Jesus does not fit easily into any one box. When He physically walked the earth, some people loved Him (and some still do), and some people hated Him (and some still do). The gospels record that He was filled with compassion for so many who sought healing and deliverance. He even forgave those who crucified Him in the midst of His agony on the cross. But He also called some people hypocrites and vipers and chased others out of the Temple with a whip on one occasion.
I have a rebellious tendency. A rebel is a person who opposes, resists, or fights against authority, control, or an established system. I dislike people who abuse their authority, I resist people who want to control others, and I am always looking for ways to improve the established way of doing things. My rebel-liousness gets particularly activated in three situations:
- When I feel that someone or some group is being taken advantage of
- When I feel that my agency is being taken away in service of some arbitrary rule or the preference of a select few
- When I feel that one person or a select few are acting like they know what is best for everyone else
However, there is a tension here that is not easy to navigate. It is Jesus’ command to love our enemies. How do I love people who are taking advantage of others, or good people in authority who are just trying to fulfill their duty in a way that I find limiting or even oppressive?
Walking this road in the character of Christ is hard for me. It is hard to stand up for justice and mercy with love in my heart for the agents of injustice and personal agendas. It is hard to fit into a church culture that glorifies subservience to those in authority when I have a core value system that believes in the equality of all men under God.
A side note here on church culture: I want to acknowledge that excessive deference to those in authority may not be a 1st-world cultural issue. I get the emphasis in 1st-world churches on honour for leaders because the culture is far more individualistic and irreverent toward those in authority. However, in most 3rd-world countries, definitely in the Caribbean, the opposite is true. Unquestioning obedience to religious leaders is more of our default. ‘Submission to authority’ and being ‘teachable’ are weapons used to keep congregants docile and to quash any diversity of thought. The voice of the leader/s is the voice of God.
So back to my dilemma… To untangle this conundrum, I decided to study Jesus. Jesus was a rebel and a lover of all men. At all times He acted in love, but He also had no problem opposing the religious leaders of His day. I found a few principles:
Jesus had no problem flaunting authority to help others
There are many accounts of Jesus disobeying the rules, instructions, and preferences of the religious leaders to help people. Let’s look at one example:
Mark 3:1-6 (NLT)
1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.
5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.
There are three notable things here:
- Jesus was angry, but He was also deeply saddened about the hearts of His enemies. That is an important heart posture.
- Jesus’ rebellion was that He did good for someone in a way that the leaders opposed.
- Jesus knew that His actions would lead to ostracism and victimization, but He did it anyway.
From this, I take away my first principle for being a lover-rebel like Jesus:
Principle #1: A Jesus lover-rebel will disobey those in authority if necessary to help someone and be willing to pay the price for his/her actions, but he/she will also grieve for the hard hearts of the leaders.
Jesus did not play small to avoid offending people
Again, there are many times when Jesus offended people by claiming to be equal with God. We will examine one such occasion.
John 5:16-20 (NLT)
16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.
We see from this passage:
- Jesus was unwilling to downplay His relationship with God and His mission on earth
- Again, Jesus was willing to suffer the consequences for standing boldly in His identity and values
I have repeatedly found leaders who think they alone know God. Leaders who will tear you down rather than build you up if your understanding of God and yourself does not fit theirs. I am not throwing out loving, Spirit-led spiritual direction here. But sometimes it is more insecurity, arrogance, or ignorance speaking than the Holy Spirit.
Principle #2: A Jesus lover-rebel will not downplay her/his identity in God or knowledge of God, traverse her/his values, or abandon her/his God-given mission on earth to avoid offending people.
Jesus frontally opposed those who used their religious authority to profit themselves instead of leading others to God
Jesus spared no rebuke for those who appeared religious but whose hearts were far from God. These were the Scribes and Pharisees of his day. They were supposed to be leading people to God, but instead they were using religion to lift themselves up and perpetuate their status in society. However, I want to focus on the infamous scene with Jesus and a whip in the temple court.
John 2:13-16 (NLT)
13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
I want to be clear here that Jesus was not concerned about those in the world who used their authority to profit themselves. That is what the world is expected to do. He was incensed by those in the church who used their authority to take advantage of believers instead of serving them.
Principle #3: A Jesus lover-rebel will actively oppose and confront those in the church who use their authority to profit themselves.
These are the only people and circumstances where I have found that Jesus takes a very proactive approach. In our 1st two examples, He is not so much going after the religious leaders as defying them. But here He is on the attack.
These 3 principles are the ground that I stand on to check myself and my heart motives. I hope it helps you as well.
How do you navigate this space of honouring and leaders obeying those in authority while reaching out to people, staying true to your identity, values, and calling, and confronting abuse of power?
