So I’ve been thinking for myself a lot lately, something I didn’t used to do. I was probably afraid to because of people like the guy who spoke at Johnson (my current college) this morning and told us all that we didn’t really believe in Jesus if we didn’t interpret Genesis properly... and by properly he meant his way. I’m gonna go ahead and admit that I don’t completely agree with his interpretation of Genesis-but I definitely know Jesus. It’s kind of scary when we create a culture around church that is about just nodding along with the preacher. A bunch of people clapped after he said that and I wondered if they really meant it, I couldn’t decide. It’s ok though, if it were even a year ago i probably would have clapped too.
There are a lot things that scare us in to not thinking. This week at ‘anonymous franchise restaurant’ (I’ll call it that so I don’t get sued or something) aka my new place of employment, there is somewhat of a corporate reckoning happening. All of the big wigs are going from store to store and scaring all the little guys whilst making up excuses to fire them along the way. Last week the managers at our location called a mandatory meeting during which they handed out booklets and checklists- informing us that while corporate is here (this week) we would be required to serve them and pass a test on the new material. One mistake would mean termination. So while the big dogs are visiting for the week all of us servers are going to have to run around with our tails tucked between our legs. And honestly, I’ve met one of these guys. Do you know what happened? I walked up to him and shook his hand with a smile on my face and said “Hi my name’s Keifer good to meet you.” Awkward silence, accompanied by a hard stare and tight lips “Shouldn’t you be working?” No Mr. Corporate guy you should be working... ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS! I mean what’s the deal seriously? I can guarantee you that he didn’t get to this position by being rude to people, so what happened? It’s obvious to me that there is some element of fear involved.
And if you haven’t made the connection yet I’m also talking about the speaker this morning ex-cetera ex-cetera. There is a major element of fear, and I’m not talking about the fear people like mr. corporate meanie and the speaker inflicts on other people, but the fear they themselves are trying to hide. The fear that they will lose the power that they have over other people. The fear that if they show they are human, or allow for a two (or more) sided conversation they could possibly be wrong.
You know, I think It’s OK to be wrong, sometimes it’s better than ok, sometimes it’s healthy- and even freeing. The religious leaders of Jesus day were wrong about all the rules that they had made, a lot of the religious leaders of our day are wrong for the same reason. It turns out that they missed the simple truths of God because they had to have things their way. When Paul (this guy who used to be a Jewish religious leader) realized he was missing the point, and let himself be wrong- he became a free man! Because he acknowledged that he was wrong he was given the freedom to really live. Has it been awhile since you’ve been wrong? You should try it, you might experience some of that same freedom that Paul did when he was blinded by the light of truth on that dusty road. If you don’t ever think you’re wrong, what are you so afraid of anyway?
I had a professor tell me that my “crap detectors are way up”... that I’m good at detecting crap or inauthenticity. I guess that’s true. It’s especially good because I have plenty of my own crap to detect (I think I may have just crossed some sort of analogy line). At this point I’m just hoping it doesn’t get me into trouble at my place of employment this week. I’ll go ahead and promise a blog if I get fired for refusing to be treated as sub-human by some guy whose afraid of not being perceived as powerful. But enough of that. Getting to the heart of the matter, I hope that we who are Jesus followers can learn to be wrong sometimes. I have a feeling that when we can do this our eyes will be reopened to the simple truths of Jesus rather than trying to get things our own way. I hope that we can discover that when we let go of our own desperate attempts at power and control, we can be filled instead with the power of the God whose “strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
