I saw a license plate that read, “Jesus The Ultimate Volunteer.” It was orange lettered. Where I live, the word volunteer and the color orange are as common together as peanut butter and jelly. Someone thought this was a good evangelistic tool to link Jesus to University of Tennessee sports. Jesus is one of our team, so to speak. Does Jesus exhibit the volunteer spirit?
Volunteer History
The Tennessee Volunteers is a militaristic name. It began with Andrew Jackson leading his Tennessee volunteer defenders of New Orleans in 1815. The University of Tennessee athletic programs use the name now. Graduates from the University are dubbed Vols for Life (VFL).
We are heroes. Our people are heroic by nature. We stand up while others sit back and watch. Our people defend and rescue. We set free the oppressed. More importantly, it is our identity.
Theological Assumptions
Jesus the ultimate volunteer is our hero. There are two theological assumptions involved with the slogan. The one that readily comes to mind for evangelicals is Jesus volunteers to die to atone for our sins. I heard this in Sunday school as a kid. When the Father decides to destroy Adam and Eve, Jesus intervenes volunteering to take the punishment for them and all their children. Substitutionary atonement – the mystery of salvation – begins. Recently, I read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It is very nice writing about a very troubling situation. A man voluntarily goes to the guillotine to save the hero. (Sorry, if I just spoiled the story for you.)
The innocent dies for the condemned. Does that sound familiar? “It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I ever have known.” Wait what? Does not every suicide hope for relief of some kind? It is troubling. Dickens is pointing out how unjust mob justice is. The second theological assumption is Christus Victor. Jesus volunteers to sacrifice himself to rescue condemned people. For most of us, this is more palatable. Jesus subverts injustice and frees those who are oppressed by it.
The Outcome
Does Jesus fulfill the volunteer spirit? Good question. Jesus, in both these, cases does so. And at the same time, he overthrows what makes that spirit what it is. Jesus the ultimate volunteer destroys the heroic identity implied in it. Jesus as substitute proves there is no need for a substitution. As victor, Jesus proves conquest was not necessary. He reconciles everything. Our attempts to explain the death of Jesus are turned upside down by their own logic. Attempting to identify Jesus with our own versions of ourselves turns our desire for identity inside out.
The Volunteer
Acts of the will – as in voluntary motion – requires letting go of all other options. If I choose to spend my time doing good for someone, I spend less time being idle, eating, exercising, or working on something else. Volunteering is the ultimate act of freedom. It is saying, “I give.” Nothing is forced or taken. Volunteering is the true act of being.
In a way, the license plate is correct. I hope the driver understands how.
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