Protégé or Parasite

A Protégé will change his schedule for you

A Parasite wants you to change your schedule for him

A Protégé says, “I want a car like yours...”

A Parasite says, “I want your car...”

As a Christian, your job is to give; you are a distribution center. You offer your sustenance, you offer your positive lifestyle, you offer the Word of God. And there is so much to give. As a result, you are faced with people everywhere who require something from you. What’s important to understand is that there are two categories of these people: Protégés and Parasites. The two are so similar on the surface that it’s hard to tell one from the other. Both draw from you, both need you for advancement. Both require you to give something but the motives are very different. One will benefit you in the long run while the other, be it intentionally or unintentionally will destroy you.

A protégé is a leaner. Webster describes a protégé as “a person who receives support and protection from another influential person which furthers the protégé’s career”. He is someone whose welfare or well-being depends on the influence of another. A protégé will withdraw form you but the terms are that of training and influence towards promotion. What you offer a protégé is not a loss but an investment which will be returned to you in due season.

If you have a protégé in your life, be thankful, God is using you. The presence of a protégé means there is a gift that God has given you to become a distribution center for, and He has even sent you the person or people whom He intends you to distribute to. Do your best to grow the relationship. Let nothing stop you from giving, let nothing keep you from allowing God to use you in this way. You can be confident that God will repay your obedience, He will return to you over and over again for sharing the gift that He has invested in you, as you are no-doubt a protégé of Him.

A Parasite withdraws from you in a negative way. They subtract with no intensions to re-deposit. A parasite is a leech; it grows, feeds, and is sheltered but contributes nothing to the survival of its host. A parasite takes advantage of your generosity with no useful return. A parasite will remain living off of you, feeds from you only to abandon you once there is nothing left to withdraw. A parasite isn’t seeking God for a blessing, he’s pursuing you; he wants your blessing.

If there is a parasite in your life, you must get them away from you immediately for two reasons. First, neither you nor they can benefit from this type of relationship. The methods of a parasite are only to extract but one cannot grow spiritually until they give as you have. They may have good intentions spiritually but the relationship is unbalanced so it will be fruitless. Secondly, worse, a parasite does not reach a point where he becomes satisfied and ceases to take. A parasite will drain your resources, consume your abundance and exhaust you. It’s a guarantee that depletion without replenishment will soon leave you empty.

There are several ways to distinguish between a protégé and a parasite. A protégé is looking to build a future with you; a parasite is not interested in the future, only the present and usually the past. A protégé wants to learn what you’ve learned; a parasite wants to have what you have. A protégé wants what’s in your heart; a parasite wants what’s in your hand. A Protégé says, “Make me”; A Parasite says, “Give me”

Be careful not to misjudge an anointed person as a parasite, it could cost you dearly. A man or women of God will often appear as a parasite, but may actually be your opportunity to become a protégé. When Elijah visited the widow at Zarephath in 1 Kings 17, the poor widow could have easily mistaken Elijah for a parasite. She explained to him that she was preparing the last of her supplies for her and her son to eat a final meal and then die. Elijah asked her to bake bread for him instead (1 Kings 17:13) and her meal would not run out nor would her oil fail her. She agreed in obedience to God and as promised they ate well from that day forward. While it may have seemed Elijah had arrived as a parasite requiring her last bit of sustenance, he was actually her last chance to be a protégé or die alone. He was sent by God’s direction to visit exactly when he did and ask of her what he asked. God had arranged her entire encounter with the prophet and she was rewarded greatly for her obedience.

According to the story, some time later the woman’s son became ill and died. But Elijah petitioned God to bring her son back from the dead, which God did. Just imagine if the woman would have sent Elijah away instead of giving away what she had to him. Not only would Elijah have been long gone by the time her son died but her food would have run out so she would have died as well.

Make your new years resolution to examine the people in your life who consistently require something from you; in your family, on your job, at your school, at your church, everyone included. Make a conscious decision about each, label them parasite or protégé. Are people withdrawing from you with the no intent of giving back? Are people using you for their sole benefit? Are they feeding from you and growing but refusing to contribute in the least bit to help you grow?

Then judge yourself. Are you a parasite or a protégé to the people around you: To your family? To your church? To God? Do you want what you did not earn? Do you wish to possess things that belong to others? Do you desire the blessings that your brother or sister has or are you seeking God for your own blessing?

Be a protégé of Jesus Christ and a protégé to the anointed man or woman of God that God has assigned you to and only associate with other protégés. Then when God entrusts you with a protégé, give to him/her freely. When you notice a protégé in your life, you know you’re on the right track and that you’re reward, your blessing, and your miracle will be great.