In the Name of Jesus - Week 2

It was great to have several comments made on this first chapter! Thanks for sharing; please feel free to jump in and share even if it's very simple and short...we grow together as we share the portion the Lord gives us.

As I read this first chapter again of In the Name of Jesus, I was struck afresh with the reality that the things that our culture define as making a person successful or relevant to this age are not ultimately what people long for. Nouwen says,
“Beneath all the great accomplishments of our time there is a deep current of despair. While efficiency and control are the great aspirations of our society, the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression, and a deep sense of uselessness fill the hearts of millions of people in our success-oriented world.”

While the author would not likely be one to condemn technology and its use, he clearly recognizes that the Christian must be one who has his/her priorities well-established in order to genuinely impact the hurting people of our world. (I refer to technology simply because it is one of today’s greatest consumers of time; however, there are many other enemies of our hearts' keeping Jesus as First Love.) From personal experience, I know that persevering with Jesus as one’s First Love will ultimately cause you to appear irrelevant to this world’s system, which is alive in the Church as well.

“The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?...Do you know the incarnate God? In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men and women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that reaches out and wants to heal. In that heart there is no suspicion, no vindictiveness, no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred.”

Jesus could have asked Peter many other questions after his denial of Jesus, but the question He asked was, “Do you love me…?” It touches me deeply that He desires my close friendship even more than my service or my attempts to prove to Him that I love Him. I have found myself healed and much more fruitful in this place of intimate friendship with Him.

The great thing about Jesus’ question to Peter is that it’s for every one of us, and the message it sends is that I don’t have to have a ministry/vocation that has the trappings of “success” as the world defines it; I simply need to love Jesus supremely and know that I am loved by Him, no strings attached. That is success! That is relevance as it relates to the Kingdom of God! From that place of Kingdom “success”, I operate with joy and grace in whatever ministry/vocation He gives me.

“Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time…When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the Source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Nouwen in his suggestion that contemplative prayer (i.e., pausing often and sometimes long to simply acknowledge His beauty and His loving presence) is a major means through which I begin to understand God’s emotions towards me, towards those around me and towards all of humanity. I am healed in His presence because He tells me who I am, and I am released from what all the other voices say about who I am. The more I learn to “set my mind on things above” through the discipline of Christian contemplation (Col. 3:3), the better I can deal with the issues of earthly life because I see them in the right perspective and with faith in the Uncreated God Who loves and rules His creation.

My experience in lovingly contemplating Jesus (this includes obeying anything He may say) has convinced me and continues to convince me that this has the power to radically stand a person up into full personhood in Him to such a degree that he/she begins to actually change the spiritual climate around them.

Nouwen’s challenge to move from “relevance to prayer” is much greater than it sounds on paper! The world, the flesh and the devil will oppose this every step of the way. The good news is that Christ Jesus, by means of His own prayer life and obedience unto death has conquered, and the grace by which He lived and died flows to us right now…thank You, Lord, that You haven’t left us orphans in this world but are very present by Your Spirit this moment; Your grace is sufficient for each of us to walk today in this place of intimate prayer, and You are able to define what this looks like for each of us! We worship You, our Creator and Father in Jesus Christ…

In chapter two, Nouwen suggests that we move from "popularity to ministry" and says that the discipline of confession and forgieveness will help us make this shift.

How does he use Peter as an example of this? How does getting secure in the love and affections of God through contemplative prayer (chapter one) help the believer to move from wanting to be popular to caring enough about others to forget about oneself?

May the light of the countenance of Jesus shine on you this week!