"A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest." - Luke 22:24
Way to miss the point, fellas. Luke 22 begins with the dramatic telling of God's story through the Passover, and Jesus even lays Himself out on the table by telling the disciples what was about to take place. And as soon as He does that, a fight breaks out over who is the best.
We would be remiss to believe that the dispute was a fluke. The Greek word for "dispute" is a tough one to translate into English. The word is "philanekia"- a love for arguing (or desire to argue). The way I translate Luke 22:24 is this way: "This (talking about who would betray Jesus) was a hot button issue- who was the greatest."
Nowadays, what isn't a hot button issue? And don't all hot button issues ultimately come down to who is the greatest? Hot button issues, whether political or relational or theological/philosophical, all find their source in "who is the greatest? Who do I follow? Who has the better opinion?"
Jesus comes down decisively to end all debate. But Jesus does not answer the question of who sits by His side in the Kingdom (even Revelation leaves that question up in the air). Jesus comes down decisively to tell His disciples to be different. Roman leaders called themselves "Benefactors" while oppressing and exploiting the people. Labels are generally useless and usually end in self-serving power (see yesterday's post on authority). What Jesus wants from the disciples is servant-hearts that cast aside labels to genuinely help people.
Listening is one of the most powerful tools to serve. Listening declares the worth of the one you are listening too, and declares that the person speaking has some respect and standing in your mind. Listening, and not simply waiting for your turn to speak, actually empowers the mind to be transformed (and doesn't Paul say in Romans that we are all being renewed in our mind?). But when we get set-off emotionally on a hot-button issue, when philanekia rises in our spirit, our ability to think, process and listen reflectively is diminished.
I pray that Jesus cuts in on my philanekia so that I can have a Christlike and servant heart. It's the only way I know how to love my neighbor as myself.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Getting It Wrong... and Right (and everything in between) On Authority
"The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law." - Mark 1:22
"The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves." - Jesus, Luke 22:25-26
"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. - God, Genesis 1:28
"Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." - God, Genesis 3:16
It is no wonder that the issue of power and authority is so messed up. Jesus teaches with authority, and tells His disciples to be different. Human beings were created with authority in creation, but the Fall added a dynamic where human relationships were going to be sinfully immersed in power struggles.
Add these passages to others about apostolic authority, church leadership, and you get a challenging way forward in areas of leadership and faithfulness in our spheres of influence. What does it mean to lead? What does it mean to serve?
Then add our own cultural biases. We may be a democracy, but Western thought was born in monarchy, and many monarchy-based paradigms still exist. One key element to a debate is to appeal to an authority; in other words, we quote sources. I couldn't write a paper in college or seminary without quoting other works. On facebook, one can click a single button and share sources with their online community (the "share" button).
I don't have a problem with authority, most of the time. But I am also in a place to be benefited by authority. I have cultural authority (a title and a degree), religious authority (ordination) and the unheard of authority to talk to a group of adults for 30 minutes a week without interruption. Not even CNN can boast 30 minutes, they have advertisers who break in.
Having authority is a scary thing, when you think about it. It is awfully easy to arrange my authority to benefit me. It is easy for me to get my needs met and forget about the rest of the population. I don't think Jesus had that model of authority in mind when He taught with authority. I think that's what Jesus had in mind when He said "Don't be like that." Jeremiah talks about authority gone amok in this way:
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" - Jeremiah 5:30-31
When we forget that our authority is meant to be used on behalf of the least, that last, the lost and the marginalized (see Luke 22 passage), we end up serving ourselves. We devise lies that hold a comfortable status quo and we forget that we derive all authority from a God who is constantly on the move reconciling ALL THINGS (Colossians 1:20) to Himself. Allow me to leave you with this quote that I think represents the best of what God-given authority does:
"If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference then we don't want successful leaders. We want great leaders - who love the people enough and respect the people enough to be unsought, unbound, unafraid and unintimidated to tell the truth." - Dr. Cornel West, Christian philosopher and activist.
Biblical authority is not about being successful, it's about being great.
"The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves." - Jesus, Luke 22:25-26
"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. - God, Genesis 1:28
"Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." - God, Genesis 3:16
It is no wonder that the issue of power and authority is so messed up. Jesus teaches with authority, and tells His disciples to be different. Human beings were created with authority in creation, but the Fall added a dynamic where human relationships were going to be sinfully immersed in power struggles.
Add these passages to others about apostolic authority, church leadership, and you get a challenging way forward in areas of leadership and faithfulness in our spheres of influence. What does it mean to lead? What does it mean to serve?
Then add our own cultural biases. We may be a democracy, but Western thought was born in monarchy, and many monarchy-based paradigms still exist. One key element to a debate is to appeal to an authority; in other words, we quote sources. I couldn't write a paper in college or seminary without quoting other works. On facebook, one can click a single button and share sources with their online community (the "share" button).
I don't have a problem with authority, most of the time. But I am also in a place to be benefited by authority. I have cultural authority (a title and a degree), religious authority (ordination) and the unheard of authority to talk to a group of adults for 30 minutes a week without interruption. Not even CNN can boast 30 minutes, they have advertisers who break in.
Having authority is a scary thing, when you think about it. It is awfully easy to arrange my authority to benefit me. It is easy for me to get my needs met and forget about the rest of the population. I don't think Jesus had that model of authority in mind when He taught with authority. I think that's what Jesus had in mind when He said "Don't be like that." Jeremiah talks about authority gone amok in this way:
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" - Jeremiah 5:30-31
When we forget that our authority is meant to be used on behalf of the least, that last, the lost and the marginalized (see Luke 22 passage), we end up serving ourselves. We devise lies that hold a comfortable status quo and we forget that we derive all authority from a God who is constantly on the move reconciling ALL THINGS (Colossians 1:20) to Himself. Allow me to leave you with this quote that I think represents the best of what God-given authority does:
"If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference then we don't want successful leaders. We want great leaders - who love the people enough and respect the people enough to be unsought, unbound, unafraid and unintimidated to tell the truth." - Dr. Cornel West, Christian philosopher and activist.
Biblical authority is not about being successful, it's about being great.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Bad Form... Revisited
The other day I was trying to expand my running, and so I ran on a trail recommended to me. That trail was Echo Valley Road, which I learned is one of the rockiest trails on the planet. Not good for a barefoot runner.
By the end of the "run," I was hurting. Not only have my feet been beat up for days, but my knees were hurting for a day. That bothered me, since barefoot running is supposed to be easier on the knees. What it turned out to be is that I started running with terrible form, allowing for a ton of lateral movement in my knees in order to dodge the larger rocks. I could hardly walk the next day. In other words, my hurt created my bad form.
A couple Sundays ago, we visited the idea that human beings were designed to live in certain kinds of ways. Sin is what we call it when we operate outside of those ways, hurting ourselves and others. But where does bad form come from?
Bad form comes from being hurt, or wounded. As human beings post-Genesis 3, we are all born wounded. We are born with the inherent desire to get our needs met, and sin corrupts that desire to aim for less than what we were designed for. Also, people we meet deepen the wounds and we find ourselves living further and further out of our woundedness.
Sometimes we skip the idea of woundedness, skipping to the instructions on how to stop doing bad things. And those instructions are good- we need them, just as a runner needs to be instructed on how to run and run well. But let's not skip the first part.
We need a healer. We need someone who is going to make us whole and get us back to walking before we can re-learn how to run. The Greek word for salvation is the same as the word for healing.
Jesus tells a parable to the Pharisees about a lost sheep, and how He will go after the lost sheep. What sometimes gets missed is how a sheep gets lost in the first place. Sheep may be dumb, but they are always together. It's why we use the term "sheep" to describe a mob that can't think for itself. The only reason a sheep would get lost and lonely is because it is hurt.
Jesus is the great healer. And today, I am grateful.
By the end of the "run," I was hurting. Not only have my feet been beat up for days, but my knees were hurting for a day. That bothered me, since barefoot running is supposed to be easier on the knees. What it turned out to be is that I started running with terrible form, allowing for a ton of lateral movement in my knees in order to dodge the larger rocks. I could hardly walk the next day. In other words, my hurt created my bad form.
A couple Sundays ago, we visited the idea that human beings were designed to live in certain kinds of ways. Sin is what we call it when we operate outside of those ways, hurting ourselves and others. But where does bad form come from?
Bad form comes from being hurt, or wounded. As human beings post-Genesis 3, we are all born wounded. We are born with the inherent desire to get our needs met, and sin corrupts that desire to aim for less than what we were designed for. Also, people we meet deepen the wounds and we find ourselves living further and further out of our woundedness.
Sometimes we skip the idea of woundedness, skipping to the instructions on how to stop doing bad things. And those instructions are good- we need them, just as a runner needs to be instructed on how to run and run well. But let's not skip the first part.
We need a healer. We need someone who is going to make us whole and get us back to walking before we can re-learn how to run. The Greek word for salvation is the same as the word for healing.
Jesus tells a parable to the Pharisees about a lost sheep, and how He will go after the lost sheep. What sometimes gets missed is how a sheep gets lost in the first place. Sheep may be dumb, but they are always together. It's why we use the term "sheep" to describe a mob that can't think for itself. The only reason a sheep would get lost and lonely is because it is hurt.
Jesus is the great healer. And today, I am grateful.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Be Prepared
"So they prepared the Passover" (Luke 22:13).
I will be the first to admit that I don't prepare well. I usually forget something when I pack for a trip, I don't make lists of any kind and I generally procrastinate. "Prepared" is not an adjective I would use to describe me. The Boy Scouts of America's official motto is "Be Prepared," but being a boy scout for a few years did not instill me with a love for preparation.
And yet, there is something stirring in this little verse in Luke 22:13 on preparing the Passover. This year, at our church, we celebrated the Passover meal together with a couple other churches. And as I prepared the Passover, I thought about what each element would mean. I thought about the charoset and its sweet goodness, which was to symbolize the sweetness of God's gifts. Even the process of making it was fun and full of laughter.
Then there came the horseradish and the salt water and the bitter herbs. Although I love horseradish, the salt water and bitter herbs were a bit much. And laying them out while filling small dishes with salt, I recognized that people would not enjoy eating these foods. Then again, life is sometimes like that, we are fed meals we would prefer not to eat. Or as Jesus said, we are given cups from which we would rather not drink.
Preparing for the Passover is a meaningful time. And I think we are meant to have meaningful time in our lives- times where we step back and really think about what is going on around us. The first two weeks of June have flown by, and summer will probably see more of that hurried pace. But maybe, just as the disciples contemplated each piece of the Passover meal, we too can take on a reflective pace to see all the good that God is doing around us.
I will be the first to admit that I don't prepare well. I usually forget something when I pack for a trip, I don't make lists of any kind and I generally procrastinate. "Prepared" is not an adjective I would use to describe me. The Boy Scouts of America's official motto is "Be Prepared," but being a boy scout for a few years did not instill me with a love for preparation.
And yet, there is something stirring in this little verse in Luke 22:13 on preparing the Passover. This year, at our church, we celebrated the Passover meal together with a couple other churches. And as I prepared the Passover, I thought about what each element would mean. I thought about the charoset and its sweet goodness, which was to symbolize the sweetness of God's gifts. Even the process of making it was fun and full of laughter.
Then there came the horseradish and the salt water and the bitter herbs. Although I love horseradish, the salt water and bitter herbs were a bit much. And laying them out while filling small dishes with salt, I recognized that people would not enjoy eating these foods. Then again, life is sometimes like that, we are fed meals we would prefer not to eat. Or as Jesus said, we are given cups from which we would rather not drink.
Preparing for the Passover is a meaningful time. And I think we are meant to have meaningful time in our lives- times where we step back and really think about what is going on around us. The first two weeks of June have flown by, and summer will probably see more of that hurried pace. But maybe, just as the disciples contemplated each piece of the Passover meal, we too can take on a reflective pace to see all the good that God is doing around us.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The edge of understanding
Over the past couple weeks, I spent about five days teaching World Religions at Glen Lake Middle School, and I feel some sense of loss now that I am done with my time. In fact, the students are taking a test on the information I gave them today. I wish them all the best and hope that the test-taking allows them to internalize the stuff they learned.
So why would a pastor be sharing about Islam, Christianity and Judaism in a school?
I came across a Proverb this morning that really puts things in perspective: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7).
We have a duty to get understanding. Part of loving our neighbor as ourselves means knowing people as we would wish to be known. A few posts ago, I posted about how disgusted I was when a pastor preached about locking gay people behind electrified fences, and how sad I was that the video went viral. I am saddened when the way of Christ is equated to that kind of hatred. And so I would be horrified if that was someone's first experience of Christianity. In the same way, if I want to love my neighbor, I have a responsibility to learn about how my neighbor truly thinks.
I have to admit, I got a little preachy in the class. A student asked how long it takes to learn about other people's religions. I gave the standard answer of how long it took to get my degree, then I backtracked. My final answer was "forever." The students groaned at the possibility of learning forever (especially during the last week of class), but I stuck with it.
I told them that we all have a line where our understanding turns to ignorance. In other words, I don't know everything. I don't understand everything. And the sad reality is that when I harbor ignorance toward my neighbor, it usually expresses itself in mistrust. And mistrust, as we see in the interpersonal and the international spheres, often ends in violence. And so the lifelong dedication to understanding is the only cure for the bitter root of ignorance to set in and make us less than we could be.
Proverbs 4:7 says that even if it costs everything we have, we ought to pursue understanding. It sounds a lot like a guy who said "Take up your cross daily and follow me." So today, chase wisdom and understanding, and may God bless you in your journey.
So why would a pastor be sharing about Islam, Christianity and Judaism in a school?
I came across a Proverb this morning that really puts things in perspective: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7).
We have a duty to get understanding. Part of loving our neighbor as ourselves means knowing people as we would wish to be known. A few posts ago, I posted about how disgusted I was when a pastor preached about locking gay people behind electrified fences, and how sad I was that the video went viral. I am saddened when the way of Christ is equated to that kind of hatred. And so I would be horrified if that was someone's first experience of Christianity. In the same way, if I want to love my neighbor, I have a responsibility to learn about how my neighbor truly thinks.
I have to admit, I got a little preachy in the class. A student asked how long it takes to learn about other people's religions. I gave the standard answer of how long it took to get my degree, then I backtracked. My final answer was "forever." The students groaned at the possibility of learning forever (especially during the last week of class), but I stuck with it.
I told them that we all have a line where our understanding turns to ignorance. In other words, I don't know everything. I don't understand everything. And the sad reality is that when I harbor ignorance toward my neighbor, it usually expresses itself in mistrust. And mistrust, as we see in the interpersonal and the international spheres, often ends in violence. And so the lifelong dedication to understanding is the only cure for the bitter root of ignorance to set in and make us less than we could be.
Proverbs 4:7 says that even if it costs everything we have, we ought to pursue understanding. It sounds a lot like a guy who said "Take up your cross daily and follow me." So today, chase wisdom and understanding, and may God bless you in your journey.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
In the Secret
When I was in high school, we were seeing the explosion of the contemporary worship scene. Groups like Delirious, SonicFlood and David Crowder were joining the Hillsong and Maranatha communities in producing several worship albums a year. Incorporating contemporary music into our youth worship services was not difficult. One of those songs was called "In the Secret." The lyrics start as following:
"In the secret in the quiet place
In the stillness you are there
In the secret in the quiet hour
I wait only for you
'cause i want to know you more..."
I loved that song. I've always been imaginative, and knowing that God and I can meet in the secret and quiet place was comforting. Now I look at that song and inwardly shudder. Not because it's a bad song- it's still a great plea for nearness to God. I shudder because I know the secret place is not as rosy as it looks.
In the past twelve months, I have become far more aware of the secret place in my mind. It's the place where a confident exterior meets a terrified interior. The secret place is the gray area where I don't know if I'm doing something because it's the right thing to do or because it will make me look good.
David had a lot of things going against him, but he had this- he invited God right into the secret place. Psalm 139 is a beautiful psalm about knowing God, and it has some of the most contemptible language of the Bible:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand —
when I awake, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
After reading this psalm, it's a little easier and a little more meaningful to sing "In the Secret." Although I am not always proud of what goes on in my doubts and weaknesses, God doesn't stand at a distance judging. God stands right in it leading me in the way everlasting.
"In the secret in the quiet place
In the stillness you are there
In the secret in the quiet hour
I wait only for you
'cause i want to know you more..."
I loved that song. I've always been imaginative, and knowing that God and I can meet in the secret and quiet place was comforting. Now I look at that song and inwardly shudder. Not because it's a bad song- it's still a great plea for nearness to God. I shudder because I know the secret place is not as rosy as it looks.
In the past twelve months, I have become far more aware of the secret place in my mind. It's the place where a confident exterior meets a terrified interior. The secret place is the gray area where I don't know if I'm doing something because it's the right thing to do or because it will make me look good.
David had a lot of things going against him, but he had this- he invited God right into the secret place. Psalm 139 is a beautiful psalm about knowing God, and it has some of the most contemptible language of the Bible:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand —
when I awake, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
After reading this psalm, it's a little easier and a little more meaningful to sing "In the Secret." Although I am not always proud of what goes on in my doubts and weaknesses, God doesn't stand at a distance judging. God stands right in it leading me in the way everlasting.
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