I want to start this post by saying that it has been difficult to finish writing this. If it feels a little disjointed or disconnected, it’s not intentional, my thoughts are just going everywhere right now.  Especially considering what has happened in our country in between these posts. I started writing on this subject several months ago and really felt like this was the subject Jesus wanted me to publish next. Given recent events, I see it as a timely revelation for the state of the church first and then the world. I don’t think it’s a them problem, it’s an us problem.  Thanks for your patience! On with the show…

One of the things we’ve loved doing over the past several years is raising chickens. We’ve always wanted to have land and raise animals. We longed to claim some form of self sufficiency and this has been our shot at it. I’ll tell you it has been an experience and it has not been easy! We went into this completely blinded by the cuteness of chicks. We thought we were well equipped to handle this task and immediately began to buy everything we could get our hands on to give us the edge. News flash, we did not have the edge. We did have determination though. And, through a series of fairly difficult and stressful stages, we finally have consistent egg laying chickens! I wanna share the stages I’ve identified really quickly. 

First, you try to keep them alive. We bought chicks and raised them in a brooder in our garage for several months. We struggled to figure out how to keep them alive long enough to get to the age where they could lay eggs. It took roughly 2 years of attempts and 2 or 3 different broods of chickens to finally have a group of hens that could lay eggs. We learned a humongous slew of lessons in the process. Some of those lessons I’m still trying to digest! 

Second, you try to get them to lay eggs. Hens will lay eggs naturally, but their egg production could be hindered for a number of different reasons. For instance, if the chickens are unsettled or feel unsafe, their nutrition is off, their habitat is unkempt, or their health is in question, you don’t get eggs. So now you’ve got chickens, and they’re costing you a small fortune, but no eggs. This stage yielded another slew of amazing lessons to try and digest. 

Third, and our current stage, is learning how to protect eggs. One of the first things you learn about having eggs is that there are creatures in nature that want these eggs as much as you do. Turns out snakes really like eggs. It’s not the types of snakes that serve no purpose though. We can’t just eradicate them without complications. Rat snakes are the ones stealing our product. They are a nuisance, but they simultaneously provide an extermination service on our land. We’re in the process of trying several things to keep the eggs we’ve worked so hard to have. We had to kill some the snakes because they were repeat offenders. Some of them we’ve beaten with a shovel and they haven’t returned. We put out sulfur to deter them from approaching the coop and that helps some, but then it rains and the sulfur is gone and the snakes come back. It’s a process of learning and there is one truly definable lesson I’ve gathered so far. The only sure fire way to keep from having to fight snakes for the eggs is to not have chickens at all. 

There are no thieves where there is no treasure.

I feel like relationships are the same. Betrayal is not a given in the ending of relationships. Every relationship’s end is not necessarily marked by betrayal and not every relationship ends. Betrayal though, is a risk that we take when we enter into a relationship. The only sure fire way to not experience betrayal or heartache, is to not have relationships. One of my favorite quotes is, “Grief is the price of love.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more true. There is a risk associated with relationships. The bulk of Christianity, not the bulk of unimportant things but the bulk of all amazing parts of Christianity, is designed for relationship. That makes the absence of relationship in True Christianity impossible and the necessity of managing relationship dynamics well of the utmost importance. 

We left off with some introspection in the last post, so I want you to recall those feelings and emotions and beliefs. I want you to think about the conversation you had with Jesus about your experiences as we continue. I think that’s important to do while reading this post, because this is not a heady revelation for me, it’s one filled with and filtered through my own emotions and experiences.  It’s the context of emotional health in a relationship and in a relationship’s end that gives this invitation meaning: Maintain value for others no matter the circumstance for a relationship’s struggles or end.

I heard the Holy Spirit  say that Jesus doesn’t lose value for people after betrayal. But I definitely do. I I know I do. He didn’t have to say that to me explicitly for me to realize that. And it’s with that realization in mind that me an understanding of the invitation. I believe that what the Holy Spirit was calling me into was a way of doing life that I haven’t had before. I can only take His invitation to mean that my posture on the issues of betrayal and value is wrong. So, I took this belief to scripture, specifically the life of the person that exemplifies perfect theology and doctrine, Jesus. When I began to investigate this in scripture, the posture of abandoning value for others doesn’t seem to be Jesus’ posture at all. I want to look at a few examples, but I don’t want to do the obvious one first because it breeds controversy and that’s not my intent. We will look at Judas, but not first.

I want to see if what I’ve heard the Holy Spirit say is true. So, if you wanted to prove Jesus doesn’t lose value for people after betrayal, how would you do it? I think you’d have to go to his closest, earthly relationships, right? That brings us directly to the apostles. In that case Peter should be enough proof. 

Peter denied Jesus 3 times before the rooster crowed, just like Jesus said he would in Matthew 26:34. On top of that, Peter was present for the teaching in Matthew 10:33 that says “But whoever disowns (denies depending on the translation) me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (NIV)  In spite of all of this,  Jesus found Peter while Peter was fishing and invited him to breakfast on the beach. Jesus offers the olive branch to Peter in 3 separate questions and commissions (John 21). Jesus was intentional with Peter. Jesus never lost value for Peter, He actually valued Peter so much that He wanted to restore the relationship and commission on Peter’s life. 

Going out from there, it’s true that 11 of the 12 disciples were not at the crucifixion. John is the only one recorded there and Jesus entrusted John with the care of His mother (John 19:26-27). Yet all of the remaining apostles are present in the upper room, waiting for the power they were told they would receive (Acts 2:1). They are all restored as Jesus’ disciples after they deserted Him.

Seeing that now, and having a statement revealed to me by the Holy Spirit on the heart posture of Jesus towards people, I want to now approach what I feel will be the controversial part. I truly believe that if Judas had not committed suicide Jesus would’ve restored relationship with him as well. Think about Judas’ life also. He was a thief and he helped himself to the money purse (John 12:6). Judas also objected to the extravagant worship of the alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume that was poured on the feet of Jesus (John 12:4-5). Judas took the 30 pieces of silver as a payment for Jesus’ betrayal as well (Matt. 26:15). It’s also true and undeniable that Judas, when sent out with the 12, healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons (Mark 6:7-13). Judas handed out fish and loaves and collected baskets of food at the miraculous feedings. There’s one more thing I want to point out about Judas. He was remorseful.

To prove that, I don’t think we need to see anything other than Matthew 27:3-5:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied, “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The word condemned in the above passage can be translated “by one’s good example to render another’s wickedness the more evident and censurable.” It’s possible that Judas had agreed to testify against Jesus by betraying Him with a kiss. If the acts of Jesus were seen as the ultimate offense, then the kiss Judas provided on His cheek could have been used as an example of love greater than the acts of heresy the chief priests believed Jesus committed. Judas testifies against Jesus with an act of love, but I have a hard time believing now that Judas understood the intent of the chief priests.

Judas didn’t realize they were going to kill Jesus. I think that Judas rationalized in his mind that they would imprison him, maybe beat him, but find him not guilty and release him. Judas knew Jesus was innocent and for Judas, it seems that the money was the issue. Right before this scene you have the extravagant act of worship of the alabaster jar. Matthew 26:8 says that the disciples were indignant about the use of this perfume. They felt like the money for this perfume should have been used for the poor. As soon as Jesus’ discourse about the poor and this extravagant worship in that passage concludes, Judas goes to the high priests. It was the money he was after. I don’t think he took anything else into consideration. 

The grief Judas seems to display after realizing that they were going to kill Jesus, suggests that Judas lost something he loved. I know that my own opinion of Judas has been that he was a cold heartless individual that was just waiting to capitalize on Jesus’ goodness. That as soon as Jesus wasn’t looking, this no good rapscallion would take advantage of Him. I believed Judas was always no good. I believed that Judas was irredeemable from the very beginning. Judas’ actions and responses post betrayal  suggest something different. Judas is displaying emotions that I didn’t believe he had. It is easier for me to treat Judas as an emotionless and remorseless wretch who meant evil from the onset than to believe that he loved Jesus. It is hard to fathom that he still has value and just made a mistake out of misguided notion. I would rather believe Judas is irredeemable than believe he could be reconciled. 

I thought about that for a while. The truth is that I’m very comfortable with that belief and that’s kind of unsettling. Why am I so comfortable in saying that there’s no way back for Judas? And then it hit me. I want to believe that some people are irredeemable, because then I don’t feel guilty when I label them as such and exclude them from my life. But that’s the slippery slope isn’t it? Why is it a slippery slope? Well, if we take a look at something Jesus said I think it will explain it. It’s in the beatitudes. 

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca’, is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Matthew 5:21-22

Jesus doesn’t take away the penalty of murder here or make an easier distinction for living a holy life. He’s actually making it evident that a holy life without the grace of God is impossible. On top of that I think that there is an intentional emphasis on the mindsets and heart postures that would lead to the justification of violence. Not a decrying of violence in total, but a justification for murder that comes through a degradation of a person’s position in someone else’s heart.  I think He draws attention to what I believe leads to murder: anger (possibly from offense), changed belief about others mental ability (possibly through disagreement), and loss of value.

I find that this is most readily on display in the arena of my political beliefs. First, I become offended by what you believe to be true and moral. Then, because I am offended by what you believe, I begin to question your ability to see the truth and reason. Surely if you could reason, your beliefs would mirror mine! Then, once I deem you unable or unwilling to see reason and truth, I deem that you are willfully ignorant and therefore a lost cause. If you’re willfully deceiving yourself, you obviously know what’s right and have chosen to be immoral. This progression allows me to dismiss you as an individual and lose value for you because you have become irredeemable. There’s no way back for you at this point. Do you see what I mean? This is the type of heart posture that makes the discarding of relationships and even life acceptable and in some cases even seen as logical and reasonable. I think that’s why Jesus highlights them and speaks about their dangers. Let me ask another question to emphasize this. What’s another name for something I’ve lost value for and have become willing to discard without a sense of loss?

Trash.

Do you view others as trash? I have in the past. I’ve degraded people to the point that they were expendable to me. Truth of the matter is that I’ve treated a lot of people this way over the years. Nowhere in my life is it more visible than my actions towards others during the election cycles of 2012 and 2016. I can look back and see over the years that the line dictating value lost has moved to incorporate less extreme offenses. Thankfully, that is changing. It’s been this revelation that has helped me to see my beliefs and actions as harmful and recognize the way that I’ve weaponized relationships against others. It’s been a lot of repentance and probably a lot more to come. But that’s the beautiful part. There’s always redemption where Jesus is concerned. There’s always a way back. Sometimes that road looks painful, but I can tell you it isn’t. It’s filled with life and love and healing. He offers healing to us because no matter what we’ve done, He never loses value for us. Jesus never views us as irredeemable.