another person’s path.

That is precisely the noise Jesus confronts on the beach in Galilee. The apostle Peter has just been restored and recommissioned, but he makes a mistake that feels familiar. We stand on the beach with Jesus receiving our commission, hearing our calling, understanding clearly our assignment, and then we turn around and we measure what God is doing in somebody else’s life. And when that happens, our focus shifts, our clarity clouds, our certainty begins to waver because we’re no longer listening to what Jesus is saying to us about us. We’re now obsessing over what Jesus might have said to somebody else about them.

Peter hears what Jesus says about his path, the cost, the future, and then he turns and sees John. “Lord, what about him?” That question is the trap. It’s comparing your cross to somebody else’s crown. It’s when you start to measure your assignment against somebody else’s anointing. It’s when you start calculating your sacrifice against somebody else’s success.

Jesus answers with a correction that silences the noise. “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.” In other words, don’t turn away from your own assignment to obsess over somebody else’s path. Don’t let comparison steal your attention. Don’t let somebody else’s story drown out what Jesus is saying to you.