Standing Up

"My great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was Dr. Josiah Bartlett, who was the New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress, the one that sat in session in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 and announced to the world that we were no longer subjects of King George III, but rather a self-governing people. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said, "that all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up." — President Josiah Bartlet, "The West Wing"

That quote always makes me think. One of the things I always loved about "The West Wing" is the reverence it had for the best of what makes America unique. I didn't always agree with the politics, but I loved the way the characters entered the political fray. It gave me a kind of false hope about the nobility of our form of governance, and the possibility that existed for real leadership within that structure. It's hard to say we actually see that from our leadership now.

But one thing America has always been is a place where people can freely express ideas. I attended a conference a couple weeks ago where a group of people, united by common beliefs and frustrated by the idealogical differences they saw in the majority leadership within their group, met to find a new solution. The focus came toward starting a new organization, one that reflected the core beliefs and values they hold dear. It felt a little bit like what I imagine it would have been like at the Continental Congress.

Last week I watched a documentary called "The People Speak," which was a collection of celebrities reading speeches and letters from those who dared to speak out even when it wasn't popular throughout the history of our country. Some of it was inspiring, some of it was informative, and some of it was infuriating to me. But what made it interesting is that each of the speeches shared the bond that those that first uttered the words had the courage of their convictions.

As I've reflected on that, I think the same is true of our faith. Think about how different our faith would be if no one ever accepted the challenge of looking at things in a new way or exploring new ideas. Christianity itself was a radically new idea at the time. Jesus, when he came, offered a completely new way to look at life, God, faith, and salvation. And that hasn’t stopped.

One of the most important figures in the New Testament is the Apostle Paul, yet it took a major change of perspective for him to embark on his ministry journey. In Galatians 1:13-16, Paul shares his personal story of how God gave him a new perspective. “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.” It took a big change of perspective for Paul to begin his ministry, yet 2,000 years later he is one of the most frequently quoted authors from the Bible, having written a bulk of the New Testament.

And Paul understood the importance of having the message make an impact on the listener, rather than the speaker. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 says, “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” The power rests in the message, not the messenger. We have to think about and connect with the message, not just the speaker.

And once we’re in that moment, then we can do something new; something that expands the kingdom. Consider, the reason we have Highlands Church, the reason there are any protestant denominations is because Martin Luther, after dwelling on and connecting with the message, was inspired by something new. The history of our faith is a history of people who looked at things from a new perspective and were able to expand their own thinking in an effort to expand the thinking of faith followers around the world.