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Echoes of The Right to God
The Jesus Climate
We say we follow Jesus, but do we act more like the Pharisees?
We say we follow Jesus, but do we act more like the Pharisees?
The Jesus
Climate
Jesus
Possibility
Problem Focus
Empathy
Equality
Description
Spontaneity
Possibility
Problem Focus
Empathy
Equality
Description
Spontaneity
Pharisees
Certainty
Control
Neutrality
Inequality
Evaluation
Strategy
Certainty
Control
Neutrality
Inequality
Evaluation
Strategy
Jesus talked about trust, but more, Jesus so lived trust, he single-handedly created an atmosphere of trust in
a world where mistrust was normal. It was like he had a aura of trust surrounding him. In contrast, the
Pharisees were a super-religious group dedicated to following God's laws. They also created an atmosphere,
but a much different kind, with their rigid, rule-breathing faith edicts. Where Jesus created trust, the
Pharisees created the opposite, mistrust.
In our modern society, as much as we talk about trust, it's sometimes difficult to pin down what creates trust. Yet, a short list of specific behaviors feeds an atmosphere of trust. The opposites feed a climate of mistrust.
This is a glimpse of those behaviors, with Jesus on one side, and the Pharisees on the other.
In our modern society, as much as we talk about trust, it's sometimes difficult to pin down what creates trust. Yet, a short list of specific behaviors feeds an atmosphere of trust. The opposites feed a climate of mistrust.
This is a glimpse of those behaviors, with Jesus on one side, and the Pharisees on the other.
Jesus saw possibility. The Pharisees lived by certainty.
When Jesus talked about seeds falling on rock, among thorns, or on fertile ground, he was recognizing possibility. He knew that even when we follow God, more than one thing might happen. The Pharisees didn't see possibility. They were the rigid-rule crowd.
I thought I followed Jesus, but years ago, I countered a training video at work made by a prestigious university. I stood up and said boldly (with certainty), "That is not right! You never do that! That is wrong!" Yet, a problem with certainty is that it builds walls. While I was right about the training video error, and gave reasons for my statements, no one listened. They automatically put up a wall. Instead of appearing smart and confident, as I hoped, I appeared closed and ignorant.
Jesus focused on problems. The Pharisees thrived on control.
Many years ago, I was accused of being controlling. My response was a simple, "It's my life. Why shouldn't I be in control?" It seems logical, yet there's a world of difference between controlling behavior and being in control. In Control focuses on problems and, in the end, makes you stronger inside. Control tries and tries, yet never succeeds in making you stronger.
There's a story where Jesus throws merchants out of the synagogue. He said, "How dare you turn my Father's house into a market?"
Do you see how he focused on the problem, which was moneychangers in the synagogue? He simply said,
"Not here. Get it out of my father's house."
Conversely, the Pharisees thrived on control. For example, they threatened to have Jesus-followers kicked out of the synagogue, which would be like being thrown out of your own town. It was an effective threat, but it didn't build relationships. It only shut them up. It didn't bring people closer to God. It only created fear.
Jesus showed us empathy. But the neutrality among the Pharisees was chilling.
Neutral means cold or unfeeling. It's beyond anger. It's self-focused and uncaring. It sometimes comes from being threatened or wounded so often, you simply don't care. You're numb.
Jesus recognized that cold neutrality when he said, "Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12). Notice that he didn't say the lawless were cold-hearted. He said because of the lawlessness, "the love of many will grow cold." Many would become hardened, calloused to the problems around them. When you read the Bible, you realize that Jesus consistently showed empathy. He cared so much, it overflowed.
On the other side, the coldness of some people was sometimes startling. At one point, the chief priests and leaders called a meeting with a specific purpose: "to discuss how to capture Jesus secretly and put him to death" (Matt. 26:4). Can you imagine being that cold? Yet, when we look around today, so often we hear people say, "It's not personal. It's just the way it's done." Isn't that just as cold?
Equality wove through everything Jesus did. Yet, the Pharisees were riddled with inequality.
Today, when we look at a mistrustful situation, one of the first things to jump out is feelings of inequality.
After the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, a tent city named Camp Obama to honor the American president was raided repeatedly by fellow countrymen. The reason for the raids was because those outside believed it got favored treatment. Just the name of Camp Obama set up a fear of inequality in an already fear-filled situation. Meant to be an honor, the name was instead destructive.
The Pharisees loved feeling superior, and they couldn't see how destructive it was. To them, inequality was a fact of life. If you weren't on top, then you were at the bottom. They couldn't fathom equality.
Yet, Jesus talked to anyone open to hearing his message. He treated everyone the same, which upset the Pharisees, because they craved the privilege of being special. They wanted to be seen as the most knowledgeable. Yet, instead of being godly, they closed themselves off by their superior attitudes.
When you walk God's path, you begin to feel equality at the most basic, human levels. Superiority and inferiority feel out of place there. But here's a caution: Recognizing how out of place superiority is makes you aware of those pretending to be godly with a slight leaning to self-righteousness. Yet, if we judge them for their self-righteousness, we judge ourselves better and distance ourselves from God.
Equality is built first on the inside. No matter how others rationalize superiority ---whether it's about money, titles or gender--- if I want to grow closer to God, I have to build my own internal sense of equality.
The next attitude is description. On the other side, the Pharisees evaluated instantly. Jesus didn't tell us to describe instead of labeling, yet he described his own ministry when he compared it to scattering seed. On the other side, the Pharisees seemed compelled to have an opinion.
For a long time, I've defined the Pharisees as rigid control freaks. Yet, recently, I found a website that called the Pharisees "the spiritual fathers of modern Judaism, who believed God gave Moses the written Law and also the knowledge to interpret that Law." That website gave a description. It was suddenly glaringly obvious that my "definition" was an evaluation.
Description sounds ordinary, even a little boring. Yet, I encourage you to try it. When I began actively focusing on just describing facts without an opinion attached, a burden lifted! When that burden lifted, I felt more on God's path. I felt a sense of peace I hadn't felt before.
Finally, spontaneity goes up against strategy.
Spontaneity means living spontaneously, like Jesus. On the surface, it sounds great, but it challenged me. It went against what I learned, because our modern culture urges strategy. Yet strategy is part of the Pharisee climate. So, I was determined to try it, to live spontaneously, simply listening to God's voice.
It's easy to say, harder to do. The first challenge was (and is) separting my own inner voice from God's. Yet, I also fell into another problem. When I tried to be completely spontaneous with no specific purpose, I ended up feeling lost, even a little blue.
Then I looked at Jesus, and I realized he knew his purpose. He knew his direction. It only made sense that God would give me a sense of direction, if only I would ask. The challenge became knowing my purpose without strategizing for specific results. But every day, I try, because I love feeling like I'm on God's path for me. I love that more than any particular goal I might achieve along the way.
As simple as these attitudes are, it's not always easy living them. But what I now know is that when I follow the attitudes of the Jesus Climate, I grow spiritually. Best of all, as I live the Jesus Climate, it spills onto those I love.
For more information or to book Jennie's talk on The Jesus Climate, email Jennie at jenniedugan@buckeye-express.com.
When Jesus talked about seeds falling on rock, among thorns, or on fertile ground, he was recognizing possibility. He knew that even when we follow God, more than one thing might happen. The Pharisees didn't see possibility. They were the rigid-rule crowd.
I thought I followed Jesus, but years ago, I countered a training video at work made by a prestigious university. I stood up and said boldly (with certainty), "That is not right! You never do that! That is wrong!" Yet, a problem with certainty is that it builds walls. While I was right about the training video error, and gave reasons for my statements, no one listened. They automatically put up a wall. Instead of appearing smart and confident, as I hoped, I appeared closed and ignorant.
Jesus focused on problems. The Pharisees thrived on control.
Many years ago, I was accused of being controlling. My response was a simple, "It's my life. Why shouldn't I be in control?" It seems logical, yet there's a world of difference between controlling behavior and being in control. In Control focuses on problems and, in the end, makes you stronger inside. Control tries and tries, yet never succeeds in making you stronger.
There's a story where Jesus throws merchants out of the synagogue. He said, "How dare you turn my Father's house into a market?"
Do you see how he focused on the problem, which was moneychangers in the synagogue? He simply said,
"Not here. Get it out of my father's house."
Conversely, the Pharisees thrived on control. For example, they threatened to have Jesus-followers kicked out of the synagogue, which would be like being thrown out of your own town. It was an effective threat, but it didn't build relationships. It only shut them up. It didn't bring people closer to God. It only created fear.
Jesus showed us empathy. But the neutrality among the Pharisees was chilling.
Neutral means cold or unfeeling. It's beyond anger. It's self-focused and uncaring. It sometimes comes from being threatened or wounded so often, you simply don't care. You're numb.
Jesus recognized that cold neutrality when he said, "Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12). Notice that he didn't say the lawless were cold-hearted. He said because of the lawlessness, "the love of many will grow cold." Many would become hardened, calloused to the problems around them. When you read the Bible, you realize that Jesus consistently showed empathy. He cared so much, it overflowed.
On the other side, the coldness of some people was sometimes startling. At one point, the chief priests and leaders called a meeting with a specific purpose: "to discuss how to capture Jesus secretly and put him to death" (Matt. 26:4). Can you imagine being that cold? Yet, when we look around today, so often we hear people say, "It's not personal. It's just the way it's done." Isn't that just as cold?
Equality wove through everything Jesus did. Yet, the Pharisees were riddled with inequality.
Today, when we look at a mistrustful situation, one of the first things to jump out is feelings of inequality.
After the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, a tent city named Camp Obama to honor the American president was raided repeatedly by fellow countrymen. The reason for the raids was because those outside believed it got favored treatment. Just the name of Camp Obama set up a fear of inequality in an already fear-filled situation. Meant to be an honor, the name was instead destructive.
The Pharisees loved feeling superior, and they couldn't see how destructive it was. To them, inequality was a fact of life. If you weren't on top, then you were at the bottom. They couldn't fathom equality.
Yet, Jesus talked to anyone open to hearing his message. He treated everyone the same, which upset the Pharisees, because they craved the privilege of being special. They wanted to be seen as the most knowledgeable. Yet, instead of being godly, they closed themselves off by their superior attitudes.
When you walk God's path, you begin to feel equality at the most basic, human levels. Superiority and inferiority feel out of place there. But here's a caution: Recognizing how out of place superiority is makes you aware of those pretending to be godly with a slight leaning to self-righteousness. Yet, if we judge them for their self-righteousness, we judge ourselves better and distance ourselves from God.
Equality is built first on the inside. No matter how others rationalize superiority ---whether it's about money, titles or gender--- if I want to grow closer to God, I have to build my own internal sense of equality.
The next attitude is description. On the other side, the Pharisees evaluated instantly. Jesus didn't tell us to describe instead of labeling, yet he described his own ministry when he compared it to scattering seed. On the other side, the Pharisees seemed compelled to have an opinion.
For a long time, I've defined the Pharisees as rigid control freaks. Yet, recently, I found a website that called the Pharisees "the spiritual fathers of modern Judaism, who believed God gave Moses the written Law and also the knowledge to interpret that Law." That website gave a description. It was suddenly glaringly obvious that my "definition" was an evaluation.
Description sounds ordinary, even a little boring. Yet, I encourage you to try it. When I began actively focusing on just describing facts without an opinion attached, a burden lifted! When that burden lifted, I felt more on God's path. I felt a sense of peace I hadn't felt before.
Finally, spontaneity goes up against strategy.
Spontaneity means living spontaneously, like Jesus. On the surface, it sounds great, but it challenged me. It went against what I learned, because our modern culture urges strategy. Yet strategy is part of the Pharisee climate. So, I was determined to try it, to live spontaneously, simply listening to God's voice.
It's easy to say, harder to do. The first challenge was (and is) separting my own inner voice from God's. Yet, I also fell into another problem. When I tried to be completely spontaneous with no specific purpose, I ended up feeling lost, even a little blue.
Then I looked at Jesus, and I realized he knew his purpose. He knew his direction. It only made sense that God would give me a sense of direction, if only I would ask. The challenge became knowing my purpose without strategizing for specific results. But every day, I try, because I love feeling like I'm on God's path for me. I love that more than any particular goal I might achieve along the way.
As simple as these attitudes are, it's not always easy living them. But what I now know is that when I follow the attitudes of the Jesus Climate, I grow spiritually. Best of all, as I live the Jesus Climate, it spills onto those I love.
For more information or to book Jennie's talk on The Jesus Climate, email Jennie at jenniedugan@buckeye-express.com.