Join Darrell and Dave as they watch and discuss Shane Hipp’s “The Hidden Power” A film about how technology shapes us. + prayer, snacks and maybe even some acoustic worship. Darrell’s house (darrell@urbanbridgechurch.com

deeperrehuman week 2

Contrary to much popular thought, followership not leadership is foundational for influencing relationships and our success as followers of Christ.

To be a great leader you must submit and follow.

Following is a legitimate, honorable and essential role. Jesus willingly took on the role of a follower and not just because it was an important pattern for us to implement. It was more than good optics. He submitted to the wishes and needs of others because he was a follower.

Last week we looked at the life of Jesus the follower today we will follow some biblical examples of strong and weak followership and make application to this age and our lives.

I am a recovering leader… The Bible is a book about followers, written by followers, for followers… I am always a follower first. – Rusty Ricketson

 Choosing to Follow

            Leslie Evans was my main competition in first grade: he and I were the two fastest boys in the class. As soon as the recess bell clanged we were off to the playground to play a game which I realize today, didn’t have a name, so I’ll call it Chase. The game was as simple as the name.

Our class would choose to chase Leslie or me until the bell. It was: around the monkey bars-through the long jump pit-swinging hard around the foot ball standard-weaving in and out of the bike stands, laughing, shouting and gasping for air.

How do we follow a leader we haven’t chosen? I was an associate pastor of a church during the 1990’s. This church had four Senior pastors in the space of 10 years. I chose to follow the first leader. The rest were chosen for me. Was it my prerogative to leave? Yes it was, but I felt God had asked me to commit to the congregation regardless of the leader. It’s not easy to take the vision of someone else and adapt to his or her style, but it may be necessary. Part of this choosing is a determination to choose to follow. It is necessary for the sake of the church and it is necessary for the sake of society where we are to be salt and light.

Fortunately, others have gone before you and me and lived a Godly example; Daniel is one those. Daniel is one of my hero’s. , “Daniel in the lion’s den,” Who isn’t impressed with a guy willing to face lions, yet it represents the tip of the iceberg of the qualities of this individual. He is a marvelous example of how to follow the leader you haven’t chosen.

Daniel governed under four different leaders who represented at least two cultures different from his own. From Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus his reputation as a loyal and wise subject not only remained intact, but actually increased. Daniel had a different relationship with each of these rulers. And with each Daniel exhibited for qualities of an excellent follower: God first, Loyalty, integrity, Humility, Deference to position, truthfulness

Warren Buffet has successfully earned billions of dollars by thoroughly investigating potential investments: but his criteria for committing are simple. Every investment is held up against three standards.

• Do I like them?
• Do I trust them?
• Do I respect them?

I believe he would have invested in Daniel. Would he do the same for you or me?

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.  Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility–young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel 1:1-6) NIV.

This sounds like a great life, except for one thing, the food was unacceptable. Daniel had to take a stand because eating this food would compromise his values as well as his relationship with someone greater than Nebuchadnezzar; it would affect his relationship with God.

A Christian organization once interviewed me, and during the course of discussion I indicated that it was my practice at the time to take a three day personal prayer retreat every three months: this was foreign to them, but I was not prepared to compromise. Daniel explained his dilemma to the overseer, and Scripture tells us that he had favour with this official.  Daniel’s integrity helped him achieve this good standing. Daniel didn’t make demands of this official, rather he communicated what he believed was best and offered a solution. That is, if Daniel’s way wasn’t effective, Daniel was prepared to change.

Two things happened: through Daniel’s actions God was honored and the leaders he followed were affirmed. Daniel established the pattern of his life: he first looked to honor God and he chose to follow his leader in loyalty and integrity without compromise.

Nebuchadnezzar was a charismatic, headstrong, forceful leader; and a micromanager.  He believed he was always right, and he usually was. He, too, demanded the best without compromise, he reminds me of Steve Jobs. One night Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that puzzled and troubled him. His response: His counselors either interpret the dream or die. Daniel intervened; He went to God and came away with the answer. In giving his response, Daniel made it clear that it was his God who gave him the answer. This was counter-cultural. Astrologers and wise men of Nebuchadnezzar’s court (and I might add we today), continually looked for ways to make themselves look good. In contrast, Daniel cared only to honor his God and serve his king. He followed in humility, genuineness and truthfulness.

More difficult decisions were in Daniel’s future. Again, Daniel was asked to interpret a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. Can you picture this type-A, arrogant leader being told that he was going to spend seven years living like an animal if he did not give God the respect He deserved? The pattern of Daniel’s life had been established before this day. He followed a life pattern of truth without concession. So in humility and deference to the one he followed, he spoke the truth to Nebuchadnezzar.

Do you follow someone like Nebuchadnezzar? strong willed, intimidating, driven, single minded or arrogant? They tend to intimidate the life out of people, yet they still need to have followers willing to challenge and correct them; individuals with the qualities of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king ended and another followed. His name was Belshazzar. It is remarkable to me that Belshazzar had not learned from the life of King Nebuchadnezzar, that even the mightiest leaders follow a higher authority. One night he had a great banquet and dishonored God by desecrating items from the temple. Without warning, a large finger appeared and wrote on the wall! None of his counselors could interpret what was written. Even though Daniel was a forgotten man during this reign he respected Belshazzar’s position as king and interpreted the words.

Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom (Daniel 5:16) NIV.

We know that prophets who spoke words of rebuke often lost their lives, but it was Belshazzar who died and Daniel, who honored an undeserving leader, lived.

Darius the Mede became king. Darius determined to make him ruler over allDaniel had never looked for promotion or honor, but his peers did. They saw their aspirations giving way to Daniel’s uncompromising integrity. Daniel had no weaknesses and no dark secrets, so they plotted to undermine him by attacking what they foolishly believed to be his only weakness, that was, his relationship with God. Ironic isn’t it?

Darius was tricked into implementing a law that required his subjects to worship only him for thirty days with the edict that whoever did not would be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel did not compromise and continued to pray to God as before. Daniel lived and those who spoke against him died. Scripture tells us that he continued to do well under the rule of Darius and Cyr. The consequences of his actions honored God and supported the leader he followed.

Followers can be tempted to compromise when faced with the opportunity for self-promotion. It is certainly easier to say what the leader wants to hear. Yet this is precisely when we must determine that compromising our values and beliefs is never acceptable. We must never forget that our stand on principle only has as much credibility as the integrity of our actions and our loyalty to the leader.  It is easy to follow a leader who thinks like you and me. It is heart warming to follow a leader who supports you and it is rewarding to follow a leader who wants you. If that’s your status, you are blessed. For the rest, choose to follow well.

Daniel’s six qualities of a follower were key to his success:

God first, Loyalty, integrity, Humility, Deference to position, Truthfulness

• God first, integrity – Daniel would not compromise his values and beliefs when the king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table.
• Truthfulness – Daniel was asked to interpret the second dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel told him he was going to spend seven years living like an animal if he did not give God the respect He deserved?
• Deference to position and loyalty – Belshazzar had not learned from the life of King Nebuchadnezzar, that even the mightiest leaders follow a higher authority. He had no relationship with Daniel but came to him in crisis:
• Humility – King Darius, Darius had aimed to make him ruler over all.  Daniel had never looked for promotion or honor, even though his peers did.

Forced to Follow

 There is great little story tucked away in 2 Kings. It tells of a young girl who chooses the best for the one she is forced to follow. The writer of this book didn’t even see fit to record her name; I think he made a mistake. She is worthy of a name. But then, anonymity is the most common trait of followers.

This is how the tale begins: Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier…. but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife (2 kings 5:1,2) NIV.

I’ll contextualize this scene for our lives: A little girl from a Hebrew tribe was safe in her community. On this day she could be involved in any number of small jobs as she learned to help her mother.  Yet, in just a matter of moments, her life changed forever. What was the last thing she said to her mother, who screamed and lunged in helpless desperation as her daughter was ripped from her arms and her life. For a long time I’m sure this little girl wished she could die and be with her mother. The warriors traveled, one day, two days, and on and on. They could not keep the pace to which they were accustomed because their human cargo slowed them down. Even then, the pace was far beyond the capacity for this young life. When they arrived at their destination, she looked less the prize than she started out to be. She was given as a slave to the wife of Naaman. We know that Naaman’s wife treated her as her own, still, the little girl cried her self to sleep for many nights.

In time she accepted her situation. More than that, she forgave her captors. She forgave them because of a Hebrew mother who taught her that their God was a God of love and forgiveness. Even so, if she was at all like you and me, she must have been secretly happy that her master was afflicted with this terrible disease. After all, wasn’t that his punishment? Apparently she was less like me than I thought, for she only wished the best for him:

 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy… So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy (2 Kings 5:3,14) NIV.

Feelings of vindication at the failure of others have always been an ungodly but common quality. Christ taught a novel, counter-cultural way of responding to poor treatment. His advice was refreshing:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:41-44).

I am ashamed for the times I have gloated when the one I follow has stumbled after rejecting my advice.             Have you had these thoughts, “I knew it wouldn’t work,” in response to the failure of a plan that was clearly inferior to yours?

Or, “If only she had listened to me,”

How about, “If only he had allowed me to do it”

Or “She deserves it?”

If any one had a right to feel justified when Namaan contracted leprosy it was the slave girl, yet she chose what was best for this leader.

Jordan P James: whose doctoral dissertation focuses on followership discovered that: “Excellent followers had an underlying personal motivation that was both important to them and parallel to accomplishing their work in the spirit of the organization. In each case study the followers performed exemplary work. Moreover in doing so, each subject also used his or her respective act as an opportunity to demonstrate a related passion that also advanced the mission of the organization. Such parallel work appeared to be…an expression of personal values. An Investigation of Exemplary Acts of Followership: A multiple case study design. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education of the University of St. Thomas. By Jordan P James

I believe that the personal motivation of the slave girl was that she loved Yahweh, that this passion affected her personal values and was expressed through her actions as one forced to follow. This resulted in her captor being honored and God being revered.

 Failing to Follow

Jack chopped down the beanstalk and the giant landed with a bang. David dropped Goliath with a stone and it echoed throughout Israel. The bigger you are the harder you fall.  As our leadership and influence increase, our successes and mistakes have a greater impact. Our aptitude to follow goes a long way to determine if our impact will be constructive or destructive.             Some reach positions of leadership so lofty that they seem to follow no one.  Yet Scripture tells us that we are all under authority, and God ultimately gives this authority.

Peter writes: Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men (1 Peter 2:13-15) NIV.

The book of Romans reinforces the principle; “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1). We all answer to someone, if only to God. There is another truth, an oxymoron: submission to leadership must increase at the same rate as the level of leadership. Understanding this truth is vital because the influence of the leader increases with the level of responsibility. For example, if a youth intern in our church made a controversial statement about the doctrine of our organization, it would affect those who were under the influence of the intern. The same statement made by me would have a far greater sway on our church and those we influence. A similar proclamation coming from a denominational leader could undermine the organization. Influence increases the burden of responsibility and reduces freedom. Leaders, who follow, are no longer free to do as they please; rather, they are compelled to do what is best for those who follow them. At the same time God becomes more exacting and more demanding of His followers as He increases their influence.  The bible has many examples of influential leaders who paid a great price for failing to follow.

Lucifer, second only to God, paid the ultimate price because he did not follow in complete submission: “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 1:6).

Consider Adam and Eve:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26). That’s influence!

Adam and Eve had complete freedom with the exception of one non-negotiable rule: They were not to eat from one tree; this one act of disobedience changed their history and ours. God established a pattern that has remained consistent throughout history; the greater the level of influence granted the fewer the rules there are to follow; but those few rules that remain must be obeyed!

Moses and Aaron squandered 40 years of effort and did not see the Promised Land because they dishonored God in front their followers (Numbers 20:12).             King David disobeyed God when he counted his soldiers and 70,000 of his followers died (2 Samuel 24).              King Nebuchadnezzar spent seven years living as an animal because he did not recognize that he served someone greater than himself (Daniel 4:25-37).

King Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall and died for not honoring God (Daniel 5). There is a consequence for disobedience, and it corresponds directly with the level of influence held. God is less tolerant of the disobedience of leaders because the damage caused by their insubordination has a larger impact. That is why followers who desire to lead face the discipline of a loving God when they disobey.

The weaknesses you and I exhibit in following will be magnified in our role as leader. The need to control, criticism, impatience, insecurity, jealousy, gossip. Our sins are like weeds?

Barbara Kellerman identifies 5 types of follower:

Isolates – these are people who care little for their leaders and will rarely respond to them regardless of who they are. These people tend to keep a low profile, they want to stay out of the way and just get on with their job without ‘interference from above’.

Bystanders – on the other hand are the sorts of people who will offer little support to any leader. They will follow passively and really just observe things from the sidelines, rarely getting involved in very much. They differ from isolates in that they tend not to hide from being led or managed nor do they resent it like the isolates can do.

Participants – do care about the organization and do usually want to make an impact. If they agree with the leader they will actively support them, however if they think that the leader is wrong they will actively oppose them, sometimes behind their backs.

Activists – have strong beliefs both about the organization and their leaders. They will actively engage depending on how they see both. If they like what they see they will engage and help create even better conditions. If they don’t they will actively try to get rid of the leader.

Diehards – have the highest level of engagement in the organization and with the leaders and have high passions. If the leader is going (in their opinion) in the right direction they will dedicate all to them and become a disciple. If they think that a leader needs some help to develop they will engage with them, however if they think that the leader is destructive they will set out to destroy the leader.

Followership: How followers are creating change and changing leaders Barbara Kellerman

To follow means to follow, not to lead. To point not to our superior moral character but to the dimly seen figure out there that we are stumbling after. Frederick Buechner

There are few things more demoralizing than following someone with weaknesses that should have been addressed long. It is sad to listen to the stories of followers in positions relate the painful time they endure under leaders with unchecked flaws. We do our followers no favors by not confronting them on the qualities that do not honor God or God’s people.

Authentic Followership

Jordan, James P. AN INVESTIGATION OF EXEMPLARY ACTS OF FOLLOWERSHIP

Why Great followers make the best leaders

JBAM_7_3_5_Followership

FollowtheLeader

article-followership

Scott:

 The resurrection is threatening. Why? Because the resurrection shouts, it powerfully demonstrates, that we are not in control. Not in control of our world, our lives, or even our afterlives. It shouts that someone else is in control of the cosmos and everything in it. It shouts that Jesus is Lord. Of course, that forces us to make up our mind, whether we believe that, and asks us to commit to answering the question “Who do you say that I am?” The story of Palm Sunday, and in many ways the entire account of the Gospel, is all about people answering that question. As Jesus approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” - Luke 19:29-44 (TNIV)

We’re so familiar with this story and its characters, aren’t we? Jesus, of course; the two disciples sent on the errand; the Pharisees; even the donkey. Of course, there are actually hundreds, if not thousands, of people included in this story. We know them as “The Crowd,” and even though we don’t know them by name, they’ve all turned up to usher Jesus into the city. They’ve done that because every last one of them has some mix of hopes, expectations, and fears about who Jesus might be.

Some people are undoubtedly there because they’ve heard about Jesus’ many miracles, including the astounding feat of raising Lazarus from the dead, which happened nearby and just a short time earlier. I’m sure that others have come primarily because they’ve heard that he’s defied the priests – like the filmmakers of Jesus Christ Superstar, they are looking for a social radical who will upset the status quo. To some, Jesus probably seemed like the ultimate rabbi, quoting the Old Testament prophets at length and bringing new light to Law of Moses. It’s likely that the largest segment of the people who came to meet Jesus on that road from the Mount of Olives were looking for a leader. Charles Spurgeon, in one of his sermons on Palm Sunday says,

 There was an expectation upon the popular mind of the Jewish people, that Messiah was about to come. They expected him to be a temporal prince, one who would make war upon the Romans and restore to the Jews their lost nationality. There were many who, though they did not believe in Christ with a spiritual faith, nevertheless hoped that perhaps he might be to them a great temporal deliverer… - C. H. Spurgeon

They were looking for the legitimate successor to King David, who would come to lead the Israelite people to glory and a new golden age. Regardless of what those people thought about Jesus, they thought enough of him to come and see. But I’m struck when I read this story that there is someone we don’t hear about, who plays a central role in the drama of the Crucifixion that’s about to unfold. Pontius Pilate.

Think about it. Somewhere in this city, not too big of a city by our standards, the Roman governor of the province of Judea is sitting in some palace, and he hears a noise like distant thunder. He gets up from his dinner table and walks to a balcony. The whole city is spread out before him. Below him in the streets he can see people running towards one of the gates, and in the distance, partially obscured by the roofs, he can see flashes of banners and green leaves. He must have been able to make out the cheering and the singing. He must have heard the cries of “Hosanna!” and “King Jesus, King Jesus!’

He would have already been on high alert because of passover. The unruly masses of the Roman province of Judea were famous for rebelling, especially around the Feast of Passover. In fact, Harod’s Palace – the official residence of the Roman Prelate and the location of the main Roman garrison – was in Caesarea, about 112 km away from Jerusalem. But every year the governor would make a point of travelling that whole distance, along with several thousand Roman legionnaires, so that they could be in Jerusalem for the feast. Ready and waiting.

It is insane to think that Pilate would not have had soldiers racing back and forth between his command centre and the scene of this riot, giving him regular reports. And yet, those soldiers, his political representatives, and Pilate himself are nowhere to be found in this whole account.

Why not?

I suspect it’s because there’s not much to say about him. The Pharisees, the priests, the disciples, the crowds – they are all active participants in this story. Some are cheering Jesus, some are plowing a way for him through the streets, some are already plotting to kill him. One way or another, they have committed themselves to this drama.

But Pilate has not.

While Jesus is riding his donkey, and the people are taking to the streets and the priests are plotting murder, Pilate is sipping his wine. While Jesus is overturning tables at the temple, and Judas is accepting his bribe money, and Peter and the disciples are preparing the upper room, Pilate is remaining dispassionate, objective, and reserving judgement. And when it finally comes time to make a decision, he washes his hands of the whole affair. And that is a great tragedy.

Because Pilate has missed out. He was confronted with the same question we are: “Who do you say that I am?” and barely a week later, when the stone was rolled away from the tomb, what is that to him? He doesn’t get to celebrate with Jesus’ mother. He doesn’t experience a great revelation like Cleopas and his wife Mary, who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. He doesn’t even have the benefit of experiencing and knowing his own guilt like Judas.

Luke adds of a bit of a postscript to the story of the Triumphal Entry, telling us of Jesus’ reaction.

 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes…because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” – Luke 19:41,42,44 (TNIV)

I can’t help but feeling like Jesus may have been speaking to Pilate, and all those like him, who just couldn’t commit.

Darrell:

 Pilate went back inside and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate asked. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you here. Why? What have you done?” Then Jesus answered, “I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate replied, “You are a king then?” “You say that I am a king, and you are right,” Jesus said. “I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”…..“What is truth?” Pilate asked.  Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I’ll release the King of the Jews.” But they shouted back, “No! Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a criminal.) John 18: 33-40 NLT

Pilot is detached, objective, he has a healthy skepticism. He also asks thoughtful questions and – I don’t believe anyone expected this – he becomes an advocate for Christ.It seems to me that Pilot of all the participants in the crucifixion story understood Christ the most.  And when he asks, what is truth? He identifies one of the most important questions if not for all time, then certainly for our time. He is a spokesperson for 21 century western culture. But though he asks the best questions and has the most objective understanding of the Christ, he does not commit. Why?

C.S. Lewis in his process of becoming Christian asked similar questions. He wrote:

“So perhaps this story was indeed different from all the other myths – different because it happened, because it was a historical event rather than an imagined story.  But even so, there remained a still deeper problem: So what if it happened? So what if Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross? So what if he even rose from the dead?… “What I couldn’t understand was how the life and death of Someone Else  2000 years ago could help us here and now – except in so far as his example helped us. And this example business, though it is true and important, is not Christianity: Lewis continued : But, right in the centre of Christianity, in the Gospels and St.Paul, you keep on getting something….quite different ….and very mysterious.” – pg.147-148, The Narnian, Alan Jacobs

Lewis intuited, he grasped the essential part of the easter story.

When Beethoven played a new sonata for a friend, the friend asked him after that last note, “What does it mean?”  Beethoven returned to the piano, played the whole sonata again and said, “That is what it means. 

The difference between Pilot and Lewis is that Lewis was listening for more and he heard it, the music of the Spirit. He understood that the notes support the music and that music transcends the notes. He gave himself to the music

Leonard Sweet says, If you have to count the steps, you still can’t dance

We must embrace the music beyond the notes, the spirit beyond the words. There comes a point when we need to stop counting steps and start moving to the music of the Spirit. Proofs, arguments, facts may support truth but are not truth. We need to be more passionate, more subjective, more biased, we need to feel as much as we think.

We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

If Urban Bridge had been present the day Christ entered Jerusalem would we have thrown down our coats and palm leaves? Oh we would have thought about it and evaluated it, we would have had a conversation about it, but would we have committed ourselves? Would we have responded to the Spirit’s invitation to dance? I am challenged by Lewis words,“this example business, though it is true and important, is not Christianity:

You and I can commit to all the values of Urban Bridge, we can use these values to Bridge Christ and Urban Culture. We can participate in all kinds of redemptive acts, but is that what it means to be a follower of Christ?  Christ said to Pilot, and to Lewis and he says to you and me, “All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” You and I need to commit to the spirit of Christ who embodies the music by which we engage the dance of life. Christ is Truth

May we have ears to understand the meaning of Christ crucifixion beyond the event and the words.

We must get used to telling the story of God, Israel, Jesus, and the world as the true metanarrative, the story of healing and self-giving love. We must get used to living as those who have truly died and risen with Christ so that our self, having been thoroughly deconstructed, can be put back together, not by the agendas that the world presses upon us, but by God’s spirit. http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Resurrection_Postmodern.htm

May we embrace the music of the spirit beyond the notes and may we commit to a passionate leaf throwing, coat dropping following of Christ.

Peter Rollins says this: A mythology can be described as a narrative that brings meaning, order and stability to our fragmented experience. At its most stark it is a narrative that reassures us everything makes sense, everything has a purpose and everything is in its place. When confronted by chaos and unknowing a mythology is a story that enables us to cover over the cracks. Rollins http://peterrollins.net/?p=1545

In these weeks leading up to Easter we are going to talk about Christ’s death and Resurrection. We want de-mythologize the Resurrection

The Threat of the Resurrection:

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about. Luke 18: 31-34 NIV

I believe that too often we sanitize this story, we over simplify it. We create our own Easter myth so that the death and resurrection of Christ is measurable, controllable, predicable. A simple story we can share in three points.

It is perfectly natural for us to construct mythologies to make sense of our fragmented and complex world. However it is a mistake to read the Crucifixion in this way. …The Crucifixion signals an experience in which all that grounds us and gives us meaning collapses. On the cross Christ is rejected by his friends, betrayed by the religious authorities and crucified by the political leaders. We witness here, in the starkest of terms, the loss of all those structures that ground us and give us the sense that life makes sense. Rollins http://peterrollins.net/?p=1545

Or, as Christ said, (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”).

Humanities’ desire to impose myths on the death and resurrection of Christ may be why Christ hid the meaning from the disciples.

They were very familiar the O.T. prophesies of David, Isaiah and Zechariah regarding the Messiah’s death and resurrection.

They accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Yet they wanted to impose their own understandable version of the coming kingdom.

NT Wright shares these thoughts: It is not simply that Jesus’ followers knew from Deuteronomy that a crucified person was under God’s curse. Nor was it simply that they had not yet worked out a theology of Jesus’ atoning death. The crucifixion already had, for them, a perfectly clear theological as well as political meaning: It meant that the exile was still continuing, that God had not forgiven Israel’s sins, and that pagans were still ruling the world. The Resurrection and the Postmodern Dilemma (Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 41.2, 1998. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright

They were all about the glory, joy and peace associated with the Messiah but could not accept that suffering and death and uncertainty is also a part Christ’s story….and it is our story as followers of Christ.

Why didn’t God open their eyes to this truth? Probably because they couldn’t handle it yet.
If they really knew what would happen to Jesus, and how different it would be than their own conceptions of riding the coattails of the Messiah to glory, they might have given up right then and there. David Guzik

Matthew Henry a 17 century bible scholar remarked that “ we are only for the smooth things”

The disciples were so immersed in their own myth that they failed to notice the cosmic rupture that Christ’s death initiated:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Matthew 27: 50-54 NIV

• Darkness. • An earth quake. • A veil 60 feet x 30 ft x 4 inches which requires 300 men to manipulate each side is torn from top to bottom. • Zombies: Shades of the walking dead – tombs opened and the dead raised to life. And that is just what we can see.

What happened in the spiritual realm is quite frankly, unimaginable, too much to be explained by a myth.The cosmic rupture initiated by Christ’s death continues to this day. The Spirit of Christ unsettles us, challenges us, confronts us, and comforts us and will do so until a new heaven and earth are fully realized.

Scott
The disciples thought that they knew where Jesus was heading; they were supremely confident of it, in fact. James and John were so sure that they knew what the plan was that they asked to be given lead roles. Peter was absolutely positive that he would never doubt Jesus’ divine identity or his mission – he didn’t think there would ever be reason to. They had a good bead on things. And they were totally wrong.

All of a sudden their whole take on the situation was changed, and all their expectations were shattered. Jesus was betrayed by one of their own, arrested, and hauled in front of the authorities. And they kept expecting that at any moment he would issue the call to arms, that he would bring down holy fire on his enemies, and that the Christ would rise up in power to lead a glorious and holy revolution. And then: catastrophe.

The priests condemned him, the people rejected him, the romans made an example of him, and then he was lifted up, but not as they had hoped. Instead, he was lifted up on the wood of the cross. Total defeat. The disciples were scattered: confused, leaderless, and despondent.

We like to think that we know better than they did. Every year we come to Good Friday and the Crucifixion and we see the Resurrection right around the corner. We look forward to it with a certain sense of anticipation. Because we somehow think that we get the Resurrection, and we think that it means that we’re safe; which is ridiculous.
I’m reminded of the children’s question to the Beavers in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: “Is Aslan safe?”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” The resurrection is profoundly good, but it is not safe.

The cosmic rupture that began on the day of the Crucifixion is still happening, echoing through the universe and upsetting our reality. The crucifixion and the resurrection are not static events that took place sometime in the distant past. Even now Christ is lifted up on the cross. Even now Christ lies dead in the tomb. Even now the stone is being rolled away. And even now Jesus. Is. Alive. That is the power, the promise, and the danger of the resurrection.

The story doesn’t end with the crucifixion, or the resurrection. It continues right on through to pentecost and beyond. The disciples were part of it and so are we.

Listen to how St. Paul describes it: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-24 (NRSV)
St. Paul describes Jesus’ resurrection as the first-fruits.
The first-fruits. As in, /not/ the end. That is still to come. Right now, Jesus is alive, and he is doing a new thing. We had better take notice! We live in a world in the midst of recreation. Streams of living water are flowing from the cross, and even as they wash away the world as we know it, they are feeding the new creation that is surging up all around us.

This is a risky place for us to be standing. We are in danger of having the ground washed from under our feet. But we also have the opportunity to start participating in this new creation. The resurrection is ongoing, and we are called to be a part of it.

We cannot allow the resurrection to remain a story that we retell year after year. If we do that, it becomes static and we rob it of its power. The power, promise, and danger of the resurrection is that Jesus is alive and his work in creation is ongoing. We are called to assist in that work and allow our lives to reflect the resurrection in the world.

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Lent Wk 3

Living the witness of Christ sacrifice

It is scary thing to talk about Christ to those who don’t know Him. I like how Donald Miller shared this angst of witnessing in his book, Blue Like Jazz. He said, “I believe in Jesus, I believe he’s the Son of God; but every time I try to sit down and explain it to them, I feel like a palm reader.”
So how do we reconcile Christ’s declaration for us to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth?
We feel guilty about our failure to share the witness of our story of following Christ yet are relieved at not sounding like a palm reader
Consider a different approach. Jesus also said that we would be known and defined by our love for others (John 13:34, 35).
When we have exhausted St. Francis of Assisi’s counsel, to “preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary” it may be then that we are in a position to let conversations of faith and Christ begin naturally as a result of open, honest, and authentic relationships.

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