A Wise Mentor's Advice

In a recent radio interview Ted Danson said that Kelsey Grammer gave him career-changing advice when they worked together on the set of the long-running TV comedy series, Cheers. Grammer's advice was that "an actor should have a requisite disrespect for the material" (by which he meant, the script), and he should not appear "too eager," or be perceived as "leaning forward." Danson says that, in retrospect, he probably came across as "too eager" and "tilting too far forward," as the series began. However, as he took this wise mentor's advice to heart, Danson was able relax and enjoy the process of creating with his fellow actors; he now had nothing to prove. He also believes that, because of this advice, he was able to give his character, Sam Malone, an air of confidence that seemed to endear the audience too the show. As a result Cheers became one of the longest running TV comedy series of all time.

In the gospels, Jesus seems to have the kind of confidence that Danson describes. (Is it sacrilegious to compare Sam Malone to Jesus? Maybe.) Religious leaders constantly brought accusations against Jesus' authenticity. His answer always seemed confident, not too eager; as if to say, "Here is the truth; take it or leave it." The poor, sick and needy sought Jesus out, hoping to receive what he had to offer. He neither turned them away nor eagerly waited on them hand and foot, but gave what he had and directed them toward the truth. When Jesus encountered those who needed truth, he always shared it; but, he didn't beg them to accept it.

The Apostle John describes Jesus' approach in the opening lines of his gospel:

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...

--John 1:11-12, NIV

Jesus simply shared the truth of who he was. He was confident in that truth. Those who accepted this truth were accepted. But, he didn't cater to those who rejected the truth. He was cool, collected and confident. He had a "requisite disrespect" for the script that people had written for him.

As disciples of Jesus, we ought to imitate our Mentor's approach. We ought to have a requisite respect for the Word of God, but a requisite disregard (disrespect may be too strong of a word) for the script others have written for us. We ought to be confident in the truth that we have been called children of God on the basis of our belief in the truth of who Jesus is, and eagerly invite others to receive Jesus as well. But, we are not actors. We are not role playing. And, we ought not to convey that this is the case, by "leaning too far forward" as we share the truth. Play it cool. Be authentic. Be confident. Relax and enjoy the process of leading others to Christ.

A wise mentor gave his disciples some career-changing advice one day. Jesus' advice was that his disciples ought to wipe the dust off of their feet when they left a town that did not listen to the truth of who Jesus was (Matthew 10:14). In other words, they ought to be confident, sharing the truth with those who will listen, and not catering to those who won't. As a result, Christianity has thrived for over 2,000 years.

At Safeharbor last Sunday, we were encouraged to share the "good news" about Jesus with those who might not know it, or to invite a coworker to a Safeharbor Connection Group. Perhaps you are intimidated by such a task. Learn from your mentor, Jesus. Play it cool, stop acting and just be who you are—a child of God.

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Words of Life

This past Sunday, I began a new series of messages based on Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount," found in Matthew 5-7. ¹ As someone who's grown up in the church, served as a church secretary, youth & children's minister, preacher/pastor, led worship, led bible studies, written devotions, sermons, meditations, and term papers about biblical issues, personally encouraged people to align themselves with God's word, and regularly studies the Bible, you might think that I rarely encounter passages that cause me to rethink my lifestyle at this point. Let me state emphatically, clearly, and unambiguously, for those of you who might make such an assumption, that nothing could be further from the truth. The more I encounter God's word, the more I discover things about my life that need to change. I've talked to aged saints who would say the same. And, I believe that Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" is one of the most universally challenging passages in the Bible.

In this passage, as Jesus teaches his new followers, he raises the standard of righteousness from the keeping of a list of contingent rules to an attitude of full devotion to God at the level of the heart, mind, soul, and body. And, as he applies that attitude to various situations in which we might find ourselves, it becomes quite clear, that we all have a long way to go. If you think you've arrived in regard to righteousness, you probably haven't.

I was told by a listener, that they were distracted on Sunday, when I asked the audience to read Jesus' words from a Bible, rather than simply listen to me as I read it. They were distracted from my words, because they enjoyed reading the words on the page of the Bible. My response was, "Good. I've accomplished my goal." My desire, as a "preacher" is to help people hear what God has communicated in his Word, because His words are what really matters.

In John 6:66 we read that many of Jesus followers began to desert him, because his teaching was esoteric. Indeed, Jesus words in this passage must have been a little disconcerting to the original listeners. So, Jesus, speaking to this situation, poses the following question to his close followers--the twelve--, "Do you want to leave me too?" Peter's response is something that resonates in my heart. I desire that all of us, as Jesus' followers, would get the point where we too can say, in response to Jesus' words, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

So this Sunday, as I preach, if I find my Safeharbor friends with their heads down, and their Bibles open, please know that I have accomplished my goal. For they are encountering Jesus' words--challenging words, inspiring words, words of hope, words of LIFE.

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1. Jesus preaches this message from the side of a mountain (or hill). The traditional site is thought to be near the town of Capernaum, by the Sea of Gallilee.

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His Jesus Year

If you've been raised in a traditional church setting what I'm about to say might upset & shock you, bring your blood pressure to an unhealthy 140/90, and cause you to stop reading my blog before it ever gets started (please note the sarcasm). I listen to National Public Radio (NPR) from time to time; and I have a favorite program in the NPR line-up--Talk of the Nation (TOTN) (you can find the corresponding blog for this show on the right—in the directional sense of the word, not the political one). You might be thinking (sarcasm alert...), "how can you listen to that liberal nonsense; Jesus died for you! And if Dr. James Dobson is good enough for Peter, he's good enough for me." (If you were totally lost in that last sentence, consider yourself blessed.)
The truth is that I find NPR, in general, to be much more balanced than what some of our conservative Christian predecessors tried to scare us into believing about them. Maybe there was something to be leery of in the past; but, in an ironic twist, NPR has come under fire for leaning too heavily to the right (in the political sense this time) in recent years. What I appreciate most, though, is the lack of shouting and, in most cases, the sense of mutual respect extended to both sides of the story.
If you're a Christian, whatever your feelings toward NPR might be, I think you'll find the following TOTN interview from Monday (10/6) quite interesting. The last 10 minutes of the interview might be the most insightful.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95431617

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=95431617&m=95437273

OK, if you have an aversion to NPR and "the liberal media," that might not have been the best introduction, and I apologize if you now need to visit your cardiologist after listening, but I hope you were able to sift through the story for nuggets of truth and inspiration.
I wish Benyamin would have investigated just a little deeper and got beneath the surface of Christianity to witness the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Perhaps we should take from this story the lesson that while the trappings of Christianity might seem appropriate, meaningful, and even attractive to us and others, they sometimes obscure the essence of our faith. Maybe Benyamin couldn't see that because he went in with the intention of not being converted; or maybe Christians, in an effort to show him the wonders of the Church, made it difficult. God only knows.

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