On Imitating Christ and the Nature of Heavenly Power

"Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler," Heinrich Hofman. Source.

by Dylan Dell-Haro

Once, when in the temple, the religious leaders asked Jesus about authority. Basically, they were asking "What are your credentials? Who sent you? What gives you power?" [Mark 11.28]. Jesus does not give them a clear answer [11.29-33].

There are several types of authority and power. Some are earned and some are given, but each has social influence. Not all power is universal – some is situational. Here is the way I often categorize power and authority – the ways people can have or lack power:

Power of Knowledge:

Education; training; special skills; experience; ease of access to information; networking/“who you know;” ability to read, write, and speak a language; technological literacy…

Power of Personality:

Charisma, creativity, communication and social skills, trust-building, affirmation from others, articulacy, gravitas, ability to share a vision…

Power of Status

One’s title, name, affluence; being a part of a majority group of any kind; being “from” some place special or important; legal rights and privileges…

Power of Look (or “-isms”):

Perceived age, skin color and features of ethnicity, gender expression, one’s clothing and hair style, one’s height and weight, general appearance of physicality…

We are not always conscientious of how culture influences our decisions. In the same way a person who is able bodied can walk up a staircase without thinking of every muscle used on every step, we make associations about other people without awareness of our personal implicit prejudices. You can learn more about your own implicit associations at this Harvard Study. 

In some cases, power is based on the culture one is immersed in. Your power and authority may not translate from one circle (country/subculture/neighborhood) to another. No matter where you are, you are tangled in some form of power dynamics; it is advantageous to you to be aware of your power in any given situation.

How do we use our power, authority, and privilege? In short, the power of knowledge influences your ability to shame or empower another person; the power of personality influences your ability to persuade others towards what is true and beautiful or towards what is distorted and selfish; the power of status gives you social and political influence; and the power of look (or “-isms”) influences your ability to lead whether you acknowledge it or not.

What does heavenly authority look like? What does it have to do with knowledge, personality, status, and appearance? How does the power of God influence your use of knowledge, your personality, your status, and the way you present yourself? When have you utilized the greatest paradox of power – the power Christ embodied – the power of the servant?

When Jesus washed his disciples feet, Jesus clarifies his source of authority [John 13:1-17]. Jesus doesn't say, "I am God, you fools! Serve me!" Rather, Jesus says "You are all children of God, be like me in your service to one another." Heavenly power is not forcing belief – it is sharing a sense of belonging: the power of compassion, loving kindness, patience, honesty, joy, solidarity, grace, modesty, forgiveness. Have you ever washed someone’s feet or had your feet washed by someone?

Consider Philippians 2:1-11. Verses 6-11 were likely part of an early Christian hymn. Many have noted its structure of descending and ascending power. Verses 6, 7, and 8 are descending: Jesus’ equality with God/to the form of a slave in human likeness/obedient to death/execution style. Whereas verses 9, 10, and 11 are ascending: Exalted by God/given the highest name/every knee shall bow/Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

But, God becoming smaller is not God becoming less Godly;

God is embodying the power of self-emptying love.

God’s power does not come from control over people; 

God’s power comes from serving for the joy of it:

Empowering the lowly.

Providing to those in need.

Giving voice to the marginalized.

Because when one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers, and when one part of the body rejoices the whole body rejoices [1 Corinthians 12.26]. Salvation isn't about saving yourself; salvation can’t happen on an individual basis alone.

If we are tied to one another (as one body), then

Salvation is for families and communities.

Salvation is for nations.

Salvation is for all of creation.

Being in the world but not of the world is not about patience for life after life; it’s about co-creating life now with God, and cultivating the "not of this world" in this world. Jesus came into the world for the world.

Jesus wasn't handing out VIP passes to heaven, saying: “Here, all you have to do is say my name and wait to die;" Jesus said "the Realm of God is at hand around and believe it is here" [paraphrase of Mark 1.15]. Salvation is not merely observing that Jesus lived selflessly; salvation is imitating Jesus: trading in more self-interest for more interest in the­ community. (Don’t worry, having interest in the community doesn't preclude self-interest – after all, you are a part of the community.)

The point is not to give until you have nothing left; the point is to give until you and everyone around you has changed for the better. It’s not about giving up your life; It’s about giving into a life – a life that is not all about you.

[The following is based on Mark 10.17-30]

A man runs up to Jesus and asks: ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

Jesus says: “You know the commandments: Don’t murder; cheat; steal; lie; or trick people for money. And Honor your parents.” Jesus only gets through six.

           

Then the rich man says: “Yeah Jesus, I‘ve followed these rules since I was a kid.”

Jesus loves this guy.

Jesus says: "You’re missing one thing: go, sell what you own, and give everything to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me." 

The rich man is shocked and goes away grieving. Is THIS the kind of self-emptying God requires?

I think Jesus uses this rhetorical proposal to ask:

Would you be willing to put yourself in someone else’s shoes? Would you let go of your human-made securities and trade places with someone who’s less secure?

Jesus is asking the rich man: Would you trade places with those living in poverty – with the single mother who is working two jobs and is stuck wondering how she is going to pay the bills and feed her kids?

Jesus is asking the rich woman: Would you trade places with the military vet who can’t get a job so is living on the streets?

Jesus is asking you: Would you trade places with those living in poverty – with the teenager who has no home or family because his father said “Stay in the closet or get out of my house!”

Jesus is asking the us: Would we trade places with the parents who came to this country to work a job which no one else would do, picking our food in the fields for less than minimum wage, in hopes that they can give their kids a better life?

Jesus is asking us:

Are we interested in anyone’s welfare beside your own?

Are we interested in the people God is interested in?

Will we empty ourselves and live for the sake of many who are living with little.

You want eternal life?

You want the kingdom of God? Right here? Right now?

Are you willing?

Do you really want to know?

Sure, you follow the rules!

Okay! But you’re missing one thing!

The rich man didn't ask any more questions or clarify what Jesus meant. The conversation ended. He walked away.

But Jesus continued with his disciples, saying: “It is hard for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were perplexed. So Jesus said it again: "Children, it is hard to enter the Realm of God! It is easier for a four-door sedan to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 

The disciples were greatly astounded and said to one another: "You're RIGHT Jesus! That IS hard! Then… who can be saved?" 

Jesus said, "For mortals it is impossible,

but not for God;

for God, all things are possible."

Meaning: don’t think you can enter heaven by all by yourself.

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you.D 

Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left everything, for my sake and for the sake of the good news who will not receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS AGE and in the age to come: eternal life …though it may mean persecution.

The Realm of God is not about filling pews;

It’s about filling bellies.                                                                                 

The Kingdom of God is not about changing people’s minds so everyone agrees;

It’s about being transformed by the renewing of our minds to discern the will of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not about believing the right thing so you can win at the game of life;

It’s about having integrity between what you believe and what you do so heaven can manifest on earth.

The Realm of God is not about

what you own,

the money in your bank,        

your personal achievements,

What or who you know,

your status,

the size of your military, or

Your sweet sense of fashion

It's about imitating Christ in self-emptying love. 

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Dylan Dell-Haro is a pastor at Topeka Church of the Brethren in Topeka, Kansas. He and his wife are long-time friends of Anna, James' (new) wife, and he offered to write something for In Progress while James is on post-wedding sabbatical. James thinks this was a grand thing to do. 

Give to Everyone Who Asks of You

For two years immediately after finishing college, I served in an AmeriCorps program with a group of 100+ other young adults. They were a bright, energetic, and above all else, idealistic group of people. "Idealism" was literally in the job description, and it was a principle that came up daily as a part of the organizational culture.

(I say this to show that the conversation that follows does not involve any cynical, jaded souls, but two people who cared deeply about and worked to improve the lives of others.)

One day during this time, I was at the office with a friend, and conversation turned toward giving money to people who begged on the street. I expressed some ambivalence about it; "It's hard to know what the money is going toward, and it might be better in general to give to charity," I mused.

My friend, on the other hand, stated that he thought it was wrong. Not questionable, not a gray area: wrong. He pointed out that many people begging on the street suffer from addiction to harmful substances; he felt it was his responsibility to not feed these addictions by giving away money that could possibly be spent on substances to abuse.

I have no memory of whether I responded with any kind of counterargument. But I have done a great deal of thinking about conversation since.

Eventually, I concluded that I had been wrong. And that my friend had been wrong, too.

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"When the Bible refers to the poor, I think of those who are downtrodden emotionally or romantically, not those who are poor financially."
— Bible Students Say.. (@BibleStdntsSay) April 7, 2014

Any Christian argument against giving to the needy is going to run up against a number of, to put it mildly, strong arguments from scripture pointing in the exact opposite direction. Perhaps the most famous and wrenching is a parable Jesus tells, in which he depicts himself reprimanding a group of people at the end of time, saying "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." And they ask Jesus in turn, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" And he tells them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." When we refuse to give to the poor, in other words, we refuse Jesus himself.

More so even than this image—Jesus, destitute and in need of my help—the scripture that I am mentally confronted with whenever I refuse money to a beggar is the direct command* Jesus issues to his followers: "Give to everyone who asks of you."

It's such a simple command: Just give. Don't think. Don't judge. Don't worry. Give.

And, simple as it is, it can be quite hard to actually do.

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As was mentioned, one obstacle to giving to the homeless is the fear that it will feed addiction. "It's a waste of money," "It does more harm than good," etc.

A few months ago, I read an article, written by a real, live, homeless person, that altered my view of addiction and homelessness. I'll let his words speak what I can't really do justice to:

I've coined a phrase for the kind of sleep you get on the street: "the one-eyed sleep of the homeless." When you sleep in public—well hidden though you may be—anyone can walk up on you in the middle of the night. It may be another homeless person looking for a good place to sleep. Or one of the nighttime criminals who beat the homeless and steal from them. Or the police, looking to move you out of  your spot. You never know what to expect, and it makes sleep difficult. Sometimes I'll see a homeless person dead asleep in the middle of the day on the sidewalk along some busy thoroughfare, but I don't know how they do it. Unless they've simply collapsed from exhaustion. Or maybe they're drunk or high.

Alcohol and drugs do play a big part in street life. I've tried to stay away from drugs and have succeeded for the most part. Drink, however, has been a different story. We all have our poisons, something that helps carry us through, that gives us pleasure, whether good for us or not. But when you're homeless, you definitely need something to take the edge off being exposed, every minute of every day. It's difficult to explain this to someone who has never had to live outdoors in the midst of several thousand people roaring around them at all hours. ("Homeless in the City," Theodore Walter, emphasis added)

Substance abuse is a coping strategy for the homeless, who deal with unbearable quantities of stress. In giving someone money, I trust that they're going to use it to get what they feel they need to keep going one more day, even if that includes substances that may not be good for them in the long run. They know their needs better than I do. I remind myself that if the recipient of my money is suffering from addiction, my money may help keep them from feeding that addiction in more dangerous ways, like theft or prostitution. Above all else, I remind myself of Jesus' commands: to give to the one who asks, and also to judge not lest I be judged by the same standard—how often, after all, have I spent money on things that are not healthy for me?

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For me, the other major obstacle to giving is more selfish: I tend to worry that I am being conned somehow. I know I have been conned out of money with a slick story at times, and it's a terrible feeling.

But what this feeling boils down to is pride. I get mad that someone fooled me into handing over my hard-earned money after I hear a made-up story. Which, when I think about it, is essentially what I do every time I go see a movie or buy a novel. Even if the story coming out of the stranger on the street is marketed a bit more aggressively or is somewhat less entertaining than I'd like, no story I ever hear is going to be worse than A Rat's Tale, a movie that features marionette rat puppets and terrible rat puns like "aloe verat"** and which is, I can assure you, totally real and not made up, because my sisters and I sat through the whole thing in a movie theater as children.

However little the recipient may seem to need or deserve my money, I remind myself when handing over my cash that it is unlikely that a successful person with access to steady work is going to be out on the street begging. If someone asks for money, there is a high likelihood that they need some, no matter the way they go about asking.

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Last year, I decided to try out the traditional Lenten discipline of almsgiving.† I made a conscious effort to always have cash somewhere I could get it easily on my person, and anytime I saw someone begging or was approached by someone asking for money, I had some to give. Each day, I relieved myself of some of my cash by placing it in a different pocket, and told myself it was no longer mine: I was simply carrying it for the next person I met who needed it. I found this practice to be such a relief to my anxieties over giving that I have never stopped since. I recommend it to all who would take seriously Jesus' command to give.

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*This command is found in both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. The first half of the command in each version is essentially identical, and the second half somewhat amusingly demonstrates the differences between the two authors—Mathew has a tendency to soften Jesus' more extreme social teachings in Luke (or perhaps it's the other way around?); see, for another example, the contrast between the Beatitudes in each. 
**Not only is "aloe verat" a real, live, terrible rat pun from this film, it is in fact the MacGuffin that drives the whole plot.
†I will admit that in writing this post, I worried about Jesus' command to give to the needy in secret. I actually kept my Lenten discipline to myself for a long time, and only told someone about it when it would have required a lie to keep it secret, at which point it seemed like I might be taking the whole secrecy thing a bit far.

Photos:
1. Chris Sampson
2. Edouard Manet, "Beggar with Duffel Coat" - This is one of my favorite pieces of art at Chicago's Art Institute; it's one of a pair of portraits that Manet painted in which he portrays beggars as noble philosophers.