Archives For jesus

How to Get Rich Quick

samuel kee —  April 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

pennyI’ve discovered a way to get rich quick.  And it’s in the Bible, so it’s cool.  You don’t have to buy anything, either.  In 1 Corinthians 8:9, we read:

“For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

It’s a celebrated and accepted fact that Jesus became poor.  He left the glory of heaven for the gory of earth; he put aside his treasures in order to take up our trials.  He died with neither property nor penny.  He sank to every dirty depth of human depravity, dying on a criminal’s cross, as mockers spit in his face and his friends ran the other way.  Jesus became poor.  He is the definition of “poverty.”

Nonetheless, we are not as easy to admit that we are rich.  We freely believe and admit that Jesus became poor, but we never think to admit—or believe—that we are rich.  Yet, that is exactly what this verse teaches us.  Jesus became poor and we became rich.  They are two sides of the same coin.  By his poverty, we become rich.  In other words, you can’t separate the two.

If Jesus became poor, then we become rich.  There’s no denying it.  If we proclaim the one, then we must embrace the other.  The quickest way to get rich is to put your trust in the poverty of Jesus.  We call upon Jesus to pay for our debts, which he did on the cross.  Taking our debts away from us and nailing them to the cross, he exchanges them for his treasure.  He absorbs our poverty and we are lavished with his plenty.

Down on yourself?  Down on life?  Turn over the coin of Jesus and look what’s on the other side.  On the other side of his poverty, are your riches.  Those who rely on the cross have more wealth than this world has ever known or could ever hold.  They have riches that every bit of gold on earth points to and anticipates.  And nothing can take away these riches, which are stored in an eternal place.  No amount of money can buy unconditional love, acceptance, worth, meaning, joy, forgiveness, and grace—and no one on earth lives for anything other—and each of them can be yours through the poverty of Jesus.

© Samuel Kee, 2013

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Where Was God? // Episode 3 // His Birth

samuel kee —  January 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

where was God logo episode 3 his birthThis is episode 3 of 8 in our video series, “Where Was God?” We discover a third answer to this question when we consider the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born into a massacre.  This means that we can locate him within our suffering.  He is no stranger to our tears, but joins us in our weeping.  Where was God?  He was and is with us.  (A big shout out to Derek Brumby for all the work he did on editing this video!)

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Two out of Three People Are Treated Unfairly

samuel kee —  January 21, 2013 — 1 Comment

13188Studies show that God treats two out of three people unfairly.  It’s true and I can prove it.  Before I do, ask yourself if you think you’re being treated unfairly or not.  Then ask yourself if you’d like God to treat you more fairly.

The support for my claim comes from a study of Luke 23 in the Bible.  In verses 39-43, we read about three people, two of which are treated unfairly.  It’s not subtle, either, but a very blatant, unfair treatment. 

 

Person #1 Is Treated Unfairly

The first person who’s treated unfairly is Jesus, God’s own Son.  The second criminal recognizes this.  Jesus has done nothing wrong (Luke 23:41), yet he’s getting the same sentence of condemnation as those who were criminals (40).  The criminals deserved their punishment, but not Jesus.  Yet he was given the same punishment as the two common criminals.  That’s not fair.  In fact, Jesus’ punishment was infinitely worse than that of the criminals’.  Though a saint, Jesus was punished as a sinner.  Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.”  God the Father made God the Son to be sin, even though God the Son had never sinned.  The Father punished his Son as if he were a sinner, so that we might be treated as righteous saints.

Or again, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him [Jesus]” (Isaiah 53:10).  The Father’s will for Jesus’ life was for it to be crushed, even though he did nothing to deserve it.  Again, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

God treated Jesus unfairly by rewarding his perfect obedience with punishment.  Why did he do this?  “He was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”  God punished Jesus so that we could go unpunished.  God punished Jesus so that we could be healed. 

Person #2 Is Treated Unfairly

The second person who was treated unfairly was the second criminal.  In Luke 23:39-43, we learn that there were two criminals who were crucified next to Jesus.  The first mocked Jesus; but the second expressed devotion to Jesus.  He said to Jesus, not even expecting a response, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (42).  The second criminal knew that he didn’t have the slightest chance of getting into Paradise when he died.  If Adam and Eve were kicked out of Paradise for just a single act of disobedience (see Genesis 3), then what chance did this criminal have, who had lived a lifetime of disobedience?  He did not have what it took to enter into Paradise; but, at least he could ask Jesus to remember him when he got there.

In his request, the second criminal reveals his heart’s openness to Jesus.  He recognized that Jesus was a perfect person, having never done anything wrong.  He also recognized that Jesus was a King, for only kings possess kingdoms.  This criminal’s heart was open to Jesus’ rule, if even for these last moments of his life.

Jesus, dying of asphyxiation, did not owe him a response, either.  He barely had enough breath for himself, let alone for some run-of-the-mill thief.  Can you imagine, were you the second criminal, suddenly hearing the raspy voice of Jesus, respond to you and say, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (43)?

Today?  Today?  That day was the worst day of the second criminal’s life—it also happened to be his last day!  On what had been the worst day of his life, he would experience the best day of his life?  By the end of that day, a common, dirty criminal would be walking hand-in-hand with Jesus into Paradise.  That’s not fair, either—that’s grace.

God did not treat the second fairly by forgiving his sins and allowing him passage into Paradise.

Person #3 Is Treated Fairly

Finally, by now you’re wondering who it is that God treated fairly.  God did not treat Jesus fairly by punishing him; nor did he treat the second criminal fairly by giving him Paradise.  There is a character, however, in these verses, whom God treats fairly.

God treated the first criminal fairly.  In those days, some criminals were punished by crucifixion, which was the “just reward” for certain crimes.  The first criminal was getting exactly what he deserved, and he knew it.  This criminal had lived a life of sin and was receiving his due punishment. 

Romans 6:23 puts it this way, “For the wages of sin is death.”  The “wage” that a sin earns is death.  At then end of a day of sin-work, our just wage is death (thankfully we don’t get paid bimonthly!).  Human sin, which corrupts the world, needs to be dealt with, in order to maintain order and goodness.  If it’s not dealt with, then the goodness of God’s creation is bankrupt.  Just like we’d never allow someone to steal large sums of money from our bank account without dealing with it, so could God never allow sinners to rob the created order of its perfection.  Our good God must maintain the goodness of his world.   

The first criminal not only gets what he deserves, but also he closes himself off to God’s solution.  He is in the presence of the solution for his sins, and he closes his heart to it.  There’s an organization that I work with who ships boxes of food to starving children all over the world.  They recognize that each day, 18,000 children die from starvation.  Out of these 18,000 kids, 40% of them are from India.  However, none of their shipments of food go to India.  Why?  Because the leaders of India (who are not starving), don’t want the charity.  They tell this organization that they don’t have a problem and that their food is not the kind that they want.  All the while thousands of children die each day in India from lack of food; yet the food is at their doorstep.

The first criminal is in the presence of a feast, yet he closes himself off to it.  He doesn’t want Jesus’ charity; he doesn’t think that there’s a problem.  Yet he’s about to die and be cut off from the source of Life for all eternity.  And if you close your heart off to God now, it will remain that way forever, long after your body passes away. 

You’re soul is hungry, admit it.  Will you close yourself off to Jesus and remain separated from God forever?  Or will you turn to him and trust, allowing his dying love for you to melt your heart.  “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise!”  Romans 6:23 ends like this, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Eternal life is not a “fair” gift, but a free one.  Our lives can never “earn” this gift, but it must be given to us at the cost of Another.  Jesus Christ was unfairly punished in order to pay for our free gift, which is given unfairly to those who make him their King, not to those who close themselves off to him.

Are you sure you want God to treat you fairly?

© Samuel Kee, 2013          

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Leadership Lesson // Get off Your Big Fat Mountain

samuel kee —  January 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

MountainJesus gives some of his disciples a once in a lifetime opportunity: they were to meet the heroes of the faith, Moses and Elijah.  And if that weren’t enough, they would also be able to see Jesus in his glory on the mountain (we find the account in Luke 9:28-36).  The next day, after coming down from the mountain, they had the opportunity to minister to a broken family.  There was a demon-possessed boy, who was in constant chaos and threat of death from the demon.  His father was terrified at what might happen to him, so he asked some of Jesus’ disciples—who had just come off of the mountain with Moses and Elijah—to heal his boy.  However, the disciples were not able to do it.  So the boy continued to suffer, until the father found Jesus.

After Jesus healed the boy, he informed his disciples that he would soon suffer betrayal and death.  From the mountain, Jesus was headed down to the valley, if you know what I mean.  But his disciples didn’t seem to catch the lesson.  The next moment, they begin squabbling about which of the disciples was the greatest one.  “An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest” (Luke 9:46).  To answer their narcissistic question, Jesus grabs a grubby, little child and says, “He who is least among you all is the one who is great” (48). 

Where is the leadership lesson?  It’s found in the reason why Jesus’ disciples could not heal the demon-possessed boy.  When they asked him why they couldn’t heal the boy, Jesus replied, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).  The connection is not immediately obvious unless you look at the context.  We have to keep in mind the unfolding contrasts.  Recall the greatness of the mountain top and the valley of the demon possessed boy.  Remember the greatness that the disciples were chasing after and the valley of death that Jesus was chasing after (in his allusion to the crucifixion).  The various episodes contrast greatness with tragedy and mountains with ministry. 

The key is the words of Jesus about prayer and fasting.  Prayer is depending on God to supply your needs; fasting is denying your wants in order to seek God.  Both are a sure pathway to God.  Depend on God in prayer and deny other pursuits through fasting.  Why couldn’t the disciples help out the wrecked boy?  Because they had placed self-interest in their path, so they could not get to the boy.  They were too busy worrying about themselves and their own greatness, so they could not begin to help the boy in his misery.  They had been on the mountain and were consumed with making themselves “higher” than others; they failed to see the lowly boy and their lowly Master, Jesus.  They were not depending on God, but themselves.  They were not denying themselves, but indulging.  That’s why they could not help the demon-possessed boy.  There are some demons in our lives that are so significant, that we cannot expel them on our own steam.  The disciples thought themselves to be great, but they weren’t that great. 

Leaders easily pass by the helpless and suffering on their way to “greatness.”  When a leader’s eyes are on himself, he cannot help others.  In fact, they will continue to languish, while we’re busy grooming ourselves for the next mountain. 

That’s why Jesus’ words are so harsh to his smug disciples:

“O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?” (Luke 9:41).

Greatness can never be achieved by pursuing it directly, but only through pursuing the well being of others and the glory of God.  Better are the words of Jesus:

“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.  For he who is least among you is the one who is great.”

© Samuel Kee, 2013

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Your First Advent Post, Jesus as a Worm, etc.

samuel kee —  November 18, 2012 — 1 Comment

When did Jesus begin to suffer?  You might think that Jesus began to suffer on the night of his betrayal or when the Roman soldiers began to beat him with rods and whips.  You might think that he began to suffer when the first nail was driven into his hand, or perhaps after the first few hours of excruciating pain, as he hung on the cross.

I’m not going to get sentimental on you and say some blubbery stuff about Jesus’ suffering starting when others let him down.  Jesus had thicker skin than that.  So when did Jesus begin to suffer?

Imagine if you turned me into a worm, scooped me out of the dirt, impaled me on a hook, tossed me into a lake, and then fed me to a hungry fish.  When did my suffering begin?  My suffering did not begin inside the fish’s mouth (though that would be quite traumatic!), but further back.  My suffering began the moment you turned me into a worm.  Had you done nothing else, just by turning me into a worm, my life would be wrecked.

The suffering of Jesus began the moment he became human.

Jesus left the perfect bliss of heaven in order to enter the comparative hell of earth.  His suffering began at incarnation.  God-with-us ultimately means God-suffers-with-us.  He became a despised worm, so that he could join us and identify with us in our muddy misery.  Here’s how the Apostle Paul puts it in Philippians 2:6-7,

Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.

We may think that turning into “the likeness of men” were a good thing.  Who wouldn’t want to be like us?  Jesus began to suffer the moment he became human.  When did God begin to suffer for us?  Christmas.  When Jesus became human, he let go of all his rights and pleasures as God.  He made himself nothing.

That’s when his identification with the human race and plight began.  That’s when he was tossed to the earth as a worm.  He was given the body of a human, so that, one day, the Romans would have something to nail to a cross.  The only reason you fish with a worm is to give the fish something to consume.  The only reason God went fishing with his Son was to give death something to consume.  God the Father pierced his Son with the hook of the cross and then lowered him down into this Lake of Fire, so that he could catch us and bring us home.  Continuing with Philippians 2:8,

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Why is this important?  The season of Advent needs to be sobered by this truth.  True, it’s an amazing celebration that God came to be with us in Jesus.  However, in the midst of all the cheer, we must not miss his deep and profound love for us.  Jesus showed up on our doorstep as a worm.  That ought to move us to tears.  Forever, we have to live with the knowledge that there’s a God who would go to any length to rescue us.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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Sword, Tree, Naked

samuel kee —  October 2, 2012 — 2 Comments

“Adam and Eve Tree Painting” by Ida Hes

Because we refused to live under God’s rule, God drove humanity out of the garden of Eden.  Though we lost Paradise, we’ve never lost the memory of Paradise.  Every human longs to get back to the garden of Eden, whether they realize it or not.  Our desires, intentions, and longings betray us.  We want the world to be perfect; we ache for happiness; we weep for justice.  We’ve lost it, but the secret mission of our lives is to find it.

Here’s the problem, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).  Once we refused to live under God’s rule, God drove us out of Paradise, blocking any hope of a return.  I want to point out three parts of this story.  First, the way back into the garden is blocked by a sword, moving back and forth.  Second, we are kept from a tree.  Third, when Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were naked.

With just these three simple facts, we’re able to discover the solution we’ve been waiting our whole lives to find.  In order to return to Paradise, we’ve got to get through the cutting sword.  Though this is impossible for us, it was not impossible for him.  God sent his Son Jesus into our “east of Eden” and Jesus threw himself onto the sword, being cut down for us.  Here’s what’s recorded in John’s gospel, “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34).  It’s not just a grand historical coincidence that Jesus was cut by a sword.

Again, when Jesus was pierced by the spear, he was hanging on a tree, a euphemism for the Roman cross.  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).  The cross is our tree of life, our source of healing.

Again, when Jesus was pierced by a sword on a tree, he was naked.  Matthew’s gospel records, “And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him” (Matthew 27:28).  In order to maximize the humiliation of the criminal, the Romans would crucify them naked.  All of our pictures of Jesus on the cross wearing a white linen are most likely wrong, though well intended.  Jesus was most likely naked on the cross, having been stripped by the soldiers.

Sword.  Tree.  Naked.  God’s solution for us to get through the sword, so that we can return to the tree of life, and the innocence of Eden (for that’s what nakedness symbolizes), is Jesus.

Jesus is our solution.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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How to follow Jesus

samuel kee —  September 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

The 1997 movie Gattaca is about two brothers, one who is superior to the other, in every way.  The point of this sci-fi movie is to muse over the implications of genetic discrimination in the future.  One of the brothers, Vincent, is genetically inferior.  In fact, he has a heart defect.  His brother, Anton, is superior.  Growing up, they used to have a contest to see who could swim out farthest into the ocean, before turning back.  As you would expect, the genetically superior Anton always won.  However, after years of training, Vincent wants to swim against him one last time.  Vincent and Anton head out into the water, and, guess who wins?  This time, Vincent wins!

In utter disbelief, Anton shouts out, “Vincent! How are you doing this, Vincent? How have you done any of this? We have to go back!”  Vincent replies, “It’s too late for that, we’re closer to the other side.”  Anton says, “What other side? Do you want to drown us both?”  Then Vincent says, “You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton.  I never saved anything for the swim back.”

There are those in life who try to hold on and try to maintain control, even while taking great risks.  But there are others who have discovered a taste for the other side, something that is basically unreachable.  Yet they swim anyway.

When Jesus calls people to follow him, he doesn’t expect us to save any for the way back.  He is looking for those who are willing to place their hopes and dreams on the other shore, on the other side.  There is no such thing as a Christian who returns each night to the shore from which he left, just to go out again the next day.  That’s insanity.  Jesus wants to take you deeper than that, out where there’s nothing but longing.

Don’t save any for the way back; then you’ll actually be getting somewhere.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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What Makes God Angry?

samuel kee —  July 25, 2012 — Leave a comment

A few years ago, we were watching the movie The Gospel of John (2003), which is a topnotch, verse by verse drama through John’s gospel.  After we watched John chapter 2, when Jesus clears the temple, one of my sons, eyes wide and jaw open, said, “That’s an angry Jesus!”  Though we’ve heard the story of Jesus chasing out the merchants in the temple, seeing it dramatized is another thing.  My son was right: that is an angry Jesus!

Jesus went wild: he burst into the temple, made a whip, and drove out all those who were selling animals; on the way, he flipped over all the tables of the money-changers and threw out their coins.  So outrageous was his behavior, that his disciples later linked it with a verse from Psalm 69, which tells us that zeal consumed him like a blazing fire.

Why was Jesus so passionate?  —Because these things were getting in the way.  “Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade” (John 2:16).  The temple was supposed to be like a house.  A house is a place where children can be with their father.  It’s a place where you expect to hear laughter and experience joy; the place where one could hear the sound of children talking to their father.

Instead, this temple was full of animal noises and profit.  You heard the sound of coins dropping rather than prayers rising.  You heard cows bellowing rather than people singing.  It turned what was supposed to be a relationship into a religion, where forgiveness was bought and sold, depending on how much you could afford.

These things were getting in the way.  That made Jesus angry.  The temple was supposed to be the place where heaven and earth interlocked, where God and humans danced in covenant celebration.  When Jesus saw that this wasn’t happening, he turned the tables and lashed out in violence against all who were getting in the way.

Did you know that God is angry about whatever gets in the way of you and him?  God is so passionate for you, that he will do whatever it takes to have you for himself, as a Father would in his own home.  And it’s not just that he gets angry, but it consumes him.  Picture some tinder going up in flame and you’ve got the idea.

Some of us think that we have to do something to win God’s favor, like buy the right sacrifices for the altar.  This makes Jesus mad, for he knows that he will provide the sacrifice (himself) and that there is nothing we need to do to be accepted by God.  Anything other than grace angers Jesus.

Love is so dangerous because it could burst through and turn your tables at any time.  At any time, you might feel the chords of Jesus, whipping away the things that are getting in the way.  And he doesn’t apologize, either; we are stuck with this passionate, angry, loving, tender, and brutal Jesus, who will do whatever it takes to bring you back to God.

How’s this for a parting prayer, “Angry Jesus, throw out all my junk.  I thought I needed it, but you know best: I only need you.”

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One Thing Not One More Thing

samuel kee —  July 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

At the end of Luke 10, there’s a little account of a visit that Jesus made to the home of Mary and Martha, who were his close friends.  It says that Martha “was distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40).  She hated the fact that Mary wasn’t helping her, but just “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” (10:39).  Jesus notices Martha’s worries and says that she is too anxious and troubled about too many things.  Then, in just a few pithy words, he add, “But one thing is necessary” (10:41).

Haunting, isn’t it?  What is the “one thing” that is necessary?  It reminds me of the old, leathery cowboy Curly in City Slickers, who holds up his finger and tells Billy Crystal that there’s only one important thing in life.  Unfortunately, Curly dies before he is able to tell us what that one thing is, leaving us to figure it out on our own.  At the end of the movie, the “one thing” is different for everyone.  For Billy’s character, the one thing is his family.

I don’t think that Jesus is as broad as Curly, however.  Jesus won’t let us get away with making just anything we like the “one thing” in our lives.  Jesus has something specific in mind, which makes his comment to Martha far more chilling.  If she misses it, then she misses it, big time.  And if we miss it, then we miss it, big time.

Only one thing is necessary in life.  In other words, all else is contingent, unnecessary.  You can survive without your family, for instance.  You can survive without busywork, too.  But you can’t survive without this one thing.  “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (10:42).  Evidently, this one thing cannot be taken away from you.  Long after your family leaves, long after your abilities grind to a halt, and long after your body decays, there’s one thing that cannot be taken away from you.

In a sense, Jesus gives us permission to mess up in life.  There’s a ton of mess-up-room in life.  He gives us permission to fail at everything, if needed.  After all, none of that stuff matters ultimately.  So what if you fail at your job?  So what if you don’t accomplish all that you want to?  After you die, someone else will pick up where you left off.  But we dare not mess up on just one thing—the necessary thing.

Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and absorbs his life into hers.  She stores his words in her heart, slowly building her life on his.  Nothing else matters so much as this.  He will never be taken away from her; she will never be taken away from him.  Not even death can stop his fidelity to her or to us.

And notice that following Jesus is not “one more thing.”  We don’t just tack on our faith to the end of our day, or the end of our life.  “After I do the dishes, write the report, or take care of business, then I’ll seek God.”  God is not just “one more thing” to do on your list.  That’s not what Jesus says.  Jesus says that he’s the “one thing” that you need.  Oh, how we insult God, loving him only when it’s convenient for us.  No relationship works like that.

God, help me to temper every other effort by the only thing that’s necessary today.  As I hear about the death of a relative of mine today, I again realize how insanely fragile and temporary life is.  Nothing remains, but the one thing.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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Scripted

samuel kee —  September 3, 2011 — 2 Comments

We cry out for a savior to pull us out of the script

I’ve been thinking about behavioral scripts a lot lately, probably because I just got the new album by Icon For Hire called Scripted.  Icon For Hire is a metal band from Decatur, IL, who is now on tour with Brian “Head” Welch.  I had the opportunity to meet Icon For Hire—Shawn, Ariel, Josh, and Adam—they are top-notch individuals and incredibly nice.  I’ll get back to Scripted in a minute.

Behavioral psychology (I was a psych major) teaches us that people use hundreds of scripts each day.  Scripts are routines that we memorize when we’re in familiar situations.  When seeing someone in the morning at work, we know exactly what to say and do.  We simply follow the “script.”  When checking out at the grocery store, we follow a script.  When talking with a friend, we follow a script.  When meeting someone new, we follow a script.  We not only follow verbal scripts, but also we apply scripts to people, in order to stereotype them, and easily brush our hands of them.  If we see a certain ethnicity, for example, we follow a script in our interactions with him or her.

By following scripts, we are mentally able to “check-out” and exert the least amount of physical, emotional, and intellectual energy.  In any given situation, a script tells us what kind of behavior to do or expect.  Thus, scripts put distance between people; we no longer engage another, but merely act out a memorized script.

Here are some lyrics from Icon for Hire’s song Scripted:

I know they’ll come with what I’m owed; My enemies belittle me reminding me the penalty of all my deeds despite my plea is death; Don’t let go cause; Don’t wanna be this; Don’t wanna be this; Death is mine I know.

In this song, it’s recognized that humans are bound by scripts.  We know that we’re sinners and we deserve death.  That’s where we’re headed and we cannot get out of the script no matter how hard we try.  So we cry out for a savior to pull us out of the script, “Don’t let go!”  When it comes to spirituality, we need a script-breaker.  We cannot operate on how things have always been, for that would spell tragedy for us.

We follow scripts when it comes to God, if you haven’t figured that out yet.  Even if we aren’t surrounded by enemies, as in the song, but friends, we follow scripts.  Even those in church could need a script-breaker.

I’m thinking of John 2:13-22, that part about the temple worship.  It was just another day in the life of the typical Jewish worshipper.  They were offering sacrifices in the temple.  They were bringing their tithes and their offerings.  They were exchanging their foreign currency for the native stuff.  It was just a typical scripted day in the life of these good religious people.

Then along comes the Script-Breaker, Jesus himself, who storms the temple with a whip and a war cry.  Jesus knows no script.  He rushes the temple and tosses over all of the tables.  He frees the animals and flails his whip like a madman, no doubt piercing skin along the way.  All the while he’s shouting out Bible verses.

The Script-Breaker knew that religious scripts needed to be crushed.  There were things that were getting in the way of our relationship with God, scripts that put a convenient distance between us and the Almighty.

What scripts do you follow with God?  Maybe you don’t believe in God, and that’s your script.  You follow the script of disbelief so you don’t have to deal with God.  Or maybe you have a religious script; you know what routine to follow to keep others happy, hoping that it will keep God happy, too.  Or you might have a prayer script; you say what you need to say to “get through it” and keep God at a distance.  Perhaps you have a cultural-script; you follow what the culture says about God rather than investigating him for yourself.  If the culture says that there are many ways to God or that God is whatever you want him/her/it to be, then that’s what you’ll believe, just so you won’t rock the boat.

Maybe your script has to do with money.  You do whatever is financially reasonable rather than whatever is divinely commanded.

The truth is that Jesus hates our religious scripts, for they put a wall up between us and God.  When a wall is up, we cannot experience his healing and life-saving presence.  We forget that we are loved by God himself, despite who we are.  We are left to face our enemies and death alone.

Icon for Hire is challenging our scripts; we don’t have to follow them and they don’t have to destroy us.  There is a way out—for he broke his way in.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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