Tag: Mark 6

The Courage To Be Misunderstood

If you’re a leader, you’ll be misunderstood.

If you care about people, you’ll be misunderstood.

Even if you serve people well, you’ll still be misunderstood.

If you’re like me, it’s terribly frustrating to be misunderstood. I have a deep need to be liked, so I have to fight against the urge to please everyone with my decisions. Whether as a leader, a neighbor, or a family-man, the risk of being misunderstood is constant.

But rather than being afraid of being misunderstood, we ought to accept reality, and face it with courage. Sure, we ought to do our best to keep things in context while being truthful and wise in our explanations. But if it’s laced with fear, you’ll undermine the trust you need to overcome the misunderstanding.

It’s courage, not fear, that overcomes misunderstanding.

That’s what we see in Jesus, as told by Mark in the gospel. After feeding the five thousand, Jesus had sent his disciples across the lake in their fishing boat while he went up into the mountains to pray. Late that night, as they struggled against the wind, Jesus came out to them on the lake. They were terrified by Jesus – how can he walk on water and why does the wind stop when he shows up?

They still did not understand Jesus. But that didn’t stop Jesus from being with them, speaking into their life, and giving them courage.

Jesus risked being misunderstood by his own disciples even as he worked to train them for his mission. It took courage for Jesus to teach them, send them out to preach and heal, to live with them, and then still be misunderstood. Sometimes they were still afraid of him!

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

If it was difficult for the disciples to understand Jesus in the first century, imagine the challenges we face in the 21st century. We are separated by two millenniums and six thousand miles. Jesus is still misunderstood in America, even (mostly?) by Christians. That includes me.

So when we see how patient and persistent (and sometimes exasperated) Jesus was with his disciples when he was misunderstood, we can imitate him in regard to those who misunderstand us.

All people have power. Some know it and use it to their advantage, often at the expense of others well-being. A lot of us don’t think too much about the power we have over others. Which means we may not appreciate how we make others afraid of us.

Our desire to be understood could be another attempt to control and exert power over others. We would be wise to pay attention to the power we have (even if we think it is impotent or misunderstood) and how we use it in regard to others.

Jesus used his power to heal, to welcome, to embody the love of God, and to proclaim the forgiveness of sins for those who would repent.

Jesus used his power to transform lives, to set people free from fear in order that they may live a life of courage and trust in the God of Israel. And the whole time he risked being misunderstood. By his family, by his friends, his his disciples, by the religious and political authorities, by his own mother.

As you sense God’s call on your life to serve him in this world, your “yes” to the Lord may result in misunderstanding.

Like all important decisions, the greater the stakes, the greater the risk of misunderstanding. But when Jesus is calling you to follow him, we can hear his words to his disciples in every generation, every nation, every storm: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

What is Jesus calling you to do with your power?

What are the ways that Jesus has been appearing to you, inviting you to trust him with your life?

In what ways does Jesus make you afraid? What are you afraid of losing as you sense Jesus making himself real to you?

What kind of courage is Jesus calling you to exude as he invites you to join him in his work to heal the world for the flourishing of all?

Get Some Rest

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” – John Muir (reknown Scottish-American naturalist)

This past summer my family vacationed in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. It was a beautiful place to hike, with powerful waterfalls, rushing streams, towering trees and breathtaking vistas. Getting outdoors may not be for everyone, but for us it’s a priority. We don’t get out on the trails as much as we want, though. As we get older, I find it takes more intentionality.

How about for you? Where do you like to go when you’re over-worked, over-stimulated by work stress, needing a place of natural beauty instead of pre-fab decor? Do you head to the beach? The mountains? The back 40 behind the farm-fields? The wilderness? You have permission to get out there and get some rest!

Jesus repeatedly in the gospel takes time to get away and get some rest.

Mark tells the story of Jesus sending out his twelve apostles to travel to the villages of Galilee to proclaim the kingdom of God and heal all who are sick. The apostles come back to Jesus after their journey to report on all the amazing things that had happened. Surrounded by many thankful people, and those still wanting healed, Jesus told his starving friends, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Is rest a gift to your rhythm of life, or is it a luxury? God gives us a whole day of rest each week, if we will take it. And he’s given us a stunningly amazing Creation to enjoy, if we will get out there.

Beaches and mountains are vital to restoration, but so can local areas for hikes, sitting around ponds, relaxing around a little campfire, breathing deeply in the fresh morning air of a sunrise. Getting to a quiet place to rest doesn’t have to be expensive or clog your busy schedule.

In the story that Mark tells, the attempt by Jesus to get away with his apostles gets thwarted. People from the villages come swarming to Jesus’ quiet place to be with him. As tired and hungry as he is, Jesus has compassion on them, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus welcomes them, he teaches them, feeds them, and then sends them home. He sends his disciples to the other side of the lake to rest, while he heads up the side of mountain to pray.

The plans we make to rest and enjoy stillness, to pray and soak up the quiet, don’t always come easily. We have to stay flexible, big-hearted, and committed.

But sometimes we don’t believe we need or deserve rest. Work has a way of wearing us down though, schedules have a way of carrying us along at a faster speed then our minds or bodies can keep up with. Rest is a way to press a necessary pause button, so our souls can catch up with our bodies.

I really like being in the woods. And I love a small fire by the lake at sunset. I enjoy landscaping on a sunny day. What’s better than a good book and steaming coffee on the back porch in the early morning?

What are the ways for you that you can creatively get away by yourself and get some rest? Keep it simple, keep it personal, keep it refreshing.

Jesus invites us to rest. It’s a way to be with him. It’s a way to be sustained by him in the work he has invited us to do with him. As followers of Jesus, what keeps us from resting like he rests?

If we’re following him, we have permission to make Sundays more restful, to insert more get-aways into our schedules. The work will always be there. So refresh your spirit, mind body with some rest, in a solitary place.

Hear the words of Jesus spoken to you: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Need some ideas?

YMCA Camp Potawotami

 

YMCA Camp Crosley

 

Fort Wayne Trails

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Fort Wayne Parks

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Allen County Parks

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Indiana State Parks

How To Change Minds and Hearts

Maybe you’ve been called “stubborn” before? Me too. I’d like to call it “unpersuaded by inferior information” or “my way is still superior to you’re suggestion.” I’ve also been called arrogant, prideful, stuck in my ways, unwilling to listen, and self-absorbed. It’s all true, unfortunately. I know that I regularly need to repent.

When we read about Jesus in the gospel, we read about Jesus preaching “that people should repent.” This is what he sent the Twelve disciples to go do in the dusty villages of Israel. What do you imagine that was like?

Were they holding signs on street-corners shouting doom at people? Were they in the synagogues pounding the pulpit? Were they hounding neighbors at their doorway, demanding they repent? No.

In the gospel, Mark writes that the disciples “went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” That’s the story we can have in our mind and hearts when we consider what it means to repent.

To repent is to be healed. To repent is to have darkness driven out of your soul. To repent is to be anointed with grace.

What’s it take to change someone’s mind and heart? It’s wise to reflect on what it takes for YOU to repent, to have your mind and heart changed.

Whether it is an organizational management directive to make a change in the office or company, or it’s a breakdown in the home – even when you are right and they are clearly wrong – how does change and repentance work together?

In the Hebrew of the Old Testament the word “repent” is often translated “return.” To repent of your sins was to return to God and the loved ones you had wronged. “Return” implies reconciliation, making right, as much as possible, what was wronged; turning around to be with the ones you love instead of having your back to them in anger and pride.

In the Greek of the New Testament the word “repent” can mean “change.” When Jesus and his disciples “preach that people should repent” it’s not a command that is shouted, but an invitation to change that is embodied through healing, anointing, and casting out of dark fears.

Jesus was sent by God to personally return Israel’s rebellious heart and mind back to the Lord. He came to bring healing and hope to God’s stubborn people so that they would be reconciled to the Christ, the king of Israel.

Christ Jesus put his whole self into his message of repentance – and it wasn’t about him, it was about the change God wanted for them – renewal of their purpose in life as God’s royal people to be a blessing for all.

And that’s what we can have in mind when we strive for a renewed hope and purpose together for the flourishing of our whole community, in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are in a workplace or situation at home where you think someone needs to change their mind and heart on something very important to you, consider what Jesus can teach us about it as a way of embodying the gospel:

  • pray about it with a friend then together go to the person you think needs to change, as the Spirit of Christ prompts.
  • go simply to that person – don’t go with a barrage of facts for why you are right and they are wrong; go with a prayerful attitude and a listening spirit.
  • go in peace – go to foster renewal, be willing to see their perspective, desire reconciliation.
  • rely on hospitality – meet over coffee or lunch, view them as a beloved brother or sister, find a way to need them, don’t be the one with all the power.
  • reveal your character when present with them, don’t pretend that you have it all together, but do embody the values you want them to accept (hope, faith, love, etc.)
  • renew the many interconnected relationships – have an eye on how these changes in their hearts and minds will add to the flourishing of all, not just your convenience or convictions.