OnFire #120 From the
Counsellors Office
Hi Folks:
We’re going to backtrack a little this week. Last week I took some space
to unfold the context of John 6, which I believe is Matthew 16, Mark 8, and
Luke 9. I don’t want to move on, however, because there is too much good
material to skip over. So, we’re going to back to Peter’s confession.
There was a lot of speculation about Jesus. Some people thought he was a
resurrected prophet like Moses or Elijah, or maybe even John the Baptist. If he
was one of the prophets, then he was simply preparing the way for the Messiah, or “Christ” as most of our modern versions put it.
When Jesus asked the disciples about this, Peter had the right answer.
“You are the Christ.” In other words, Jesus was not there to proclaim that
someone else was coming after him. Peter understood that Jesus was the hope for
their future.
This is what Messiah means. Jesus is the hope for our future. The
problem comes when we make something else our hope. When we do, we actually
trade messiahs. This is why Jesus rebuked Peter later. He trusted in the idea
of a messiah who would conquer in military power. This was the wrong messiah.
Thinking about this idea of wrong messiahs takes me back to a weird
experience I had. I was in a counsellor’s office during a hard time for us and
I had told him I didn’t think I could handle much more. In fact, I wondered if
I might fall apart..
“What would happen then?” he asked.
“I won’t let that happen,” I replied. “My family needs me right now, and
if I don’t hold it together, I won’t be there for them. I just won’t let it
happen.”
That wasn’t the weird part. There is nothing wrong or weird about
seeking appropriate counselling or help. The weird part came some time later. A
few days, a week, I can’t quite remember, but not long after. Laying in bed I realized that it wouldn’t be so bad if I did
“lose it.” In fact, “lose it” or not, God would see us through. After feeling
so strongly about holding it together, this was a weird thought.
That was a turning point in that episode of my life. It was like I had
dropped a heavy load and a peace came over me. Simply put, instead of relying
on my ability to hold it together, I realized that God would take care of us.
Theologically speaking, what I did was trade in my false messiah. I had
made my strength and stamina my hope for the future. “I will hold it together
or else.” But this cannot be. My messiah wasn’t Jesus Christ, but something within
me.
We can make false messiahs out of all sorts of things. The key question
is, “In what do I place my hope for the future?” In that instance my false
messiah my strength.
Pride can be a false messiah. “I don’t need help.” Intellect - “I can
think my way through this.” Power - “I can fight my way to the other side.”
Health can be a false Messiah: “If we don’t have our health, we don’t
have anything.” That line sells a lot of health insurance. What about worry? “If I don’t look out, no one will.”
If you’ve ever said, “I will never...” then you may have made a false
messiah. We make false messiahs out of anything (not Jesus) we use to provide
hope for the future.
In the counsellor’s office I put on a brave face, but inside I wasn’t so
sure. I had real doubts about how long I could hold on. I just hoped it would
be long enough for the worst to be over. When I realized that I could trust God
to hold me together, I began to see real hope. What made the difference was in
trusting my future to the real Messiah.
I hope this helps. Be OnFire.
ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by