Personal not private
It is important to Protestant theology that we talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This phrase has been used to beat people over the head. The phrase "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" is a red flag or a deal breaker for some people who hear it are instantly turned off to further conversation.
The idea of a personal relationship with Jesus is, for me, just a way of saying that we think knowing Jesus is a wonderful thing and spending time with the message of Jesus and the way of Jesus leads to wholeness and healing.
It is worth noting that a personal relationship with Jesus is not the same as a private relationship with Jesus.
To be as simple as I can be on this, personal is collective while private is individual.
Many have personal time to take off from work (communal), but how that time is spent specifically private (individual).
We all have personal space (communal) but everyone has private understanding of how close to to close (individual).
A personal relationship with Jesus means that you are involved in a relationship which millions of people have engaged in. A personal relationship leads people to engage the world around us. A personal relationship with Jesus means that we go into the world (communal). Personal relationship with Jesus, by definition, is communal.
When something is personal we are pursuing a quest that address the goals of others. Personal goals are goals that others can connect with.
I have a personal goal for peace, however for peace to happen it requires other people.
Private goals however are just that, private. They are individual goals that require no other persons.
I have a personal goal to write in this blog regularly. I have a private goal to paint some of my Warhammer miniatures.
Personal is not private.
The idea of a personal relationship with Jesus is, for me, just a way of saying that we think knowing Jesus is a wonderful thing and spending time with the message of Jesus and the way of Jesus leads to wholeness and healing.
| This would be an example of a PRIVATE space invader |
To be as simple as I can be on this, personal is collective while private is individual.
Many have personal time to take off from work (communal), but how that time is spent specifically private (individual).
We all have personal space (communal) but everyone has private understanding of how close to to close (individual).
A personal relationship with Jesus means that you are involved in a relationship which millions of people have engaged in. A personal relationship leads people to engage the world around us. A personal relationship with Jesus means that we go into the world (communal). Personal relationship with Jesus, by definition, is communal.
When something is personal we are pursuing a quest that address the goals of others. Personal goals are goals that others can connect with.
I have a personal goal for peace, however for peace to happen it requires other people.
Private goals however are just that, private. They are individual goals that require no other persons.
I have a personal goal to write in this blog regularly. I have a private goal to paint some of my Warhammer miniatures.
Personal is not private.
Where are the other nine?
There is a scripture that tells of a story in which Jesus encountered ten lepers who cried out to be healed. Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests and, the story shares, the people were healed along the way. One of these people who was healed along the way returns back to Jesus and thanks him. Jesus asks where the other nine? I do not know, but one could conjecture a few ideas on why these people did not thank Jesus.
Perhaps one person ran and told all the people she could.
Perhaps one person just plain forgot.
Perhaps one person could not find Jesus who was traveling across the land.
Perhaps one person one ran home to connect with his family.
Perhaps one person discovered a way to make money off the miracle.
Perhaps one person became a priest who felt a call after their mountain top experience.
Perhaps one person was just shocked and immobilized.
Perhaps one person just did not know how to thank Jesus.
Perhaps one person was so self-involved that he believed that he deserved to be healed and did not see a need to thank Jesus.
This text is often used to discuss that we ought to have an "attitude of gratitude" or how we ought to give thanks for our blessings.
And this is not a bad or wrong interpretation.
What I was considering the other day about this text is how the ones who did not return were all still convinced of the purity codes of their day. That is to say, they go to their priests who are symbols of the religious authorities and ones who could declare people "clean" or not. As such when those who went to the priests were ones who still affirmed the religious order of their day.
They still believed that there could be unclean people who ought to be separated from the clean people. While they were now clean, they themselves still bought into the idea that society could declare some people inferior. Perhaps they would even encounter another "unclean" person and stay away from them.
However, the one who returned to Jesus was the one who did may not have said thank you (the text says he only prostrated himself before Jesus). We can be certain though, that the one who returned rejected the system of declaring people clean and unclean. This one, did show himself to the Great Priest, and in doing so made a statement that he understands what Jesus understands - no one can declare another person subhuman. No one is unclean in the sight of God. No one is allowed to lord himself over others in such a way to perpetuate a discriminatory system.
Perhaps this is why Jesus asks where the other nine are? Perhaps Jesus is disappointed to see that only one in ten got his message and rejected the powers that be.
All ten were healed, but only one was set free. Only one broke away from the system that creates more unclean people.
Only one.
Perhaps one person ran and told all the people she could.
Perhaps one person just plain forgot.
Perhaps one person could not find Jesus who was traveling across the land.
Perhaps one person one ran home to connect with his family.
Perhaps one person discovered a way to make money off the miracle.
Perhaps one person became a priest who felt a call after their mountain top experience.
Perhaps one person was just shocked and immobilized.
Perhaps one person just did not know how to thank Jesus.
Perhaps one person was so self-involved that he believed that he deserved to be healed and did not see a need to thank Jesus.
This text is often used to discuss that we ought to have an "attitude of gratitude" or how we ought to give thanks for our blessings.
And this is not a bad or wrong interpretation.
What I was considering the other day about this text is how the ones who did not return were all still convinced of the purity codes of their day. That is to say, they go to their priests who are symbols of the religious authorities and ones who could declare people "clean" or not. As such when those who went to the priests were ones who still affirmed the religious order of their day.
They still believed that there could be unclean people who ought to be separated from the clean people. While they were now clean, they themselves still bought into the idea that society could declare some people inferior. Perhaps they would even encounter another "unclean" person and stay away from them.
However, the one who returned to Jesus was the one who did may not have said thank you (the text says he only prostrated himself before Jesus). We can be certain though, that the one who returned rejected the system of declaring people clean and unclean. This one, did show himself to the Great Priest, and in doing so made a statement that he understands what Jesus understands - no one can declare another person subhuman. No one is unclean in the sight of God. No one is allowed to lord himself over others in such a way to perpetuate a discriminatory system.
Perhaps this is why Jesus asks where the other nine are? Perhaps Jesus is disappointed to see that only one in ten got his message and rejected the powers that be.
All ten were healed, but only one was set free. Only one broke away from the system that creates more unclean people.
Only one.
Church Growth = "We need more people like us." Really?
There are efforts in the UMC to talk more about church growth. My cynical side will say that this focus on church growth is because the church is declining in terms of warm bodies in the pew and if the numbers of people in the pews were of the 1950's then we would not focus on church growth.
However, my non-cynical side of me says this is a good thing.
My only issue with this how church growth is defined.
If we define church growth meaning that we need to get more people into pews; that is to say if we define church growth as "getting more people to be like us" and become members - I do not think that is a great way to think of church growth.
Instead of thinking that church growth means "more people need to be like us", perhaps a healthier understanding is "we need to be more like Jesus".
When talking about church growth as primarily as getting more people, we are forgetting that the church is the Body of Christ and even people who are members of a church are part of the body of Christ. Church growth includes those who are already members of the church.
If we redirect all the resources we spend on trying to get more people to be like us to use them on getting us to be more like Christ then the church inevitably grows!
Friends, let us be honest here, if the church is growing by becoming more like Christ not only is the Church growing, but also non-Christians will be more interested in the Christian life.
I am convinced the life of Jesus is more attractive to people than any event or sermon series in the world.
However, my non-cynical side of me says this is a good thing.
My only issue with this how church growth is defined.
If we define church growth meaning that we need to get more people into pews; that is to say if we define church growth as "getting more people to be like us" and become members - I do not think that is a great way to think of church growth.
Instead of thinking that church growth means "more people need to be like us", perhaps a healthier understanding is "we need to be more like Jesus".
When talking about church growth as primarily as getting more people, we are forgetting that the church is the Body of Christ and even people who are members of a church are part of the body of Christ. Church growth includes those who are already members of the church.
If we redirect all the resources we spend on trying to get more people to be like us to use them on getting us to be more like Christ then the church inevitably grows!
Friends, let us be honest here, if the church is growing by becoming more like Christ not only is the Church growing, but also non-Christians will be more interested in the Christian life.
I am convinced the life of Jesus is more attractive to people than any event or sermon series in the world.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.