High Calling Magazine

The official publication of The Francis Asbury Society

The Answer Is Jesus
BY CRICKET ALBERTSON

As I sit down to write my article on Postmodernism, I am acutely aware of the changes that have occurred within our world in the last 18 months. The threat of terrorism, the renewed threat of nuclear weapons, the fear of trusting other people and other nations have created an apprehension which is always present when we look at the world. This insecurity creates a different context for Postmodernism than the one in which it has flourished up to this point. The Postmodernism of today looks different than it did before September 11, 2001. Perhaps, the postmodern perspective can only flourish in prosperity, when we have little to hold us together, and our own self-interest is of paramount importance? In this day and at this hour, we live in tragedy and insecurity with the pain of personal and national loss. Our society is looking for something permanent, something valuable, and something good.

What is the postmodern perspective that has dominated our society and is there an alternative to this perspective on the world? The Postmodern worldview is one without a center. It is a worldview that clings to nothing and rejoices in its own insecurity and disorder. It recognizes no authority and no "meta narratives," which means there is no over-arching story or plan that makes sense of the existence of the world and of the human community. Each person creates his or her own story within the context of his or her own life. Individual rights, freedom, and image are elevated to the place of priority, and community, character, and values are declared old-fashioned and prejudiced. Truth and morality have been abandoned, and authority has become a bad word. We have answered simply to ourselves and our own view of the world. The goal of all existence has been to find a fulfilling life that is consistent with our own personal view of reality. We have rejoiced in the fragmentation and multiplicity of the world. We have recognized and accepted our own alienation from other people, and our relationships have become means to our own personal happiness. We use people rather than delighting in them, and we do so openly and arrogantly with no sense of shame.

This postmodern perspective that now seems empty; it rings hollow in the light of our perilous situation. In the face of pure hatred that will sacrifice life itself to pacify its anger, we find ourselves looking for something beyond ourselves. In the face of death and loss, we reach out for something that can make sense of our situation. All of a sudden, loyalty, self-sacrifice, and courage are the qualities that are being admired rather than cynicism, satire and sarcasm. We anxiously try to understand the worldview of others, even though we live in fear of what those others might do to us. We attempt to live in peace and prosperity in a society that feels less safe and less prosperous. We are threatened from within, so we reach out to find something on which to hold. The postmodern world has no way to deal with these questions. It has no hope to offer and no love to give. The basic premise of the postmodern world is that there is nothing to hold on to. There is no center to all of existence. There is nothing that does not move. Each person comprises his or her own reality and lives defiantly in the face of an insignificant and meaningless existence. We praise the good in some people while abhorring the hatred in others, but we have no way to distinguish why some are evil and some are noble. We have no overarching perspective on the world that allows us to disagree with people and at the same time love them. Tolerance is all that we can allow; so we talk against prejudice, but we live in fear.

We have good news. God Himself has seen our situation. He has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ and has declared to us that there is a center to all reality. There is something outside of ourselves, around which all of life turns. That center is the Lord Jesus. In Him we see the picture of ultimate reality: the love between the Father, Son and Spirit. This love forms the foundation of our reality which means that we were created because He loved us with His other-oriented, self-giving love. This love pours itself out for others. What the Christian has to say is this.

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, will he not also give us everything else?…I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:31-32, 38-39).

Jesus is the picture of God's love for us, and He is the picture of how we are to live with one another. First of all, Jesus lived for something outside of himself - for His Father. And he was willing to pay any price to accomplish His Father's purposes in the world. Jesus not only lived centered in and out of His Father's love, He also gave His life for us. His love for His Father overflowed in His love for us. Because he was centered in His Father's love, He was free to give Himself away to others, and that is what He did. His word to us is this: "Whoever desires to come after Me, let Him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:34b-35). Christians are called to follow Jesus and live lives that are centered in the love of the Triune God. Only in the safety of their love for one another and their love for us will we be free enough to give ourselves away for the world around us - one person at a time, without having to concern ourselves with our own best-interest.
When Christians live lives that are centered in the Lord Jesus, there are two aspects of life that are markedly different from the world around us. It is these two characteristics which will draw others to Jesus and bring them security and peace in this day of chaos and fear. First of all, we begin to see the world and its problems from Jesus' perspective, and we begin to love the world in all its problems with the love of Jesus.

To begin to see the world from Jesus' perspective, we must understand Jesus' definition of truth. In the postmodern world, truth is simply whatever works for me. But what is truth in reality? In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except by me." Truth is simply having the perspective of Jesus and seeing reality as Jesus sees it. Jesus is the truth; so His perspective will, of course, be accurate.

Let me mention two distinctive things about Jesus view on the world. To begin with, Jesus unashamedly declared Himself to be the key to all existence. When Jesus is the key to our lives, His presence unlocks everything else and makes sense out of it. Listen to his statements about himself.
"I am the bread of life." He is to be our sustenance
"I am the light of the world." He is to be our direction and my joy
"Before Abraham was, I am" He is our past, our present and our future.
"I am the Good Shepherd." He is our protector and defender.
"I am the resurrection and the life" He is our life
"I am the true vine" He is our inheritance and my purpose
"I am the door" He is our way
"I am the way, the truth and the life."

Walking in truth means absolute submission to Jesus as the key to our lives. This means a retraining of our minds as well as a commitment of our hearts. The fun part of gaining His perspective is that it requires daily intimacy with Him. When we find ourselves in a situation in which our response is defensive and selfish or when we are filled with anxiety, we can immediately look to Him and say, "Jesus, what does this look like from your perspective?" I have found that when I asked him for His perspective, He has given it quickly and easily, and then the entire situation is transformed. Only those people who are living in intimacy with the Lord Jesus have the possibility of truly transcending their own perspective and seeing things from another point of view. If we are to survive in a postmodern world and if we are to introduce other people to Jesus in this world, we must live lives that are completely submitted to the Lord Jesus.

This submission leads to the second aspect of seeing the world as Jesus does. He not only is the key of all existence, He is in control of all of life. If we believe that Jesus is good and that the foundation of our reality is His love, then we can trust ourselves totally to the Him. When we submit to Him, we can live without fear. This freedom from fear will enable us to live in joy and peace even in the face of disaster and uncertainty. Submission to Jesus and his perspective means that we believe He will fight for us and be our defense. With that confidence, we can live in love towards those around us without having to put up walls to protect ourselves. That is our answer to the postmodern world, submission to Jesus and love for our neighbor.

What does it mean to truly love our neighbor? If there is going to be a single thing that attracts the world around us to Jesus it will be if we love the way that Jesus loves. Jesus' understanding of love is radically different from the world's perspective. In fact, agape love is the reverse of natural human love. Jesus' love is centered on someone else. Jesus' love for us reflects the other-oriented, self-giving love within the nature of the Triune God. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit unconditionally and unreservedly, and He loves them by giving Himself to them. His love is directed outside of Himself. This is the polar opposite of the best advice the world has to give on love. In Plato's Symposium, Plato writes an account of Socrates' understanding of love. Socrates declared that love was primarily acquisitive. A person loves in order to acquire things for himself or herself. The two most honorable things to acquire for oneself are happiness and self-improvement. Therefore, the gods do not love because they have no needs; they are already happy and they need no improvement.

The God of Scripture reverses this picture of selfish love. The true God loves us because He is love, and God's love is a love that is more concerned for our welfare than it is for His own. That is the reason He gave His only Son to die for us. Jesus' life manifested this perfect self-giving love. Jesus loved when those around Him did not respond to His love and when they did not deserve His love. When Peter failed to trust Jesus when he was walking on the water, Jesus lovingly protected him. When James and John arrogantly requested places at Jesus' right and left hand, Jesus lovingly directs their attention to the cross. When the disciples "protected" Jesus from the children, Jesus lovingly instructed the children to come. Jesus responded to distrust, arrogance, and self-interest with love, grace and instruction. He loved in spite of the response of the beloved.

Jesus also loved in the face of open betrayal. He loved regardless of the worth of the Beloved. When Judas sold him for 30 pieces of silver and then kissed him to seal the betrayal, Jesus submitted to Judas' kiss. Before Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus warned him about the denial and then said, "Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me." When Thomas refused to believe without seeing the nail prints in his hands, Jesus came and let him feel his hands, his feet and his side. When the Jews handed him over and the Romans nailed him to the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." The love of Jesus had nothing to do with the beloved's response or worth. He loved us because He lived in love - the love of the Father for the Son and the Spirit and their love for the Father. It was out of the wellspring of that eternal and true love that He loved us. Because of His willingness to love us with that love, we can have access to the inner love life of the Triune God.

This love is not only available to us in this world of selfish fragmentation, we are commanded to love like Jesus did. "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this love all will know that you are My disciples" (John 13:34). Loving like Jesus did is the key to showing the heart of Jesus to a broken world. A theologian has said that God did not find creatures worthy of his love, he made them worthy of His love and He did that by loving them.
We are called to love people regardless of their response to our love. Our love for other people comes because we are centered in the love of God Himself, and we are willing to give our lives for other people if Jesus should ask us to do that. Our love for other people must flow out of our love relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India. She became involved in rescuing small girls from being sold to the gods for prostitution purposes. In the context of this bitter battle, she wrote this poem.

Love through me love of God. There is no love in me.
O fire of love light thou the love, that burns perpetually.
Love through me love of God. Till all may taste and see
How good thou art, once more I pray. Love through me, even me.

There is an answer to the world today in all of its grief and tragedy. And His name is Jesus. May we as Christians walk in truth and live in love, so that the world around us, which is searching for the answer, can find His name and His character in us.


If you enjoyed this article, please e-mail us your mailing information to receive a complementary copy of the complete HIGH CALLING magazine.
 

top

Return to Article Index