ABCs of Spiritual Formation: O is for Outside
“Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.”
-- Hebrews 13:12-13
O is for Outside
One aspect of growing in Christlikeness that does not fit well in Christian culture these days (at least in America) is the concept of being an outsider. As humans we long to be on the inside, in the inner circle, to be cool, included, to have power and use it. In fact, the A is for Attachment post that began this series highlighted this idea. We are desperate to find our people and to feel attached, and that isn't a bad thing. It is how we are made.
But here's the rub, as we grow and mature and recognize that God is the ultimate inner circle, and he has fully received us, we can follow Christ "outside the camp". Honestly, I find this one difficult which is probably a sign of my low maturity level. Hebrews 13 referring to Exodus 29:14 makes this clear:
"8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited. 10 We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace. 14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name."
-- Hebrews 13:8-15
This points to the idea of taking up our cross and experiencing persecution and suffering and disgrace.
How do we do this now?
We go where Jesus is.
This isn't about seeking suffering. Suffering will come one way or another, and I'm not going to focus on it here. I want to highlight other areas I see this happening as we grow in Christlikeness and step into the complexity of our societies.
Let’s look at a snippet of Jesus’ life and see what we can glean. Look at the second chapter of Mark which contains four stories of Jesus’ life. In the first he is at home teaching a crowd when four men lower a paralytic through the roof for Jesus to heal. Eventually he heals him but first he tells him his sins are forgiven which upsets the leaders. He seems to purposefully provoke the leaders. Is this a way for us to go “outside” the norms?
In the next story he chooses Levi, the tax collector, to be a close confidant and disciple. Levi is the wrong kind of guy and has the wrong kind of friends. People aren’t happy with Jesus for this choice. Is Jesus calling us to befriend the wrong kind of people?
Next Jesus’ students don’t follow the traditions of the other teachers’ students. His people are on a different schedule. Is Jesus calling us to question traditions and go against the grain?
Lastly, Jesus’ followers break the Sabbath rules, and Jesus is reprimanded. Once again he shuts down the busybodies, rebuking them with David’s example of breaking the rules. Is Jesus calling us to sit in the ambiguity and mystery of God rather than live by simple, man-made rules?
UPSET WHO?
I want to make this easy and say we should stand up for unpopular causes that align with the Bible no matter who supports them. The problem is I have trouble seeing this in the Bible. Of course, we can find people who did what the majority culture deemed wrong. Daniel and his friends are good examples. The prophets as well were called to be thorns in the side of the majority culture as it wondered off God's path. But nobody took on every cause on every side. Jesus was a growing irritation to the Jewish leaders, but he didn't really address the issues of the Romans. Paul was the same; he didn’t advocate for every instance of injustice in the Roman empire. I get the sense that if we were walking around today, we would fault them for the causes they didn’t champion. This ruins my well-formed idea of saying we should make everyone upset. Instead, I think the call is simply (though not easily) to follow Jesus wherever he may be. What I see when I think of this is that he will lead different people to different places but heading "outside the camp" will be the norm. The "camp" will probably be different for different people.
This then raises a few questions:
What is your camp?
Where is Jesus in relation to it?
How is he going outside of it and inviting you to join him?
Taking some time to meditate and reflect on these questions as we read the Bible and seek to understand our context may be fruitful.
I hesitate to get too specific thinking of Jesus admonition to Peter:
"21 When Peter saw him, he asked, 'Lord, what about him?'
22 Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.'”
-- John 21:21-22
I trust if you take the time, Jesus will make it clear.
BEWARE
Lastly, let me clarify one thing. I am not saying that if we are not doing something unpopular, we are not mature. Sometimes our immaturity is what leads us to be foolish and unpopular in the wrong ways. May we learn from those steps. However, I do think, given Jesus' words promising suffering (John 16:33) and the Hebrews 13 passage quoted above, if we never do anything unpopular with the majority culture (both our local Christian culture and our local secular culture) or at least uncomfortable for us, we should check as to how closely we are following Jesus. We may be staying at a "safe" distance from him that is unsafe for our souls. Jesus calls us to follow him where he goes, and he is often wanting to go places through us that we probably wouldn't choose on our own. We can be assured that obeying him in this way, though, will bring deep joy regardless of the discomfort, disgrace, and suffering. Note: If everything we do only brings praise, that is not a good sign.
May we all be becoming the kind of people who meet each other with Jesus outside the camp. This is not our home and becoming like Christ means we more and more embrace that truth as we more and more love our enemies from the heart.
“The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.”
-- Margaret Chase Smith