Friday, February 18, 2011

A Surprising Non-Anxious Example

Scripture Verse that Caught my attention today: Acts 25:4-5 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5 “So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”

Observation: Festus seemed to be a non-anxious ruler.

Application: In seminary (through class, readings, and clinical experience) we are taught to do something that is not easy—maintain a non-anxious presence. It’s sort of like being cool under pressure, but it goes considerably deeper than that. Instead of attempting to ignore that which bothers, worries, or distracts us (like a basketball free-throw shooter might try to do when the opposing crowd is trying to psychologically mess up his/her shot), we are taught to name it and face it so that we can put it in it’s proper place (as in “that crowd is really loud and obnoxious, but the ball’s in my hands on my court and whether or not this shot goes in the basket is completely up to me.”).

From a faith perspective, such non-anxious naming and facing doesn’t ignore threats from without and within, as if they didn’t exist. But it somehow trusts that, come what may, we will be enabled to either prevail or in some other way serve as a witness to a power greater than our own. Still, as I can most surely attest, it’s easier said than done.

Fortunately, even Festus, a presumably a secular leader, gives a solid example of a non-anxious presence; he did not let personal anxiety affect sound judgment. He knew the various rules and procedures and was not wont to frantically give in to the people’s demands. Instead, he reasoned and directed, if they have something to say, they can say it at the appropriate time in the appropriate context. His ability to be non-anxious in the face of a potential political storm probably saved Paul’s life and further enabled his witness. And even for those of us with responsibility for admittedly smaller but no-less-important kingdoms of family and/or church, Festus offers a non-anxious model worth taking to heart.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the various people you have provided, both within the faith and even without, that still offer models of life worth considering. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: Numbers 3-4 and Acts 25)

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