2023-11-18 A Meditation on the Role of Christ

“But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.” (2 Co 11:21b-33 ESV)

Situation a roll, all mankind subject to obsessions rather than pragmatics; the roll is to trust, that deeds done in service unto the Lord have a way of vouchsafing themselves unto goodness. Good that we fight. Good that we label and categorize and bend the knee towards the Good. Because it is an inimical spirit that faults, rather than situating, rather than giving task and objective to a friendly other spirit near to us. It is an inimical spirit that prances about proud and with a chip on its shoulder. It is someone whose goat has been gotten, who needs our proud services, that is, in the good sense of pride, to handle them, to manhandle and control and tame.

For we tame with a clenched fist, yet all this in the knowledge of that brand of doom that is as much societal gumption as it is fighting metal. Somehow we traverse the scale, the scope, the range, both polite and pragmatic in handling the infestations of milder innocent ills, whilst also already being in the thick of material battle. We are still friendly, though staring down the barrel of a gun. We are still humored, though crouching behind a howitzer. In a trench. Sober and mindful: it is a duty, a service rendered, a gift and helpmeet unto society, our marriage unto the disciplined fight. Fight that disciplines, yet so eager to release the caged bird, so eager to hasten the bull run with a slap on the back, so eager to pronounce healed the sickly, demon-possessed, maniacal and wild one.

For we believe in a utility that each man and woman possesses: the utility of God-createdness, of uglier or less fair aspects of life themselves a cross or a fructifying posture. Man, woman, is healed and sent into harm’s way because of having coped and known the Power of forgiveness. So too we remind ourselves of things that we scarcely can confront, things we’ve thrown away or tossed into the fire of abnegation, of forgetfulness, of false judgment or pristine wannabe holiness. Growing pains. Tutelage in a fighting spirit called martyrdom, even. Called a gentler, spiritual jihad. Called Principle, yet because we believe we have the upper hand, unto refusal to jihad (even if in Christian fashion), but rather to lance forth magnanimously and with Trust: God is for us, let no one take that away. God is with us through the days and hours and minutes. God has AI working around the clock to catalog and apprise and get to know any who thus do apply unto Salvation’s front office. Yet, AI itself a fancy word for hard programmatic work, for basic source code of a timeless form, the people behind us are the people before us, and the appearance of a Christ, of a Christian, brings with it so much demonology as demons show themselves and we do well to hold down the patient who was unwilling to sit still. Yet again, these recollections—of the Intervention, of the Firm Authority—will stick and be part of the testimony; is it a testimony of which we can be proud, sure of, certain it is Christ-like thus to intervene.

No, we leave such decisions to a wrassling spirit met in barroom and hostel, in barracks and camp: the spirit magnanimous and grander than any frustrating personage. Than any person we simply—truth be told—want to dismiss or cuss out. Than any person we might not quite like, we heal our own soul by letting them abide. Not in faux “Christian” manner of pretending, but in finding them a literal and sustainable Home Base amongst the men, amongst the women, hardy boys, mean girls. Because the pained so-called Christian longing to be peace and to be forgiveness, is all only valid insofar as it is in service to a Christ who adjudicates and manages, with MBA experience and trained capacity to Love above patronizing, to Comfort above humiliating, to Relegate above dismissing. We are relegated to our post in life. We gladly follow those orders, and recall that the ones pleading against us: “Just obey”, for them it is sometimes easier to obey because they are more sincerely “liked”. And that can be us, when we find the genuine Article, Christ Himself, on our side, weaponized unto a peace-keeping mission, and ready, willing, and able to show the Christianity that abides even in the summits of winsome people. Our winning star quarterback, is a Christ. Our leading CEO woman is a Suffering Servant. All these, so that the faith can be shared widely and with intent, unto all whom Jesus was sent to.