Instruction by embarrassment
When I was in my early 20s, I was part of a men’s group that met weekly and was led by one of our church’s staff pastors. I was, by far, the youngest man in the group…but they never treated me as less than because of my age. We would hang out before starting the study discussion, and this particular time I was talking with a guy named Mike. When he asked me how my week had gone, I answered, “Well the damnedest thing happened to me today…”. That wasn’t a slip of the tongue, either. At that time, I was very loose with how I phrased things. I believed that I was old enough to talk however I wanted. And when you’re among other Christian brothers, who “understand”, it’s ok to speak a little rougher than you would in public, right? Perhaps I also wanted to impress him a little, thinking that I should add some joking emphasis to what I was about to say.
Before I could finish my sentence with what actually happened to me, Mike put his hands up and quickly said “Hold on, hold on, hold on.” And then, to my shock, he raised his voice so the entire group could hear and said, “EVERYONE, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE: ‘the damnedest thing’ happened to Ken today. I suggest we all listen to what he’s about to say.”
All the eyes in the room were suddenly staring at me. Everyone was silent and waiting for me to speak. I felt the red quickly climb up my neck and onto my face. I wasn’t mad…I was embarrassed, because I knew that what I had planned to say wasn’t ANNOUNCEMENT-worthy. It was, in the grand scheme of things, a small thing that didn’t qualify for the title of “the damnedest thing”. I quickly mumbled to the group that it wasn’t a big deal and I had nothing to say. Everyone shrugged and went back to their conversations. I don’t think Mike said anything else about it. Honestly, he didn’t have to. I learned my lesson.
Did you know that Jesus once used this same technique to teach an important lesson to His disciples?
Mark 8:27-30
Jesus went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
They answered Him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”
“But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah.” And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.
Don’t miss this…By not correcting Peter’s statement, Jesus confirmed to the disciples that He was the Messiah. That was earth-shattering, front-page headline news. While Jesus’ warning for them to tell no one that He was the Messiah may have frustrated the disciples, they could certainly understand it. After all, Jesus wanted people to come to that conclusion on their own. Also, Jesus had not given a specific timeline as to when The Kingdom that He had taught about was going to start; so the disciples could rationalize that it just wasn’t time yet for the big “Messiah announcement”. However, it’s what happened in the very next verse that began to trouble the disciples:
Mark 8:31-32
Then He began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke openly about this.
Wait…what? Imagine what the disciples were thinking…
You said we couldn’t tell anyone who you really are, but you’re PUBLICLY talking about being rejected by all of our country’s leaders, being murdered, and then coming back from the dead? Are you serious? Aren’t you the Messiah, the King? Who would be blind enough to reject you? How can you die? What purpose would that serve? And nobody comes back from the dead.
They murmured amongst themselves, trying to figure out what to do. How do you correct a teacher, let alone the Messiah? Somehow or another, either at the group’s urging or perhaps acting alone, Peter drummed up enough courage to approach Jesus. Challenging a rabbi was risky business, a definite societal taboo. Correcting a rabbi in public would result either in a pupil’s disgrace or embarrassment for the teacher. They loved Jesus and didn’t want to embarrass Him, but, they thought, something needed to be said. So Peter opted for the quieter approach:
Mark 8:32-33
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
I can imagine Peter slinking back to his seat and slumping down into a heap. Lesson learned. Peter was the one out-of-line, not Jesus. In that moment of attempted rebuke, Peter acted like an adversary…like a satan. When Jesus looked at His disciples to correct Peter, His purpose was two-fold:
1. to call Peter out for his improper motivation, short-sightedness, and ignorance of God’s plan
and
2. to use Peter as an example to the rest of the group
Ouch.
Reading the rest of the gospels, it’s clear that Jesus loved Peter. However, in this moment, a biting rebuke and public embarrassment were necessary for Peter to learn to trust God’s plan…even if the plan made absolutely no sense to him.
By all indications in the text, Peter humbly accepted his lesson learned. He didn’t lash out. He didn’t quit following Jesus. Peter didn’t stop hanging out with the other disciples or find another group of Jesus-followers to be a part of.
When we are faced with our own embarrassment for our improper motivation, short-sightedness, or ignorance of God’s plan…I pray that we will humbly accept the lesson that God is teaching us.
Keep Pressing,
Ken