What do you think Jesus was "Stupidly good" at?
My brother shared this video with me the other day and I really enjoyed the thought (albeit not very PC) of every person is "stupidly good" at three things. While this is a bit trivial and odd, it is fun to watch.
My question to you is this: What do you think Jesus was "Stupidly good" at?
My question to you is this: What do you think Jesus was "Stupidly good" at?
Jesus and Shakespeare
Recently I heard and analogy that Shakespeare was less of a poet and more of a chemist who used words as his chemicals. It was an interesting thought and helped me understand a bit more about how Shakespeare could create so many words we now use today.
Granted not all of the words in Shakespeare "made the cut" so to speak and some of the language makes no sense. Scholars argue that is acceptable because just like a chemist, not all experiments work out well.
For instance, Shakespeare is credited as "creating" the prefix 'un'. He put the "made up" prefix in front of words just to see if they 'worked'. I cannot imagine a world in which 'un' did not exist and it is only because Shakespeare took the chance and pushed letters together that no other person thought about pushing together.
That got me thinking about Jesus.
What if we thought of Jesus as a chemist as well and he used the fruits of the spirit as his chemicals.
Shakespeare did not make up letters, he had the same alphabet others had he just courage to use it in ways no one else had. Jesus did not make up 'love' or 'peace' but he had the courage to use them in ways in which no other had.
Love your enemy.
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's.
The first will be last and the last will be first.
Be like a child.
Eat with sinners.
Be crucified in order to expose cycles of violence and sin.
Shakespeare's courage to use the tools helped to create a new world (for instance a world with 'un'). Jesus' courage to use the tools helped to create a new world (the Kingdom of God).
I am challenged by the Triune God to also be a 'chemist'. What would it look like to push together love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in ways no one thinks about?
Can I push peace and violence together?
Can I push love and hate together?
Can I push self control and consumerism together?
Can I be a "chemist"?
Granted not all of the words in Shakespeare "made the cut" so to speak and some of the language makes no sense. Scholars argue that is acceptable because just like a chemist, not all experiments work out well.
For instance, Shakespeare is credited as "creating" the prefix 'un'. He put the "made up" prefix in front of words just to see if they 'worked'. I cannot imagine a world in which 'un' did not exist and it is only because Shakespeare took the chance and pushed letters together that no other person thought about pushing together.
That got me thinking about Jesus.
What if we thought of Jesus as a chemist as well and he used the fruits of the spirit as his chemicals.
Shakespeare did not make up letters, he had the same alphabet others had he just courage to use it in ways no one else had. Jesus did not make up 'love' or 'peace' but he had the courage to use them in ways in which no other had.
Love your enemy.
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's.
The first will be last and the last will be first.
Be like a child.
Eat with sinners.
Be crucified in order to expose cycles of violence and sin.
Shakespeare's courage to use the tools helped to create a new world (for instance a world with 'un'). Jesus' courage to use the tools helped to create a new world (the Kingdom of God).
I am challenged by the Triune God to also be a 'chemist'. What would it look like to push together love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in ways no one thinks about?
Can I push peace and violence together?
Can I push love and hate together?
Can I push self control and consumerism together?
Can I be a "chemist"?
Prophet 101
Throughout the Biblical witness there are a number of prophets. There are your well known prophets like Isaiah or Jeremiah and even Jesus. There are some known characters in the Bible who are prophets but people may not know they are considered prophets such as Jonah or Peter. There are modern day prophets - who are usually easier to identify or we come to a consensus on after they have died - such as MLK or Mother Teressa or Shane Claiborn (who is still alive).
The role of the prophet in the Bible is generally two fold which seems to be a paradox at first: prophets call us back in order to move us forward.
Prophets call us back into relationship or covenant with the Creator/Sustainer/Redeemer God when we as a society have gone astray. It is when we are called back into relationship with God that we are able to actually move forward toward a greater, more loving and just society. It is not rocket science, but is usually is dangerous work.
The role of the prophet is not to remove or purge evil from society. All of the prophet is called to do and be is the messenger. It is God who is the remover of 'evil'.
However, there are some in the Christian community for which this is not very clear. There are some in the community who feel it is their job to not only identify what they think of as evil but also to remove it by themselves.
It is my prayer that Christians around the world would come together to pray that the Spirit of the Holy God would move in the community that wants to burn Korans/Qurans.
It is the action of the prophet to call people back into relationship with God so that society can move forward. Jesus never burned the holy books of another religion (and to my knowledge Jesus never addressed religious pluralism). Jesus was far more concerned with his own religious tradition moving back into right relationship with God.
What if Christians stopped worrying about other people's religious beliefs and focused that energy to live the fullest Christian life possible? What if instead of working to eradicate other religions by "driving them out", we Christians lived a life that drew people into a life of Faith?
It is my prayer that more Christians would take on the mantle of prophet and call people back into relationship with God in order society may move forward.
The role of the prophet in the Bible is generally two fold which seems to be a paradox at first: prophets call us back in order to move us forward.
Prophets call us back into relationship or covenant with the Creator/Sustainer/Redeemer God when we as a society have gone astray. It is when we are called back into relationship with God that we are able to actually move forward toward a greater, more loving and just society. It is not rocket science, but is usually is dangerous work.
The role of the prophet is not to remove or purge evil from society. All of the prophet is called to do and be is the messenger. It is God who is the remover of 'evil'.
However, there are some in the Christian community for which this is not very clear. There are some in the community who feel it is their job to not only identify what they think of as evil but also to remove it by themselves.
It is my prayer that Christians around the world would come together to pray that the Spirit of the Holy God would move in the community that wants to burn Korans/Qurans.
It is the action of the prophet to call people back into relationship with God so that society can move forward. Jesus never burned the holy books of another religion (and to my knowledge Jesus never addressed religious pluralism). Jesus was far more concerned with his own religious tradition moving back into right relationship with God.
What if Christians stopped worrying about other people's religious beliefs and focused that energy to live the fullest Christian life possible? What if instead of working to eradicate other religions by "driving them out", we Christians lived a life that drew people into a life of Faith?
It is my prayer that more Christians would take on the mantle of prophet and call people back into relationship with God in order society may move forward.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.