outWORD by Matte Downey

In the evangelical circles in which I was formed, we were taught that, for the most part, we couldn't trust our desires. Desire was largely equated with lust or greed. What we wanted was deemed mostly irrelevant or even assumed to be detrimental. Unless, of course, it was linked directly to the service of God as defined by the church leaders. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many of us who were raised in the church being ill-equipped to identify our desires and honestly reflect on them.  Jesus had no such hangups about desire. In fact, Jesus made a point of asking people about their desires and engaging with people's responses. Jesus believed people's desires were worth expressing and exploring.  In Mark 10 we find two stories, one right after the other, in which Jesus asks: "What do you want me to do for you?" The first story takes place as Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus has mentioned to his close followers what troubles await him...

What is your favourite parable told by Jesus? When I asked a group of people this question, I was not surprised that the prodigal son, the sower and the seed, and the good Samaritan ranked high. Eugene Peterson writes that his favourite parable is what he calls the manure story. We find it in Luke 13. Then [Jesus] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 'Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (NIV) I have read this parable many times, but it never really stuck with me until I read Peterson's sermon on it in  As Kingfishers Catch Fire . We tend to hear more ponderings a...

Image from ec.europa.eu There seems to be an increasing emphasis on addressing injustice, at least in the circles I move in. Everywhere I turn, it seems that someone is talking about how we can become more just people. On a recent trip to Toronto for a conference, I was reading Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy which tells about his work as a lawyer in Alabama, addressing systemic injustices in the legal system. When I arrived in the city, I visited a downtown church which had posters and banners addressing issues of social justice all around their sanctuary. At the conference, some of the presentations identified specific people groups who have been victims of injustice and suggested ways we can move forward to more equitable interactions. What is justice? The symbol for justice in the legal system is a blindfolded woman (known as Lady Justice) holding a set of scales. The symbolism suggests an impartial, careful, and accurate weighing of matters. The dictionary tells us that ju...

Image from crooksandliars.com Judgment. The word sends a shiver through most people's souls, even those who proclaim to have salvation through Jesus Christ. I suppose this is because most of us immediately place ourselves in the position of the accused. To many of us, God as a Judge is not a reassuring thought. And that is strange, if you stop to think about it, because in the scriptures, the Righteous Judge is often portrayed as a very comforting figure. C.S. Lewis suggests that in the Bible we find basically two views of judgment: what he calls the Jewish view and the Christian view.[1] The Jewish view is that of a civil case where I see myself in the position of plaintiff, a person unjustly wronged (stolen from, taken advantage of, etc.). The cry is for justice. In contrast, the Christian view of judgment is that of a criminal case in which I am the accused, on trial for the wrongs I have done against God. In this case, the plea is for mercy. When we are the plaintiff, we ...

I try to pay attention to patterns that happen in life. I think there is something to learn from them. There are positive patterns. When I consistently do well in my courses and hear good comments from professors, I think that perhaps I am not only a good learner, but have the potential to be a good teacher. When I get a spurt of energy and a sense of strength after a workout, I know that this is doing my body good. There are also negative patterns. When I eat a huge bowl of cherries and my stomach starts to rumble in complaint, I remember that this happens anytime I eat large quantities of fruit and maybe I should learn to pace myself. When I speak bluntly to someone about what they have done wrong and their face falls with dejection, I realize that this is probably not the best way to help someone improve. And then there are patterns that make me feel like the world is out to get me. Perhaps these are the hardest patterns to deal with because there seems to be no rhyme or rea...

Strong reactions. People have them. I have them, too. This week I came across some strong reactions that were puzzling to me because they seemed out of proportion to what was going on. Then I realized that sometimes when people get offended, it has very little to do with the actions of others (though I have been known to be quite offensive at times, so that's always a possibility). Many times when I get offended or react strongly to something, it has everything to do with me and my insecurities instead of something going wrong. The supposedly really horrible thing that someone has done or said was just the trigger. At times like this, I remind myself of a few things: 1. I have no interest in undermining any one's authority or making anyone look bad. It is never helpful in any way. Neither am I willing to spend a lot of time and effort protecting or defending my own authority, position, or reputation. I will protect vulnerable people, yes, and I will not needlessly give away are...