The bible does not contain the answers to life. I used to believe it did but I have learned that it does not. Bear with me here. What I have learned is that the bible points me to and brings me into fellowship with the one who does have the answers to life. It’s a subtle but significant distinction.
I’ve learned that reflecting Jesus is not a matter of wearing sandals, a pleasant expression and pretending to love everyone and everything. Not only have robes gone out of style but I seriously doubt that Jesus always wore a slightly stoned expression. Especially while he was throwing tables at the temple.
Frankly, if Jesus can’t face the reality of life what good would he be to anyone? It is his ability to face the reality of the world without submission to the world that makes him so incredibly powerful. And if flies in the face of logic because he doesn’t wear a shield of fierceness to be strong.
That’s what mere mortals do. We put on our strong face, macho face, pull up our big girl panties, and all that jazz to tell ourselves that we are strong. It’s like whistling through a graveyard. We are only kidding ourselves. The only way to strength is through brokenness. I can only be as strong as correlates to how broken I become. If I claim to have answers, I have none. If I claim to be a success, I fail.
God is an oxymoron. And it’s darn hard to live out an oxymoron. The world screams for logic and reason. I scream for logic and reason. We claim we want to understand but what we really want is to control. We believe the lie that if we can understand something we can control it and perhaps modify it to our will. Whether it’s emotions, actions, or the lawn mower. We fake it till we make it, we block it out and pretend it doesn’t exist. We refuse to turn over that rock and face what lies beneath.
What lies beneath is fear. We fear. And fear and fear and fear. I’ve come to believe that fear is the primary fuel for the human condition. It’s an undercurrent in everything we do. And we fear that others will discover how fearful we are. So we cover it up. It’s a vicious cycle with no end.
Jesus breaks that cycle. That’s what God sent him here to do and he succeeded. The solution to fear is not bravery. It’s love. Perfect love casts out fear. Only God has perfect love. I can only access that perfect love in my brokenness.
Damn those oxymorons!