Category Archives: Compelling Leadership

Leading the way Jesus led.

Vision to Help Your Church or Ministry to Become More Missional

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Developing a missional vision is crucial for churches and ministries seeking to engage in God’s transformative work in the world. It goes beyond traditional paradigms of church and opens doors to innovative approaches that impact communities with the Gospel. In this blog post, we will explore key principles for developing a missional vision, drawing insights from theology, biblical passages, and the wisdom of missional practitioners. By embracing a missional vision, we can align our churches and ministries with God’s mission, actively participating in His redemptive work and making a difference in the lives of people.

Vision: Embracing God’s Mission and Kingdom Mandate

To develop a missional vision, we must first embrace God’s mission and recognize His Kingdom mandate. As believers, we are called to join God in His redemptive work. This understanding is rooted in Scripture, as Jesus commissions His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Many Christians (especially Wesleyans) interpret this as a holistic call that encompasses evangelism, discipleship, social justice, and cultural engagement.

Theologically speaking, we recognize the centrality of God’s grace in our missional endeavors. It is through God’s transforming grace that we are empowered to proclaim the Good News and invite others into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. This grace extends to all people, and our missional vision should reflect God’s inclusive love and desire for all to experience His salvation.

“The world is my parish.” – John Wesley

Vision: Cultivating a Discipleship Culture

A missional vision requires cultivating a discipleship culture within the church or ministry. Discipleship is not merely a program but a way of life. As Christians, we should emphasize the transformation of heart and character through the power of the Holy Spirit. A missional vision compels us to nurture disciples who actively participate in God’s mission, equipped to share their faith and embody the love of Christ in their daily lives.

Quoting John Wesley’s emphasis on “holiness of heart and life,” we recognize the importance of personal holiness in missional leadership. It is through our own transformed lives that we become effective witnesses for Christ. As we grow in Christlikeness, we model the transformative power of the Gospel, inspiring others to follow Jesus and experience His love.

“The spirit of a movement calls for leaders who long for God’s guidance themselves and know how to help others find it though deep spiritual conversation. Disciple-making leaders will do the work of spiritual guides by investing in a few at a time. Those few, in turn, become capable of multiplying that investment in the lives of many other…This is the pursuit of mission-shaped discipleship” – Phil Meadows of the Inspire Movement

Vision: Contextualizing Ministry and Engaging the Culture

Developing a missional vision requires an understanding of the cultural context in which we minister. It involves listening to the needs and aspirations of the community and discerning how the Gospel can be communicated effectively. Contextualization does not compromise the truth but enables us to bridge the gap between biblical principles and the lived experiences of people. By engaging the culture, we create spaces for authentic encounters with God.

From theologians and missiologists (as seen in this work by Shawn Behan), we learn the significance of contextualizing ministry. The missional leader recognizes the diversity of contexts and seeks to communicate the unchanging Gospel in ways that resonate with the culture. This requires humility, cultural sensitivity, and a willingness to learn from the people we serve. Through contextualization, we demonstrate God’s relevance and His desire to meet people where they are.

“A Christian congregation is…God’s embassy in a specific place.” – Lesslie Nebigin

Vision: Collaboration and Partnerships

Missional leadership involves fostering collaboration and partnerships with other churches, organizations, and individuals who share a common mission. By working together, we can pool our resources, expertise, and passions to make a greater impact on the world. Collaboration allows us to break down denominational and organizational barriers, recognizing that we are united in the mission of making disciples and advancing God’s Kingdom.

In the spirit of collaboration, we draw inspiration from the early Wesleyan movement, where John Wesley and his colleagues formed societies, classes, and bands to support and hold one another accountable in their mission. This relational aspect of missional leadership emphasizes the importance of building strong partnerships within and beyond our own church or ministry. Through collaboration, we can share resources, ideas, and strategies, maximizing our collective efforts to reach more people with the transformative message of the Gospel.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4.9-12

Conclusion

Drawing from theology, biblical passages, and the insights of theologians, missiologists, and missional practitioners, we have explored the vital role of missional leadership in developing a missional vision. By integrating these principles into our churches and ministries, we can create spaces where people encounter the living Christ, experience authentic discipleship, and become agents of God’s love and transformation in their communities.

Let us commit ourselves to developing a missional vision that reflects God’s heart for the lost, the broken, and the marginalized. May our churches and ministries become beacons of hope, compassion, and transformation in a world that desperately needs the Gospel. Together, let us embrace the call to be missional leaders, proclaiming the Good News and advancing God’s Kingdom for His glory and the flourishing of all people.

Missional Leadership in the Church is Vital

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In the tapestry of the Church, missional leadership weaves together the threads of vision, purpose, and action to propel God’s transformative mission in the world. In this post, we will explore the indispensable role of missional leadership in the life of the church, drawing from pertinent sources.

Understanding Missional Leadership:

This sort of leadership is rooted in the biblical mandate to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). It encompasses shepherding, equipping, and mobilizing the church to engage in God’s mission. As theologian Nels Niemandt states, “The core function of missional leaders is to discern what the Spirit is up to and then to lead the congregation in joining in God’s mission.”

The Biblical Foundation of Missional Leadership:

The biblical narrative is replete with examples of missional leadership. The Apostle Paul, a prominent figure in early Christianity, exemplified missional leadership through his passion for sharing the Gospel with diverse cultures and contexts (Acts 13-28). His life and teachings encourage us to be intentional and bold in proclaiming Christ.

The Missional Leader’s Vision and Discernment:

Missional leadership involves cultivating a vision that aligns with God’s purposes. Like Nehemiah, who envisioned the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls (Nehemiah 2:17), missional leaders have the discernment to identify God’s mission for their specific context and inspire others to participate.

The Call to Transformational Discipleship:

Missional leadership emphasizes transformative discipleship, which extends beyond mere knowledge to a holistic commitment to following Christ, no matter the cost. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Missional leaders challenge believers to live out their faith authentically and sacrificially.

Cultivating a Missional Culture:

Missional leadership involves cultivating a culture of missional engagement within the church. It entails equipping and empowering individuals to live out their faith in everyday contexts. The late missiologist Lesslie Newbigin advocated for the church’s missional engagement, stating, “The congregation is the hermeneutic of the Gospel.”

Collaboration and Partnership in Missional Leadership:

This kind of leadership recognizes the value of collaboration and partnership with other churches, organizations, and individuals. As the Apostle Paul highlights in his letters, diverse gifts and perspectives contribute to the overall effectiveness of God’s mission (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Thus, no one leader, one church, or one association of churches has cornered the market on what it means to follow Jesus in our increasingly-complicated world.

Incarnational Presence and Contextualization:

Leaders on mission embody an incarnational presence, immersing themselves in the cultural, social, and spiritual contexts of the communities they serve. They seek to understand and engage with the unique needs, hopes, and challenges of those they minister to, as Jesus did during His earthly ministry. In other words, they do their best to understand their context in order to live and share the gospel well, while inspiring others to do so as well.

Embracing Risk and Adaptability:

Missional leadership requires a willingness to take risks and adapt to changing circumstances. This willingness is grounded in trust and dependence on God’s guidance. As scholar Joe Dongell affirms, “Seeing the church as an evolving, adaptive organism alive with the life of the Spirit and responsive to discerned needs has freed church leaders and theologians to propose and experiment with new forms of organizing, of leading, and of “doing” church.” The safe route of doing things the way we have always done things simply won’t work any longer.

Missional Leadership in Action:

The leadership needed today is not limited to church programs but encompasses a holistic approach to ministry. It involves integrating evangelism, social action, justice, and mercy as interconnected expressions of God’s love. For example, the Early Church provides a compelling model of missional leadership, as they passionately shared the Gospel and met the needs of their communities (Acts 2:42-47).

Missional Leadership in a Pluralistic Society:

In our increasingly pluralistic society, missional leaders are called to engage with people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs. They embrace the Wesleyan notion of prevenient grace, recognizing the presence of God’s grace at work in all people’s lives. This approach allows for meaningful dialogue and relationships that can lead to transformative encounters with the Gospel.

The Role of Prayer and Spirituality:

Leadership like this is sustained and guided by a deep connection with God through prayer and spiritual disciplines. John Wesley, a renowned theologian and founder of the Methodist movement, emphasized the importance of personal piety and communal worship as sources of spiritual strength. By nurturing their own spiritual lives, missional leaders inspire and equip others to do the same.

Assessing Missional Impact and Effectiveness:

Effective leaders engage in ongoing assessment and evaluation to ensure that their efforts align with God’s mission. They seek to measure impact not solely in numbers but also in the transformation of lives and communities. This process allows for continual growth, adaptation, and faithful stewardship of the resources entrusted to them.

Conclusion

Therefore, missional leadership is a vital and transformative force within the Church. Grounded in biblical principles, it calls believers to actively participate in God’s mission to reconcile and restore the world. As missional leaders, let us embrace the call to vision, discipleship, cultural engagement, collaboration, adaptability, and prayerful dependence on God. By doing so, we become catalysts for transformative change, bringing the light of Christ to every corner of our communities and the world.

May we embody the leadership needed for today as a profound expression of God’s love and grace, drawing people into a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ.

Collaborative Leadership: New Wine Podcast #024

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I’m kick starting my podcast once again!

Check out my latest addition on collaborative leadership!  You can listen to it on the bottom of this post, on iTunes, or on Stitcher.

If you like it, would you please rate it and even leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher?  That would be super cool!

Also, if you’d like to help support the creative process that helps bring this podcast to life, then please check out my Patreon page (http://patreon.com/JMatthewBarnes).  There are some fun rewards there for folks who pledge support although any level support will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

 

 

Pentecost Prayer in Light of the Santa Fe, Texas School Shooting

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There’s a hour and 45 minutes of Pentecost Sunday 2018 left.  I wanted to share my pastoral prayer from this morning’s service here on my blog.  I hope it speaks to you.

On this Pentecost Sunday on which millions of Christians around the world are remembering and celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to the faithful disciples of Jesus almost two thousand years ago, we too anticipate the coming of your Holy Spirit!

  • May your Spirit come this morning and be with us as we sing praises, pray together, and learn from your Word.
  • May your Spirit come into the life of this church, empowering us and encouraging us to live for Jesus where we work, live, and play and to be unified together as one body.
  • May your Spirit come into our lives as individuals, teaching us and giving us strength to live for you and to participate in the coming of your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
  • May your Spirit come and bring comfort to those who are distressed, mourning, and ill.
    • May he bring hope and healing in the community of Santa Fe, Texas where another senseless school shooting has occurred and may he bring wisdom to officials in our country to come up with some solutions that will place the lives of our children in the highest regard.
    • May the Spirit bring hope and healing in Gaza, Venezuela, India, Indonesia, Cuba, North Korea, and so many other places that are wracked with death, war, and political uncertainty.
  • May the Spirit bring hope and healing to the millions around the world who are suffering from illness and injury, including those in our very church and those in my very family who are suffering so.
  • And may your Spirit come into the life of your Church around the world and right here in Alhambra and the Western San Gabriel Valley.  May he spur us on toward unity and toward sharing and being the good news of your Son Jesus.  May he teach us how to put the interests of others before our own, even those with whom we disagree and even those that we may consider enemies.

Father in Heaven, we anticipate with great expectation the continued coming of your Spirit into our lives as individuals and as a church.  May we respond with gratitude and humility.  May we obey his promptings and demonstrate the power the he gives us so that those who don’t know you might come to do so.

We pray this all in the mighty name of Jesus.  Amen.

 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.  Thanks.

#WagePeace: New Wine Podcast #023

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I’ve been thinking about #AltonSterling, #PhilandoCastile, #DylanNoble, and the #DallasPoliceDepartment tonight.  Here’s my question: How do we respond?

I answer this question in my latest podcast.  You can listen to it on the bottom of this post, on iTunes, or on Stitcher.

If you like it, would you please rate it and even leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher?  That would be super cool!

Also, if you’d like to help support the creative process that helps bring this podcast to life, then please check out my Patreon page (http://patreon.com/JMatthewBarnes).  There are some fun rewards there for folks who pledge support although any level support will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Absurd Trust

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At the bottom, faith in Jesus is utterly absurd.  Those of us who have followed Jesus for a long time take completely for granted things that are impossible to understand, much less trust.

Let’s just run through a few things that we believe that are hard to wrap our minds around:

  • God created everything seen and unseen out of absolutely nothing.
  • This all-powerful God of the entire universe cares about each of us.
  • God has always existed as Father, Son, and Spirit — three persons, yet one essence.
  • The second person of the Trinity, Jesus, became fully human while remaining fully God.
  • And Jesus did this because he loves humans, though none of us deserve his love.
  • Jesus, who was fully human, never sinned.
  • Jesus was killed as a rebel but was raised from the dead by the power of God.
  • Subsequent to Jesus’ death, the Spirit was sent to live within all who follow Jesus.
  • The God of the universe empowers his broken followers to live out his divine mission.
  • God calls together a community of diverse people who can love one another more closely than family.
  • And at the end Jesus will return to earth in power to serve as ultimate Judge.

And that’s just a few things!  Any item from that list could be examined on it’s own and could be labeled as patently absurd!

What we believe can really seem bonkers, which is easy to forget when we’re inundated with it all the time.

But there’s another aspect of following Jesus that’s absurd as well, namely, that Jesus can do great things with very little starting material.

We see this very plainly in John 6, which I’ll focus on for the rest of this post.

What’s Absurd in John 6?

Let’s look at John 6.5-9:

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.  Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”  Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

It’s pretty easy to see what’s absurd in this passage.  Andrew brings a boy’s small lunch to Jesus in response to a massive and hungry crowd of people.  What did he think Jesus was going to do with such a small amount of food?  Even in offering it us, Andrew waffled a bit when he said “but how far will [it] go among so many?”

Isn’t Philip’s response to Jesus’ question a bit more reasonable?  I mean, doesn’t it make more sense to take in the whole situation, do a quick quantitative analysis, and then present the facts?  Philip was right in what he said.  He was reasonable.  It would take a fortune for everyone to just have a little.

But when Philip was doing his calculations in his head, he forgot about the one huge wildcard, the one factor that makes the absurd possible.  That wildcard, that factor is Jesus.

And, if we remember rightly, Andrew, Philip, and all the rest already know that Jesus deals in the absurd all the time.  He turned a huge amount of water into really fine wine (John 2).  He healed a man who had been disabled for more than most people lived at the time (John 5).  And now a huge group of people were following him around because he had healed the sick (John 6.2).

They should have and could have known better.  And they perhaps would have known better had either of them been given three days to think things through.

But right there in the moment Andrew leaned on being realistic and strategic.  And even though Philip’s response could be seen as hopeful or even faithful, he ultimately hedged his bets by casting doubt on the situation.

We know the end of this story, Jesus causes the absurd once more.  He turns this little boy’s lunch into enough food to feed 5000+ people to fullness, with a bunch of leftovers remaining.

Jesus didn’t just use this as an opportunity to feed some people who would get hungry again.  No!  Instead, for Jesus this became a prime opportunity to engage in some leadership development.  Jesus knew that for his followers to begin truly to have absurd faith, they would have to be walked through the process carefully.  And he was willing and patient enough to take on this task.

Absurd Faith Today

What about now? Is Jesus still walking us through opportunities to trust him, no matter how crazy the scenarios we face might be?

Is he still teaching us to be curious and faithful?

The answers, of course, are “yes.”

Think abut this: Jesus came to accomplish a major rescue and restoration project on all of humanity.  He got the ball rolling (to put it lightly!) and then he entrusted this mission to us.

Us.  Broken, sinful, untrusting us.  How utterly ridiculous!

How does he expect us to do this?  How does Jesus expect us to help him fulfill this mission?

Here are a few initial thoughts:

  1. Seek divine guidance. The first thing that we must do in order to build absurd trust in God into our lives is by reaching out to him.  We need to pray and ask God to help us trust him more and more.  And when we face crazy situations in life, and we will!, that’s when we need to pray for his guidance…and then do whatever he leads us to do!  And it will help us to peruse the Scriptures seeking to learn how God taught others to have this kind of trust in him and then attempt to make ourselves open to the same kind of divine assistance too.  And, very importantly, we will be best served to seek this divine guidance within community so that we can hold each other accountable and encourage one another.
  2. Submit to the Spirit. “Submit” is a pretty dirty word these days but it’s vital if we want to trust God more and more.  Why?  Because we are tempted to submit to all sorts of other things and people…and we often give in!  What are some of those things that compete for our submission?  Our selfish desires, our friends and family, our bosses, out cultural standards, money, power, possessions, comfort, etc., etc.  Instead of submitting to all of those things, let’s submit to the Spirit, who will most assuredly lead us into deeper faith.
  3. Hold to our strategies loosely. Philip wasn’t wrong to think things through.   But perhaps he was wrong in that he held to his strategy too tightly; so much so that he couldn’t see past it.  So as we seek to be closer to Jesus, become more missional, lead better, be better spouses, friends, parents, etc., let’s not let our versions of what will work get in the way of God’s version of what actually will work!
  4. Give to Jesus what we have access to. I’m being a little bit tongue-in-cheek here because Jesus already owns all that we have and all that we can potentially get.  It’s all his.  But when we pretend that we can selfishly hold stuff for ourselves, we miss out on opportunities to see what God might do with whatever we have to offer, even if it’s just some bread and fish.  So, our job is to turn all that we steward back to God (not just 10%)!  In so doing we will witness him do great things with what we have given him, thus making us more likely to trust him the next time!
  5. Be consistent in our efforts. It is hard to have absurd faith that God can do anything.  But as we make a habit of doing it more and more, it will become a more regular occurrence in our lives.  It will never be easy because we all still have to deal with the gravitational pull of our selfishness.  But with consistency we can build habits that in turn will grow into deeply-rooted patterns of behavior.  And that’s the zone that we all want to be in!
  6. Allow our trust to grow with evidence. But the Enemy and our old way of doing things won’t quit easily!  When we exhibit this kind of faith in God and he comes through like he so often does (though in surprising ways that don’t always match our expectations), we might be tempted to explain away how God moved.  Maybe it was a fluke.  Maybe it was really our efforts and skill.  Maybe this, maybe that.  But if we give God the credit he deserves, then our trust in him can grow so that the next time we’ll be a bit more likely to lean on him no matter what.

 

What do you think about absurd faith?  What’s difficult about it?  How can we make it a larger part of our lives?  Let me know in the comments below!

Haters Gonna Hate

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Haters were a major part of Jesus’ life.  How did he deal with them?  Did he focus on them?  Did he ignore them?  Did he let the haters get in the way of what he was doing?  Or did he try to appease them by softening his message?

Let’s find out!

Jesus and Some Haters

Since Jesus had a knack for valuing people over rules created by people, he healed a man on the Sabbath in John 5.  This caused the haters to come out of the woodwork!

Jesus told the man he healed to pick up his mat and walk.  When the man did, some Jewish leaders, probably a few vocal Pharisees, told him that carrying one’s mat was considered work and that he shouldn’t do that on the Sabbath.  The healed man told them that he was doing as he was told by the man who healed him.

After a little while Jesus saw the man again at the Temple and checked in on him.  After he did so the healed man went right over to tell the Jewish leaders (AKA the haters), who it was that healed him.

This caused the haters to go into action again.  It appears that they were angry that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath, which they must have considered a “work.”

Jesus’ response infuriated them even further.  He said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5.17).  They were really mad that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath and that he called God his Father, which they interpreted as claiming equality with God.  So they decided all the more that they would try to kill Jesus.  These haters really overreacted to Jesus’ statement BIG TIME!

So how did Jesus respond?  Did he run away with his tail between his legs?  Did he promise never to do the things that angered them again?  Did he try to put the blame on someone else, like Peter, John, or even Judas?

Nope.  He did none of those things.

Jesus’ Response to the Haters

So what did Jesus do?

From John 5.19-47 Jesus give a long speech.  Here are some highlights from just the beginning of the speech:

  • Jesus said that he sees what God is doing and does likewise (vv. 19-20)
  • Jesus claims that he can give life like the Father does (v. 21)
  • Jesus says that the Father has given the Son all judgment (v. 22)
  • Jesus says that whoever honors him honors the Father and whoever dishonors him dishonors the Father (v.23)
  • Jesus says that whoever hears his word and believes in him will have eternal life (v. 24)
  • Etc., etc., etc.

Jesus’ response to the haters was strong, bold, and direct.  He didn’t soften any language.  He didn’t try any avoidance tactics.  And he didn’t run away.

In fact, a really strong case could be made that Jesus used the hatred of his enemies as an opportunity to teach his disciples and ultimately to bring his Father glory.  In other words, these haters didn’t derail Jesus from the mission he was on — a mission to make disciples and honor his Father.

When Haters Attack!

But what are we to do when we face haters?  None of us is Jesus.  None of us has the kind of confidence that he did.  None of us has the same kind of fortitude that he possessed.

Well, we can learn a thing or two from Jesus here.

  1. Face Haters with Friends — Jesus wasn’t alone here.  We can assume that he was with his disciples.  I think so often when we face opposition of any sort we’re tempted to do so alone.  We must think that this makes us look tougher, more perfect, or something.  But Jesus faced all of his trials with people who loved him around.  Jesus even had community surrounding him as he died on the cross!  So when we face haters, let’s not do so alone.  Let’s lean on our community to help us, to give us strength, and to encourage us.
  2. Stick to the Truth — When Jesus faced his opponents here he didn’t create lies about them to make himself look better.  And he didn’t embellish his own story either.  Instead he simply told the truth about himself and his relationship to his Father.  When we face haters we may be tempted to trump ourselves up or beat them down, even twisting the truth to do so.  Instead, let’s just focus on what’s true: we’re God’s children, saved by grace, set free to serve the King.
  3. Don’t Be Deterred — It would have been really easy for Jesus to get sidetracked by his opponents.  They were plotting to kill him after all!  But he didn’t.  In fact, he used their rude interjection into his life as a way to further his mission of making disciples and honoring the Father.  So when we face opposition, persecution, and the like, how can we allow God to use it to further his mission in the world?  We can start by praying that God be with us in these difficult moments through his Spirit.  And in so doing we will demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, which will always help us stay on mission with Jesus and bring God glory!

 

What do you think?  How should we respond to haters?  Let me know in the comments below!

People > Rules

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“Rules were made to be broken.”

While this old adage is said a lot, it’s definitely not true!

It seems to me that in most cases rules are meant to protect us in one form or another.  And sometimes they are made to ensure that we follow best practices.

But almost without a single doubt, rules were not made to be broken.

However, are there times when they should be broken?  Are there cases in which the rule, which was intended to protect or direct toward best practices, isn’t the best option?

Well, in John 5 we see Jesus choosing something above following a rule.

Rules and Jesus

First things first, Jesus wasn’t against all rules.  In fact, when Jesus was asked what the best ones were, he didn’t say “There are no rules, just love people.”  Nope.  Instead he said, “Here is the best rule: Love God, and the second one is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22.36-40).  Then after he had died and been raised again, Jesus gave his followers a rule.  He told them that as they were going about that they must make disciples (I phrased this sentence this way so that the fact that the command in Greek is not “go” but “make disciples”) (Matthew 28.19-20).

So Jesus didn’t dislike rules.  But he clearly understood that too many rules muddied things up.  If there are a thousand things we are supposed to be doing or not doing, then we may spend all of our time thinking about those “dos and don’ts” instead of living the lives that God set out for us.  And Jesus consistently encountered people who did this — the Pharisees.

Rules and the Pharisees

The Pharisees were not all bad guys, despite how we tend to think of them.  There’s Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.  And Gamiliel seems like a good guy too.  And Paul, who was a Pharisee, would eventually come around too.

But even the “bad” Pharisees weren’t setting out to be bad.  They were focused on performing the works of the law in order to worship God well.  They weren’t trying to be bad guys and they weren’t hoping to be exclusive and dogmatic.  Instead they were doing the best they could with the tradition in which they lived.

So in John 5 when Jesus encounters some uber-rule-loving Pharisees (called “Jewish leaders there), it’s easy to paint them in the worst possible light.  But that’s not fair.  Their insistence on not working on the Sabbath has biblical and cultural roots.  They weren’t pulling this rule out of thin air to attack Jesus.

However, they’re focus was wrong.

Rules Can Distract Our Focus

In the first part of John 5 Jesus heals a man who had been suffering for decades.  It just so happens that this healing happened on the Sabbath (John 5.9b).  When some of the Jewish leaders saw that this man was healed and was carrying his mat (which is considered work), they pounced!  Their rule-breaker lights went off and they went into action.

They first told this man that he shouldn’t be carrying his mat on the Sabbath.  The man says that the person who healed him told him to do so.  The Jewish leaders insisted on knowing who the healer was but the healed man didn’t know.  (He would eventually find out and tell the Jewish leaders, who then got super angry at Jesus!)

But here’s the point: The Jewish leaders’ focus on the rules didn’t allow them to see what was right in front of their faces.  They totally missed the fact that this man was healed!  Their focus was so narrowly aimed at the Sabbath rules, that they entirely missed an opportunity to praise God that he had healed this man!

 

This makes me wonder about what sorts of rules prevent us from seeing God do his thing in our day.  What are we focused on so much so that we miss out on what Jesus is doing through his Spirit?  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

 

But here’s the big idea from this post: Jesus put the man who needed healing above rules — in fact, Jesus almost always put people before rules.  Therefore, as we seek to follow Jesus in the real world, we too should put people and their well-being above rules, especially those rules that are not the focus of Jesus himself.

 

What do you think?  Are people always greater than rules?  What rules do we tend to focus on more than people?  And is doing it the way Jesus did it even possible or practical for us today?  Let me know in the comments below!

Intellectual Hospitality and Justice Scalia

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Recently a judge named Antonin Scalia on the United States’ Supreme Court died and, despite how he is sometimes portrayed, Justice Scalia was apparently a man who exhibited intellectual hospitality, even to those who did not agree with many if any of his positions.

Justice Scalia’s reputation is pretty clear to most people.  He’s called “combative,” “tough,” and “fiery.”  And its his public perception that causes many to be surprised when it is revealed that he was not only willing to have Justices of other positions on the Court but that he welcomed it and even jockeyed for it.

After Justice Scalia’s passing, David Axelrod wrote an opinion piece on CNN.com that showed just that, namely that Justice Scalia tried to influence President Obama through a back channel to have a friend, now-Justice Elena Kagan, nominated despite the fact that she is more-or-less diametrically in opposition to all of his ideological positions.

Why would he want to do this?  Axelrod thinks that “if Scalia could not have a philosophical ally in the next court appointee, he had hoped, at least, for one with the heft to give him a good, honest fight.”

To put it more succinctly: Justice Scalia was a person who valued and demonstrated intellectual hospitality.

Intellectual Hospitality

What is intellectual hospitality?

My friend, colleague, and mentor Dr. Greg Waybright says this about intellectual honesty: it is show when we “speak to one another with 1) the grace to receive and consider differing positions and 2) the courage to challenge other positions with respect-filled questions.”  I love the twofold description, one in-coming (receiving other positions with grace) and one out-going (asking respectful questions).

And it appears that Justice Scalia had this kind of intellectual hospitality.  He was “best buddies” with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, with whom he had major disagreements, and his friendship with Justice Kagan, with whom he also disagreed, grew to such an extent that they became hunting buddies.

I can’t imagine the conversations between these legal giants never ventured into ideological territory.  And when it did, they all must have demonstrated great intellectual hospitality in order to begin, foster, and deepen meaningful relationships.

This type of deference for “the other” is badly missing in the world.  (Full disclosure: I almost ended that last line with the word “today” but then I remembered that humans have been around this world for quite some time and, thus, there’s always been a great deal of need for others-focused ethics!)

Jesus and Intellectual Hospitality

Much more can be said about this topic than I’m going to say here.  But I want to make a similar point about Jesus that I made about Justice Scalia — namely, that Jesus was willing and able to interact meaningfully with people very different from him.

Think about the people that surrounded Jesus on the regular: Matthew (who was the mob-muscle kind of tax collector), Simon the Zealot (who may well have been part of a political terror group), and Judas Iscariot (who would betray Jesus, which Jesus knew from the beginning).

Then think about some of the people that Jesus went out of his way to spend time with: The Samaritan Woman (their conversation in John 4 is a great example of intellectual hospitality in action!), Nicodemus (who was a religious leader that may have been too ashamed and/or fearful to meet with Jesus in the light of day), Zacchaeus (who was the mob-boss kind of tax collector), and even the thief of the cross (who, unlike Jesus, earned his way to his capital punishment).

Jesus has no equals among any of us human beings and yet he chose to relate closely to all sorts of us when was incarnated here on earth.

And if we are to follow Jesus, then we too should exercise a bit more intellectual hospitality too.

Intellectual Hospitality: A Few Starting Points

So, how are we to manifest more intellectual hospitality in our lives?

Here are a few starting points:

  1. Interact with people who are different.  We are all deeply impacted by tribalism — we want to spend time with people just like us.  That’s simply not what Jesus did.  And beside the usual Jesus-did-it-this-way-and-so-should-we argument, being friends with an array of different sorts of people makes life much more meaningful and fulfilling.
  2. Show respect before acting on anger. If we interact with people different than us, then we are sure to come up against ideas that make us angry from time to time.  In those moments we have a choice to make — we can 1) lash out at the person espousing the offending idea(s) or 2) respectfully engage in conversation despite our anger.  Remember, we hold positions that make others angry too!  We don’t have a monopoly on indignation!
  3. Grow. There’s little that’s more narcissistic and ego-maniacal than refusing to grow.  Think about it, not wanting to grow communicates to the world that we don’t need to grow.  And we all know for a fact that we haven’t arrived — we all have miles and miles to go.  Therefore, in all our relationships we need to admit that we could learn something important and make space in order to do so.  And the best kind of space for growth is respectful conversation.
  4. Give others the same benefit of the doubt that we want given to us.  This is the golden rule of intellectual hospitality.  Would we want someone to belittle us for our ideas?  Would we want to be ostracized because of our beliefs?  Would we want someone to refuse to see the logic in our position?  Would we want our personal narratives to be disregarded without a second thought?
  5. Pray.  Intellectual hospitality can be difficult, whether we are just beginning to practice it or if we’ve been at it for decades.  And, if we’re honest, none of us can do this on our own.  We need the power of the Spirit within us to help us.  We need him, the Spirit of God, to develop in us his fruit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  And each aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is necessary for us to exhibit intellectual honesty.  So let’s pray for the Spirit to grow his fruit in us!

 

What do you think about intellectual hospitality?  Was Justice Scalia a good example of it?  What do we learn about it from Jesus?  How can we demonstrate it in our lives?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

**If you’re really into this idea of intellectual honesty, then check out this post.  In it Bob Trube makes a really strong case for having intellectual hospitality with those who differ from us greatly.  It’s a short but meaningful read!

 

Probing Questions

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Jesus liked to ask probing questions.  This much is obvious from a quick reading of the Gospels.  But why?

I mean, if what we believe about Jesus is true (namely, that he’s the Second Person of the Trinity, fully divine and fully human), then why does he need to ask questions?  He already knows the answers!

In John 5 we see an example of Jesus’ propensity toward asking probing questions.  He asks a man who had been suffering for a very long time this question: “Do you want to get well?”

probing questions

Scott McLeod … MMM! Cookies!

Jesus’ Probing Questions

So let’s look at this story.  Here’s John 5.1-9a:

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4]1 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

As I’ve written about before, since Jesus was involved in organized religion, he made his way up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.  While in Israel’s capital, Jesus encountered a man which John, the author of the Fourth Gospel, calls an “invalid.”  We don’t know what exactly was wrong with this man.  All we know is that his condition was persistent (it had afflicted him for 38 years according to verse 5) and that it made movement slow and difficult for him (we see this in verse 7).  He may have been paralyzed, lame, or extremely weak; we’re simply not sure.

But Jesus saw this man and learned that he had been in this sad state for a great length of time.  Think about this: the man that Jesus encounters here had been struck with this malady for longer than the entirety of many people’s lives in the Mediterranean world in the first century!  In other words, this man’s condition was deeply-rooted and wouldn’t be easily “fixed.”

However, this man was sitting next to a pool that supposedly had healing powers, so much so that, according to verse 3, many suffering people came to it for healing.  Why had this man not been healed?  How did he get to this pool each day?  It was likely that he would have lived elsewhere, perhaps even outside of the city walls.  So, how did a man who couldn’t muster up enough movement to get to the pool before others get himself to this location each day?

It’s in this context that Jesus asks one of his poignant, probing questions: “Do you want to get well?”

Isn’t this a cruel question?  Obviously this man wants to get well, right?  He drags himself to the pool each day after all!  But maybe Jesus had another reason for asking this question.

Here’s my theory, I think that Jesus wanted to have this man evaluate his own situation.  He wanted to hear this man’s reasoning for why he hasn’t gotten better.

And that’s exactly what Jesus got!

In verse 7 we learn two exceedingly sad facts: 1) This man was under the impression that only the first person into the pool would be healed, thus leaving him at a distinct disadvantage considering his condition; and 2) This man was alone, he didn’t have anyone to help him.

In other words, he not only suffered physically but he was defeated and alone.

And suffering, defeated, and alone people are Jesus’ specialty!  He consistently reaches out to those in his society who are hurting the most, who are most alone, and who are most downtrodden.  And when he does, he shows them love.

So how does Jesus help here?  We’re not told why Jesus did what he did, but we can assume that it was out of love and concern for this man.  He says to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

What happens next is mind-boggling.

At once the man is cured!  This was no gradual healing!  He can walk freely for the first time in 38 years!

Then, out of obedience to Jesus’ request, this man picks up his mat and walks.  Why are these little details important?  Picking up the mat was a sign that this man had been healed to such an extent that he could not only walk, but that he could carry his own bedding.  Jesus was giving this man an opportunity to show himself and everyone else that he had been healed completely!

How amazing!  The entire world was open to him again!

And this whole scene started with Jesus trademark probing questions!

So What?

What does all of this mean for us?  What are some things we can take away from this story as we go about following Jesus in the real world today?

  1. Jesus still asks probing questions — Most of us won’t hear the audible voice of Jesus asking us probing questions, but we can still hear him in the Scriptures, through prayer, in our experiences, within our communities, and in any other ways that he so chooses.  Our duty in those moments is to respond to Jesus’ probing questions with honesty and candor, just as we see in the Gospels.  When we do so, we open ourselves up to whatever Jesus might have for us!
  2. Let’s ask probing questions too! — Now it’s not always appropriate to ask questions all the time but doing so often comes in handy.  Asking probing questions can be disarming and they can let the person answering the question share on their own terms instead of ours.  I’ve recently been reading a book that explores this idea from a leadership perspective and I highly recommend it!  It’s called Curious: The Unexpected Power of a Question-Led Life  and it’s written by Tom Hughes, the co-lead senior pastor at Christian Assembly in Eagle Rock, CA (a city near where I live).
  3. As we are involved in organized religion, let’s keep our eyes open — Jesus went to Jerusalem to participate in a Jewish festival.  He could have kept his head down and his mouth shut, doing his religious duties as quickly and quietly as possible.  But he didn’t do that, did he?  Instead he used his trip to Jerusalem as an opportunity to put the interests of a suffering person before his own.  As followers of Jesus, this is our calling too.  As we engage in the good things associated with organized religion (Bible reading and study, prayer, small groups, gathered worship, etc.), let’s not miss the divine appointments that God sets up for us to see, hear, care for, and love those who are marginalized, voiceless, downtrodden, and forgotten.

What do you think about the fact that Jesus asks probing questions?  Why does he do this?  And what can we learn from it?  Let me know in the comments below.