Turning Thirty
Three more days to go, and I will hop into a totally new decade. For starters, the first digit on my age will turn three while the second digit in my age will reveal my achievements in life.
I'm turning 30.
For the last five years, I've been psyching myself to meet the reality of turning thirty. In a study/accountability group I was in in 2004/5, I became convicted that the 30 would be a defining age for me. It is at this age (and age bracket) that my idiosyncrasies and identity will be locked in for the rest of my adulthood. How I think, my habits and how I would respond to situations at this phase will be a template to how I would do things in the years to come. Of course, I'm being utterly simplistic here. I will undoubtedly be shaped by the circumstances that will come my way. For now, I am like an approved design mock-up of the final book project. Yeah, that's what this age is all about. An approved mock-up for the final project.
There is a spiritual twist to turning thirty. It is at this age, the bible records, that Jesus launched into his public ministry. The bible is mum about his early youth days (besides the one episode where he went missing and was found teaching in the temple in Jerusalem at age 12). His preteen years, adolescence and early twenties were hardly mentioned at all. As a youth worker, I would've appreciated some youthful insights from Jesus' early life.
If he had understood all our temptations, did he encounter each of them? Was Jesus tempted to lie? Did he have a crush on anyone? Did he masturbate? Did his mom and dad nag him to death? What was sibling rivalry like for Jesus? Has he ever had a bad carpentering job done? How about telling off a client (for being a demanding idiot)?
While I do not know how things were for the young man Jesus, I know that 30-year-old Jesus is someone I want to identify with. His thoughts and wisdom gives me a sense of meaning and comfort. There is a difference in putting your hope in someone who does right, and someone who knows what he is doing. I've encountered many good Christian people who just don't know what they are doing. Jesus does both.
The questions he asked revealed the depths of his thinking. He invented thinking out of the box. When the pharisees pronounced judgement (stoning to death) after producing evidence for an adultery case (a scantily clad woman, caught in the act), Jesus turned the tables around by making them realise that they are no different and equally condemned. He did it by simply saying, "He who has no sin cast the first stone". The pharisees left. Sin permeates every human. We're all equally guilty.
While adultery was believed to be a tangible thing (with physical evidence), Jesus dropped the bar a little lower and said that whoever lusts after a woman in his heart commits adultery. Jesus saw beyond the tangible.
A question was asked to my youth a couple of weeks ago, "Where do you think Jesus would spend most of his time if he was here today?". As predicted, he answered "church". I on the other hand, believe that Jesus would hardly be at church. It's just too holy, man. Everyone smiles at each other, the air is polite, men you hardly know are now called 'brothers'. Ladies who are old enough to be your grandmother, are uncomfortably termed "sister". It's weird. Perhaps, unreal.
If Jesus was around today, he'd be in IKEA.
He'd probably be a really good furniture designer, coming up with really really fantastic looking futons and practical office tables. He'd probably arrive at work on time. Time-wasters like writing blogposts and gmail chats during office hours would only be done during the lunch break (maybe hardly, because everyone would want to have lunch with him). And when work is finished, he would probably stick around a little longer, to chill out with some of his work mates.
Ok fine, this is Jesus the bachelor who probably is living alone. If he had a mom like me, Jesus would probably get home to take her out to the pasar malam (ok, great, I think I'm projecting me onto Jesus here, Sorry Lord).
Basically, Jesus would be a real person, who desires to intersect with other people's lives so that they can experience the joy and meaning of being one with God. "No one comes to the Father, except through me".
There's no way that anyone will know about God, unless he goes to them. There's now way anyone will know about Jesus, unless I go to them.
That I believe is my task. Now that I'm like Jesus, in a very realistic way, how would my life in Malaysia today reflect his? Will I be accurately aligned to him or will my spiritual live be defined by other things like church attendance and how much I smile.
At thirty, the one thing I want to pursue is a life close to him.
I'm turning 30.
For the last five years, I've been psyching myself to meet the reality of turning thirty. In a study/accountability group I was in in 2004/5, I became convicted that the 30 would be a defining age for me. It is at this age (and age bracket) that my idiosyncrasies and identity will be locked in for the rest of my adulthood. How I think, my habits and how I would respond to situations at this phase will be a template to how I would do things in the years to come. Of course, I'm being utterly simplistic here. I will undoubtedly be shaped by the circumstances that will come my way. For now, I am like an approved design mock-up of the final book project. Yeah, that's what this age is all about. An approved mock-up for the final project.
There is a spiritual twist to turning thirty. It is at this age, the bible records, that Jesus launched into his public ministry. The bible is mum about his early youth days (besides the one episode where he went missing and was found teaching in the temple in Jerusalem at age 12). His preteen years, adolescence and early twenties were hardly mentioned at all. As a youth worker, I would've appreciated some youthful insights from Jesus' early life.
If he had understood all our temptations, did he encounter each of them? Was Jesus tempted to lie? Did he have a crush on anyone? Did he masturbate? Did his mom and dad nag him to death? What was sibling rivalry like for Jesus? Has he ever had a bad carpentering job done? How about telling off a client (for being a demanding idiot)?
While I do not know how things were for the young man Jesus, I know that 30-year-old Jesus is someone I want to identify with. His thoughts and wisdom gives me a sense of meaning and comfort. There is a difference in putting your hope in someone who does right, and someone who knows what he is doing. I've encountered many good Christian people who just don't know what they are doing. Jesus does both.
The questions he asked revealed the depths of his thinking. He invented thinking out of the box. When the pharisees pronounced judgement (stoning to death) after producing evidence for an adultery case (a scantily clad woman, caught in the act), Jesus turned the tables around by making them realise that they are no different and equally condemned. He did it by simply saying, "He who has no sin cast the first stone". The pharisees left. Sin permeates every human. We're all equally guilty.
While adultery was believed to be a tangible thing (with physical evidence), Jesus dropped the bar a little lower and said that whoever lusts after a woman in his heart commits adultery. Jesus saw beyond the tangible.
A question was asked to my youth a couple of weeks ago, "Where do you think Jesus would spend most of his time if he was here today?". As predicted, he answered "church". I on the other hand, believe that Jesus would hardly be at church. It's just too holy, man. Everyone smiles at each other, the air is polite, men you hardly know are now called 'brothers'. Ladies who are old enough to be your grandmother, are uncomfortably termed "sister". It's weird. Perhaps, unreal.
If Jesus was around today, he'd be in IKEA.
He'd probably be a really good furniture designer, coming up with really really fantastic looking futons and practical office tables. He'd probably arrive at work on time. Time-wasters like writing blogposts and gmail chats during office hours would only be done during the lunch break (maybe hardly, because everyone would want to have lunch with him). And when work is finished, he would probably stick around a little longer, to chill out with some of his work mates.
Ok fine, this is Jesus the bachelor who probably is living alone. If he had a mom like me, Jesus would probably get home to take her out to the pasar malam (ok, great, I think I'm projecting me onto Jesus here, Sorry Lord).
Basically, Jesus would be a real person, who desires to intersect with other people's lives so that they can experience the joy and meaning of being one with God. "No one comes to the Father, except through me".
There's no way that anyone will know about God, unless he goes to them. There's now way anyone will know about Jesus, unless I go to them.
That I believe is my task. Now that I'm like Jesus, in a very realistic way, how would my life in Malaysia today reflect his? Will I be accurately aligned to him or will my spiritual live be defined by other things like church attendance and how much I smile.
At thirty, the one thing I want to pursue is a life close to him.
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