Presence above Principles
Sometimes when I respond to an email, I know the answer is for more people than just the one asking. So, today, I let you look over my shoulder again as I respond to a very important question.
I’ve been reading a yearly Bible plan this year, and came across a question that I thought would be interesting to ask you. I’ve noticed a couple of times where Jesus tells people not to share about the miracle he did for them, such as the two blind men in Matthew 9, and understandably, there are others whom he tells to go show themselves to the priests. I’ve always thought of the latter to mean that it would improve their standard of living in the current age, and potentially even bring wonder/curiosity to the religious leaders they showed themselves to. Those “go show yourselves to the priests” examples have always made sense to my brain why Jesus would do that. But I also think about the woman at the well and how she was told to go and tell about who he was, and what he had told her.
My curiosity lies with Jesus seemingly randomly telling different people not to share what had happened, or share what had happened! And it seems common that the people who were told not to share shared anyway, but that was typically shared at the end of the story, so I’m not sure what Jesus’ response ever was. What are your thoughts?
I was asked once in Kenya why Jesus told his disciples at one point to take a sword with them, and another time he told them not to. “Are we supposed to take a sword or not?” the pastor asked.
I answered: “I think the point is to follow Jesus. When he wants you to take one, you do, and when he doesn’t, you don’t.”
This may not be the answer you’re looking for. I used to look for the same answers you wrote about. But over the decades, Jesus convinced me that he moves with infinite variety and for reasons we may never know. Look at how he heals people with such different modalities—sometimes praying, sometimes speaking to the person or the disease, sometimes telling them to go somewhere and do something, or sometimes spitting into the dirt and rubbing it in their eyes. These things may appear random, but they are not. He’s dealing with a person he cares about and giving them his best counsel. His ways are endless, and his creativity is so unique to each individual.
I understand the very human desire to figure out why he said or did different things with different people, but in the end, we’d only be speculating. And speculating is a very dangerous exercise. In fact, asking “why?” is probably the least productive Christian pursuit I know of, not to mention unsatisfying when it lies unanswered. I don’t use the why question much anymore. Trust doesn’t need a why; it only needs clarity. I suspect now that most of my why questions will only be clear from the other side. That reminds me of something a Bible teacher from New Zealand told me once. “Where something is important in Scripture, it will be clear. When it’s not clear, it usually isn’t important.”
The countless sermons we were raised on modeled the idea that Scripture contains all the principles we need to apply to a given situation and discern what God desires. For general living, healthy principles can be helpful. But when we need his direction for specific situations, those principles will fail us. What God was doing in Bartimaeus, Moses, Peter, or Annaias was unique to them at the moment. Seeing examples of what he might do may help us recognize him as he guides us. But copying what he did in one circumstance can be disappointing when it doesn’t yield the same results for us.
I come out of all of that convinced that what Jesus wants us to do is follow him—“every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Seemingly, Christianity has been on an endless search to divine principles from Scripture to follow instead of him. Remember WWJD? It removed the person of Jesus from our experience and encouraged us to resort to our own best reasoning, even if from the Scriptures. But they were meant to unveil God, so that we can sense him in our hearts and follow him with eyes that see and ears that hear.
It was never principles he wanted to give us; it was presence, voice, and leading.
Knowing that will also help you discern healthy leadership in Jesus’s family. It is not those who dispense principles from the Bible and compel people to follow them. It is those who coach others on how to recognize his presence and follow his lead. That’s where our connection to him becomes limitless.
If you want to know more about how to read the Scriptures in a way that will enlighten your relational journey to know Jesus, please check out The Jesus Lens, a video and audio series available for free through Lifestream.
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