Power....Am I Powerful?
Ego...do I have a lot to boast about?
Am I rich...hey, i've worked hard, I deserve these benefits.

I have struggled lately with the abuse of power and have posted about it. I've also struggled with those who flaunt their wealth or their talents (ego) to leverage those over others. We live in a society where status is important. In the South, we particularly flaunt our "status". The fact that our great-grandfather was a founder of the city grants us "status" as an elite member of the community. That granddaddy owned the city's largest mill helps secure our "place". Irregardless what kind of human being I am, if "Daddy" was somebody, it gets me a ticket to the "party". It is not just "old" money but "new" money as well -- that I sold my business and am suddenly "wealthy", it secures my place in the pecking order and I can look down on "old" money because "I earned it".

Then I re-read this quote from Erwin McManus and it struck at what has been nagging at me...

"Jesus sentences stand like quivering swords of flame because He did not come to bring peace but revolution. The Gospel is a cutting-edge, rolling thunder, convulsive earthquake in the world of human spirit. By entering human history, God has shattered all previous conceptions of who God is - the life He has planned for us is much like the life He lived.

He was not poor that we may be rich.
He was not mocked that we may be honored.
He was not laughed at so that we could be lauded.

We are not to fill up what is wanting in the suffering of Christ."

Wow, there it is. Our wealth, our power, our "place" in society ... rich, honored, lauded. We all crave it. Non believers crave it and so do believers. We crave "status". Yet Jesus came as a poor man, not a king. He was mocked and laughed at.

Are we to take that He was poor, mocked and laughed at and turn that into a play so that we may become rich, honored and lauded? The Church has even failed in this - Pastors (at times) seem to turn the entire message into somehow being about them or "their" teaching ministries, etc. CEO's do it - the sweat and blood and toil of the employees is somehow turned into "their" (CEOs) success story, their picture on the cover of Fortune, their rapid accumulation of wealth. Dads do it - the success of their son on the baseball field is somehow turned into a reflection of their ability as a Dad. Our daughter's hard work and acceptance to UVA or Duke is somehow the result of all we as parents have done for them.

Christ came that we may lead a different life than this culture draws us to. He didn't do all He did so that we can put ourselves up on a stage. He came that we may be poor, we may be humble and we may serve others.

Soar!