Unforgotten Messages

Surely this must be every communicator's dream: someone actually remembering what they said! Today I'm kicking off a new occasional series: "Unforgotten Messages." These are lectures, sermons, talks, etc. that have made such an impression on me that I remember their main points long afterward. They are some some of the best talks I've ever heard. There have been other great ones, but these combined at least three things: strong craftsmanship, a timeless point, and immediate impact on me, which came to gather to mark me with a lasting impression.

You're Freer Than You Think

I'll start with one that must have been about 25 years ago, when I was playing trombone in a band called "Prism." We had played at an outdoor event at Arrowhead Springs, on a hill overlooking San Bernardino, California. At the time, it was the headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ. I think the occasion was a conference for new staff members. We had a cookout, there was our music, and then Gary Stanley spoke. Gary probably had a degree in theology at that time, but he was also taking a Ph.D. from USC in Communication. And a communicator he was--still is, I'm sure. We enjoyed a sort of casual friendship in those days, and he married a fellow musician. I've lost touch with him now; the best I can tell from the web is that he's teaching at Rivendell College in Boulder, Colorado. Not a bad place to live. Maybe the school looks a bit like Tolkien's Rivendell; if so, I'm really jealous!

His talk that night was on freedom and risk. I recall three vivid points. The first was, "You're free to fail." I don't remember the Biblical example he used to demonstrate that; but most likely it was Peter, who, the night Jesus was brought to trial, denied three times he even knew him. Just hours earlier Peter had rashly promised he would go to the grave with Jesus; and Jesus somberly replied that no, by the time the night was over, he would deny him instead. Three times. Peter proved the coward as Jesus predicted he would, telling even a harmless servant girl he didn't know Jesus. Afterward he recognized how he had betrayed his friend and Master, and "went out and wept bitterly."

Jesus died, and returned gloriously to life--and what must Peter have thought then? How could he even look Jesus in the eye? But Jesus restored him, gently, to full fellowship and even to leadership. Peter failed; but in Christ he had the freedom to fail, and to be restored.

Second Point: "You're not free not to try." Gary's source here was the parable of the talents, found in several parallel passages in the Gospels, including these. Jesus told the story of a man who gave three servants charge over varying amounts of money before going away on a trip (talents were a unit of currency then; the reference is not to skills or abilities). Two of the servants invested, traded, and so on, and gained a good return on the money. They were solidly commended for it. The third said,

"Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours."

The master was livid:

"You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest."

The third servant didn't steal the money, he didn't waste it, he wasn't dishonest. He just didn't try. He let his fears lead him instead of faith. He avoided risk, thinking it was safer that way. God doesn't call us to be safe. He calls us to try. And (first point again) we're free to fail. But we're not free to hide in our fears.

Third Point: "You're freer than you think." Again, I don't remember what passage from the Bible Gary used for this point. The one that comes to mind now, which might have been Gary's source as well, is Galatians 5:1-6, which begins,

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Somewhere along the way, tragically, Christianity has become misrepresented as bondage. It's freedom! It's the freedom of forgiveness, setting us loose from guilt and perfectionism. It's freedom to be who we are, knowing that God loves us as we are. It's freedom, and power, to do what we know is right to do.

Part of the passage I linked to there involves some Jewish religious and cultural practice I won't take time to explain now. I'll summarize the intent instead. There were people telling that church in Galatia that in order to be right with God, they had to really toe the line on a whole set of rules. Paul said no; we are right with God by virtue of living in relationship with him, accepting the gift of life and forgiveness he gives in Christ. Living "by the rules" is something we move toward based on that relationship. It's not something we do in order to enter the relationship. How often have you heard that taught exactly backward? But we're freer than we think.

All three points bear repeating, because they express so well the grace of Christ and the adventure of living by faith in him:
"You're free to fail."
"You're not free not to try."
"You're freer than you think."

Posted: Thu - May 24, 2007 at 06:43 PM |

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Unforgotten Messages

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson