students of jesus

Obedience is hopelessly out of fashion. The very word obey carries with it ridiculous notions of ancient kingdoms, stupid henchmen, or marital imbalance. Even among parents, the idea that we should teach our children to obey doesn't sound quite right--who are we to demand mindless obedience? Disobedience has always existed, but the idea that our actions should be determined by someone else is passé among North Americans of all kinds: believers and unbelievers alike.

Isaiah dwelt among a people of unclean lips. We dwell among a people of an independent spirit.

Our distrust of obedience flows from our fear of the other--the one whom we are to obey. Why should a woman pledge obedience to a husband who is filled with selfishness and pride? Why should a soldier vow obedience to a government pursuing injustice and oppression? Why would anyone put themselves in the hands of another? We are afraid of the other. What agenda does the other person have? To what purpose does someone else demand we do things his way? Following someone else’s will exposes us to exploitation and opens us to abuse. No one else could possibly have our good as the highest goal. And even if by some crazy chance someone else did have our best interests at heart, how could we be sure they had the wisdom or strength to bring it about?

We refuse to obey because we see the call to obedience as something foreign and alien to our souls. We hear the voice of the Other and put up our defenses because we think something from the outside is trying to invade our lives, our very being. Our life experience has taught us no one possesses the combination of good intentions, perfect wisdom, and effective power to win our trust. We have become convinced we must protect ourselves.

This lies at the heart of our reticence to obey the Heavenly Father. We resist the commands of God because we are not convinced he is good, or his intentions toward us are safe, or he has the wisdom or power to act on our behalf. It is an issue of trust. Church people tell us of his goodness, but our experience and fear tell us otherwise. A drowning man fights against the very lifeguard who is trying to pull him to shore, but the only answer is submission and harmony with the rescue effort. These are the very things our panic and fear tell us to resist. “Work together with me,” says the lifeguard, “and we will get to the shore.”

What if the Person who loves us most is also the one capable of showing us how to live? What if the Person who has the wisdom to see life as it really is the very one whispering instructions to our heart? “This is the way,” he says, and we feel his breath on our face. “Walk in it.” What if the one who has infinite power and authority wants to use his strength for our good? Our struggle flows from the fact that the news is too good to believe: the most powerful Being in the universe is also the one who loves us most. We are afraid of power because we have seen its abuse. We distrust good intentions because we are sure no one has the wisdom to navigate the maze of life.

It requires a daring imagination: what if we were created to sing in harmony with the One who writes the perfect song? To resist him would be to resist our own good. To harmonize with him would be to sing the song of life. What if obedience is not the requirement of an alien invasion but an invitation to our highest good? What if a life of submission is actually walking in concert with perfect love? All fear would be gone. Our stumblings would be met with our own desire to get back in step.

There is more good news to believe, even for those of us who call ourselves people of faith. We must dare to believe that the One loves us most is the truest guide, the surest hand, and fully capable of showing us the way. His way really is the best thing for us. We must see obedience as harmony with the Source of life, not rules and laws and regulations and requirements and chains and bondage. We must discover again that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

In years past I’ve taught the Sermon on the Mount as part of an applied Christianity course at a small Baptist college. My class of twenty students prayed, read, and talked about what these words mean for us today. Was Jesus serious? Did he really mean everything he said? During the course I asked my young friends, “How many of you think it’s possible to fulfill Jesus’s teaching in your everyday lives?” Only one person out of twenty raised a hand. One.

Does this strike you as a problem?

Why would 19 out of 20 students invest a semester studying a sermon they had no hope of fulfilling? One student suggested, "He taught the Sermon on the Mount so that we would know we were sinners--we can't live up to it?" Really? The greatest Teacher in the history of the world shared his greatest sermon--just to show us that we're pathetic losers?

The Sermon on the Mount has been regarded as the essence of the Lord’s teaching. It’s been called the constitution of the Kingdom of God. But like many famous Bible passages, or much like our worship, we honor the ideal and then return to the “real world.” We leave His words behind. Granted, these are challenging words from Jesus. Here's just a small sampling, all from Matthew 5, 6, and 7--the Sermon on the Mount:

• Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (5:19)
• I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (5:22)
• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (5:48)
• Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. (6:25)
• For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (7:8)
• Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (7:21)

Why would Jesus teach the impossible?

The Sermon on the Mount brings this question into sharp focus, but it applies to everything he said and did--why would Jesus ask the impossible of us? If he is the Master of Living, would he demand of us what we cannot give? It’s hard to imagine Jesus is the kind of person who would say “be warm and filled” to a beggar without helping the poor man. Would he do the same thing to those who love and follow him? Why would we think of Jesus as commanding the impossible of his disciples? As students of Jesus, our answer makes all the difference.

I invite you to share your answer in the comments section--I'm eager to read your opinion.

It’s amazing how many Christians think the central message of the Old Testament is: We are a bunch of losers, all of us. Adam and Eve screwed up, and we’ve been screwing up ever since. I’ve been hearing that message since I first turned to Jesus: no one can live up to the laws of God.

Then along came Moses, who totally wrecked my received theology. In his farewell message, after forty years of leading the stiff-necked, rebellious people of Israel desert circles for almost forty years, Moses rallies his countrymen together and says:

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Deuteronomy 30: 11-14

Poor Moses. It really was time for him to pack it in: he actually believed this group of former Egyptian slaves was capable of living up to the Law of God.

If anyone had proof that people could not live up to God’s standard, it was Moses. As he spoke these words he stood before the second generation of those who had been set free from slavery--the first generation had turned their backs on Yahweh just weeks after the most spectacular fireworks display in military history. The first generation made a golden calf and worshipped it simply because Moses was a few days late for an appointment.

Forty years later Moses assembled this second generation and said, “You can do this! It’s within your reach! Reach into your heart and speak confident words--you can follow the laws you’ve been given and establish an outpost of heaven on earth.” We know how that turned out: the second generation were just as big of losers as the first. And so third generation, and so the next, and on and on.

But here is my question: didn’t Moses speak the word of God? Isn’t Deuteronomy 30 part of the Bible--that trustworthy, reliable communication from the Creator of the Universe? You see, it wasn’t just Moses who thought God’s people could hear and do God’s will: God himself was speaking through Moses to the people of Israel--and to us--"you can do this!"

In fact, God came near to his creation and repeated the message again, this time with a Perfect Messenger:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ~ Jesus, speaking in Matthew 5: 17-20

It seems to me Jesus repeated the message of Deuteronomy. Where Moses failed to provide a perfect example of walking out God’s instructions, Jesus himself provided a perfect example. He encouraged us to do the same, and (amazingly) to teach others to do the same.

How do the words of Jesus and Moses fit into our understanding of walking with God? In my experience most Christians simply assume that sin is the normal, daily operation of Christian life, and forgiveness is God’s antidote. But what if forgiveness is not the antidote but only the emergency triage? What if there was a cure, a real cure that could go deeper and turn us into the kind of creatures for whom sin is abnormal?

What if, somehow, we could become some kind of new creation capable of bearing fruit that tasted like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What if? What if obedience to God’s good instruction was possible?

But no: I’m only dreaming.

Jesus died to forgive our sins, right? It would be too much to imagine that he also rose again to empower us walk in a new kind of life. That would mean his followers would have to become some kind of radical new creation.