"How is being a Christian like being a pumpkin?", my Facebook newsfeed prompted me: "God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc...and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."
Underneath were lots of awws, and 'likes', and general indications of approval, many from dear friends whom I should possibly be more reluctant to offend. But I couldn't help but think – "hang on a sec – have none of you ever actually seen a jack-o-lantern?"
Wow, that's, erm, really something to aspire to, hey.
In fact, I worry that we Christians have gained a reputation for certain pumpkin-like tendencies, along rather less flattering lines of comparison: permanently, determinedly, grotesquely, smiley; little going on between our ears; adept at scaring off outsiders...
We need to get it into our heads that perpetual cheeriness is not a marker of being a 'good Christian'. At times, in church, I've been made to feel as though I'm 'letting the side down' whenever I 'allow' myself to be troubled by some or other pesky negative emotion. Sure, joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and "there is great gain in godliness with contentment" (1 Timothy 6:6), and if the opportunity to follow Jesus doesn't produce some sort of positive reaction somewhere in one's inner being (Romans 5:11) one may have some growth in understanding pending. But I'd like to suggest that joy is not a feeling but an underlying attitude of heart – and growing in joy does not in the least mean shrugging off or burying emotion. Far from it – a healthy, joy-filled emotional life is able to plunge to the depths and rise to the heights and to experience both extremes in the context and assurance of God's love and strength. After all, Jesus wept (John 11:35) when his beloved friend Lazarus died; he wept over the city of Jerusalem for missing out on "the things that make for peace" (Luke 19:41); he exploded with anger to see the temple turned into a place of trade (John 2:13-17). And Paul describes the "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" that he feels on account of his Jewish kins-people who have not accepted Jesus as Messiah (Romans 2:9); he commends the Corinthian church for their "godly grief" which led them to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9); he exhorts the church in Rome not just to rejoice with those who rejoice but also to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
Likewise, one doesn't (or shouldn't) have to empty one's head on becoming a Christian. Jesus calls us to love God with all our minds, with all our understanding – as well as all our heart and soul and strength (Mark 12:28-34). Ours is not (or should not be) a blind, un-thought-out faith – we should be able to give "a reason for the hope that is in [us]" (1 Peter 3:15); we should remain "open to reason" (James 3:17).
As for scaring off 'non-believers', Jesus warns his disciples that they will be hated and persecuted on account of him (John 15:18-21), and in fact that they will be blessed for this very reason (Luke 6:22). When we truly follow Jesus' radical example we can't help but come up against the worldly power structures, attitudes and priorities that his Kingdom threatens to overturn, and in such cases it is "a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly" (1 Peter 2:19). But there is no glory in "just" opposition – which is to say that making enemies is certainly no proof "we must be doing something right". If and when those of us who say we want to follow Jesus do come up against hostility, we absolutely need to be prepared for tough self-scrutiny, to check we're not inviting said hostility upon ourselves by demonstrating foolish, ungodly attitudes and actions under a vague 'Christian' banner. As Paul writes to the believers in Colosse: "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person" (Colossians 4:5-6).
These, then, are some of the reasons why I do not want to be a pumpkin. Please, please, please God let me not turn into one.
[1] Just in case you hadn't noticed that the title is an hilariously witty allusion to a famous essay by Bertrand Russell – well, it is.
Underneath were lots of awws, and 'likes', and general indications of approval, many from dear friends whom I should possibly be more reluctant to offend. But I couldn't help but think – "hang on a sec – have none of you ever actually seen a jack-o-lantern?"
 |
| Picture CC from Handtwerk on Flickr |
In fact, I worry that we Christians have gained a reputation for certain pumpkin-like tendencies, along rather less flattering lines of comparison: permanently, determinedly, grotesquely, smiley; little going on between our ears; adept at scaring off outsiders...
We need to get it into our heads that perpetual cheeriness is not a marker of being a 'good Christian'. At times, in church, I've been made to feel as though I'm 'letting the side down' whenever I 'allow' myself to be troubled by some or other pesky negative emotion. Sure, joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and "there is great gain in godliness with contentment" (1 Timothy 6:6), and if the opportunity to follow Jesus doesn't produce some sort of positive reaction somewhere in one's inner being (Romans 5:11) one may have some growth in understanding pending. But I'd like to suggest that joy is not a feeling but an underlying attitude of heart – and growing in joy does not in the least mean shrugging off or burying emotion. Far from it – a healthy, joy-filled emotional life is able to plunge to the depths and rise to the heights and to experience both extremes in the context and assurance of God's love and strength. After all, Jesus wept (John 11:35) when his beloved friend Lazarus died; he wept over the city of Jerusalem for missing out on "the things that make for peace" (Luke 19:41); he exploded with anger to see the temple turned into a place of trade (John 2:13-17). And Paul describes the "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" that he feels on account of his Jewish kins-people who have not accepted Jesus as Messiah (Romans 2:9); he commends the Corinthian church for their "godly grief" which led them to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9); he exhorts the church in Rome not just to rejoice with those who rejoice but also to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
Likewise, one doesn't (or shouldn't) have to empty one's head on becoming a Christian. Jesus calls us to love God with all our minds, with all our understanding – as well as all our heart and soul and strength (Mark 12:28-34). Ours is not (or should not be) a blind, un-thought-out faith – we should be able to give "a reason for the hope that is in [us]" (1 Peter 3:15); we should remain "open to reason" (James 3:17).
As for scaring off 'non-believers', Jesus warns his disciples that they will be hated and persecuted on account of him (John 15:18-21), and in fact that they will be blessed for this very reason (Luke 6:22). When we truly follow Jesus' radical example we can't help but come up against the worldly power structures, attitudes and priorities that his Kingdom threatens to overturn, and in such cases it is "a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly" (1 Peter 2:19). But there is no glory in "just" opposition – which is to say that making enemies is certainly no proof "we must be doing something right". If and when those of us who say we want to follow Jesus do come up against hostility, we absolutely need to be prepared for tough self-scrutiny, to check we're not inviting said hostility upon ourselves by demonstrating foolish, ungodly attitudes and actions under a vague 'Christian' banner. As Paul writes to the believers in Colosse: "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person" (Colossians 4:5-6).
These, then, are some of the reasons why I do not want to be a pumpkin. Please, please, please God let me not turn into one.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:6-10)OK, I'll be an earthen pot instead...chipped, perhaps, and cracked, and weak, and unimpressive...but full, I hope, God willing.
[1] Just in case you hadn't noticed that the title is an hilariously witty allusion to a famous essay by Bertrand Russell – well, it is.
Comments