Looming Large
Does Jesus “loom large” in your daily life? The words “loom large” came to me this morning, seemingly out of nowhere. According to Webster’s, the word “loom” means “to appear in an impressively great or exaggerated form.” Is it possible to ‘exaggerate’ the importance of Jesus? I don’t think so. Certainly, we can emphasize the Son to the neglect of the Father and the Spirit. But the solution isn’t to emphasize Jesus less; it’s to emphasize the Father and Spirit more. In other words, the more we emphasize the whole Trinity in our lives, the more likely it is that we’ll give each Person their due.
But back to my original question: Does Jesus loom large in your daily life? A good comeback might be: ‘How large are we talking about?’ Well, let’s hear from the Master himself: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Sounds “impressively great” to me, especially when you include what he says next: “No one comes to the Father except by me.” This particular verse is often quoted to affirm Jesus’ theological importance. Sometimes it’s used to affirm Jesus’ practical importance for getting into heaven. But what about our everyday lives? (I’m assuming that when Jesus talks about being the “life,” he’s including daily life.)
One way to reflect on this question is to ask ourselves how large other things loom for us — things like finances, projects, health, hobbies, spouses, children, vacations, work, the L.A. Lakers (undefeated in the playoffs so far, but you probably already knew that). Let’s shrink the question down to this particular day: How large has Jesus loomed for you so far today ? No guilt trip intended. I don’t get any sense from the gospel accounts that the disciples left everything to follow Jesus because they felt guilty. Rather, they felt in their heart of hearts that Jesus loomed so large that they had to follow him, even if it meant risking and sacrificing everything. Even then, they realized at many points in their discipleship that they had underestimated him, like the time he calmed the wind and the waves and “they were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’”
Tim Keller says that “sin is not simply doing bad things, it is putting good things in the place of God.” According to Keller, this human habit not only affects our relationship with God but other relationships as well. He points to the writings of Jonathan Edwards, who “lays out how sin destroys the social fabric.”
He [Edwards] argues that human society is deeply fragmented when anything but God is our highest love. If our highest goal in life is the good of our family, then, says Edwards, we will tend to care less for other families. If our highest goal is the good of our nation, tribe, or race, then we will tend to be racist or nationalistic. If our ultimate goal in life is our own individual happiness, then we will put our own economic and power interests ahead of others. Edwards concludes that only if God is our summum bonum, our ultimate good and life center, will we find our heart drawn out not only to people of all families, races, and classes, but to the whole world in general.
So what happens if Jesus looms larger than all of these? Paradoxically, we have more love for others, not less. Whenever we narrow our love to our own family, race, class or nation, our love remains primarily self-interested. Our love for others is still rooted in self-love. The way of Jesus, the way that is Jesus, is love of a different order. The Bibles gives a picture instead of a definition: the cross.
John the Baptist understood what it was going to take for Jesus to loom large. When people brought to his attention the fact that Jesus (actually, his disciples) was baptizing and ’everyone was going to him,’ John responded, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Ah, there’s the rub.
What are practical ways Jesus can “loom large” for us today?
- Whatever you’re doing, do it in a way that would please and glorify your King: “Whatever your task, work at it with all your heart, as done for the Lord and not for your masters” (Colossians 3:23).
- Look at others through Jesus’ eyes, not through the lens of how their actions are affecting you.
- Have selfless love be your ‘dominant value.’
- Consult him — often.
- Leave it all out on the field.
“For me to live is Christ.” (St. Paul)
