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Nebuchadnezzar
and Daniel
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“Therefore,
Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by
doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the
oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
(Daniel 4:27).
What
warnings or encouragements would you need to hear from Jesus in order
to go out and represent him? (Serendipity Bible 10th
Anniversary Edition, page 1353).
I
first look at this question from the point of view of going out to
represent anyone at all. The most important question is “To what
extend do you want me to represent you as a free agent? How much
latitude do I have to explore issues by asking questions I think you
might ask? Am I certain of your values and feel comfortable that I
can live and affirm them? If action on my part is required that
would bind you, do I have your complete understanding of this fact
and have permission to make such decisions in your stead? Let us
take a rather important matter as an example—going into the real
estate market to explore a home and to actually execute a contract.
Obviously my first assignment as your representative would be to get
a complete understanding of all your preferences regarding where you
would like to live and in what type of residence. I would also have
to have a list of “deal killers”—a list of those things you
simply would not accept under any circumstances. A list of “strong
pluses” and priorities would also be helpful. Finally I would have
to be assured of mutual trust, as indeed obviously you would need the
same.
So
before going out to represent Jesus, I would need to be familiar with
his values as exemplified in his life and death. I would need to
know if Jesus would be comfortable with my asking the following
question—what would Jesus have me do, rather than what would Jesus
do? For certainly there is no way that I can precisely fill Jesus’s
sandals. I must be satisfied that he would allow and even make
positive use of this obvious circumstance. In other words, my
talents (not Jesus’s) are to be maximized in this representation—I
am not to try to be a clone of Christ. I would need a list of those
types of things Jesus would find flat-out unacceptable in my witness
for him. I would also want a list of those things most critical that
he would want me to strive for. In other words, I would need a good
deal of help with priorities since the harvest field is way too
expansive for any one individual. I suppose I would want marching
orders much like he gave his apostles when he sent them out to
represent him.
The
primary warning I would expect from Jesus is that I must stay close
to Scripture and the tone and tenor of his life’s work. This would
involve not only individual Bible study, but also association with
other Christians. I must be alert as to the tendency to substitute
my will for his. I would need his encouragement because I dislike
being smothered in contumely. I realize that followers of Jesus
habitually expose the world’s sacred cows and taboos—one being
its chronic refusal to acknowledge that it engages in any sort of
oppression—“we’re always fair, always square” is the
fiercely, sometimes lethally, defended motto. I would ask Jesus to
give me what he had—the unflinching honesty of the prophets and the
grace to accept that being smeared with contumely simply comes with
the territory. I would also pray a prayer not unfamiliar to him—let
me always accept that my mission is more important than my life.
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