{"id":4369,"date":"2012-08-26T10:40:02","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T14:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=4369"},"modified":"2012-08-30T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2012-08-30T18:11:07","slug":"weakness-as-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html","title":{"rendered":"Weakness as Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0received\u00a0a free copy of inSignificant: Why You Matter in the Surprising Way God Is Changing the World<\/a> to review as part of the Patheos Book Club<\/a>, but was not subject to any limitations on my post.<\/em><\/p>\n

I tend to read and review apologetic works (or totally off-topic ones) that may be of interest to anyone in my weird audience. \u00a0So, fair warning,\u00a0inSignificant<\/em> is written for Christians, and is probably not of interest to the non-Christian readers of the blog. \u00a0It\u2019s also much cheerier<\/em> than I\u2019m used to. (But this is why you wouldn\u2019t have me speak at a wedding; most people would rather have the \u201cthis is a joyous occasion\u201d kind of thing I\u2019d imagine Travis would say than my \u201cMarriage is like Odysseus binding himself to the mast<\/a> \u2014 a deliberate constraint on your life.\u201d). \u00a0That means the book was a little hard for me to engage with, but may be better suited to people who are nicer than me. \u00a0But to get down to brass tacks\u2026<\/p>\n

Travis\u2019s book is intended to show his readers the unexpected ways their lives and their struggles can be in accord with God\u2019s plan. \u00a0Travis was a public school math teacher in New York City, and I thought the best parts of the book were about learning to manage his classroom. \u00a0I think he\u2019s best when he\u2019s coming at the question of how to serve God a little obliquely. \u00a0But there was one part where he\u2019s discussing the character of God\u2019s love more directly that I thought could make for interesting discussion. \u00a0Travis writes:<\/p>\n

What if God visited to you today and said, \u201cHere. \u00a0It\u2019s all yours. \u00a0Everything. \u00a0I put it all under your feet. \u00a0Anything you want done. \u00a0The universe will be your servant. \u00a0Just speak and it will respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026I bet you wouldn\u2019t do what Jesus did\u2026\u00a0\u201cJesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power.\u201d \u00a0So he cured all disease, ended all suffering, erased all evil, wiped away every tear. \u00a0He answered all our prayers. \u00a0He stopped the nonsense and rebellion and asserted his lordship.<\/p>\n

No. \u00a0Not this God.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power\u2026 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. \u00a0After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples\u2019 feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love is what God is after and power has no power to prompt love. \u00a0So behold the Master of the Universe, the Ancient of Days, the Lord of Heaven\u2019s Armies: Jesus Christ the Foot Washer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Instead of giving worldly gifts, Travis wants to draw our attention to Christ giving the gift of himself and his service. \u00a0This gift has to happen at a human scale for humans to be able to respond with love. \u00a0You might feel very lucky when the tree knocked over in the storm\u00a0just<\/em> misses your house, but it\u2019s as hard to be grateful to a\u00a0person<\/em>. \u00a0But when you\u2019re in close contact, it\u2019s impossible to ignore the relationship that service imposes. \u00a0(This is why I find Maundy Thursday so discomfiting<\/a>).<\/p>\n

And the use of the word \u2018discomfiting\u2019 should be a clue that I\u2019m about to bring this back to the discussion of Sondheim\u2019s\u00a0Company<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0For Bobby to progress, he needs to make himself vulnerable and unsafe. \u00a0We think of him transitioning into the role of servant, as Christ does. \u00a0A future Bobby, we hope, won\u2019t still be able to be described as \u201cExclusive you! Elusive you! \u00a0Will any person ever get the juice of you?\u201d as he is in \u201cYou Could Drive a Person Crazy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, on Monday, I want to take this further, since I\u2019m planning to discuss\u00a0Passion<\/a><\/em>, the other show included in my Sondheim double-header. \u00a0If\u00a0Company<\/em> ends with a choice to give\u00a0oneself<\/em> (albeit it to an as of yet unspecified beloved),\u00a0Passion\u2019s<\/em> plot is driven by the difficulty of knowing of what to do when someone offers themself as a gift to\u00a0you<\/em>, unsolicited and possibly unwanted.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll expand on this theme over the course of the week, but I wanted to preview it today, since I think it gets at the experience of the other side of the life of humble service that Travis is calling us to. \u00a0In the Gospel story Travis references, Peter bucks at the idea of accepting service from the Messiah, even though it\u2019s just a more tangible sign of the great, undeserved gift that Christ is offering him. \u00a0Peter chafes under the weight of that gift.<\/p>\n

So, hopefully, discussing Sondheim\u2019s grotesque musical about love offered unsought can be an interesting lens through which to view any call to service and humility. \u00a0See you tomorrow!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u00a0received\u00a0a free copy of inSignificant: Why You Matter in the Surprising Way God Is Changing the World to review as part of the Patheos Book Club, but was not subject to any limitations on my post. I tend to read and review apologetic works (or totally off-topic ones) that may be of interest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[201,189,202],"class_list":["post-4369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviewsrecommendations","tag-offering-weakness","tag-sondheim-symposium","tag-suffering-christ"],"yoast_head":"\nWeakness as Strength<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0   I\u00a0received\u00a0a free copy of inSignificant: Why You Matter in the Surprising Way God Is Changing the World to review as part of the Patheos Book\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weakness as Strength\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0   I\u00a0received\u00a0a free copy of inSignificant: Why You Matter in the Surprising Way God Is Changing the World to review as part of the Patheos Book\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-26T14:40:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-30T18:11:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/everydaycc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/inSignificant-cover-255x350.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html\",\"name\":\"Weakness as Strength\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-26T14:40:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-08-30T18:11:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"\u00a0   I\u00a0received\u00a0a free copy of inSignificant: Why You Matter in the Surprising Way God Is Changing the World to review as part of the Patheos Book\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/08\/weakness-as-strength.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Weakness as Strength\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. 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