I cannot tell you how many times these words from
Jesus have rung in my ears. They are said with perceived understanding...from
teachers...from pastors...from preachers. But are they? Are they understood?
These words are preached like Jesus is "flipping over" things. He is
upsetting the apple cart. He is making the religious mad because he moves the
top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top. But is he? Perhaps, he is doing
something much more.
The Center of Society
It is no surprise that Jesus came with certain
expectations and theories. He was expected to be someone at the center of
society. He was expected to rub elbows with them. He was expected to wear their
roles...their robes. The center of society is the rich…the powerful...the
political...the religious. They were expecting the Messiah to be one of them.
Seriously, they all did. He was going to be a religious, political, powerful, conqueror.
So much of what I see in the "American
Church" is here in these expectations. We plant churches in the suburbs because
they are more "sustainable" (by this we mean that we can financially
support a bunch of people coming to a big room to hear us talk). We endorse (or
defile) political leaders based on how they provide a more favorable position
for our filled auditoriums that we call the "church". We go after
cars...homes...educations...all that have the same smack of circumstance that
is at the center of society. These are the things we pray for. These are the
things we expect Jesus to give to his Church.
So, we say that Jesus is "flipping things over." We claim that
these that are at the center of society were just not "spiritual enough."
They didn't really "believe in Jesus." It was in “their head,
but not in their heart.” But what if Jesus is doing something much more
practical…much more compelling?
The Margins of Society
The truth is that Jesus came to the margins of society, not the center.
He was born on the outskirts…with the outcasts…around the poor…the broken…the
unrefined. He didn’t just live in the neighborhood. He was with them…for them…of
them. He was one of them.
This was what was so confusing about Messiah for those in the center of
society. Not only was he born to these marginal people, he upheld them. He
defended their position. This is not “flipping over”; this is a seismic shift!
Jesus teaches that the margins of society are the center of the kingdom.
This is what freaks us out. He flatly never calls us to the suburbs…to
the political…to the rich folk. According to his Kingdom, the wealthiest place
in your city is actually the most dangerous neighborhood (and vice-versa). More than your life is at
stake. Your soul…your heart…your eyes…your ears are all at risk as you drive
through the perfectly kept lanes and dream suburban fairy-tales of happily ever-after. Far from desiring these homes…we should fear
them… we should run as fast as we can from the simple assertion that we stay a
night in one…our stomachs should ache and our skin should crawl.
The poor, the powerless, the broken, and the outcast are more than
welcomed into the kingdom. Their lives display the kingdom. Somehow, in this
reoriented kingdom, we will find the clearest understanding of Jesus as we
touch the untouchable. Then a shift happens. What you spent 1,000 sermons
searching for is suddenly right in front of you. All of those mornings hoping
God “would show up” suddenly becomes clear that what he said was true; He is “with
you always.” Here. In this broken bramble of a neighborhood. This place where
few dare to be at night is a doorway to the very King you have been hoping
would grab you and grip you like he did the first time you met.
Jesus call us to REORIENTATION
Just like the Rich Young Ruler and Zacchaeus or the Pharisee and the
Prostitute. There is an open call from Jesus to “deny yourself, pick up your
cross, and follow me.” The place we are following him to is to the poor, to
preach liberty to the captives, to set free the oppressed.
He calls us to re-center our lives. He openly admits that there are some
that are so hard hearted that they could never see the kingdom…never. There are
some that see the kingdom and want it but life on the margins is tough…we
suffer with those that suffer…so we walk away. There are some that desire the
kingdom but they also desire what is at the center of society. Desire for this “world”
chokes out a desire for the kingdom like thorns. But there are some that will
lay aside their own lives and see the kingdom, desire it, suffer for it, and
see fruit come as a result.
The simple truth is that “fruit” is not more people in your auditorium,
your classrooms, or your small groups. It is bigger. The sad truth is that you may
never see it…feel it…or touch it. You may spend your whole life in these rooms
for preaching and teaching yet never once actually see the kingdom. This is because
your “church” is reaching for the center of society. You are not being shown
what life in the kingdom looks like because your “pastor” has never actually
walked with you for one second of your life. He has never guided you toward the
kingdom. He has never shown you what life on the margins looks like, feels
like.
Deny…Suffer…Follow
The path is still the same as when Jesus walked the earth. He is calling
you on a journey. In order to go with him you must deny yourself. Deny your
American dream. Deny your white privilege. Deny your identity as an African-American.
Deny your “church” programs. Deny your need to preach every Sunday. Accept the
call to the consequences of Jesus’ words.
Follow him to the margins.
Stay there.
Love them.
This is the Kingdom.
