OK, so that’s a headline more designed to be provocative than to be answered. I’m back in Ohio staring out at dawn breaking through my magnolia on Colonial Drive. And 30 degrees chillier than yesterday as I prepare for my run.
Ah, preparation. Today is the Thursday before Easter. This day some 2,000 years ago, Jesus had dinner with his closest friends. Their last act together before the momentous events to come. We commemorate two of the acts. Some have turned them into rituals. Others call it remembrance. There is, of course, communion (or Holy Communion). Not remembered as well was the demonstration of servant leadership through the act of foot washing. This has either been forgotten or turned into a symbolic ritual.
What started the thoughts I’m pondering today was a car on the Miami expressway we passed on the way to the airport. The owner had hung a large cross from the rear view mirror. And I thought, how can we have so many Christians, yet seemingly we have such little impact on the world?
That may not be a fair thought. It just popped into my head. But I’ve been pondering it. What has been my impact? Am I Jesus to the people around me? Or, do I get trapped in rituals or bumper-sticker Christianity? You know, theology by slogan.
In communion, we celebrate (I hope you do, at least) Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. But I think we forget the foot washing too often. It’s what Jesus really wanted us to remember. As a leader, am I too prone to human failings of desire for power and prestige? Or, am I serving those who follow me–only to turn them loose in turn to do the same?
Jesus was thinking about the Monday after Easter. What are we to do after the resurrection? Go and serve.
Faith Venture 
April 5, 2012 at 9:48 am |
Good Thoughts..to extend the thought is the question asked by Francis Chan in his book Crazy Love, ” what are you doing now that causes you to live by faith”?