What Jesus did not do - part 2

Continuing on the theme of the previous blog ...

He did not do performance - He was never driven by externalities, but by an inner compass - a desire to please the Father. His obedience was rewarding enough to sustain His soul, thus He said, "My meat is to do His will". He was never driven by ambition or fear or personal vulnerability, all of which are negative, energy sapping and unsustainable drivers of human behaviour. He was always driven by the zeal of His Father's house.

He did not seek position - Aside from His personal presence, which had to be felt rather than observed from a distance, Jesus generally dismissed positional status. He preferred to be invisible and understated. He typically led from the middle, not from the front (as charismatic leaders prefer to do) or from the back (as generals like to do), but from the middle, where He could coach, mentor, guide, motivate and uplift His followers. He knew He only had a few years to work with them, so He had to build away from Himself.

He shunned iconic status

- He never wanted people to cling to and depend on the son of man. He chose to leave the earth and return to us in spirit, so that we would not follow "the man" or establish a "cult following". He wanted the church to get up and be the church, rather than a band of idealists following an icon.

He never tried to be all things - He clearly shunned the roles people thrust on Him, be it that of a social reformer/saviour, a king, a miracle man or simply a friend to the downtrodden. No one could pin Him down to an expedient role. However, He also maintained a complementary role to the Father and Holy Spirit, choosing never to be entire in and of Himself. He worked with the Father, implementing the will of God, so that the Father could fulfil His own role as the independent judge and referee of heaven - the final validator of His son's works.

He avoided intrigue and power plays - The power of His ministry vested in a relational role, not in power, politics or manipulation. That enabled Him to be absolutely honest and true for He had no one to please and cared little for human opinion. Sensitivities to the feelings of those in power were only ever applied in the context of relationship, but where there was nor shared value He quite simply stated things as they were. He was a straight as a die, unwavering and those who followed Him always knew where they stood.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ >www.4u2live.net