Reflection Paper

These past two semesters have literally torn me up from the inside, and that which I’ve finally come to realize has been set plainly before me before. I’m pretty ashamed that I’ve missed it until this point. And, while I have not fully given into the idea and I’m not sure exactly how radically my beliefs will solidify, I’m sure that I’ve been impacted in a way that to go forward is to lose myself, but to go back is to feign ignorance and therefore fake my discipleship with Jesus as well. I have always believed in a narrative Christocentric theology. So that came as no surprise when Hauerwas described it. I started to get turned off, though, when he directly linked a narrative Christocentric theology to “pacifism.” Pacifism was for those who were weak and needed an excuse, for those who were afraid of standing up for something they believe in. Then Hauerwas put it in perspective in chapter five:

For Jesus’ life is the life of God insofar as he serves others as God serves us. His first allegiance is to God; then he loves the neighbor as himself. So he has no need to lord over out of fear or to get others to serve him; and his commitment to serve is courageous, for he loses his life by so doing. So Jesus’ idea of service does not become a matter of doing what others want him to do except insofar as it remains consonant with his understanding of God’s will… But he will not grant the request of James and John who want power and glory. Strong-willed and independent, Jesus has a clear sense of his own mission, and neither traditions nor laws nor public pressure nor fear of indictment prevent him from speaking or acting.