Dragon Skin and Glasses

The quote that is bazinga-ing me from our study of submission is Foster's saying, "the most radical social teaching of Jesus was his total reversal of the contemporary notion of greatness."  

There aren't many words to describe what Foster is saying here because he says it with such clarity and well I am currently at a loss for words in response to having my whole reality radically, fully, and wholly REVERSED, but here are some of my thoughts.  Jesus's life is the ultimate example of this.  Yes, he spoke and taught and gave lessons, answered his confused and bewildered disciples questions, but how did he redefine the reality of life as we as fallen, sinful human know it?  By the way he lived his life.  The Life style he chose.  He chose to submit to all others and make them better than himself.  I love Stef's reference to Phil 2 here.  Oh the truth in Paul's words!  Especially verse 5-8.  (Side note: v5 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."  WHAT!?!?!  WOW.  What a deep rooted challenge to my life as a Christ follower!  Jennifer, you are to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus!  Be an "imitator of God" [Eph. 5:1]  Follow God the Father, know God the Father as Christ did.  And most of all, love all others as Christ did!  Bazinga!)  I, like our driver Chris Brown, am going through Darrel Johnson's book through the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and am directly reminded by this quote of, what Darrel calls, taking on Rev. 5 glasses.  That we have to see the world through the new lenses as written by Paul in chapter 5 to understand a little bit more of what our resurrected Savior is doing, has done, and will do.  To put down the old glasses and slap on the new ones.  I am also reminded of the story of the boy Eustace in C.S. Lewis's book the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  If you have the book, i suggest you get a copy and read this portion because I won't do it justice in the short sentences I will attempt to communicate what Lewis illustrates with beauty and grace.  The boy  Eustace is mean and nasty to all other people.  Because of his destructive greed he ends up as a dragon (oops, spoiler alert!) at one point, he is so fed up with himself (now Eustace the dragon) that he attempts to rip and scratch his tough dragon skin off so he can return to his old self.  But surprise, surprise, it doesn't work.  Under each layer is another layer of tough dragon skin.  Then Aslan (the Jesus figure) enters the scene and with one gentle yet heart spiting rip of his claw the old skin falls to the ground leaving the boy Eustace bright and glowing red in his new, delicate human skin.  In this new skin his perspective is changed, he treats others differently views others differently, and views himself differently.  His old glasses of reality are gone and replaced (mind you, not by his own doing, but by Jesus) with a new set.  With which he sees all aspects of life differently.

My prayer is that as God continues to prepare my heart, and the hearts of each of you, for the work he has planned for the summer that we shed the skin of the world.  That we allow the twisted and warped realities we all view relationships from to be blown to pieces in preparation as disciples of Christ.  That our notions of greatness, our understanding of the world, and the eyes we view campers, leaders, pastors, other Sonshine staff, dock hands, other boaters, birds, and wild life would be defined by the radical reversal modeled to us by our Savior's life choice of service for all.  And most importantly, that we submit to Jesus call to allow him to violently yet beutifully rip the old skin off and give us those new glasses to view the invitation to serve him on the water with a completely reversed notion of greatness.