Adventures in Religion
W. Carl Ketcherside
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Jesus lived dangerously! He was not a rabble rouser. He chose to feed a hungry multitude rather than weld them into a political mob. He was not a shouting demagogue. When he spoke in the house "his voice was not heard in the streets." He did not harangue the populace with waving arms and clenched fist. Instead, his approach was so gentle that it would not break a crushed reed or extinguish the tiny spark on smoking flax. It was his utter unselfishness which made him a threat to the world of his day--or of any day! Religiously, politically, socially, economically, the world in which we live is geared to serve the selfish ends of those who are in power. They are hedged in by traditional rules and regulations, forms and ceremonies. They can use exclusiveness, boycott, threat and rumor to protect themselves and make it appear foolish for a lone individual to "buck the machine."
The man who introduced Jesus ran afoul of the moral corruption of "the powers that be." His head was chopped off in the gloomy dungeon of Machaerus and this bloody trophy served up on a platter to a scheming woman who shared her bed and her body with her brother-in-law. It must have required a considerable degree of courage to enter the province of Galilee after this, but the record says, "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God." Such daring is always branded fanaticism by those who "play it safe" religiously. It makes a difficult situation for the folk at home, because they become the butt of ridicule due to their relationship. "When his family heard this, they set out to take charge of him, for people were saying that he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).
Nothing is more upsetting for a group than for someone to really believe that all humanity is related and that we have a responsibility toward all men. Such a person will not limit his association to "the right people." He disregards convention. He goes as freely to the homes of the humble as to the mansions of the "upper crust." Of course the best way to mark him off the social register is to start a whispering campaign and attribute ulterior motives. If it can be made to appear that he is not as good as he pretends to be, that really he is a glutton and a drunkard, the polished and refined can dismiss him from their thoughts without a qualm. In that way the kingdom of heaven can be reserved for "the country club set" who will not have to be embarrassed by the homespun manners of the uncultivated.
Jesus readily distinguished between beauty and ornamentation. He knew that one was natural and the other artificial. "And why be anxious about clothes? Consider how the lilies grow in the fields; they do not work, they do not spin; and yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of these." I suspect that Solomon had a whole retinue of tailors. No doubt they bought the finest fabrics from the looms of every country. They contrived to make the king the Beau Brummel of his day. With all of their skill, however, they could only attire Solomon from without. The real beauty is from within. It comes only from God. "God clothes the grass in the fields, which is there today, and
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For a long time I have been wondering if the real soul of adventure is not in the search for the beauty of nature as opposed to the artificial. We say that one is an adventurer who leaves the grime and smoke and dirt of the city to live in a log cabin on the shore of a wilderness lake. We use the term to designate one who becomes tired of ascending skyscrapers while walled up in an elevator and scales the wind-swept steeps of a wild snowy peak in the Himalayas. We apply it to those who leave the placid surface life and descend to the depths of the ocean to visualize the fantastic beauty never before observed by human eye. And when, after months of the weary grind which erodes away the spirit, we take a vacation and camp beside a clear lake surrounded by tall spruce, we whisper in awe and reverence, "This is God's country."
It has been said that our own civilization is becoming a decadent one because the spirit of adventure has disappeared. There are no new areas to challenge pioneers. Every remote spot has its burned out ashes of a campfire and its litter of empty beer cans. Our political leaders seek to arouse us from lethargy by coining slogans about the "new frontier" but we are jaded and tired and suspicious that this is merely another gimmick for raising taxes. All history bears mute witness to the fact that cultures are like the men who compose them. When they lose the spirit of daring they either die or continue an existence of such cautious and hopeless mediocrity that it can be said of them, "that though you have a name for being alive, you are dead."
But the realm of exploration need not be closed to you! The most challenging area God ever created is relatively unexplored as yet. We have been deceived by the artificial and the superficial. Behind the facade lies a great vista, beckoning him who has the courage to enter. It is the field of human understanding, the vast area of brotherhood, the almost untrammeled wilderness of spiritual relationship--the creation of God! We have penetrated but slightly into this magnificent realm, then settled down and created our organizations which have shackled and enslaved us. We have made ourselves the serfs to systems upon which we are dependent for support and financial aid. Our own vision is thus made subservient to the restricted limitation of the most selfish and nearsighted member of the group whose objection will be voiced in business meeting if we dare to rise above our own narrowness. We are no longer lions of courage freely roaming the veldt, we are well-trained bird dogs who have learned how to "heel" when the whistle blows.
Before Jesus could begin the greatest adventure of the ages, he had to break through the curtain of flesh and become identified with man. "The children of a family share the same flesh and blood; and so he too shared ours, so that through death he might break the power of him who had death at his command" (Heb. 2:14). He did not come as an interplanetary traveler to share the hospitality earth had to offer. He did not come as a heavenly investigator to see how we were making out. He was not a colonial inspector sent out from headquarters. He came as one comes to his brothers. He shared their lot. He identified himself with them in every way. "And therefore he had to be made like these brothers of his in every way" (verse 17). This was the brotherhood of mankind and Jesus shared in their every weakness, desire and temptation. "For ours is not a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who, because of his likeness to us, has been tested every way, only without sin" (Heb. 4:15).
Those who would share in this adventure must also break through the curtain of the flesh and become identified with Christ. This is not possible to one who is cautious, frightened or dismayed by what others think or say. It is the way of the "bold approach" (Heb. 4:16). It is not the route of the prosaic nor the haunt of the humdrum. It is new and vibrant
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The blood which flowed from the body of Jesus was warm human blood. It made him akin to every man in every nation in every age on earth. God has made of one blood all nations. The blood which courses through my veins is also human blood. It identifies me with every individual on this earth. "We are God's offspring." As the record says, "That is why the Son does not shrink from calling men his brothers" (Heb. 2:12). To identify myself with Jesus is to identify myself with his purpose--to bring many sons unto glory." It is commonly thought in these days of shallow reasoning that this will be done through the agency of our religious organizations which, in our simplicity, we call "churches." Actually, these may hinder instead of help. They have erected barriers, built walls, and created barricades to keep God's people apart. They have set up false standards of loyalty and devised spurious tests of fellowship. It has come to pass that one must break through the "religious barrier" before he can even reach Jesus.
That which God creates is natural. That which man makes is artificial. As it was with the field lily and the apparel of Solomon--there is one glory of the natural and another glory of the artificial! If Jesus were on earth today he would ignore the conventions we have created, the traditions we cherish, and the selfish codes we countenance. He would recognize a brotherhood of all the redeemed, a fellowship of all the humble followers in his footsteps. There is just one flock of God as there is just one Shepherd. There is just one church on earth. There never was but one, there never can be but one. Those who compose it are all children of the same family. "We know that we have crossed the frontier from death to life because we do love our brothers" (1 John 3:14). If you believe this and are willing to pay the price for believing it, you can share in the great adventure, and Christ will live again on earth in you! The cross was the cost to Christ.