{"id":1658,"date":"2012-04-04T11:33:56","date_gmt":"2012-04-04T11:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2018-07-20T20:34:22","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T20:34:22","slug":"ending-our-savior-complexes-station-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/04\/ending-our-savior-complexes-station-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Ending Our Savior Complexes: Station 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

When Jesus\u2019 followers saw what was going to happen, they said, \u201cLord, should we strike with our swords?\u201d\u00a0And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0But Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cNo more of this!\u201d\u00a0And he touched the man\u2019s ear and healed him<\/em>. -Luke 22:49-51<\/p>\n

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?<\/em>” -John 18:10<\/p>\n

Peter and the disciples have “poor impulse control,” as friend and fellow minister Megan Johnson puts it.<\/p>\n

And maybe we do, too. \u00a0Because it’s easy to be impulsive when we’re in situations beyond our control. \u00a0We’d prefer to take matters into our own hands- and quickly. \u00a0Doing something rather than nothing can make us feel better, even if temporarily, when grief and tragedy stare back at us.<\/p>\n

And it’s easy to convince ourselves when we’re following Jesus that justice itself demands our action. \u00a0That the world is depending on us. \u00a0That God’s redemption means activity rather than passivity on our parts.<\/p>\n

Some of us have really big savior complexes, too. \u00a0We’ve convinced ourselves that Jesus really does need us to redeem the world. \u00a0We evangelicals are especially prone to this kind of dysfunctionality.<\/p>\n

The funny thing is that when I meet people like this, I end up not really liking them. They’re frankly annoying- like super heroes who have traded in the cool hair dos, gimmicks and special powers for a big ego and a small sense of humor.<\/p>\n

But when God calls us into His mission of redemption, God isn’t calling us to fight.<\/em> \u00a0Nor is God calling us\u00a0to flight (which Peter will do shortly when he denies Jesus three times). God is calling us not just to see and apprehend what God is doing, but then to acquiesce<\/em> to it, which is a kind of dying to ourselves.<\/p>\n

This intentional passivity on our parts demands much more strength and courage than an impulsive falling back on our own devices. \u00a0It requires that we sit still and attentively in the pain and mess of life, all the while staying close to Jesus and being available to God whenever and wherever. \u00a0When we impulsively rush in with prescriptions for what needs to happen in order for things to be right, we will often miss the most important things God is doing in our midst.<\/p>\n

[Note: by now you may have realized that we’re breaking the norm of “the seven stations” as they traditionally have been defined and numbered. These stations are my own, as observations and impressions that have struck me in reading the Passion narrative this time around.]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  When Jesus\u2019 followers saw what was going to happen, they said, \u201cLord, should we strike with our swords?\u201d\u00a0And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. \u00a0But Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cNo more of this!\u201d\u00a0And he touched the man\u2019s ear and healed him. -Luke 22:49-51 Then Simon Peter, who had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,116,43,25],"tags":[569,571,561,566,574],"class_list":["post-1658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cross","category-death","category-humor","category-jesus","tag-evangelicals-and-mission","tag-final-week-of-lent","tag-holy-week","tag-stations-of-the-cross","tag-volunteerism"],"yoast_head":"\nEnding Our Savior Complexes: Station 3 - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/04\/ending-our-savior-complexes-station-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ending Our Savior Complexes: Station 3 - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  When Jesus\u2019 followers saw what was going to happen, they said, \u201cLord, should we strike with our swords?\u201d\u00a0And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. \u00a0But Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cNo more of this!\u201d\u00a0And he touched the man\u2019s ear and healed him. -Luke 22:49-51 Then Simon Peter, who had…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/04\/ending-our-savior-complexes-station-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristina.robbdover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-04T11:33:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-20T20:34:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristina Robb-Dover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ending Our Savior Complexes: Station 3 - 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