Kingdom - Part 11 - Wolves

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16. New American Standard.

About ten years ago, I was sitting on the porch with a friend of mine, and we came up a really awesome idea. We would make signs, go find a homeless person, and stand with them on a street corner. Just to make it look legit and Christiany, we would hand out Bibles as well. And so, we found some cardboard boxes, made a couple cutouts, and wrote some clever sayings. Mine said, "Jesus was homeless." 

Now, I didn't think there was anything very offensive about writing "Jesus was homeless" on a cardboard sign, while standing on a street corner, handing out Bibles. 

Evidently it was though. The Bibles may have been our saving grace that day because who doesn't like free stuff, huh? 

I'll never forget the one guy who cruised past me with his middle finger flying out the window, yelling, "Man, you be shittin' on Jesus! That ain't right!" It was one of those moments of - wow, Jon, you're fightin' the good fight. You just got persecuted for the first time, and it was awesome! Keep going! Keep your head up! You got this!

Looking back at that moment, I realize now how deluded I was in thinking that I was some sort of martyr. I was some sort of hero for doing something that would blatantly piss some people off. But it wasn't necessarily what I wrote on that sign that day, or the Bibles I was handing out, or even the homeless people I met that day. It was the feeling of being persecuted, the feeling of having just "laid my life down for the cause" when, all I was doing was putting words on a cardboard sign, trying to get a point across. You could say that back in the day, I had an extremely huge persecution ego.

Today, I want to talk about wolves. But not wolves in the literal sense, but wolves in the metaphorical sense. The kind of wolves that Jesus was talking about in the passage above. 

But first, I need to make a confession. I've been running this passage through my brain for about a week and a half. I haven't even attempted to write since I first wrote this passage down, because I realize I have a problem. The remnants of that persecution complex  that I had that day with that sign are still with me today. I still read passages like this one, and automatically start going down my mental list of the "wolves" in my life. I've used this passage for years as a way to justify feeling like a martyr, a saint, and a disciple. And as a result, I've used passages like these to condemn the "wolves," aka, the people who disagree with me. 

But here's the deal. The wolves Jesus was talking about here weren't going after the disciples based on their views of abortion, gay marriage, gun rights, illegal immigration, or climate control. The wolves Jesus was addressing were trying to uphold a theocracy. And Jesus was speaking right into the tension of a two-fold theocracy at the time - the Roman Theocracy with claimed that Caesar was Lord, and the Jewish Theocracy which claimed Religion was Lord. 

And everything that Jesus has outlined thus far in describing the "kingdom of heaven," has been diametrically opposed to both theocracies. 

After thinking about this passage for awhile, and having many conversations about who or what the "wolves" could possibly be today, I've come to my conclusion. The wolves aren't necessarily specific people as they are institutionalized opposition to peace. And in Jesus's case, which he lays out in the next verse, the wolves in his day were the rulers of the courts, and the rulers of the synagogues. 

The government and the temple. The politicians and the priests. 

Now the last time I checked, President Obama wasn't getting coins minted with the saying, "Obama is Lord." And, the last time I checked, pastors weren't stoning women for adultery (here in America). So, for all the literalists out there who like to use this passage as fuel for the next abortion campaign or political rally, you don't have any ammunition here. That's just not how it works. 

Go ahead and say what you're gonna say, but expect that you're gonna provoke some people to anger. It's the same for me. Anytime I'm writing, I know that I'm probably gonna piss some people off due to my whacky belief systems. But that doesn't mean that you're a wolf out to get me. It simply means you disagree with me, I with you, and we can still be friends. We can still make it work. 

Although I do think that America has come pretty darn close to becoming a Christian theocracy, we're nowhere close to what it was like in the first century. People were getting killed for believing the things Jesus was teaching. People were getting slaughtered by a government that demanded complete loyalty. People were getting exiled for promoting peace. Persecution was a real thing. Getting killed for what you believe was a real thing. 

I'm pretty sure Jesus wasn't going around and telling people who to vote for. Jesus didn't see the world through a two party system. He didn't see the world through a religious filter, and he didn't see the world through a government filter. He saw the world through a filter of love. 

And believe it or not, there were people who believed that politics and religion trumped love. 

Politics and religion trumped love. Politics and religion trumped love. 

Are we current now? 

As long as I view the world through the lens of politics and/or religion, those views will trump love. What do I mean by this? It means that there will be instances, maybe many, maybe few, in which my political views or my religious beliefs will determine who or how I love someone. In fact, this is the predominant way in which I love. 

And naturally, love will be exclusive when viewed through either of these lenses. On the political side, whom I love will be guided by whom I side with. On the religious side, whom I love will be guided by what set of beliefs I side with. And the "wolves" will naturally be the people on the other side. 

That's why I can be conservative and call all the liberals wolves. I can be Baptist and call all the Catholics wolves. And I can feel justified because I'm doing it the right way. I'm doing it just like Jesus said to. 

But here's the problem. If you spend as much time as I do trying to figure out who all the wolves are in your life, you're missing the point. 

It's not about looking for the wolves. It's not about saying things or doing things that you know are gonna receive blowback. It's about expecting push back and humbly moving forward without feeling the need to feel persecuted about it. It's about continuing to stand up for what you believe in without needing to attack the next person who disagrees because "they're not doing it right."

Right now in America, we are seeing the biggest case of pussification that I've ever seen in my life. Everybody's getting offended by everybody else. I'm in this. I'm right in the middle of it. And one of the byproducts of this is the phenomenon of feeling persecuted. 

Theological and political disagreement is not persecution. Feeling like your rights are being threatened by different ideologies is not persecution. Taking prayer out of schools isn't persecution. And on the other hand, building a pipeline from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada isn't persecution. Having a coin say "In God We Trust" isn't persecution. Saying a prayer before football games isn't persecution. 

We all feel persecuted at times, whether we're conservative or liberal. But we're missing the point. 

The recent attacks on black churches in the U.S. is persecution. It was unexpected. The people in those churches weren't doing anything to provoke anger, or opposition, or hate. They were simply carrying on with their lives, loving the best they could, believing the best they could. And the wolves were prowling. The wolves were ready to attack. 

If you're gay and living in the Middle East, you're being persecuted. The laws call for you to die. The laws call for you to be treated like an animal. That's persecution. 

If you're a homeless person and getting sent to jail for laying on a park bench or accepting food in a city park, you're being persecuted. 

Jesus isn't asking his disciples to turn on their persecution radars and put themselves in situations where they can stir up the pot and provoke a bunch of people to retaliate. He's telling them to be wise and innocent. Or, be careful who you hang out and don't say anything that's gonna cause someone to take you to court. He's not saying, "If you deny gay people their cake, you'll be persecuted."

When we err on the side of love and grace, we're not gonna be concerned with who disagrees with us or who's out to get us. Those things aren't on our radar. What is on our radar is how we can work together to bring more peace, more love, and more compassion to this planet we share. When love is the guiding force by which we live by, we're not holding up signs that say "persecution here!" but moving behind the scenes, gently, humbly, and quietly. We're seeing the world the way Jesus saw the world - as a collection of people who are seeking freedom and seeking how to make sense of this crazy world we live in.