Faith Venture

Can you be both gentle and forceful? Sounds like a paradox. Nineteenth Century European philosophers picked up on two things from contemporary Christian churches. First an attitude–Jesus was meek and Christians should emulate him as sheep. Second was politics–European Christian churches sided with wealth (to keep the donations coming) while telling the poor to be satisfied in the afterlife. These attitudes influenced both Marx and Nietzsche with awful consequences.

There is no way to read the Gospels without coming to the conclusion that Jesus had a forceful personality. He had “backbone” as they’d say in the country. Mark’s description of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem does not paint a picture of a quiet, gentle, feminine man. Jesus clears the temple of commerce (his only physical act of violence recorded). He stands up to the leaders of his faith and his country with deft verbal sparring–including telling a story that is a thinly veiled condemnation of them (the vineyard owner and the tenants). He leads his followers into unknown territory. And he faces death with grace and courage. Obviously philosophers and theologians of the time were mistaken.

Jesus also could deal gently and tenderly with people who were afflicted with demons and disabilities. His typical personality was gentle, but his forceful personality kept him focused on his mission.

Actually, emulating Jesus as the pioneer of our faith (as the writer of Hebrews puts it) guides us through life. A person living with-God bears the spiritual fruit of gentleness. But when adversity or adversaries arise, the strength and force of Jesus helps us stay on course.

I guess there’s a phrase in modern poker where you bet all your money–“I’m All In.” When the rich man came to Jesus and said he had followed all the laws but still didn’t have assurance of eternal life, essentially Jesus told him, “You have to be All In.” Being a rule follower wasn’t enough, your whole life–including your money and possessions–need to be dedicated to God.

When he went away sad, Jesus told his followers that it was hard for a rich man to be saved. Not impossible, but hard. The followers were astounded. “Who can be saved?” they asked. Now surely Mark knew what he was doing when he placed this story immediately after the story of blessing children. First Jesus says that we should bless children (in an age where they didn’t dote on them) and be like them in order to inherit eternal life. Then he says that it’s almost impossible for rich people–the most honored people in society–to have eternal life.

No wonder his closest followers, those chosen to be leaders after Jesus left, took so long to figure all this out. They were continually hit with these teachings that overturned their attitudes, expectations and view of society. I’m betting that the same holds true today. We still worship being rich and most people think that being rich is a sign of God’s blessing. That’s not true. Just like being poor is automatically a sign of blessing. No, it’s all an individual thing. When you look at another person, you don’t evaluate external things. Do they seem to be living with God?

How about you? Are you caught in external things? Merely following rules without thought? Looking up to the wrong people? Or, are you trying to live each minute with God?