Part of coming out of the conforming pressure of culture and crowd is to discover and grow the particular personality God created you to be and is calling you to become. Here is a section from Out of The Crowd.
When asked about my role models for preaching are, I don’t mention Billy Graham or Karl Barth. I speak of the story tellers, because to me, they are the most memorable. One of my favorite routines by Bill Cosby was on The Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson hosted. It went something like this…
When George Washington was a little boy, his father gave him a new hatchet. When playing by himself, he took his little hatchet and chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree. Upon finding the tree, George’s father came and asked him, “George, did you cut down my cherry tree?”
George replied, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it down with me little hatchet.”
Do you think George’s father punished him? Of course he did. He didn’t know that he was THE George Washington.
Thomas Alva Edison growing up was a curious boy. He once burned down the family barn because he wanted to see what would happen in a fire that large. Do you think his father punished him? Of course he did. He didn’t know that he was THE Thomas Alva Edison.
Mark Twain pushed over an outhouse that fell down a hill and into the Mississippi River. Do you think his mother punished him? Of course she did. She was in the outhouse when he pushed it over. And she didn’t know he was THE Mark Twain.
So, when Jesus’ family came to restrain him because he was making a stir around town and people were saying that he had lost his mind, they didn’t know he was THE Jesus. So, too, with all families in crowd mode, they see the family member and not the particular individual. Likely, your family will try and restrain you because they don’t know you are THE you.
Jesus was just aware of what most of us seem to miss, besides being loving and nurturing, families can be quite dangerous to our health and growth.As Barbara Sher noted,
How can families harm us when they love us? Very easily, unfortunately. Most of us overlook one important fact when we think love is enough: Love and respect aren’t the same thing. Love is fusion. As a baby, you belong to your parents, you’re extension of them.
Respect is differentiation: you belong to yourself, and you’re an extension of no one. Differentiation is essential for happiness of adults.
Jesus’ call of the first disciples from Mark 1 is a summons to differentiate from their families.
Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, where he saw Simon and his brother Andrew, who were fishermen, casting nets into the water. Jesus speaks to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” And immediately, they left their nets and followed him.
In a similar matter, after walking on a little farther, Jesus, now with Simon and Andrew tagging along calls out to James and John who were in their family boat, the one of Zebedee, and Jesus called them. Like the two before, the immediately left their nets, their boat, and their father, and followed Jesus.
Notice what Jesus promised to make them into – fishers of people. As a fisher of fish, all fish are easily grouped; you catch them and box them. Simple. But to fish for people, each catch is particular, different, needing a certain amount of space to think, to feel, to choose, to grow. When Peter encountered Jesus, not only was it life changing, it was name changing. John 1 has Jesus saying to him, “You’ve been called Simon (which means ‘sand’), but from now on you’ll be known as Peter (which means ‘rock’.)” Peter’s family thought enough of him to name him, “Sand,” but Jesus had a bigger vision for him than his family, and to show it, he called him, “Rock.” Apparently, they didn’t know he was THE Peter.
The job of each individual who can live outside the conformity of the crowd is to see the beauty in ourselves and in others. Ken Robinson tells about an interview he conducted with Gillian Lynne, choreographer for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and other famous musicals. Robinson asked her how she got to be a dancer. She said that when she was in school, in the 1930’s, the school wrote to her parents and said, “We think Gillian has a learning disorder.” Her mother took her to see a specialist. Gillian sat on her hands and tried to hold still while her mother talked to a doctor about all the problems Gillian was having at school, how she was disturbing other students, how her homework was always late, on and on her mother chattered. When her mother finished talking, the doctor went over, sat next to Gillian, and spoke to her. He said, “Gillian, I’ve listened to all these things your mother told me, and I need to talk to her in private. Wait here. We’ll be back soon. It won’t take long.”
The doctor escorted her mother out of the room, but before he left, he turned on the radio. As soon as they were out of the office, Gillian was up and moving to the music. The doctor and her mother watched from the hallway. After a few minutes the doctor said, “Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick. She’s a dancer. Take her to dance school.”
She did, and Gillian described going to dance school like this, “We walked in this room and it was full of people like me – people who couldn’t sit still; people who had to move to think.” She grew to become part of the Royal Ballet, work with Andrew Lloyd Weber, and give delight to the imaginations of millions. Fortunately, the doctor, when she was eight didn’t put her on medication and tell her to sit still. Apparently, that doctor knew that she was THE Gillian Lynne long before she, or her mother, or anyone else did.
Likely, even if your family or your groups know you’re THE you, they may forget. Patiently remind them, but don’t require them to see it before you claim it for yourself and help others do the same.
Be Beloved. Be beautiful. Be THE you God created you to be. And then, like the doctor did for Gillian Lynne, go around helping others discover just how beautiful each is and how much are and life they have in them.
(See Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk by clicking on his picture…)
