When Doubt & Honesty Build Faith

Our culture wants it all.

I know that when the new iPhone 3Gs came out, suddenly my regular old pitiful 3G seemed slow and out of date. Which is funny, because my kids would die to have my phone. But I want more, or should I say, I want it all. I tend to be this way in other ways as well.
For instance, when I am going to a movie theater. Now before I throw my selfishness out in plain view, let me contrast that with my friend Phil's approach to movies. Phil, a godly man, when he hears that I want "to watch a movie", will offer me the option of one of his downloaded movies from his computer, and excitedly tell me that its free! Whereas, when I think of going to watch a movie, I am thinking of Cinetopia (an all digital, leather recliner seat, waiter-take-my-order theater, with a butter bar), I am thinking opening night, and I am thinking of the full bucket of perfectly seasoned and buttered tub of corn; all while paying full price to make the most of the experience. I want it all.
Now I realize that this is a basic selfish response. However, when their are options out there, or when you have already had an experience one way or another with a part of life, you can tend to want to match or one-up that experience the next time. And some of this is good. We should want more in our relationship with God for example, and never live on the times of the past.

Not only do we seem to want to have all the latest things, but we as a culture also want more out of our leaders. I find myself politically torn between complete disinterest and unashamed bias at different times. When I am disengaged, it is because another public servant has fallen morally (and to add salt to the wound, more of these have been exposed from the party I grew up "believing in", then from the "other side"). And when I am passionately interested is when I feel that someone rings true, in their speeches, conduct, record and character. I can track with those people, especially when they seem to go against the grain, and when they tend to blur the traditional party lines. That is when I am engaged, interested; when the established systems are challenged and chided in the public arena. Those people seem to be who I think can actually bring a change. I want that from a leader. To quote an old Switchfoot lyric, "We want more than this world's got to offer, We want more than this world's got to offer, We want more than the wars of our fathers..."

So something struck me about a passage out of Mark 15 today along these lines.

³³ At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”^f]">[f]

³⁵ Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”

³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the Roman officer who stood facing him^h]"> saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

The part regarding the Roman officer gets me. Here, his battalion is assigned to take Jesus from the court, all the way to the cross. They beat him, mock him, crucify him. But this one guy, a Roman officer who was posted right in front of Jesus, sees a person dying who blurred the lines of the existing political parties. This Roman officer probably wanted all life could give him, like I do. He probably enjoyed many of the finer things in life, and was looking for a bit more than what he had experienced. And then he hears Jesus' last words, which seem like despair and failure and desperation all wrapped in one. "My God, why have you abandoned Me?".

Something about Jesus' life; something about how He did and didn't respond to his accusers; something about the visceral, emotional, and honest cry from Jesus captured this worldly-wise Romans attention. This guy actually believes in Christ, at the moment when the disciples had all fled away in hiding. Jesus' honesty and his fearlessness of the moment captured his heart.

Maybe we can learn from this.

People are expecting more from their leaders today. There is competition for our time today. podcasting, and internet access have made it easy for truth-seekers to find leadership. Because of all those options, some local church sermons are boring in comparison. Leaders with character flaws are less attractive. Our options have raised the bar for all church leaders today. People are comparing us, our character, our teaching, our life to those around the world. And they are following those who ring true, not just the ones who promise good times and cost-free faith. Jesus led with hope and with honesty. For us to lead well today, we must let Jesus' character permeate all we do and all we say. And the Romans will be saved.