Day 035: Tests

So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Matthew 21:27

This is one of those passages where I say to myself, Jesus was pretty sassy.  The neat thing, though, is that there is no malice behind what Jesus says or does here.  The leaders are trying to test him, and Jesus makes them think anew.

Today, we have an issue with our pride.  With the availability of so many resources, we start to appoint ourselves as great leaders.  Some of us will just go far enough to answer questions during lunch or during down time at work or even before or after the youth group meeting.  However, some will go as far as becoming self appointed/ordained ministers.  We will take all of the matters into our own hands.

Yet, things start to fall apart when times get tough.  Jesus is there to keep us in check when we are going crazy.  Jesus, the man with all the wisdom and the most impeccable timing as an orator, is speaking to us constantly, always to encourage us.  However, Jesus encourages us to go in his direction.  He has a ministry that he has established a long time ago, and he is calling all of us to join him.  Through his earthly ministry, he taught us all that we need to know in order to be initiated in this journey.  However, just as he described in the Gospels, sometimes the journey isn't exactly what we want it to be.

We want for things to go just our way.  We want to have our names in big letters, removing the cross or Christ from our storefronts or billboards.  We want all the credit to go to us.  But, then Jesus will ask us, "Is this your goal, or ours?"  Indeed, we can pursue whatever we want to, but if we are not doing what Jesus is calling us to do, we will end up destroying ourselves.

So, what's the best way to ensure that we know what we are doing during the test?  Study!  The issue with the leaders in the above passage is that they were asked a question where they could only answer "we don't know" so they could keep up with their own beliefs.  We have the textbook, we have the methods, and we definitely have the means to pass our spiritual tests.  We just need to keep in constant conversation with our instructor, Jesus Christ.