Crouching Timbits, Hidden Potential

John 15:16 says that Jesus chose us to be his disciples. It also says that we ought to avoid the following lifestyle:



***If you watched the video your probably confused at the moment. Chances are you’re trying to figure out the connection between Green Day and of all things, the bible. Trust me its there! Just keep reading***

One of the encouraging things I find about this verse is it tells us Jesus CHOOSES the people he hangs with. In high school, our home room teacher was also a martial arts instructor. Twice a week he taught women’s self defense classes outside school. And once a week he would teach a handful of my fellow class mates martial arts over the lunch period. One year he personally asked me to join the class. He said he’s had martial arts students in the past with polio, and after taking them under his wing they’ve had nothing but positive results. Even though I was in a wheelchair, he could teach me how to defend myself if I ever met a creepy person with bad intentions.

I don’t know if he was ever aware, but I wanted to take his martial arts class and was hesitant to ask him… I thought the wheelchair would be a deterrent and he’d say no, so I never did. but then HE approached ME! This meant he saw something in me that I didn’t. There was a potential deep inside me that needed to be coaxed out. Boy did he ever hit the nail on the head that time. After that, I was hooked. I became a devoted follower.

Those lunch hours were priority number one. On nights off, I practiced my newfound skills at home. Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Steven Segal became my newest reasons to go to the movies. Whenever they threw a kick or punch, I announced which kick or punch it was. I even remember going to the library to sign out books on martial arts and tried to mimic the diagrams they had on the page. Once I tried watching an old Bruce Lee movie, but it was too cheesy and turned it off. For the rest of my high school days I ate slept breathed and bled anything to do with martial arts. I did this all with great enthusiasm because my master believed in me. Where I saw a bitter end, he saw a bright and hopeful future.

That same enthusiasm is demonstrated in Christ’s disciples. It’s the reason the apostle Peter did such crazy and outlandish things. Christ chose to spend three years of his life with Peter and 11 others because He saw something they didn’t. Where the disciples saw losers and drop outs, Jesus saw winners, and catalysts for a movement that would take the world by storm. Jesus saw that they had a purpose; all it would take is a little coaxing.

Deep Theological Truth Or Brain Fart?

Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Mark 8:13-21 NIV

When a pastor gets up to preach a sermon, they’ll usually select a chuck of the bible, and spend hours upon hours dissecting each verse to find its original meaning. Sometimes they research the snot out of the passage, and come up with some great theological truth to share with the audience that week. (At this point I want to say that I understand the importance and fully support the discipline of doing these things in preparation for a time to be the mouthpiece of God. a great sermon takes time to prepare. If you do a poor job of preparation, then you run the risk harming the body of believers instead of enhancing it.) Still there are other times I think we fail to take scripture at face value. Use the above scripture passage as an example.

Try and picture this story playing out in real life. As though you actually witnessed this conversation between the disciples as they paddle across the lake. Then you see Jesus flip out at the disciples for being half wits for debating about not having any bread to snack on when they get the hankering…… now after picturing the scene, do you think Jesus was talking about some deep theological truth, or did Jesus lose it because the disciples just had a brain fart? I personally think it’s the latter. But if you think there is some theological statement people need to pick up on – please share I would love to dialogue with you over this. Maybe I’ll have a brain fart and you’ll stump the nine year bible college student … the nine year bible college student is me by the way ;)