Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (29)

 

“But the older this world grows, and the more sharply the struggle between Christ and Antichrist grows, the more thorough also becomes the world’s efforts to rid itself of the Christians. To the first Christians the world still granted a space in which they were able to feed and clothe themselves from the fruits of their own labor. A world that has become entirely anti-Christian, however, can no longer grant Christians even this private sphere in which they pursue their professional work and earn their daily bread…In the end, Christians are thus left with no other choices but to escape from the world or to go to prison” (page 229).

 

Bonhoeffer writes as darkness descends over Germany, as he sees the church in Germany being swallowed up by the forces of nationalism, as pastors and their congregations capitulate to the demands of the state, aligning themselves with state agendas and abandoning Christ. Christianity and patriotism are becoming one in Germany. This is not the first time this has happened, religion has been used by the state throughout history to help the state achieve its ends, and the myth of Christian nationalism is a powerful seductive tool in both the East and the West. Democracies and totalitarian regimes both use the myth, constructing narratives which professing Christians accept and endorse, leading them away from Christ.

 

Bonhoeffer has forgotten that early Christians were not always able to work to support themselves. In some regions in ancient Rome Christians who belonged to trade guilds, which we might think of as union shops, were expelled from the guilds for refusing to pay homage to the guilds’ patron idols. If you were not a member of a guild you could not engage in that particular trade. Then we have the notable widespread persecution under the Emperor Decius (250 A.D.) in which everyone was required to offer an incense sacrifice to Roman gods in the presence of a magistrate, for which they received a certificate indicating their compliance with the edict. Those who refused were persecuted. Persecutions were often local, sometimes regional, and sometimes (as with Decius) they were across the Empire.

 

In our own day, earning a living as a faithful Christian can be difficult, there are professions and contexts in which Christians are marginalized, and countries in which being a Christian can mean the loss of employment and prison.

 

Whether in “open” or “closed” nations, if there is no conflict between the visible church – community and the world, it means that the visible church – community is abrogating its witness to Christ, for if we are faithful to Jesus Christ there will be conflict and persecution; the servant is not greater than his Master (John 15:18 – 16:4).

 

(When we engage in “marketplace ministry in the United States, are we equipping Christians with Biblical teaching on the Cross, obedience, and suffering for Christ?)

 

 “But the older this world grows, and the more sharply the struggle between Christ and Antichrist grows, the more thorough also becomes the world’s efforts to rid itself of the Christians.”

 

There are two ways to control others, one is through pain and the other is through pleasure. The first is straightforward, “If you don’t do what I want I will inflict pain on you.” In the West this pain may be the loss of employment, denied promotion, the withholding of an academic degree, ostracism, or legal penalties.  

 

The second can be subtle. The pleasure can be in the form of money, promotion, accolades, acceptance, perquisites, entertainment, and good food and drink. It can be open doors leading to proximity to power – the power can be corporate, academic, religious, political…proximity to power can be intoxicating and few people can resist its seduction.

 

Seduction is a greater threat to us in the West than pain. Once we have been seduced by pleasure, our resistance to pain crumbles, we are trapped in the good life, in the American Dream, and the professing church has descended into Babylon. The Cross then becomes an offense to us, even as it is to the world.

 

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and seducers will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12 – 13).

 

Bonhoeffer adopts the Biblical teaching of two trajectories, that of those faithful to Christ and that of those under the domain of Antichrist. The visible – church community will overcome and prevail, the Stone cut without hands will indeed fill the entire earth, bringing an end to the kingdoms of this world. A tragedy is that those faithful to Christ not only face opposition from the world, but from a church that is falling away from the Lord Jesus.

 

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).

 

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the Day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first” (2 Thess. 2:3).

 

Here is the thing dear friends, apostasy need not mean the explicit verbal denial of Jesus Christ and the Bible, apostasy can be syncretistic, it can be a blend of Christ and nationalism, Christ and economics, Christ and politics, Christ and a social agenda, Christ and materialism, Christ and religious success.

 

Which is the greater danger to the average professing Christian, a teaching which explicitly denies Jesus Christ and the Bible, or a teaching and movement which blends other elements into Christ and the Bible and thereby seduces our hearts away from Jesus? Which is the greater danger, a movement which appears evil, or one which appears good?

 

If a pastor would not (let us hope) take his people to a brothel, why would he take his people into teachings and movements which draw their hearts away from Jesus Christ?

 

Again, the chapter title is The Visible Church – Community. Bonhoeffer is saying that we must have our own space, for we, as the Body of Christ, are distinct from the world. We are to live and breathe in Christ, we are to be joined to one another in His Body. We are not to be subsumed and enveloped and find our identity in politics, economics, nationalism, materialism, hedonistic pleasure, racial identity, or even in religious tradition – we belong to Jesus and to Jesus alone, He is our Husband we are His Bride (2 Cor. 11:2  -3) and nothing is to come between Jesus and His Bride, nothing.

 

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you” (Isaiah 60:1 – 2).

 

“Who will separate us form the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35 – 39).

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (28)

 

“That this state of affairs has been reached becomes at the same time evident in two ways. First, it becomes necessary for members of the church-community to make a visible and public confession of faith in Christ. Second, it becomes necessary for the world either wisely to withdraw or to resort to violence” (page 228).

 

I want to make two other observations before moving on from this quotation. While there is certainly conflict between the Kingdom and the world in our vocational lives, it need not always result in “violence.” This does not mean that there isn’t tension and that there aren’t times of cultural and moral and spiritual challenge, but faithful witness to Christ is possible while we find fulfillment in our vocations. Daniel and his friends, Joseph the son of Jacob, and Nehemiah demonstrate that God’s People can flourish as they faithfully live within the systems of this present age. We can be faithful to God as well as blessings to both the world and the Church.

 

We can find joy in our vocations, joy in our coworkers and clients and customers, joy in the work we do as “unto the Lord” (Col. 3:17, 23). Our vocations ought to be primary venues for our spiritual formation into the image of Jesus Christ, they ought to be primary venues in which we encourage fellow Christians, and they ought to be primary venues in which we witness to Jesus in both word and deed (they must always go together as our way of life). After all, most of us spend more time at work than we do anywhere else, and who we really are is more likely to be seen at work and at home than anywhere else…including “at church.”

 

When Christians do excellent work, when they are loyal and faithful and truthful and when they serve others, the world in the workplace often values them…whether the workplace agrees with or understands their faith in Jesus Christ. When people know that you respect them and desire their best, when they know you are truthful, when they know they can trust you, and when your work ethic is superior, they often want you to be with their organization.

 

Vickie and I have known intense conflict in our marketplace careers, but when we look back over the years we talk about the good times, the fulfilling times, and the wonderful people we have known, the friendships we’ve had and continue to have. Frankly, the conflict we've known at work does not compare with the ugliness we’ve encountered in the professing church, the pettiness, the anger, the poison. The world is the world is the world, but what about the poison we’ve experienced in the professing church? Let us not forget that it was the religious establishment that delivered Jesus to the civic authority for crucifixion.

 

The “violence” that Bonhoeffer writes of can take many forms. In the West it can mean disciplinary action, job loss, ostracism, denial of opportunity to advance; it may even entail lawsuits and financial penalties, such as when owners of bake shops refuse to make specialty cakes for events that are contrary to their obedience to Jesus Christ.

 

When we encounter these challenges, when we are obedient to Jesus Christ in the face of conflict, will the visible church stand with us? Will we stand with others? Will we give more than lip service to encourage and support our fellow Christians when they are persecuted for their faithfulness to Jesus in their vocations?

 

As we engage in our vocational callings, which are sacred in Christ, let us remember Bonhoeffer’s words in Part I of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

 

“Even as the Father sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Marketplace Reflections (15)

Forgiveness (3)

More than once someone has said to me, “I don’t share about Jesus at work because I am so imperfect. I say things I shouldn’t say, sometimes I do things I shouldn’t do.”

I’m reminded of what St. John Chrysostom said in his 20th Homily on Acts, “Nothing can be more chilling than the sight of a Christian who makes no effort to save others. Neither poverty, nor humble station, nor bodily infirmity can exempt men and women from the obligation of this great duty. To hide our light under pressure of weakness is as great an insult to God as if we were to say that He could not make His sun to shine.” The Great Commission is also a Great Commandment, we are called to make disciples...which, when you think about it, goes much farther than proclaiming the Good News - we don’t just speak to others and leave it at that, we are called to make disciples and teach them to obey all that Christ has commanded us (Matthew 28:18 - 20).

I think that there are few opportunities to witness at work that are as powerful as asking another person for forgiveness. To do this requires that we humble ourselves before God and before others, it requires that we acknowledge our wrong, it requires that we trust God for the results. In a society filled with vitriol and the equivalent of MAD (mutual assured destruction) in relationships, the Christian who seeks peace and reconciliation shows the world a better way. This is  an act of obedient faith, and it is also a choice not to compound the wrong and sin by ignoring it or justifying it. The more we justify our sin the harder our heart and conscience become and the greater distance we create between ourselves and others...not to mention relational between ourselves and God.

In asking forgiveness we must not minimize what we have done, nor should we acquiesce when others seek to minimize it. We should not accept it when someone says, “Oh, that’s ok,” concerning a wrong we have done - it is not okay.

I recall losing my patience and speaking sarcastically to one of my managers over the telephone. After the call, as I pondered what had transpired, I realized that I was wrong, that I had not treated her with respect, that I had been inconsiderate. When I called her back and apologized and asked her to forgive me she said, “Oh, that’s ok.”

I said, “No, it’s not ok for me to talk to you like that and I’m asking for your forgiveness.”

You see, in our society people often talk to each other in hurtful ways, to the point that some people think they deserve to be talked to disrespectfully. I knew that this woman had been in relationships characterized by disrespect and that her sense of identity had been shattered; I had even been working with her to think Biblically about herself in Christ - the last thing she needed was for me reinforce old patterns. I needed her to acknowledge that I had sinned against her for both our sakes.

Another example I’ve shared over the years occurred when I was CFO of a firm. I got into a heated phone argument with a commercial tenant and we loudly hung up on each other. As soon as I slammed the receiver down I knew I had sinned in my attitude and anger (yes, yes, I know there is godly anger but this wasn’t it). I immediately called the person back, apologized, and attempted to work out our differences. Then, after the second conversation I went out into the hallway and walked up and down it, going into each office, apologizing for my heated conversation and actions which everyone had to have heard.

Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes it takes me a while to get the message that I was wrong. Once it took me a few weeks to realize I was wrong, and then I had to pray about how to seek reconciliation - for while the problem occurred over the phone, I knew that it couldn’t be repaired over the phone, it was too “high wire”. I invited the person to lunch, and drove about 90 minutes for the appointment. I apologized, the other person apologized, it was a good lunch and from that point on we had a good relationship.

I think that when others know we are followers of Christ, and when we take our discipleship seriously, that our testimony holds us accountable for our actions; it doesn’t mean that we always get things right, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have our selfish times, it certainly doesn’t mean we are perfect - but hopefully it does mean that when we sin, when we wrong others, when we are selfish; that we repent, ask forgiveness, and seek reconciliation. After all, our lives are to be about Jesus Christ and not about ourselves. We really do have a better way to live, a better way to share.

For myself, there have been times when asking forgiveness has been like walking off a cliff into air; but I’ve known that I needed to do it...and Christ has always been there for me, and He’ll be there for you too. We are called to faithful obedience, we are called to be agents of reconciliation.

Marketplace Reflections (14)

Forgiveness (2)

Paul writes to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 5:17 - 20):

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Since God has placed the “word of reconciliation” within His people, His people are not only to share this “word” verbally, but they are to be the incarnation of that very word. In other words, it isn’t enough to talk about reconciliation, we are to demonstrate it, to live it; in our thoughts, our words, our actions.

If God is not counting our trespasses against us, what does that suggest about the way we should view others when they trespass against us? Consider these words of the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our debts [tresspasses], as we also have forgiven our debtors [those who have trespassed against us.]”

Notice also who the active person is in the above Corinthian passage and who are the recipients of the action. God is the reconciler, man can receive but he can’t initiate. God places His word of reconciliation in us and we are to pass it on to others, even beg others to receive the reconciliation that God has provided. If God is the initiator of reconciliation in our relationship with Him, and if we have been sent as the Father sent the Son (John 17:18; 20:21), then when we experience alienation in a relationship whose responsibility is it to seek reconciliation?

Let us not forget these words of Paul (Romans 5:10), “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Whatever may be the situation between us and another person, it is impossible for it to be as adversarial as our relationship to God once was - for we were His enemies, we were sinners, and the price He paid to bring us back to Himself is beyond our comprehension - as is the gulf that once separated us from Him. Whatever gulf separates us from another person cannot be compared with the gulf that once separated us from God. Just as God took the initiative to bridge the chasm between us and Him, so are we to learn how to bridge the chasm between ourselves and others. There is perhaps no more difficult thing in the world to repair as a relationship.

Why is reconciliation between people so difficult? Often our pride gets in the way, our insistence that we were right and others were wrong. Our refusal to admit sin and error. Our fear of being vulnerable. Our fear of rejection and the pain that comes with it. Our fear that the other person will use our admission of wrong against us. Our fear that if we forgive someone that the person will take that as permission to wrong us again.

Of course living in a society that often places little value on relationships can be a problem, for others may not see what the big deal is. In a marketplace culture that views people as “resources” and not people, not individuals, not only do we not have time for others, we especially don’t have time to invest ourselves in repairing relationships - it isn’t cost effective...at least that’s how we may think.

However, the foregoing presents us with an opportunity to show others a better way to live, the way of Jesus Christ. We can model the word of reconciliation - both by forgiving others and by asking for forgiveness; we can learn to become the peacemakers that Jesus talked about in Matthew Chapter 5, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [and daughters] of God.”

To be continued...

Marketplace Reflections (13)

Forgiveness

The standard for Christians in all things is Jesus Christ and His Word. This includes forgiving others as well as asking for forgiveness when we do things we ought not to do. Paul writes (Ephesians 4:32), “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.” We are to forgive just as we have been forgiven.

Considering how much time we spend at work, and considering how stressful work can be, and taking into account that most of us work with people -  coworkers, vendors, customers, and others - the likelihood that at some point someone is going to do something they shouldn’t do is pretty high. The likelihood that we ourselves are going to do something we shouldn’t do is also pretty high; I’m not talking about stealing or lying - though those things are included - I’m talking about what happens when human beings keep bumping up against one another in a fast-paced and closed environment, sooner or later we are going to say something we shouldn’t say in a way we shouldn’t say it, or do something without considering its effect on others, or just be plain selfish in our words and actions. What do we do when we do something wrong? What do we do when others do something wrong to us?

While the context of the above verse in Ephesians is the Body of Christ, in Matthew 6:14 Jesus says, “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” So we are not only to practice forgiveness within the church, but we are to practice it toward all humanity. Forgiveness is to be a way of life for the follower of Jesus Christ, including life in the workplace.

Of course this is complex and the dynamics can be many-layered, but what better environment to learn the Way of Jesus? After all, this is about learning to live by His life and not our own, this is about considering ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, this is about being on the Potter’s wheel and the Holy Spirit transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. Unless we are looking to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, it isn’t likely we will progress far with forgiveness as a way of life. We can focus on ourselves, we can focus on others, or we can focus on Jesus and His Word. In one sense this is an issue of obedience, and if we can’t get beyond that then at the very least we must confront the command of Christ to forgive, and we must reckon with the fact that if we choose not to forgive that we then choose to sin - we do not get a pass because of circumstances. This is not to say that there aren’t times when this is a process, we are not robots and God doesn’t want us to pretend, but He does call us to exercise our will by His enabling grace and decide to forgive, whether we feel like it or not.

This is also not to say that others are not held accountable, nor is it to say that we become people without definition and the equivalent of floor mats; and it most certainly does not mean that “what you did is okay, please do it again.” However, if we are followers of Jesus Christ then we belong to Him, we are His property if you will - this is why Paul styled himself a slave belonging to Jesus Christ. Many things in life become straightforward when the issue of identity is settled, if our identity is in Christ then our obedience must be in Christ, we are not our own, we are bought with a price - the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus prayed on the Cross, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they do.” Sometimes people know just what they are doing and sometimes they don’t. This is true of my own life, when I look back and see things I’ve done it can be as if I were looking at someone else’s life. Even though God has forgiven me of past sin, I still live with the memory and consequences - this is my journey, yours may be different. My point is that when others do wrong to us that they may have no idea what they are doing. I think even when others are deliberate and hurtful and aware of their actions, that in one sense they still don’t know because they have been blinded by the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:3 - 4; Ephesians 4:17 - 19). To be sure we are all accountable to God, and our habits and disciplines and ways of life reinforce the direction we are going - we are either cultivating life and light or we are cultivating death and darkness; but only God can judge righteously, only God knows the heart and soul and mind of a man or woman. There is a particular freedom in entrusting ourselves and others to God.

We ought to be afraid not to forgive. We ought to fear unforgiveness the way we might fear ingesting poison; if we wouldn’t knowingly ingest poison, if we wouldn’t use poison to flavor our coffee or tea, why would we flavor our lives with unforgiveness? Unforgiveness is an invasive weed whose roots wind their way deep into our souls, sucking the life out of us and poisoning our hearts and minds, influencing our actions, and affecting those around us. Once the tentacles of unforgiveness twist their way around and into our soul it is difficult to extract them, removing invasive weeds can be sorrowful work. How much better to learn the way of Christ, the way of forgiveness, and to allow the Holy Spirit to train us to forgive quickly - to learn forgiveness as a way of life.

A workplace can be poisoned with unforgiveness, it can be a toxic environment. The followers of Christ are called to show the workplace a better way.

To be continued...

Marketplace Reflections (12)

Witness

I was led into a relationship with Jesus Christ because a coworker cared enough to share the Gospel with me. Howard Wall asked me, “Bob, are you a Christian?” I said “Yes” because in the regional America of my youth unless you were Jewish you were a Christian. Howard’s question led me to the Bible, and as I read the Bible and interacted with Howard I came to know Jesus Christ.

The Church exists for three reasons; to worship God, to edify and nurture the Body of Christ, and to share Jesus with the world. This is our purpose for living - it is pretty simple, and it is not optional for a follower of Jesus. In fact, we can distinguish followers of Jesus by the way they live - Jesus says as much when He teaches that others will know we are His disciples by our love for one another (John 13:34-35), that others will know that the Father sent the Son by our unity (John 17:21 - 23) - in other words the world has a right to judge us by the way we live.

In what we call The Great Commission Jesus tells His followers to go into all the world and to make disciples (Matthew 28:16 - 20, see also Luke 24:44 - 53, Acts 1:1 - 8, and John 17:18, 20:21). Notice that He says “make disciples” - disciples are men and women and young people who follow Jesus as a way of life, it is who they are, it is how they think, how they love, how they make decisions, how they choose to spend their time and money; Jesus is the core of life for His followers. Actually, in a comprehensive sense, Jesus is everything to His followers; and because He is everything His followers need not hold back anything as they love God and love and serve others.

The subject of “witnessing” is so vast that it can be hard to know where to begin. Perhaps it is so vast because we have made it complicated, and perhaps one of the reasons it’s complicated is because we insist on knowing all of the “what-ifs” of witnessing. “What if I’m asked this question, what if I’m asked that question? If I don’t know the answer I’ll fail, be rejected, maybe even be ridiculed.” Perhaps we also make it complicated when we confuse witnessing with “apologetics”, for once we start thinking about “defending” the faith we often begin comparing ourselves with leaders in apologetics and we think that if we can’t come close to their knowledge base or communications expertise that we ought not to witness. Whatever the reason, and there are many, Christians seldom share their faith with others, at least in North America.

I’m reminded of how the Federal Reserve teaches its employees to recognize counterfeit currency - it has them study legitimate currency. There are so many variations of counterfeit truth in the world that it’s doubtful that any of us can examine them all, but we can all know the truth of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and what the Bible teaches. We can all know Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

This may sound simplistic, but if we love God and love others we will share the Gospel. I’m not suggesting it will be easy, going against the grain is not easy; and I’m not saying that it won’t be costly, the Cross is costly; but if we love God we will share Jesus Christ with others; if we truly love and care about others we will share Jesus with them - for it is a matter of life and death.

As I write these words I am convicted and challenged and I’m asking myself, “Does my own life line-up what I am writing? Do my actions demonstrate my love for God and others?”

I believe that if we are honest with others that we will share Jesus Christ with our coworkers - so in one sense this is about whether we are honest people or deceitful people. I know this sounds harsh, but consider: If I am indeed a follower of Jesus Christ, if my life truly belongs to Him, then if I am not sharing Jesus with others - especially with those with whom I have relationships - then I am pretending to be someone I am not, I am pretending not to know Jesus. It is analogous to me pretending not to be married, to taking off my wedding ring, to speaking and acting as if I have no wife when in fact I am married - to do so would be deceitful.

A holistic witness is a credible witness, for a holistic witness is grounded on who Christ is in us and who we are in Christ - our lives are integrated in Jesus Christ. Our words, our actions, our motives, our love, our care, our decision-making - flow from our relationship with God in Christ and in our fellowship with the saints. The Great Commandment is that the Lord our God is One Lord, and that we are to love Him with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul, and all of our strength...and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:12:28 - 31). A consuming obedience to the Great Commandment results in a consuming obedience to the Great Commission.

We are not called to be salespeople peddling the Gospel, we are called to be people who love God and love others. A holistic witness in the marketplace includes integrity in our work, excellence in our work, a thankful attitude, respect for authority, respect for others, telling the truth, asking forgiveness when we ought to, apologizing when we should, and praying for our coworkers, clients and customers. If we have relationships with others we have many opportunities to faithfully witness because the very nature of relationships means that subjects and issues come up to which there are distinctly Christian responses - so we have a choice, to be who we are in Christ or to suppress our identity and act as if Jesus is not our Lord.   

The nature of the human condition means that our coworkers have times of pain, suffering, sorrow, and despair, as well as seasons of joy. In our fragmented society it is unusual when others take the time to care, to express concern, to listen, to pray - or to rejoice when good things happen. The stress and anxiety in today’s workplace is such that a word of comfort, of peace, and of reflection can be like a glass of cool spring water in a desert.

Over the past few years there have been attempts to introduce various vaccines, such as the polio vaccine, into areas of the world which have resisted inoculations. Some medical professionals have been beaten, others killed. Many people in these populations do not understand what a vaccine is, others are intimidated by radical groups opposing vaccines, others brave the risk of violence and are inoculated. The medical groups keep coming back, doing their best to educate both the general population and those violently opposed to inoculation. The medical professionals see their work as a mission; opposing paralysis, debilitating disease, and early death. They desire to improve the health and wellbeing of a population unware that there is medical help that can improve their lives, and especially the lives of their children. The medical professionals fight ignorance in the general population and ignorance in the violent opposition.

There is truth to the saying, “People don’t know what they don’t know.”

What does our mission look like?

Marketplace Reflections (11)

Subject to Authority - (2)

When we submit ourselves to the authority of God, and when we submit ourselves to the authority of God as it is expressed in the authority structures of this age, we position ourselves to learn obedience and to be formed into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).

In Hebrews 2:10 we see that the Father perfected Jesus through sufferings, and in Hebrews 5:8 - 9 we read, “Although He [Jesus] was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect He became to all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” In Philippians 2:5 - 11 Paul writes that Jesus “...humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even on a cross.”

The writers of Hebrews and Philippians are exploring the Incarnation and the mystery of God becoming a man; as they draw back the veil they tell us that Jesus engaged in a Divine - Human process of maturation, Divine in the sense of God acting upon humanity, Human in the sense of responding in obedience to the Divine.

In Hebrews 10:5 - 9 and Psalm 40:6 - 10 we see that God prepared a body of flesh for Jesus and that Jesus came, according as it was written in the Divine book, to do the will of God. We also see in John 17:4 that Jesus fulfilled the Father’s will while He was on earth - as Philippians says, even to death on a cross.

One of the points of the above is that Jesus didn’t do what He whimsically wanted to do; He didn’t do what was convenient, He didn’t go with the flow; Jesus lived a life of deliberate and intentional obedience to the Father and this often entailed suffering - in fact Jesus is described as a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” - for He took the sorrow of the world upon Him.

Another point is that it was through His obedience and suffering that He was (humanly speaking) made mature and perfect. While I don’t pretend to understand this incarnational mystery, I do know that we are called to participate the the Divine Life in Christ as His life is lived in us and through us in obedience to the Father, which necessarily means that we live subject to earthly authorities.

To be sure there are myriad tensions in all of this, or at least there should be. If someone is living a life under authority without tension then most likely he or she is asleep and simply going with the flow - after all Jesus, even though He is a Son, learned obedience by the things which He suffered. If we are always seeking to remove ourselves from difficulties, or if we live lives of acquiescence to the ways of this age, or lives in rebellion against authority - we are removing ourselves from a place where the Father can transform us into the image of the Son. We are called to live intentionally obedient lives to the will of God.

To go back to the previous post in this series, what was it that the centurion recognized about Jesus (Matthew 8:5-13)? The typical answer is, “He saw that Jesus had authority.” That is incorrect. The centurion says to Jesus, “For I also am a man under authority.” The centurion understood that legitimate authority is derived from beyond the person in a position of authority, and that legitimate authority is under authority.  When the centurion spoke to his soldiers the Emperor was speaking. The centurion saw something in Jesus that caused him to know that Jesus was not a loose cannon, that Jesus was not out doing His own thing, and that Jesus was living a life of accountability under authority. The centurion may not have known exactly who Jesus was or what Jesus’ mission was, but he knew that here was a man under the authority of a particular nature, and so unusual a nature that the centurion knew that all Jesus had to do was to speak the word and his servant would be healed.

An element of being under authority is the willingness to bear the consequences of disobedience when we disobey earthly authority in order to obey heavenly authority. A danger is that when a conflict arises between earthly and heavenly authority that we use the conflict to justify our own rebellious and ungodly attitudes - if we cannot obey earthly authority because it conflicts with the will of God, our focus should be on obedience to God and a sensitive witness to others, including those who we cannot obey. We must ask God to guard our hearts and minds in these things lest we become people of vitriol and rebellion and assume the cloak of the those who pull down and destroy.

Conflict between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness in the workplace provides the Christ-follower with an opportunity to share Christ with others. It gives us an opportunity to think things through and to hopefully engage others on the problem. How can we help others think about the consequences of their actions? Can we show them another way? Can we appeal to their God-given sense of right and wrong? If we cannot obey or endorse an action or way of thinking, how can we respectfully and thoughtfully communicate our decision? We are not called to shut doors on relationships but to considerately engage others. How is God using difficult circumstances to form us into the image of Jesus Christ?

Living under the authority of Jesus Christ means obedience to Him and service to others. When we must disobey the authority of man, that disobedience must be not disobedience to man per se, but obedience to God in service to both God and man...whether others see this or not.

We are not our own, we are bought with a price..

Marketplace Reflections (10)

Subject to Authority

In Matthew 8:5 - 13 we read:

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you may have seen this passage before, either in illustrating Bible reading or in pondering the topic of “authority”. For years I’ve used this passage to ask the question, “What did the centurion recognize about Jesus?” And for years the consistent answer people give me is, “That Jesus was in authority.”

What is your answer?

The Bible has a lot to say about authority, about how it should be exercised, about how it should be obeyed, and about how, when necessary, it should be disobeyed. While I will explore how authority should be exercised in future posts, for now I will say that authority should be subject to authority, that it should be accountable, sacrificial, and that it should be used to serve others - whenever we are given authority we should be stewards of the authority and not owners, we should be servant-leaders. Of course there are different kinds of authority; for example there is positional authority and there is moral authority. Ideally those in positional authority will also have moral authority, but we know such people are rare.

Paul writes (Romans 13:1b) that “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Sadly, as with many other things that God has given us for our good, humanity has twisted and distorted authority, so that what is meant for our good is often used for evil - therefore there are times when we must disobey authority, but when we do so we must be as certain as possible that we are obeying God and not giving vent to our own self-interests. It is too easy to lie to ourselves by rationalizing away our disobedience in the guise of “righteousness” when we are really attempting to replace one person’s agenda with our own in order to seize power and dictate events.

In his letter to the Colossians Paul writes (Colossians 4:22 - 5:1) that slaves are to obey their masters, not just in terms of external actions but more importantly in terms of heart attitude...for “It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” He also points out to masters that they “have a Master in heaven”. Surely we can extend this principle to all who are employed by others and to all who employ or supervise others. For the Christ-follower this means that our work ought to be in accordance with Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”

None of this is to suggest that workplaces tend to be places without stress or conflict or without poor leadership or insensitive leadership, or even at times evil leadership. Workplaces are imperfect because people are imperfect, our goal ought not to be the absence of disagreement or conflict, but rather how we live and work with others interdependently; learning to work through disagreements and conflicts and turning them into growth opportunities - both individually and collectively.

For the Christian, respect and submission to authority entails an acknowledgement that “there is no authority except from God”. While the context of these words in Romans Chapter 13 is governmental authority, the principle dovetails with Colossians 3:22 - 4:1. When we honor authority we trust God to care for us, we commit ourselves to Him - whether others realize this or not.

This does not mean that things always go well for us in the short-term, and I think that this is a particular problem in the West with our individualistic outlook, and I think it is a problem in the Western church with its meshing of cultural narcissism and Christianity. Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23) but we would rather use Jesus to make our lives better and softer and more comfortable and help us avoid hard choices.

Even though Saul sought to kill David, David was careful to honor Saul’s position as King of Israel; and the one time that David showed disrespect to Saul (1 Samuel 24:1 - 5) David was remorseful. Better to be the object of hatred than to retaliate. When the apostles told the Sanhedrin that they ought to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) we see no evidence of disrespect in either their words or attitudes, they were simply stating a fact, communicating their decision. When Daniel disobeyed the king’s edict, and when his friends also had occasion to disobey a royal decree (Daniel chapters 3 & 6) we detect no trace of rebellious attitudes, no vitriol, no disrespect  - and no complaining about what the possible consequences might be. Whether David, or the apostles, or Daniel and his friends - they were willing to suffer the consequences of obeying God and they were not willing to attack the earthly authority that poised immediate danger.

In his letter to Titus Paul writes, “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men,” (Titus 3:1-2). As with Romans Chapter 13, while the context of this passage is government, the principles extend to all of life.

How many times do Christians destroy their witness by maligning those in authority in the workplace?

Peter writes (1 Peter 2:13 - 20:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”

In Peter’s words we see the linkage between our attitude to the authority of government and our attitude to authority in the workplace; and we see that Peter does not give us a pass if the employer is “unreasonable” - it is not for us to pick and choose who we will respect, not if we are to follow Christ. However, let us also be clear that when obedience to God conflicts with obedience to man that we have no choice, we must respectfully disobey man and obey God. This is an opportunity to witness, to share our faith, our reasons for disobedience - we can have respectful and submissive and caring attitudes toward those in earthly authority while still not doing what we have been asked or ordered to do when to comply would disobey God.

When I wrote my recent thoughts on “telling the truth” I pointed out that Jesus says that the devil is the father of lies; I wrote that we ought to keep in mind that if we lie we are drinking of the cup of the enemy. In the same manner we ought to keep in mind who is the author of rebellion - it is Satan. When we disrespect authority we drink from the devil’s cup of rebellion. Peter and Jude point out that a mark of the enemy and his false teachers is disrespect for authority (see 2 Peter Chapter Two and Jude).

To be continued...