Clarifying the Last Post: “The Wildness of Christ. The Wildness of His People.”

In my last post, The Wildness of Christ. The Wildness of His People, I made a few observations that need to be clarified and better explained. I feel a few may have taken it the wrong way or misunderstood my main point. So for the sake of those who may have misunderstood, or for those who may read it in the future, I will go into greater detail to my metaphors.

What I don’t Believe In

First and foremost, I do not believe in extreme liberalism in our walk with God. What I mean my liberalism is the teaching and attitude of some who, because they are under infinite grace, believe they can go and do whatever to whomever they want. Such as, debauchery, premarital sex, pornography, cruelty, indulging in lust, drug/alcohol abuse, etc. etc. The list could go on and on. I am not, nor will I ever be, an advocate of such behavior. They may be the normal behavior of unbelievers, but it is not acceptable behavior for God’s people.

The reason I make that point is because some hear the word wild and think I meant something else by it. Like, “Jesus was wild so He never obeyed commands from anyone.” This simply isn’t true. We see from Scripture that Jesus did obey commands (from the Father):

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19)

“I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

Here we see that Jesus was full of obedience to His Heavenly Father; Complete submission to His will, authority, and His work. We see here that Jesus came not to please His own will, or exert what He wanted to do on His own, but to please His Father, to exert His Father’s will.

What I do Believe In

The analogy I used with the horse and the owner was a metaphor of us humans trying to control Jesus; Us mere men trying to tame the wild stallion that is Christ. Jesus was only fully submissive to His Father. Not men, not women, not Satan. Not even the religious leaders of the time.

Jesus was only fully submissive to One, that is God the Father. His disciples tried on many accounts to control Him. Take for instance Peter, whom after learning that His Messiah would soon have to die (and of course be resurrected), attempted to persuade Jesus to change His mind,

‘From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”‘ (Matthew 16:21-23)

So Jesus wasn’t concerned with “the things of men,” but instead, “the things of God.” In our day, the things of men are many. Even in the world of Christianity there is a class of people who are after the things of men and claiming them to be the things of God. Politics is one of those. (But now I’m mingling two of the most controversial topics in the world. I.e., religion and politics. So I’ll stay away from that debate.)

So, what I meant by wild was this: Jesus Christ cannot, will not, and never will be, controlled by men. Neither by bit or bridle. The only One that Jesus Christ submits to is God the Father. They are in mutual submission to one another. Therefore, because Jesus Christ is not to be controlled by men, or better yet, religion, then neither are we. We are a people free to explore Christ in His depths, widths, and heights. We are free, because of the Blood of Christ, to have a relationship with the Father. We are to be obedient to Him, not man. (Of course there is the topic of mutual submission within the church. However, mutual is the key word. Not complete submission to one person i.e., a pastor, bishop, deacon, etc.)

I used the word in the way we use it to describe animals of the “wild”. What makes an animal wild? It is this, an animal that is considered a wild animal is one that hasn’t been controlled or manipulated by a human being. The animal survives without the aid or assistance of mankind. Most dogs are not wild. Most cats are not wild (well, excluding those scary looking cats that run around your neighborhood at night). However, lions, bears, hawks, snakes, rabbits, etc. are considered wild. They need not man to survive. Jesus Christ does not need man in order for Him to survive. He doesn’t need our evangelical programs, our worship leaders, or our “7 Highly Effective Habits”. Instead He wants mankind. He wants us to help Him, like a child helping his/her father build a swing-set. There is a big difference in want and need.

Okay, so I hope I made a few things a bit clearer here. I was not condoning to disobedience to what God has clearly outlined in Scripture on acceptable and unacceptable behavior. I was not condoning to the lack of submission to one another as fellow believers. But I do condone freedom to express Christ in one’s own personal gifts. I do condone following hard after the Lord with everything a person has even if the world thinks you are crazy (this would include religious leaders too). I do condone having the freedom to make mistakes only to get back up off the floor knowing Him better because of it.

This is what I call freedom. This is what I call wildness.