"Regarding Jesus’ own costly engagement of going where
no one else goes or even imagines going, how far will we go in order to build
genuine unity?"
I have no desire
for rabbit-holes (unless they are the Beatrix Potter kind). In fact, I have to confess that the whole Alice in Wonderland motif creeps me out—right up there with clowns! While I am at it, I see no need for a Willy Wonka
psychedelic-tunnel-ride into the candy factory either. Though many one-sided efforts don’t seem to add up, or factor out, unity in Christ doesn’t require us
to delve into fantasy or become weird or wacky…does it?
However, it is likely that my negative reaction to Alice is due to my not really understanding it… and not taking the time to
try. Perhaps the same could be said about some efforts at unity. All sides
think the others are either crazy or culpable, and it takes some kind of radical
commitment to humble oneself or one’s group—to listen longer than is
comfortable, to learn to use a different set of tools that feel awkward, and to
love the other beyond our level of understanding.
What is it that
hinders true unity? Is it primarily sinful individuals, or oppressive systems
and groups? The more we listen to each other the more we know the answer must
be, “Yes.” Crazy, isn’t it?
Could this whole
hole-thing be an “eye of the needle” experience for us? Might the path to unity
lead us cultural (both dominant and minority) camels to shed some baggage?
Certainly the squeeze will be tight enough that we can’t get through to the
other side while packing all our customary excuses and explanations—whether white,
black, or something in-between. Another thing I wonder about sometimes is what
great trial might we face that forces us to stop being separate and motivates us
to stand together.
I think it is very likely that the goal of relational and structural unity is
impossible for us, by either method; which places it easily in realm of possibility
for the Holy Spirit…if we admit that we
need his help. The gate to unity takes more than one key to open. Asking for his help together
may be the price that needs to be paid.
Unfinished
towers dot the landscape of our Christian experience like so many abandoned oil
derricks rusting in the sun—structure without power, form without life, intentions
without insistence. They are a stark testimony to the folly of failed ambition,
exhausted emotions, and bad decisions. Some lie in ruins because divided
loyalties and confused priorities siphoned off the resources allocated for
their completion. Most tragic though are the mangled remains of the once great,
and promising towers that were devastated by the explosions of moral and
relational failures, never to be rebuilt—places visited only by the scavengers
of scrap metal and hunters of urban legends.
How does the Lord
respond to the leaderless and the lost, the hopeless and the helpless, the sick
and the dying? We can waffle about theologies of glory as opposed to those of
the cross, but it is through the cross that we get to share in the humble glory
of God who helps his people.
I have no desire
to fall down crazy rabbit-holes, but in humility I have taken up the cross to
follow Christ…not through a rabbit-hole, but to a grave. However, all is not
somber, for I have visited the tomb and it is empty!
The following
blog is a response to a post by my professor, Paul Metzger, about pursuing
Jesus' call to unity entitled, Jesus
and the Rabbit Hole.
I have no desire
for rabbit-holes (unless they are the Beatrix Potter kind). In fact, I have to confess that the whole Alice in Wonderland motif creeps me out—right up there with clowns! While I am at it, I see no need for a Willy Wonka
psychedelic-tunnel-ride into the candy factory either. Though many one-sided efforts don’t seem to add up, or factor out, unity in Christ doesn’t require us
to delve into fantasy or become weird or wacky…does it?
I don’t think
that true, God-honoring, unity comes when we follow a Mad Hatter down a hole
because we are bored, curious, or simply overrunning our vision. In fact it is
the opposite…for gravity and good intentions do not help us get where we need
to go. We must humble ourselves and let the Lord break us…as individuals and as
a society while time remains. “And
the one who falls on this stone
will be broken to pieces; and when it falls
on anyone, it will crush him.” (Matthew 21:44) Of the two options Jesus presents, I vote for pieces rather than powder!
Could this whole
hole-thing be an “eye of the needle” experience for us? Might the path to unity
lead us cultural (both dominant and minority) camels to shed some baggage?
Certainly the squeeze will be tight enough that we can’t get through to the
other side while packing all our customary excuses and explanations—whether white,
black, or something in-between. Another thing I wonder about sometimes is what
great trial might we face that forces us to stop being separate and motivates us
to stand together. I think it is very likely that the goal of relational and structural unity is
impossible for us, by either method; which places it easily in realm of possibility
for the Holy Spirit…if we admit that we
need his help. The gate to unity takes more than one key to open. Asking for his help together
may be the price that needs to be paid.
"For which of
you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost,
whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and
is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man
began to build and was not able to finish.'" (Luke 14:28-30)
Metzger is encouraging us to count the cost of
unity, not so that we will avoid it, but so that we will take it more
seriously. Jesus came to earth, humbly born, wholly living, horribly dying to
make unity possible between God and man, Jew and Gentile, male and female,
powerful and poor. To paraphrase, Metzger asks us, “How far are we willing to
go along this journey with Jesus?” Are we hedging our bets or secretly readying
our lifeboats? Perhaps this is horribly out of context, but the words which the
Apostle Paul spoke to a Roman Centurion as they faced imminent shipwreck, “Unless these
men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 27:31)
I once wrote an
article about counting the cost of following Jesus entitled, Unfinished Towers & Broken Towel Bars,
from which I quote.
In fact, in the
context of unity, our relational failures are moral failures. Are we trying to
make a name for ourselves (Babel) or choosing to die to our own glory (disciples)
in order to lift up the unity of the body? When all around we hear the clash of
hammers, echoes of the self-building and name-making boom, humility does appear
to be madness. In truth, it is the only sanity. The problem though is systemic,
sin has metastasized, no longer self-contained it works through the whole body.
However, those who recognize the danger still tend to operate in “-ectomies” settling
for resections instead of the costly embrace of restoration.
“When the
righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:17-19)
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:17-19)
I have no desire
to fall down crazy rabbit-holes, but in humility I have taken up the cross to
follow Christ…not through a rabbit-hole, but to a grave. However, all is not
somber, for I have visited the tomb and it is empty!
“Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies,
it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)
If we lack wisdom about the process (and we do) we need only
ask… and be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:5, 19).
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