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I was a boy when I came up with what I believed to be a brilliant idea. It was the height of the Steeler\u2019s dynasty. I loved the Steelers, (and still do) and loved Jesus (and still do.) So I figured out a plan to serve them both. \u201cLord,\u201d I prayed, \u201cif you will make me an all-pro wide receiver for the Steelers, I will be able to do great things for the kingdom. When I catch the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl I will point heavenward to you. When the reporters ask me if I\u2019m going to Disney World I\u2019ll tell them I\u2019m going to church. In the locker room I\u2019ll give all glory to you.\u201d Great plan huh? But God didn\u2019t bless me with any of the physical gifts I would need.<\/p>\n
So I came up with another plan. \u201cLord, if you would make me a rock star, I could write subtle lyrics about you, shape people\u2019s worldviews without them even knowing it. I call it ‘pre-evangelism.'” Alas again He didn\u2019t give me the gifts necessary. So I prayed that He would help me write the great American novel. Eventually I noticed a pattern- my plans all involved me being incredibly wealthy and universally loved. Because, you know, the kingdom.<\/p>\n
One need not, however, have such grand plans to fall into this same trap. We Christians are quick to seek out approval, standing, a place at the table, all in the name of influence. If we can get the world to love us, we seem to think, it\u2019s just a matter of time until they come to love Jesus. So we wheedle our way into the broader world, you know, for the kingdom. We succumb to the \u201cwisdom\u201d of Screwtape who encouraged his young devil apprentice this way, \u201cPersuade your patient that he is making his way in the world, while all the while the world is making its way into him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I am not, of course, opposed to influence. I\u2019m just slow to learn from where it comes. Moses threw away the advantages he had in Pharaoh\u2019s court, but found influence as a dusty desert prophet. Daniel came to Babylon a war prisoner. John the Baptist changed the world not in the halls of power but in the Jordan river. Jesus died. Paul preached to kings, while in chains. It\u2019s a good thing, a great thing, to preach truth to power. It\u2019s, given the deceitfulness of our own hearts, a bad thing to seek out power in order to do so.<\/p>\n
It is the gospel we are so eager to preach that, according to God\u2019s Word, is the offense. Remove the gospel to get close to power and we have lost our reason for being there. We have given up the only power we have. The power is not in our maneuverings, our stratagems. It’s not in our unspotted reputations, nor our worldly bona fides. The power is not at their table, but at His. Spilled blood, and a broken body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was a boy when I came up with what I believed to be a brilliant idea. It was the height of the Steeler\u2019s dynasty. I loved the Steelers, (and still do) and loved Jesus (and still do.) So I … Continue reading