Jesus, Power and Success: #wisdom #leadership

Well, hello, words for Change podcast. This is Lionel, your host. For those of you who are new, welcome, welcome. Welcome once again to the Words for Change podcast, if this is your first time listening, thank you. Thank you so much. I want to encourage you to go to our YouTube page, check out Words for Change YouTube page, where you can actually see these podcasts in visual form. And then, for my returning audience, it's always great to talk with you and have this conversation with you, and I'm just going to be honest with you and get right to the point.

This episode was prerecorded. The episode you're about to listen to was prerecorded before the Easter season came about 2024 Easter season. You know we're approaching Easter very, very soon in April and, as a matter of fact, the triumph of entry of Jesus is coming up this Sunday. Okay, and so, the more I thought about this episode, I thought you should know why I am producing this episode, because the truth of the matter is this what I'm going to share with you briefly and this is a prelude, so just hang in there with us but what I'm going to share with you briefly is something that has been pressing on my heart, and that is that this is what this episode is about. It's really not about you becoming a better person although you'll hear that in the episode but the genesis where this all came from, the source of this came from, is a deep need for Christian discipleship. Most of us are going to read the triumphant entry of Jesus or listen to a sermon this week about the triumphant entry of Jesus, as just you know, palm branches being laid down and people yelling Hosanna and the highest. But what you need to understand is that this Palm Sunday, right, the triumphant entry of Jesus, as mentioned in Mark, chapter 11, which is what this whole episode is based on is a carefully planned political event by Jesus. Okay, I'm going to say that again. The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is a carefully planned political event by Jesus.

Right, and Jesus is making a very powerful point here. He is lampooning powers. Right, he is being very pretentious about glory and dominion. Right, he's comes into the city riding on a cult, not even a full grown donkey. Right, jesus comes in not as Lord over authority. Right, and he's doing this over and against the Roman Empire. That is critical for us to understand, right. So when we talk about this episode, where this episode focuses on rethinking power.

All of this that I'm going to say in this episode comes from my research over many years. Most of you know that I've spent many years in seminary and this seminary degree did not come from online but in class 12 years Studying this stuff, and I've been knowing this for 12 years, and I'm currently trying to finish my doctorate degree right now in military and pastoral and biblical interpretation. So Did it's just a deep need for us to understand that Jesus's actions were so Contradictory to what people assume he was trying to do that he came into the city of Jerusalem. Do this carefully planned event Right, seeking provisions when he entered the city? Right, not asking for weapons of war, but go get a donkey.

Right, jesus goes into a procession at Jerusalem unarmed, riding on a cult. Right, not coming in, saying that I have victory. You know, traditionally military, when a military Organization has won a war, what do they do? They ride through the city or the town or when most people can see. Right, and they're. They're coming entering that procession with weapons of war, showing that they have what gained victory and sometimes those weapons and those materials that they come through the city with, showing their dominance, that they dominated and conquered the enemy. Well, that's what Jesus is doing with the triumphant entry, but look at how he's doing it. Right, he's coming in not with wealth, but like a poor man. He's not coming in as a mighty warrior, but he's coming in vulnerable, refusing to rely on violence to get his point across.

The fact that he chose a donkey, not even a full-grown donkey, but a coat, is very possible that his feet were dragging on the ground Right. And he's doing this against the Roman Empire, which was considered a treasonous act. And as people laid the branches and the palms down, what did they call? They called him. They said oh Zan, which means God save us. Literally, long live the king. Literally, son of David.

Right, all of these are the author and mark trying to tell us Right, this mentioning of the kingdom of David, which was by far, even still today, historically, the greatest Show, the greatest historical power of the traditional he break and Jewish people, the city of David, the political kingship of David. And Jesus says I'm a son of David. And what do sons who? What do sons who have fathers, have power and kingdoms, do this? The father passes it down to the son, which explains to you and I why Jesus was considered a threat not only to the religious people, the religious leaders in Judaism, but also to the Roman Empire. He was crucified as an insurrectionist. And what do insurrectionists do? They challenge the political structure of their day. So Jesus is, is it, as it were, turning the imperial notion of power and rule on its head and in the entrance into Jerusalem is Comical, is dramatic, but it's also political and it should be Understood that way.

So when you read the text that you hear a sermon about the triumphant entry this week, I want you to see what Jesus wants us to see, with the author of Mark and the other gospels are trying to communicate to us, and that is this that Jesus is subverting power, the idea of power, the idea of domination and rulership, and it's a very, very subversive nature in the gospels. And what he's calling us to is discipleship. That if you're gonna follow me, if it requires that you take up your cross Right and follow my way, become a part of my way, be a student of mine. So, man, listen to me ladies, listen to me, audience, listen to me. I want to encourage you, right, because the conversation then goes what well? What? To what end is this important and why should I care when I have bills to pay and relationships to maintain and so forth and so on? The important takeaway from this is that your entire life, in my entire life, should be, should be and must be Determined by what God, through Christ, is calling us to do, be and represent in the world, and that's a call to discipleship. The call to discipleship is to be a student. It's not about. It's not about being Political although there are some ramifications and it's not about being part a particular political party, because that's not the point here. But the point is that God doesn't ride on the backs of elephants or donkeys, but God is trying to establish a different way. We call it the kingdom of God.

So, hey guys, I hope you enjoy this episode. Take it for what it is, learn from it, send me a note and let me know your thoughts. You can email me at Lloyd. At Lloyd talks mediacom. Again, lloyd LL O Y D. At Lloyd talks with an ass mediacom. And let me know if you enjoyed the episode. It could be one line says hey, great episode, I love it, I love you. If you want to know more about this story and how it relates and how you can read materials. I'll make suggestions, even Just send me a note saying hey, we'd love to know more about this. Thanks so much for the episode that lets me know I'm on the right track, that you my audience, listening audience appreciates this and wants to know more and we can engage in this conversation in a way that adds value. I don't want to do episodes that don't answer questions you're asking. I want to answer questions you're asking. So if there's questions about what I'm sharing with you that you want to know more, send me a note, lloyd, at LloydTalksMediacom, and I will respond to that email or I will create an episode around that question. Well, guys, thank you so much for listening and I hope you enjoy this episode.

What do you do when your decisions are not getting you the results you expected? You regret following your gutting state. True wisdom lies not in the accumulation of things or dominance, but in love and in service and in humility. It was good y'all. This is your man, lionel. Thank you once again for joining the Words for Change podcast.

I'm excited to have you here today to embark on this journey, but I have a question for you before we get started, and that question is this what do you do when your decisions are not getting you the results you expected, when you choose your way over God's way, when you choose what you deem to be most important over what the word of God says is important? And I've come to discover that people who choose their own way over what God's way end up getting circumstances and results that they regret. So perhaps you raise your kids in your own way, but it's not working. Or perhaps you've made business decisions that are not profitable and you're in over your head. Or perhaps you chose the wrong person to spend your life with, and now you're filled with regret. You regret following your gut instinct, and maybe you've learned a hard lesson that many of us learn, and that hard lesson is money cannot, will not and never promise happiness. You thought your way is the right way, but what life is teaching you is that when you choose your way instead of God's way and you don't get what you expected, you are now learning this valuable truth that there's wisdom that comes from God that you know not of, and so I want to talk to you today about that wisdom. I call it the paradox of God's wisdom, the paradox of God's wisdom, and I want to invite you to rethink success power. I want to invite you to rethink how you approach your life.

I want to share a scripture verse with you that's going to help put this in a perfect box for us. This scripture verse is coming from 1 Corinthians, chapter one, verse 18. For the word of the cross is, to those who are perishing, foolishness, but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God. Or where is the wise man? Listen to this text, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are in the process of being saved, because salvation is progressive, it's the power of God. Now, these words from 1 Corinthians 18, 1 Corinthians 118 demonstrate the heart of Christian wisdom. It is the assertion that the world will often, or what the world often, dismisses as weakness, that is, the crucifixion of Christ is, in fact, the ultimate display of God's power and God's wisdom. Think about that. It is the ultimate display of God's power and of God's wisdom. How can a crucified savior be a demonstration of God's wisdom? Let's talk about that as we look closer into the text of 1 Corinthians, so that we can understand how Paul came up with this assertion and why this text is so important. So 1 Corinthians, paul, is arguing with the common intellectual thinking of his day, and so Paul is in Corinth.

Right In Corinth is a commercial center. It is a thriving community. The city is situated between two seas, which means that imports and exports were major contributing factors to the wealth of that culture and that community. So the cities in which Paul lived in, in other words the backdrop, the cultural backdrop of Corinth, is a diverse city and within that diversity are the worship of many gods. It was a common thing for many different people from different places in the world to worship multiple gods. As a matter of fact, prostitution was actually part of the city's culture and it was supported, as well as other things like slavery. Even child sex slavery was acceptable In some of these cultures.

In this Greco-Roman society, intellect, self-determination, self-expression, the ability to debate and give great rhetorical speeches was common and well respected as a way to define wisdom, power, intellect. So in the culture of Corinth, strength is a prize, control, intellect. These were common ideas that define wisdom in that day. So to suggest that the ultimate truth and wisdom of God is by shows through a defeated revolutionary like Jesus, I like to call the Galilean farm preacher is opposite of conventional wisdom. So Paul is preaching Jesus, now crucified and gone, a crucified savior, to an intellectual and wealthy community with absolute foolishness. You hear what I'm saying? Okay? So what I'm saying is that Paul's preaching of Christ it was challenging because it seemed to be foolish to that culture, to the audience and to the community that exists during that time. Now watch this. But we're learning that God would often choose to foolish things of the world to confuse wise people. So here's what the critique of Paul's letter does.

Paul's letter presents an alternative and offers a stark critique to worldly wisdom, in other words in this Greco-Roman society. That's why the text says where is then? If God's power is shown through the crucifixion of Jesus? Where then is the wise person? Has not God chosen the foolish to confound the wise, and not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? This is what it says in chapter one, verse 20. Now think about this.

In our modern context. This can be seen as a call to question the very foundation of how we pursue our lives, what we deem as important and what matters, successes and achievements, as is defined by our society, leading toward true wisdom and fulfillment? Maybe, but Paul is saying probably not. And if you want to get true wisdom, if you want to understand the wisdom of God, you got to understand that the wisdom of God does not operate by the intellect of man. That's why the crucifixion is so crazy. So it is not to say that people who are ambitious or people who work hard are wrong, but rather it's an alter. It is an examination of the purpose of why we do what we do. Are we building towers of Babel and monuments to our own glory and intellect, or are we laboring in love, serving God, serving others, serving humanity? Which is why Jesus says in the Gospel I came to serve, not be served. So this is why Jesus says I didn't come to be a king, I came to be a servant.

How you share your support is through your subscriptions. So hit that subscribe button. It lets the algorithm know that more people are interested in this and, as a result, they will push this information. And it's important for me. And why we do what we do? Because there's so much information out there that teaches the Bible but doesn't really understand the context by which these teachings derive. So now let's look at God's wisdom, god's values, god's wisdom, god's values in this idea of humanity.

So in our main text, in first Corinthians, chapter 1, paul highlights that God chooses watch this the world. What the world considers foolish and Shame to be wise. What the world considers weak, is Actually a show of God's strength. This, this divine preference for the lowly, for the despise, serves as a critique in our own, against our own actions and our own values. It's a vivid illustration that the kingdom of God, here it is, operates on principles that are radically different from those worldly powers and structures that many of us live our lives in pursuit to accomplish, which is why you shouldn't follow celebrity preachers and teachers as much as you should follow the real truth and meet other words. So for those who are feeling marginalized, or those who are feeling undervalued by society by society's standards that is, this is a message of hope and dignity that says that God Welcomes you within God's economy. Everybody is welcome. In God's economy, there is no Big eyes and little use, but in God's economy, right, every person matters, every person has worth, every person has true greatness. Watch this. That comes not from ruling, but from serving. Think about that. Not from ruling, but from serving. So I want you to think about how your life can be made different when you see the value of serving more important than the value of ruling.

Now let's talk about success and power. As we look at this text, as we look at this teaching from Paul, we are invited to redefine what success and power truly means. That the wisdom of the cross is totally against conventional understanding of Leadership. It is. It is totally against this traditional understanding of what it means to be successful in the world is proposing that strength, instead of found instead of being found in dominating others, is found in vulnerability. Strength is found in service, strength is found in serving other people. This is a start contrast as well Against what Americans celebrate as hard work and sell for lions, right. So this narrative that is often this misses dependency or or assistance as laziness and entitlements or pork barrel spending. You ever heard that phrase before? Right, what, what, what America actually is, is Tita Tartaring against and this is important for Christians what the New Testament teaches about community service and helping others.

So the New Testament offers for you and I a different way where reliance on God and Reliance on the community is Isn't weakness, it's a source of strength and it's a source of wisdom. So what am I saying wisdom and success and the pursuit of the things that are good, that welcome other people, are what we should. Spend our lives to war, Not pursuing money, not pursuing career, not pursuing power. So what does this mean for us? Well, especially in a culture that equates success and control with achievements and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, this kind of teaching, this kind of ethical Suffer lions, is totally against New Testament teaching when it comes to community formation, when it comes to building Communities where truth resides.

So the New Testament then challenges us to consider that true wisdom lies not in the accumulation of things or dominant, but in love and in service and in humility. That's why the scripture says the meek shall inherit the earth. It urges you and I to find success in relationships, spend time with your family, contributing to a just, inclusive society, be concerned about what happens in your community, and it reflects the love of Christ Right. How should the world know that we are Christ disciples? By our love, not our judgment, not our YouTube critiques, but our love for one another. So, as we reflect on this difference between divine and worldly perspective, divine and worldly wisdom, we'll call to not just believe differently but to live differently. We'll call not to just believe differently. It's one thing to read the text, it's one thing to know the text. It's another thing to live the text All right.

So this isn't a pass of faith, but it's a radical, active pursuit of a world where justice and inclusivity reign supreme, in a world where Jesus' words and life can be emulated and, by the way, political parties don't own justice and righteousness. God does, christ does, and this is what Jesus talked about in what he preached. So, in conclusion, y'all, let's consider how we live our lives and consider how we can make change in the world and we can embrace the wisdom that comes from God rather than the wisdom that comes from the world. We can begin to transform communities and pursue success and not power. Pursue success and not power, and that success comes through service, through uplifting, through love and through care of others. That's what the gospel teaches, that's what Jesus promoted and that's what the church is to be all about.

So think about how your relationships can be better when you learn how to serve your partner. Think about how you financial situation can be better when you learn how to be a giver, not just a receiver. Think about how your life and how when you seek service rather than dominance and control of other people, how greatness, then, can be defined in your life? Through the experience of helping others succeed rather than just seeing and helping yourself succeed. Because, remember, god's way is not the world's way. God's wisdom is not your wisdom. God's way is not your way. The scripture says my thoughts are high above your thoughts, my ways, god's ways, are high above your ways.

I want to thank you for joining the Word First Change Podcast. Let's carry this conversation forward, because if there's one thing that I've come to learn and there's one thing that I believe to be true, is that, amidst all the barrage and the haystack of teaching on YouTube, what people need is to meet other words. So let's carry this conversation forward. Let's challenge each other and challenge ourselves and challenge our world to reflect more deeply on the wisdom of God, particularly the wisdom of the cross, as Jesus showed us that the way the world changes is through sacrifice, not through power.

But Jesus told Peter put away your sword. Well, I could ask my father to send a legion of angels, but the kingdom of God, that just doesn't come that way. So, listen, don't forget to subscribe to the channel. That's how you let YouTube know that this information is valuable and they'll push it so that other people can hear it. Right, if you have any questions, don't forget to send me a note. I'm more than willing and able to answer any questions you may have, and even if you think there's an episode that you would like to see me discuss, share information. We can create an episode and give you credit for that episode. Thank you so much for joining the Word First Change Podcast and I looked forward to sharing more insight with you. Now continue your journey to make the world a better place Peace.