Lies of simplicity
This week is on John 4:1-3:
Jesus was constantly on the run, like Osama bin Laden. He wasn't a threat to the state or to the established religious body, but they felt as if he was. They feared that the tithes and taxes that they were accustomed to receiving would dry up if people saw another authority as offering a legitimate connection to God and to freedom, healing, power, etc. I'll probably talk more about that in the coming weeks. This week is about what that meant from Jesus' perspective, as an unintentional spiritual insurgent in a hostile land. (I say unintentional, not to suggest that Jesus somehow didn't know what he was doing, but that no controversy would have been necessary had people been receptive to the truth. The kingdom he offered was in perfect harmony with secular rule and established religion, if those bodies would recognize God's authority and truth.)
People often don't consider Jesus' position. The concerns of the Pharisees about his growing popularity were a problem to him. You wouldn't think it would be. Wouldn't God just grease the path and oil the hinges on all doors? Shouldn't things just magically happen for a guy doing the will of God? If we were to do Jesus' ministry today, in a land hostile to the gospel, people would probably point to stuff like the church's persecution or the government's suspicion as evidence that God wasn't in his work. Or they would point to Jesus' life on the run, and accuse him of being a coward, or of being ashamed of the gospel.
There are a ton of books and videos out, written by successful Christians with successful ministries, describing picture-perfect experiences with God. They are constantly delivered from danger, and ushered into prime missions opportunities. Those are true experiences, but we can get the wrong impression from reading them. Books by Christians who got beaten, raped, and imprisoned the first time they preached the gospel aren't going to be as popular. The Christian path isn't always easy. I mean, if God didn't make Jesus' ministry plan foolproof, what's to suggest that he would automatically do it for you or me? It's something to consider. Not everybody gets the fairy tale.
When things go well, we're very lucky. When they go poorly, we still have work to do. Jesus counted the cost of what he was doing, and still chose to stick with it. He wasn't there to deny the world its free will and force it into a spiritual decision like some cosmic nanny. He was there to present the truth to the people who needed it for as long as it was God's will for him to do it. If that meant living like a fugitive for part of that time, that was part of the cost.
Sometimes the problem of a hostile government or a jealous church won't go away on its own. We need God's wisdom to work around it. How do we do what we need to do in that environment, without getting ejected before our game is over? Jesus knew how to do that. He spent a lot of time consulting with the father, asking for direction, protection, wisdom, etc. He had access to all of the power of heaven. He could have called down fireballs from heaven, or magically teleported himself out of prison, or cursed the pharisees and roman occupiers with leprosy. The fact that he didn't is significant.
The suggestion that life is always going to be easy is a lie. There is no guarantee in our calling that bad things won't happen and that misguided people and governments won't get in our way. We need a connection to God in order to know how to handle that. Yes, we have the power of God, the same as Jesus did, but the will of God is not always to go in with guns blazing and cameras rolling. Sometimes it involves some compassion and patience, and the willingness to pay the price of others' ignorance. Jesus was simultaneously in the perfect will of God and living the life of a hunted man who was ultimately put to death.
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Jesus was constantly on the run, like Osama bin Laden. He wasn't a threat to the state or to the established religious body, but they felt as if he was. They feared that the tithes and taxes that they were accustomed to receiving would dry up if people saw another authority as offering a legitimate connection to God and to freedom, healing, power, etc. I'll probably talk more about that in the coming weeks. This week is about what that meant from Jesus' perspective, as an unintentional spiritual insurgent in a hostile land. (I say unintentional, not to suggest that Jesus somehow didn't know what he was doing, but that no controversy would have been necessary had people been receptive to the truth. The kingdom he offered was in perfect harmony with secular rule and established religion, if those bodies would recognize God's authority and truth.)
People often don't consider Jesus' position. The concerns of the Pharisees about his growing popularity were a problem to him. You wouldn't think it would be. Wouldn't God just grease the path and oil the hinges on all doors? Shouldn't things just magically happen for a guy doing the will of God? If we were to do Jesus' ministry today, in a land hostile to the gospel, people would probably point to stuff like the church's persecution or the government's suspicion as evidence that God wasn't in his work. Or they would point to Jesus' life on the run, and accuse him of being a coward, or of being ashamed of the gospel.
There are a ton of books and videos out, written by successful Christians with successful ministries, describing picture-perfect experiences with God. They are constantly delivered from danger, and ushered into prime missions opportunities. Those are true experiences, but we can get the wrong impression from reading them. Books by Christians who got beaten, raped, and imprisoned the first time they preached the gospel aren't going to be as popular. The Christian path isn't always easy. I mean, if God didn't make Jesus' ministry plan foolproof, what's to suggest that he would automatically do it for you or me? It's something to consider. Not everybody gets the fairy tale.
When things go well, we're very lucky. When they go poorly, we still have work to do. Jesus counted the cost of what he was doing, and still chose to stick with it. He wasn't there to deny the world its free will and force it into a spiritual decision like some cosmic nanny. He was there to present the truth to the people who needed it for as long as it was God's will for him to do it. If that meant living like a fugitive for part of that time, that was part of the cost.
Sometimes the problem of a hostile government or a jealous church won't go away on its own. We need God's wisdom to work around it. How do we do what we need to do in that environment, without getting ejected before our game is over? Jesus knew how to do that. He spent a lot of time consulting with the father, asking for direction, protection, wisdom, etc. He had access to all of the power of heaven. He could have called down fireballs from heaven, or magically teleported himself out of prison, or cursed the pharisees and roman occupiers with leprosy. The fact that he didn't is significant.
The suggestion that life is always going to be easy is a lie. There is no guarantee in our calling that bad things won't happen and that misguided people and governments won't get in our way. We need a connection to God in order to know how to handle that. Yes, we have the power of God, the same as Jesus did, but the will of God is not always to go in with guns blazing and cameras rolling. Sometimes it involves some compassion and patience, and the willingness to pay the price of others' ignorance. Jesus was simultaneously in the perfect will of God and living the life of a hunted man who was ultimately put to death.
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