Pushing the Envelope

I read a great tweet on twitter the other day that really made me chuckle and think. No matter how much you push the envelope, it will still be stationary. What a great play on words! It is funny in the church today that we get so excited to "push the envelope". This entails making some changes or implementing something new, but not so different or new that it ruffles too many existing feathers. If only a few feathers are ruffled and there appears to be success, we are heralded and the rest go on feeling good about themselves but the problem is you are most likely still in the envelope, though it may be a touch bigger from the pushing and stretching. If too many feathers are ruffled or the idea doesn’t pan out we are told we pushed the envelope too far. Then we tend to say the ruffled feathers weren't spiritual enough or don't see the need.

To really experience deep spiritual growth and make a huge impact in the world, we need to do more than just push the envelope. We need to bust it wide open. The envelope is too small. We need a cargo container, and even that is too small to hold God! The traditions of yesterday have, in large part, lost their meaning and usefulness. They now serve to pad us from the discomfort of the unfamiliar and our own rough edges more often than not. If we are going to carry out Jesus' last command to us before ascending to Heaven, we need to stop being stationary, both figuratively and literally, and get radical. As we follow Jesus, we need to take a no holds barred look at fighting the schemes of Satan and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God to our world.

I enjoy reading Jesus’ interaction with people in the gospels. It is interesting to see his perceived demeanor change when moving from interacting with a social outcast to interacting with a Pharisee or other socially and religiously well connected individual. Financial, political, or social standing had no impact on His reaction to people, but heart attitudes did. He saw them merely as someone whom God loved and wanted a relationship with. He started a revolution but it was not one started with armament. It was started and continues with only one weapon, unconditional love. That was radical then, and it is still just as radical today.

Jesus was not slow to confront when a person or group needed to be set straight. He had no concern over their place in society. He had no problem turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple and chasing them out. He quickly called the Pharisees and teachers of the law a brood of vipers when they tried to get him to say something that would be considered blasphemy by the Mosaic Law. He even said, “Get behind me, Satan!” to one of his own disciples when that disciple came against Jesus’ plan and what he was sharing was going to happen.

Jesus was quick to heal anyone who needed healing, and quick to forgive those truly desiring forgiveness. He didn't ask their political affiliation. He didn't ask if they were at the stoning of the woman caught in adultery. He didn’t even ask their citizenship. Even when one woman who needed her sins forgiven and was not a Jew, but was a Samaritan, he forgave her and told her to go and sin no more. He would sit and eat with tax collectors and seemingly corrupt public officials. He even turned water into wine at a wedding to continue the good time everyone was having so the father of the bride would not be embarrassed for running out.

Jesus had no problem going against what the Pharisees taught and commanded when it was the right thing to do. He taught parables to the people that reinforced the idea that loving God and then your neighbor are the two most important things, not avoiding being seen talking to a social outcast, a leper, or even an enemy of the state. Yes, Jesus is even recorded interacting with and showing love and compassion to Roman leadership in the occupied kingdom. Not only was the Centurion not a Jew but he was the commander of the local military detachment which was holding Israel under Roman rule.

In short, Jesus was a radical. His concern was for one thing and one thing only, to bring man back into right relationship with God. He wanted to show man where he was selfish and short sighted and to pull him back and show him the big picture. It's the big picture that matters, nothing else. It's the twofold commandment Jesus said was the most important. Loving God and loving our neighbor. He said the whole law of the prophets hung on these two commandments. In other words, all of our other rules, regulations, and laws should line up with these two things. If it doesn't then there is no room in the kingdom for it.

So as we look at reaching out to a lost and dying world, and we get excited about pushing the envelope a little bit we need to realize we probably need to do more than push it. We need to bust it open. If you find yourself on the inside of a busted open envelope and you don't know what's going on and you don't understand, I encourage you to spend some time in the gospels and truly study Jesus' interaction with people. You may find yourself on the wrong side of one of Jesus' rebukes.