Iconoclast

i·con·o·clast (īˈkänəˌklast/) noun

a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions.

synonyms: critic, skeptic; heretic, unbeliever, dissident, dissenter, infidel; rebel, renegade, mutineer

All of us initially came to faith as a child.  I happened to be a 19 year old child, but there was a childlike wonder, a sense of new discovery, and specter of endless possibilities… like a child.  For most of us, something happened along the way to “mature” faith.

I watched an interview between Eugene Peterson (writer of the Message version of the Bible) and Bono (ironically, Eugene had never heard of him or U2).  Despite their intellect, experience, and passion about how they feel called to live out their faith… 

Eugene interpreting the gospel for better understanding 

Bono interpreting the gospel for better lives of other humans 

…there was a common childlike innocence about them.  One believing that the scriptures should be interpreted in a way that all could easily receive and understand, the other believing that the life of Jesus is the foundational cornerstone for offering love and mercy to even the most disregarded of our fellow human beings.  They both carried a preciousness, a hope, and as a result, an uncommon joy.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” ”

— Jesus

Jesus was constantly thumbing his nose at the religious elite.  The ones who had intellectualized their faith and interpreted it for power and personal gain.  He didn’t come to create classes of people, but put all of us in the right.  In this respect, Eugene and Bono are very much like Jesus.  They both desire to level the playing field… put everyone on similar footing.

““If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?””

— Paul to the church in Rome

I can’t say that I agree with everything that Eugene and Bono stand for, but I pray that I can live more of my life as an iconoclast.  I pray that I will base my life more on the plumb line of Jesus life.  I pray that I will walk in even greater understanding of the particular and powerful role that Jesus intends for me to play in the larger story of the gospel.

I’ve used this wildly extravagant life-gift as personal gain to me… to separate, find advantage over, and intend an un-level playing field.  I’ve been the kind of person that I believe an iconoclast like Jesus would have brought to his knees.  I don’t want to be that kind of man, husband, father, leader, or citizen of the Kingdom, anymore.

I hope you will join me in that desire.  Everything we do is about that:

• Team Leadership - Leading of several verses the leading of one.
• Vision - A newly imagined future that is better than the one we know.
• Purpose - Our particular way to change the world.
• Values - Anchor us and keep us on the path to our true north.
• Strategic Plan - The integrity of accomplishing what has been inspired.
• Kingdom Leadership - Serving those we’ve been given stewardship over.

Let’s advance the Kingdom one leader and one organization at a time.