Black or White

Blessed are the strong, for they will have the victory
Blessed are the assertive, for they will get their own way
Blessed are the tenacious, for their single-mindedness will bring them success

There, that’s pretty much the way it is.  If you do not like the “new and improved” beatitudes, you will be voted off.  Sent home at the next tribal council. Face reality for a moment – you’re not Snow flippin White, living under a big tree in a strawberry patch with your forest friends. The world is hard, and God helps those who help themselves.

Nothing could be further from the truth…

This message is implicit in our “normal” world.  Maybe we do not drink this concoction undiluted as Christians, but we sure take it on-board and add our own spin.  Soften it a bit.  The PhotoShop geeks in our midst layer it over at 50% opacity.  After all, there is nothing wrong with being strong, assertive or tenacious. In fact, I’m sure we could find a number of scripture references which will settle the matter and make a good case for all of these attributes. And so we have, as rational people, “normalised” our once childlike and wondrous faith in Jesus Christ, adding just a caveat here and there to make it all fit.

But Jesus preached, embodied and lived a completely different message.  Who of you would give your son the sound business advice of leaving 99 sheep to the mercy of nature, telling him to risk it all to go on a hunt for the one who is lost? Or who would suggest going on an extended journey without any provisions, not a cent, nothing?  Or how about treating your child like royalty after he badmouthed you, took his inheritance, and squandered it all during one, huge debauched binge?  There were no “I hope you learned your lesson | I told you so | you can start by working-off your debt” speeches, just pure exuberant love and acceptance.

Jesus topped all these examples by the Beatitudes, the real ones, proclaiming that the blessed are really the poor in spirit (those who realise how much they need Him), the ones who mourn, the meek (humble), those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they who show mercy, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Regardless of how we try to rationalise this passage, it is a radical, 180 degree, upside down and inside out confrontation with our “normal” world.  Jesus is stating how utterly different the Kingdom of God is, and that our lives should reflect this.

Black = get-ahead, make-it-work, preserve yourself at all cost, be “normal”
White = follow Him, serve Him, love Him regardless of the cost

The life of Jesus, from His peasant-style birth to ultimate sacrificial death, lines up 100% with this message.   Serving, not being served, turning the other cheek, never owning a home or any material possessions.  It is then no surprise that neither Jesus nor His followers could be classed as “normal” people.  There are very few remarkable men or women of faith to be found in historical writings whom you could fit nicely into the logic of the system. They were all peculiar, to say the least. To the world, ranging somewhere between unbalanced and crazy.  To God, beautiful.

So my call to you, and to myself, is to break out of the “normal” trap.  Don’t join the world in the crazy clamber to the top of their own dungheaps (no offense).  In “Jesus drives me Crazy” Leonard Sweet writes : “To break with the so-called world of normal does not mean to leave the world of normal.  It does mean to release normalcy’s stranglehold over the spirit, to reduce participation in worldly games”

Now it is your turn.  Would you please help me in answering this question?  How do we release the stranglehold that the “normal” world imposes on us?

Click the link below and leave a comment — we’d love to hear from you!

Glory to Him

WS

What do you think?