At face value, my classmate Jaken was a real punk. He had natural confidence, a swagger, and just enough attitude to get himself in trouble. Because of his personality, Jaken was a well-known character at my high school. But he was also a lover of Jesus. And Jaken was relentless in how he shared his faith with others.
At first, I didn’t understand why Jaken lived the way he did – boldly sharing his faith with Jesus and not caring what others thought of him – swagger and all. But as I began to spend more time with him the more I began to understand: Jaken didn’t have a worldly perspective. He didn’t care about the social cliques of high school or how popular he was. He was truly, unabashedly himself and it showed in how he boldly shook things up.
We see this same confidence and courage in Peter and John when they are called to testify before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4.
In seeing the courage of Peter and John, the Sanhedrin couldn’t help but come to the unfortunate conclusion that there was no stopping these men – for “these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13).
Time spent with Jesus always comes with dire consequences for the world and the business-as-usual thinking that accompanies it. The prevailing powers and structures that operate this world are shaken and overturned (Acts 17:6) by the bold transgressions of people who have begun to operate on a different, deeper wave-length.
Those who have spent time with Christ see how poorly they first misjudged him. This is exactly what Paul confesses, We once considered Christ from a worldly point of view, but do so no longer – for he turned out to be far greater than we ever imagined. Now, we strive to no longer consider anyone from a worldly point of view any longer. (2 Cor. 5:16)
People who don’t see things from the world’s perspective naturally begin to work against the world. They see people with an eternal perspective and connect together on that basis. Because they both have an eternal destiny together, they now have the power to remove anything that separates them in the present moment.
But in order to be people that truly live boldly, we must be people who have spent time with Jesus long enough to see things from his point of view.
Spend time long enough with him and you’re bound to begin seeing things from his point of view.
Pastor Ryan Lunde
Young Adults