Exploration

An odd idea popped into a conversation with a friend the other evening over drinks. It was one of those ideas that exposes my limited biblical knowledge, but an idea that helps me to engage in Christian thinking in a way that is exciting and interesting. The idea was this...Did Jesus choose the disciples or did the disciples choose Jesus?

 

My friend initial scoffed at the question, and I guess her reaction was based on her belief that God is omniscience so Jesus certainly had the disciples picked out ahead of time. The logic would then proceed that he knew the exact combination of people that he wanted to truly become followers. The perfect combination of strengths and weaknesses to form this cohesive band of brothers that could carry on his word after his death and ressurrection. Jesus in this thinking would be the master of group dynamics, organizational management, and systems thinking.

 

I sometimes wonder if it would be easier to stop my thinking, call the above statement a fact and move on, but something doesn't seem complete in this line of thinking. Is it possible that Jesus allowed for his disciples to grow a bit more organically with folks drifting into the center, testing the water of sacrifice and travel and then declining the opportunity until there was a solid group of great men to travel and grow together? Maybe Jesus knew that he could mold whatever individuals eventually committed to being with him. Did he really need a tax collector or fisherman? Sure, they both provide great metaphor, but if they were substituted with men from other professions, Jesus could have still turned them into great disciples for the cause, right?

 

It would be difficult to imagine that there weren't hundreds of people trying to be a part of the inner circle. Some probably lasted days or weeks in their efforts until it became too hard.  Others probably stopped believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior, while others probably bowed to other pressures. The twelve disciples in my mind seem to have been hardened and nutured through a more complex selection process, one that called for sacrifice and faith. The final 12 disciples seem as though they were culled from a larger mass of interested followers, and not appointed on day one by Jesus as chosen ones.

 

I am certain that there are much wiser biblical scholars out there that can speak to this question, but the beauty of the Riverside community is that we allow individuals to explore faith in a variety of ways. I need this space to explore my thinking and questions about faith without a one sentence answer or judgement placed on my growing interesting in matters of faith. I hope that my entries continue to start conversations, disrupt easy answers, and frustrate conventional wisdom.

- Dr. Robert Dillon