Jesus flipped power on its head and so should we
Commentary by Paul Graves | FāVS news
In 1st century Palestine, Jesus was considered a subversive by the religious and political leaders and followers. Today, we who claim to be serious followers of Jesus should be known as subversive in the eyes of certain religious and political leaders and followers.
The religious groups I refer to are those who subscribe to “Christian nationalism.” The political groups I refer to are those that believe the Trump administration’s authoritarian policies and actions are just what America needs. (Please fill in your own illustrations of these destructive ideologies.)
To be a subversive follower of Jesus, we need to adopt at least two qualities that Jesus embodied: spizzerinctum and sprezzatura. He didn’t use these strange words, but he lived them daily.
Spizzerinctum is an old slang word (possibly from Appalachian or southern U.S. culture) for boldness, spunk. It’s similar to the Jewish word chutzpah that describes audacity, courage, cheekiness, confident. In the context of religious faith, “holy boldness” would be an accurate term.
The more I look at the parables, the stories and the actions of Jesus in the Gospels, the more I see Jesus’ spizzerinctum — his holy boldness.
Sometimes subtly, oftentimes directly, Jesus thumbed his nose at religious and political leaders when their rules and actions denied human dignity and value to common people. His unwavering self-honesty and trust in God pushed him to bold words and bolder actions. Jesus embodied spizzerinctum so well!
Have you found opportunities to act (verbally or physically) with spizzerinctum, but maybe found reasons not to? Your reasons are your own — perhaps for safety, perhaps for common-sense reasons. Chutzpah, spizzerinctum, are not easy qualities to act out for many of us.
Perhaps one reason we’re reluctant to engage our inner desire for spizzerinctum is that our sprezzatura isn’t well-developed! This Italian, fun-sounding word can mean “paradox, contradiction.” Religious power, political power, are often paradoxes. They conflict with our expectations.
I like how Leonard Sweet, in “The Gospel According to Starbucks” describes this paradox religiously: “We expect God to be loving and compassionate, yet there is so much natural and human-made devastation in the world. Where is God? That is paradox.
“Our rigid belief shouts out a firm answer. But faith whispers a cry to God, ‘Can I trust you to be in the midst of that devastation? I want to trust you. I need to trust you.’”
Our tolerance for paradox is often very limited. We think we’re in control, don’t we. When we feel out of control, we quickly resort to using any form of power that we can find. Those forms can be well-intended — or not.
Either way, they can manipulate other people. Likewise, we’re easily manipulated by an inner power we believe we control. Yet we usually don’t.
Paradox, contradiction, are inner dynamics we must learn to understand before they can be used to serve others, to benefit others, to love others. Our desire for certainty and unchangeable truth are in a daily tug-of-war with the uncertainty and changing truth-pieces in our lives.
Sprezzatura is the rope in that tug-of-war! We do what we don’t want to do, or don’t do what we want to do. Then we find ways to rationalize those conflicts away. Contradictions and paradoxes confuse us. We just want to “believe” without any real effort.
Jesus lived with his own sprezzatura. It helped him embody the spizzerinctum God has created within him.
God created sprezzatura and spizzerinctum within each of us also. They’re hard for us to admit to having sometimes. And it may be harder for us to act on them. But God’s spizzerinctum leads us on.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
Thanks, Paul, for this much needed encouragement to have, like Jesus, the sprezza,,,,(however you spell it)….the gall, the God given courage to defy the those who set themselves up today as religious leaders, especially those who espouse Christian nationalism, which like all nationalisms is a dangerous heresy.
The world needs more people like you, and your table-flipping Jesus. Also, I love learning new words!
I do see Jesus using spizzerinctum, but not politically.
He never used it in relationship to Rome. When did Jesus ever confront Roman authority?
He used it in relationship to the leaders of His church, His denomination. Those that had been called out of the world and appointed by God to demonstrate God’s love.
By adding “politics” to your statements, it may appear that we too should use politics to counter Christian Nationalism. Use the same tools and methods they use. That led the church to institute the inquisition in order to save souls, and I believe it is the direction we are headed.
But Jesus’ method was to love those that disagree with us. Show dignity and respect to those in the world that we pray for and would want to bring into God’s kingdom and, yes, confront those (Christian Nationalists) who claim to be representatives of God that want to use the state to enforce their perceived Christian values with law.
We are called to make disciples, people that ACT like Jesus. Not to reform the world and make them act and think like us. We are to draw them, not force them.
Jesus said that He was born to do the will of God and at the end of His life He said that He had fulfilled that mission. Rome ruled when He was born and still ruled when He died so we can assume that overthrowing Rome was not His mission. In fact, that was His message to Pilot.