These past few week's we've been talking about Jesus' go-to strategies... some ways that like Jesus, we can be on the MOVE, changing our world, with God.
So first, Jesus "CARED for" people at their point of greatest need. He didn't walk past needs, but had compassion. His relentless kindness led people toward that place of change. And second, Jesus "CONNECTED with" people. Jesus could be-long with anyone. He wasn't arrogant, nor haughty. Rude, rushed, or annoyed. He was just present with people. A friend to sinners, tax collectors, and people far from God.
When I started preaching, my church was dying. I would sit in the building praying, "Lord, help!" One day I saw some men cutting down some trees across the street. I thought, "I could help with that... I've cut & stacked firewood my whole life!"
Later, I heard about a neighbor with cancer... a man whose dog had died (Steve was known as the town drunk)... a young man who was angry and violent... a couple that wanted to get married... a lonely widow... a man who wanted to kill his mother-in-law and enjoyed shooting his neighbors cats... a teenager whose mother committed suicide.
CARE tore down the walls. CONNECTION allowed trust to be built, and opened the door for tough conversations. If we as a church would intentionally CARE and CONNECT alone, the work of God would explode in our midst. It worked for Jesus, why not for us? That first church I served tripled in size.
This morning I want to talk about Jesus' third go-to strategy: CHALLENGE. Jesus CARED. He CONNECTED. But Jesus did something we're less willing to do. He invited people to "Repent and Believe." Repentance is CHALLENGING a person to change their mentality. Belief is CALLING a person to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
CARING for people, in itself, doesn't save people. CONNECTING, in itself, doesn't save people. Jesus challenged people to repent and called upon them to believe. A biblical basis for this is found in Ezekiel 3:18-19 where God says, "When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood."
We're afraid to challenge how people think, feel, and believe. We think, "What if they call me a hypocrite? Think I'm judgmental? Or, never talk to me again?" But there is a deeper concern and it's "What if I remain silent?"
We may think silence is kindness, but silence is both cowardice and callousness. Cowardice because we fear men more than God. Callousness because we smile and nod as people all around being destroyed by their sins. Challenge is the essence of love. Love compels us to warn, to challenge, and learn to speak the truth in love.
So let's talk about why it so difficult to CHALLENGE people. A while back I read a book called "The Righteous Mind." The author is a self-described ivy-league, liberal atheist, and moral psychologist. His book explores why "good people are so divided by politics and religion." He uses a crazy metaphor to describe human beings.
First, he observes that we all have an elephant. Have you ever heard the expression, "Don't ignore the elephant in the room?" When it comes to moral discourse, we do it all the time! So imagine a giant elephant. Your elephant is a larger than life, two-ton, ball of flesh, full of pure adrenaline, emotion, and desire! BTW, if you encountered a Bull Elephant in the wild, or an elephant on a rampage, you wouldn't soon forget it.
Elephants are reactive creatures. Within a split second of seeing, hearing, or meeting a person, an Elephant begins leaning toward or away. If they feel threatened, they may just charge and destroy their adversary. Think of your flesh as your elephant. Ephesians 2:3 describes our inclination toward "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts."
Now imagine that atop your elephant, you have an elephant rider. Now ask yourself, who is really in control here? The rider or the elephant? The elephant rider is your mind. As the elephant rider, your mind is always trying to reason with your elephant, and soothe him, and direct him, and train him. But really the elephant has a will and power of its own. And your elephant can be deceived, or even hijacked by others influences in the environment. Your elephant can become so inconsolable that it has to be tranquilized!
So a mistake we make is addressing the Elephant Rider while ignoring the Elephant in the room. You can shout and yell all you want at the Elephant Rider. You can scream, "Repent or die!" But what we really need to do is speak to both the Elephant and the Elephant Rider.
When you "CARE for" a person's physical needs, it's like a trainer giving an elephant peanuts, or water. CARE engenders the trust of the total person--not just their mind but also their flesh, will, heart.
When you "CONNECT with" a person socially, it's not unlike how the Elephant trainer engenders safety and trust. You become a familiar, comforting, encouraging presence. In time, the elephant realizes you're a friend, and not a threat. Instead of leaning away in fear, the elephant leans toward you. He is calm, and open.
Only when the Elephant is tamed can you really CHALLENGE the Elephant Rider to change direction. CARE tames the Elephant. Connection tames the Elephant. If you're going to appeal to a person to CHANGE, tame their elephant first.
So, what else do we need to know? Third, every Elephant has a moral palate. So the metaphor here is that of your tongue. Through the years, you've acquired a particular taste for things. You might have a sweet tooth. You might like sour food, like blue cheese. You might like food that is salty. You might prefer something bitter or spicy. My brother drowns his food in Tabasco sauce.
What if we have a moral palate that operates like our taste buds? That's the question posed in the Righteous Mind. The author studied morality throughout the world and identified six distinctive moral taste buds:
(1) For some, their red line is CARE/HARM. Jesus said whatever you do unto the least. I was hungry you fed me, naked you clothed me, in prison you visited me.
(2) For some, their red line is LIBERTY/OPPRESSION. In St. Louis, some cannot process the moral outrage the black community feels. They feel oppressed by white power.
(3) For some, their red line is FAIRNESS/CHEATING. In Colossians employers are commanded to pay what is right/fair; slaves are to work w/all their heart whether the eye of the boss is on them or not!
(4) For some, their red line is LOYALTY/BETRAYAL. Is Snowden a patriot, or a traitor? Is Obama a true American or a Manchurian candidate?
(5) For some, their red line is AUTHORITY/SUBVERSION. God says honor you mother and father, and it will go well for you.
(6) For some, their red line is SANCTITY/DEGRADATION. God created us in his own image. Every life if sacred. Though shall not kill. The marriage bed is to be kept pure.
Now the author makes a pretty incredible observation, especially considering he's an ivy-league, liberal, atheist. He observes that social conservatives (i.e. Christians) possess all six foundations, and have the most fully developed, identifiable moral palate.
Now why does this matter? We can establish common moral ground with virtually anyone. As a starting point, we can respect the moral foundation people DO have while CHALLENGING them to develop the other parts of their moral palate. And we can have some humility to realize that our moral palate can be enriched by people on the opposite end of our political or religious spectrum.
Fourth, our elephant is fiercely tribal. Despite what we've been taught, people are not primarily selfish, they are groupish. We tend to be nationalistic, ethnocentric, partisan, racist... where an attack on one is an attack on all. Paul gives us great advice in in 1 Corinthians 9:22: "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some."
We have to venture outside our "tribe" to other "tribes." To challenge, we have to engage with people who may not chant our fight song, have our exact moral palate, or need care/connection until their elephant feels safe to lean toward instead of away.