People of Paradox
God’s people, the church, are a people of paradox.
On the surface, we don’t make sense but, at the same time, fit perfectly together. Things that seem incongruent, align.
To live you must die.
Jesus, while speaking to his disciples after a confrontation with the Pharisees, says in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”
This flies in the face of our current cultural reality. We are on a quest to find ourselves, not lose ourselves.
We get excited when we get to take a new personality test—to find ourselves. We pay money for spiritual gurus, retreats, experiences—to find ourselves. We marry, have children, take on jobs—to find ourselves.
We seek, search and want—have we found ourselves?
Jesus provides a better way, a paradox that is the antidote to our restless hearts…stop seeking yourself and seek Him. The more we make Christ a priority, the more our heart’s will be at home.
Christ followers lose themselves to gain themselves. We hand in the keys to our kingdom so that we live under the rule of a better king.
To be first you must be last.
In Mark 9:35, Jesus engages with His disciples as they bicker with one another about who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”
“In what world, Jesus?” The disciples had to be thinking.
If we want to get ahead, you have to get in front of everyone else. You need to fight for yourself. You need to promote your work. You need to create a platform and stand for all to see.
Yet, this is not the way in the kingdom of Christ. We build a platform for others to stand on.
In the eyes of the Lord, the least are the greatest. The humble are esteemed. The broken are blessed.
To gain you must give.
As Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian elders and reflects on his ministry, he leaves them with a parting thought from Jesus and in Acts 20:35 he states, “‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
A sentimental thought that we may agree with at Christmas time but overall a hard pill to swallow.
Do we feel like it’s more blessed to give when we’ve been serving in an area for years but never saw the fruit?
Do we feel like it’s more blessed to give when we’ve invested financially in a church or organization but never see the work we want accomplished?
Do we feel like it’s more blessed to give when others are lapping us in every career goal and metric?
For Paul and for Jesus, it is better. Why? The blessing of the gift is in not the result but in the labor.
Right before this statement Paul says, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me. In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this..”
If the blessing is the result, then of course it’s better to be receiver. If the blessing is in the labor, then it’s better to be the giver.
In the labor, we are sanctified. In the labor, others see our hope. In the labor, we realize our needs, faults, and limitations that we wouldn’t see if we just received.
In the labor, we gain by giving.
We are a people of paradox: to live you must die, to be first you must be last, and to gain you must receive.
Living in the paradox is hard. It’s messy. It’s strenuous. Yet it’s worth it because in it, we see the person of paradox— Jesus.
A mighty God became a lowly man. To live perfect in the midst of imperfect people. To die a death He did not deserve. To defeat the enemy of death that no other could break. To give eternal life to finite people.
