If there’s one thing I’m continuing to learn, it’s this.
Conventional wisdom doesn’t apply to God’s kingdom.
The more we read the Bible, the more we find instances of God doing things that don’t make sense to us.
And the more we follow Jesus, we’ll find he asks us to do things that don’t make sense either.
Drink the blood
There’s one example of this in John 6.
Here, Jesus is preaching that “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will have no life in you” (John 6:53).
Frankly, this is an odd message with an understandable response.
People walk away.
Don’t worry, though. Jesus is asked a clarifying question. He’s given a chance to tamper it down, make it sound less carnal, more clear, and holy.
Conventional wisdom would tell Jesus to take advantage of this opportunity.
To say things in a different, softer, more understandable way. After all, a decline in audience members and followers is the exact opposite of what we want to happen, right?
Not to the Son of God.
In response, he says the same thing. Not clarifying or softening his words one bit.
More people leave.
John records, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:66-67).
Peter gives one of his wisest answers. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).
Peter’s posture
When it comes to encountering the kingdom of God, I believe Peter’s posture is what is required of us.
Time and again God will call us to things that don’t make sense. Obedience will require things that are counterintuitive. In our discipleship to Jesus, conventional wisdom can’t help us.
It’s in these moments that we have two options.
We can buck against God, trusting in our own wisdom. We can disagree and carve our own paths. We can intellectualize the calling of Christ to where it becomes irrelevant.
Or we can trust.
Saying with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
And with that trust, we can step out to new and unknown horizons with confidence that Jesus goes before us.