At Sunday School, in Anywhere, USA, there are a handful of scriptures every kid is charged with memorizing, one of which is Jeremiah 29:11’s, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
With this scripture in mind, imagine yourself as John the Baptist, the man of whom Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matt 11:11).” On the one hand, you are in some very esteemed sandals, yes? But on the other, “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater”? But Jesus also goes on to say in verse 14b, “he is the Elijah who was to come.” There is a bit to ponder here.
Now, picture yourself on a hillside along the river Jordan as sunset approaches, having spent an exhausting day calling the masses to repent of committed wrong-doings and be washed in the waters of baptism. You have a batch of honey roasted locusts fresh off the campfire for dinner and are loosening the waistband of your camel hair drip. You reflect upon the people you’d met that day, who’d come out to see you, expecting a flaky freak show of a man ranting in the wilderness, but instead find a willing vessel issuing truthful proclamations which compel them to accept an accurate, divine assessment-- that they have ways which are standing in the need of changing in order to be the better humans they aspire to become. You recall how, rather than mocking you, they receive that conviction and are eager to be taken to the water. “This was a blessed day’s work,” you think, then, having consumed each crunchy morsel of dinner, you stretch out on your mat, and contemplate your “To Do” list for tomorrow, and maybe your one-year plan, or even your five-year plan. As John the Baptist, what is your hope? What future do you envision? Is your hope to have an opportunity to speak truth to power? Are you imagining that perhaps guiding people of powerful positions to contrite repentance might compel them to employ the authority of their offices to do good rather than inflict evil? Could high-profile reports of humble repentance by people of elevated social standing set an example and influence others to follow suit? This is a good and commendable hope, yes? And, as John, I believe with certainty you have counted the cost, being fully aware of the fate of prophets that came before you, and yet your sense of purpose and commitment fuel your drive.
But sometimes—too many times, now, as in John’s days on earth—powerful people double down on their immoral choices; the poor and marginalized are murdered, maligned, exploited, and abused for the face-saving and pleasure-seeking sake of the wealthy and prideful so they can maintain their positions of authority in safety and in comfort, as defend perpetuation of false narratives intended to manufacture and prop up fake personas of righteousness. (Proverbs 30:20 comes to mind when I think of people who consistently behave in this way— “proverbially”, even when they are not an “adulteress”: “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’”) In John’s case, as we know, being on the receiving end of the above-mentioned abuse, he is imprisoned, then decapitated. And compassionate people grieve.
Even with these events recorded in the Bible and read for millennia, people still side with unrepentant wealthy demigods, and curse those who suffer at the hands of such unjust rulers. So, for this generation, it’s not hard for us to imagine the outcome John suffered, though I’m not so sure this fate was John’s hope—his imagined future.
How would modern Evangelicalism assess John’s manifestation of the promised “hope” and “future” mentioned in Jeremiah 29:11 measure up to today’s evangelical expectations? Those of us who’ve experienced life in conservative Christian circles know what the standard required accessories of a successful, righteous, A-Lister male are supposed to be: a beautiful, doting wife, a “quiver full” of three to twelve children, a 3-or-more-bedroom house with 2.5 bathrooms, surrounded by a huge, well-manicured yard in a gated community or--at the very least--along a picket-fenced cul de sac. But John had no reported spouse or children, no men’s advance breakfast to attend, no well-stocked gun cabinet with accompanying decapitated animal head trophies on the walls, and no boat with required king cab pickup truck to haul it. Also, if he’d been born female—perhaps like Deborah or Jael from the Book of Judges, or Esther from her own Bible book, that “hope” and “future” of today for the righteous A-Lister female would be primarily, above all else, her “treasure(aka: virginity)” to offer her husband (non-negotiable part of the “covenant” transaction of marriage), marrying in her youth, producing as many offspring as her body can withstand, manifesting endless energy to cook, clean, rear children, maintenance of a financially lucrative side-hustle (for those boat payments maybe?), and enthusiastic submission to her husband’s every secret porn-addiction-inspired sexual demands, regardless of how exhausting, painful, and degrading they are for her(so he can be delivered of that porn addiction, because that’s on HER.). For females, aspirations outside of that cookie-cutter promise of “hope and a future” are not encouraged. In the conservative Christian world of today, a Deborah would not be encouraged to develop discernment and critical thinking skills, let alone engage in the pursuit of knowledge regarding the law. A contemporary Jael would not be valued for her courage and decisiveness under pressure (unless she looked cute whilst engaged in lethal wielding of a hammer and tent peg). And perhaps a modern Esther would be seen as a nag, risking her very life to bother her husband at work regarding a family issue.
As John the Baptist, you’d be found to have directed your sandal-footed feet far outside of cookie-cutter-happy-meal example of what “hope and a future” is supposed to look like, as marketed by conservative Christian leadership, and as far as they are concerned, you’d set a poor example of a Kingdom of God A-Lister, and deserve to be forever “D-Listed”, like so many other men who fail to follow the traditional template’s constraints and musk-laden man-spreading for bravado for bravado’s sake posture about everything that challenges them or makes them uncomfortable. And for the female reader, you’d be exhorted to take note (grab your steno pads, girls!), for a man who kicks a ball for a living recently gave a commencement speech which included a reminder of the parameters of what “hope and a future” means for you, so plan a little scrapbooking party with your friends to tuck away your diplomas within those pretty pages, because apparently you were not properly groomed by your youth pastor into an engagement by age 15, so you must promptly get ye to your church’s singles group or log onto Plenty of Fish or Christian Mingle to find the father of your future babies, lest you could wind up an old maid and complete spiritual failure like Deborah, or Jael, or Esther, among others.
Of course, the cookie-cutter approach to what “hope and a future” entails is not a biblical one. A mega-churchie one, perhaps, but biblical? Nope. Proverbs 31 leans into this, but there is more to the Bible than just this singular Proverb. [Ex: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Conservative Christian leaders tend to lean heavily on one understanding of Proverbs 31. Seek ye first the kingdom, my friends. ( Matt 6:33a, but I advise checking out the whole chapter.)]
So, at bedtime tonight, while you’re flossing those imaginary stuck locust legs out from between your teeth, consider the One within whose hands hopes and futures reside, and before you hop out of the camel skins and into your jammies, smash the heavy, cumbersome, cookie-cutter yoke of weak-doctrine-based imposed presumptions that may still linger around your neck, and then resting your still-attached head on your pillow, dream the sweet and hopeful dreams of the spiritually prosperous and blessed future that is promised for your unique, non-cookie-cutter self.
Comments