I AM BECAUSE HE IS

(6-minute read)

The ancient African word ‘ubuntu’ means I am because we are, suggesting that the community around us influences our humanity. This means that our capacity for compassion and kindness is largely influenced by the people around us. Thinkers have argued that even animals are microcosms of their environments so that even if one has never seen a bird before, by examining its wing size and formation, its eyes and vision, it is possible to find enough cues to describe the environment where it comes from.

People can tell what or who we are committed to by our behaviour. As disciples of Jesus Christ, is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ evident to others in our conduct and from our interactions with them? If all that people see of us Christians are our religious habits and rituals, we are in danger of playing up religiosity, membership and church ethos over the development of Christlikeness in ourselves.

So, what should Christian humanity look like? Jesus demonstrated three outstanding qualities in His life for us to emulate.

HUMILITY WITH INTEGRITY

It is very tempting for people in positions of power to turn functional power into personal power. We see this everywhere, from the government to the corporate world, and sadly even Christian organizations. At the start of His ministry, Jesus carried much anointing of power because we read in Luke 4:14-15 that (after being tempted by the devil for 40 days), “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him.” Overnight, He became a celebrity preacher in the eyes of the people.

Naturally, anyone in that position would suddenly become aware of their public image – their clothes, footwear and hairdo. People would expect you to look the part of someone more elevated than them – have body guards for personal safety, important-sounding honorifics and lengthy bios, travel in upgraded style to speaking engagements, be a member of distinguished groups, and have a special place reserved for VIPs.

But instead, Jesus continued to do what He had always done. Verse 16 tells us, “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was His custom.” What about the physical risk of being attacked or crushed by the crowds? Jesus was often surrounded by large crowds and huge turnouts wherever He was speaking (Luke 8:40-42), but He never saw Himself as being too important or too esteemed to require special treatment. He had resorted to speak from boats (Luke 5:3, Mark 3:9), and retreated to mountainsides for respite (Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, Mark 3:13), but He never elevated Himself to celebrity status like many preachers we know today. He was never into showmanship. 

Yet, He was fully aware of the risks before Him, including the risk of putting personal safety and self-interest over what was important to God. Ordinary believers are often trapped by the risk of self-absorption and an inflated sense of self-importance. Jesus showed us that His mission was not just to speak to masses, or to preach on boats, or to reach out to the sick, but it was a call to represent God, His Father, every day everywhere. He was principled and committed to God’s call yet He was personal; a combination that is tricky for those who hide behind questionable principles when there is a need for them to get involved in a more personal way. Rather, Jesus was known to take personal, relational and cultural risks if it was necessary to help someone. He was humble because although He became sort of a public figure, He was equitable in His treatment of people. 

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4).

UNFAZED BY RIDICULE AND REJECTION

Here, we are talking about the reputational risks that Jesus took when He stopped to speak to a woman with a bleeding disorder (He was on His way to heal the daughter of a prominent synagogue leader), and when He approached a Samaritan woman with questionable relationships in broad daylight.

The Lord was fully aware of what people (even His own disciples) would say about His intentions in these interactions. At the same time, He was famously late to get to His closest friends – Mary and Martha - after their only brother fell ill and He only arrived after he died.

We risk being the latest subject of gossips, being criticized for misplaced priorities, and not conforming to familial and cultural norms when we step out of rule-based choices to do what matters to God and to others. Yet, when we hold ourselves back from getting involved and caring when we can, we risk playing into and playing up stereotypes based on our age, life stage, gender and other characteristics. 

Jesus Himself faced ridicule and mockery in His own hometown of Nazareth even as crowds praised Him. Many recognized where He came from and asked, ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ Here’s a quick background analysis: uneducated parents, blue collar family, carpenters and now celebrity speaker? 

One of the Lord’s earliest disciples, Nathaniel, when he first heard about Jesus’ origins, blurted: ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ (John 1:46) It was a sleepy town with nothing in particular to offer. Why not Bethlehem or Jerusalem?

Jesus was never fazed by the ridicule and rejection that came from people’s simplistic stereotypes and biases. Neither did He care to conform to them at the risk of leaving out people He could touch. 

We become concerned about what people say about us when we romanticize God’s calling (He called me to write, He called me to speak, He called me to be a caregiver, He called me to speak to a certain group of people). In the process, we become oblivious of the influence we have on others and downplay who He calls us to be. And the only thing we are called to be is to be Christlike and to do anything and everything that it entails 

REST IN GOD’S IMPECCABLE TIMING

Notice the string of events that took place on that day: Jesus was in Jerusalem, ‘the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him’, He read it and declared, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ It almost looked ‘staged’ and couldn’t have been a better performance. He could have been handed another Scripture reading but on that particular day, He was given the writing of Isaiah that spelt out the calling of the One who would be the Saviour for humanity:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

Later, when the at-first-adoring mob threatened to throw Jesus off a cliff for confronting their pride and unbelief, His great escape right under their nose could not have happened without God’s divine timing of His every move (Luke 4:28-29). And this was not the first time that He escaped the hands of those who wanted Him killed. Clearly, the Lord’s time on earth was determined by God - not by the danger He faced or His popularity with people. 

God’s timing and execution are never predictable, but always impeccable. Even when He seems slow and sluggish in His response to your needs and requests, trust His impeccable timing. Every move He makes is calculated for your good. While waiting, let Him do His best work in you. To this end, the apostle Paul confessed, ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.’ (1 Corinthians 15:10). 

What does your humanity look like? If it is mere moral goodness, or if it depends on your success and personal safety, let God’s Word form in you a  new humanity that is humble with integrity, unfazed by ridicule and rejection, and that rests in God’s impeccable timing.

This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 18 November 2023.