CURIOUS, CLUELESS, OR CONVINCED

(This is a 7-minute read)

Tourists and children are generally a curious lot. We indulge their curiosity and even exploit it in the form of destinations and adventures for tourists, and games, toys, and themed playgrounds for children. We indulge their curiosity and questions about the most ordinary things. On the other hand, we expect people who have been around or lived a little longer – like locals and adults – to act differently because they should know better.

Remember the last time you traveled to a different place and found yourself a little lost at a renowned landmark? You looked around in the hope of finding some people who might appear like locals – people who speak the local vernacular and have a certain style of dressing. But when you approached them for directions, they appeared equally clueless; some even a little impatient with you.

The same can be said about Christians. Many of us routinely pepper our conversations with jargon like ‘so blessed’, ‘grace’, ‘ministry’, ‘praise God’, and using ‘amen’ to indicate agreement. We know enough of the ins and outs of church rituals and culture to look the part of a Christian to insiders and outsiders. Yet, when asked by those who are curious to point the way to Jesus, we are often clueless about where to begin. So we start with the story of our salvation (usually decades ago), followed by details of the church we are attending – location, service times, and the names of our pastors. In doing so, we point people to a cultural experience instead of introducing them to a relationship with Jesus Christ because unfortunately, for too many believers, Christian living has become nothing more than a cultural experience.

One day on a hill, Jesus was sitting with His disciples like they often did. Soon, a large crowd began to approach them ‘because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick (John 6:2). That’s what curious crowds do: they are drawn to the sensational and Jesus had more than a few itinerant fans. When the crowd quickly swelled to almost 5,000 men, Jesus turned to Philip and asked, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 

For some reason, Jesus picked someone like Philip because clearly, he could do fast arithmetic. The question was, in fact, a statement of Jesus’ intent to provide food for the people. It was put to Philip in ordinary language. Jesus did not use jargon like ‘divine provision’ or ‘manna from above, but just ‘buy bread for these people to eat. Philip instinctively scanned the crowds, ran a quick calculation, and came up with an amount that would ‘get enough bread for each one to have a bite’ (v7). If money was the solution, it would have been the right answer. But Jesus wasn’t testing his math acumen. He wanted to know what analytical types, like Philip, would turn to when faced with hard, pressing problems.

Sensing awkwardness in the conversation, another disciple, Andrew, stepped in by offering five small barley loaves and two small fish from a young boy. It was an attempt to bring home the point to Jesus that the math just didn’t add up. Together, Philip and Andrew built a solid case about the improbability of feeding so many people with so little means.

We also know that Jesus ‘already had in mind what He was going to do when He turned to Philip (v6). Philip’s reply showed that he wasn’t thinking about what Jesus could do. Recall that earlier, when Jesus and the same disciples were at a wedding in Cana and the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother immediately had in mind what He could do to intervene before He turned plain water into fine wine (John 2:1-5).

To be sure, Jesus did not spend His time training His disciples in banquet service for weddings or picnics on hills. But when we look at how the disciples blended with the curious crowd, it was an anomaly that was disconcerting. As people who were His inner circle, the disciples often witnessed up-close the many miracles that Jesus performed. They also had private access to His teachings. Yet on the hill with a curious crowd, they were clueless about what Jesus had in mind to do. They seemed to lack the conviction that Jesus was still the Way, the Truth, and the Life, whatever circumstances and challenges they faced.

Here are three enduring truths that Jesus demonstrated to both the crowds and His disciples that day:

 1.  I Am Your All Sufficiency

Linear thinking concludes that five barley loaves and two fish give us seven items of healthy food, enough for a party of 3 or 4 people, not 5,000 diners. Logical thinking will justify a quick round of crowd-funding and crowd-sourcing to pull the resources of 5,000 people so that everyone can be fed.

But because Jesus thought differently, someone went home with a story about handing over his lunch to Jesus that satisfied more than 5,000. Being our all-sufficiency, Jesus’ supply is limitless!

Question: Are you struggling to surrender to God something that seems to be all that you have right now?

2. Trust Me, I Know What I Am Doing

We tend to think that if we can describe difficulties we face in our lives with clarity, we can better prepare ourselves for their eventual outcomes. If only we take a good look at the job scarcity in the current market conditions, the problem in our marriage (usually with our spouse), the pattern of relational failures in our life, our health risks, how we are living from pay check to pay check, we can devise coping strategies for living with these challenges. We want to be contented and not ask for too much from Jesus, even miracles. Just give us this day our daily bread so we can say that we are blessed.

Note that when Jesus instructed His disciples to organize the people to sit down and get ready to eat, there was still no food in the picture. But while the people were looking for a picnic spot, Jesus produced enough food for everyone present. He didn’t even need more than what He had to speed up His supply chain!

Often, God will tell us to do something before a solution appears or a clear plan unfolds. It takes trust to do what He says, and trust is the product of a healthy relationship between two parties. Some people might have broken your trust and betrayed you (several times) but regardless of your other relationship experience, trust is a must for your relationship with God.

Practice trust: Do you trust data and your experience more than you trust a loving God? What is God telling you about trusting Him right now? Talk to another believer and pray about it together.

3. I WILL PROVIDE ‘THE MORE THAN ENOUGH’

We now see that Jesus’ supply chain was so efficient that it even exceeded expectations. He provided more than enough for everyone so that after they had enough to eat (and burped!), the disciples gathered twelve baskets of uneaten leftovers. (They were not partially eaten food because that would have been called food waste.) Notably, twelve empty baskets happened to be available and were used for storing all the leftovers! Indeed, God (not the devil) is in the details!

Do you believe that Jesus, who provided food for more than 5,000 individuals with diverse backgrounds, needs, and appetites, is capable of doing more than what you expect of Him?

Consider: What do you have to do to grow your faith in God? How far have you moved from being curious to be convinced in your heart of hearts that God is true to what the Bible says He is.

All of us have to keep growing in our faith journey. No one should be lingering on the fringe, just happy to remain curious. Neither should we remain clueless, always waiting for God to prove Himself to us. The curious crowds are all around us. Let us be convinced that God is exactly who He says He is, without being two-minded about it. There is no ambiguity in Him: He is our all-sufficiency, He knows what He is doing and He will provide us with ‘the more than enough’.

This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR session held on 13 November 2021.