spectacular. the second temptation nouwen warns the christian leader against is to be spectacular. webster's defines spectacular as "of or being a spectacle" - with a spectacle being (a) something exhibited to view as unusual, notable, or entertaining; especially an eye-catching or dramatic public display, or (b) an object of curiosity or contempt. so the temptation the leader faces is to be at the front, to be on display, to be entertaining, to be fireworks, to grab public attention. our world and culture show us day in and day out that the spectacular is cool. rarely, do we find heroes, news stories, tv shows, movies or novels about the regular. in order to be great something must be spectacular, or so the world tells us.
maybe that's why i enjoyed seinfeld and rabbit proof fence, hotel rwanda and the last just man - they are regular. the stories may be spectacular, but the movies are not - ok well this doesn't really apply to seinfeld, but does anything...? the story of the gospel is much the same. jesus did spectacular things, but the man himself was not spectacular. he was a carpenter. he did not use spotlights or wear gaudy clothes or create incredible presentations. he simply lived a spectacular life in a completely unspectacular way - at least by our cultural standards.
i can honestly say i have dreamt many times of being spectacular whether in sports or in my marriage or in my church. i want attention. i desire the spotlight. i want to be entertaining. it's my flesh nature.
my spiritual nature wants something far different. as nouwen says, Jesus asks something much more radical. he asks us to feed his sheep. he doesn't ask us to build crystal palaces or to produce huge concerts or to create any kind of earthly spectacle. he asks us to care for his flock. last i checked shepherds are not considered too spectacular.
that's what is so cool. in carrying the cross, in setting the example of love, in being humble, we produce something much more spectacular than ourselves. we produce the fruit of Christ and nothing could be more spectacular.
nouwen writes, "...laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of Life." it's simple. in love and humility we allow a more loving and more humble servant of God to do greater work than we could ever do. rather than being spectacular we allow a spectacular story to be told. now, if i could only do it.
this isn't to say we don't need passionate preachers, dedicated servants and great teachers, because we do. the bible clearly exhorts us to use our gifts and talents to build the kingdom. let's just not let our spectacular ideas get in the way of much greater, more powerful notion of forgiveness, grace, humility and love - all of which take root only in Christ.
2 comments:
Bret,
I've enjoyed this little series you are writing. Today I was reading "The Horse and His Boy", and I was reminded of your post about the Spectacular. Here is an excert that you might find relevant. It might be a bit out of context, so If you want to look it up yourself, it is in Chapter 10.
"My good Horse," said the Hermit, who had approached them unnoticed because his bare feet made so little noise on the that, sweet, dewy grass. "My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If ou are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you hasd come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. YOu could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of HOrse, on the whole,and taking one thing with another."
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Oh, and big congrats on getting a job!! Woo-hoo!
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