Be Artless
A quick calculation, the other day, revealed that in the last fifteen years or so, I’ve written more than two million words. Yet, I confess that I struggled to find the right one to describe a particular attribute of Jesus that we do well to emulate. I settled on “artless” though it’s not in everyday usage and superficially implies something negative. So let me clarify. When I suggest that Jesus was artless, I mean that he was simple, natural, and direct in his interactions. He didn’t resort to cunning, deceit or manipulation.
You’d think that being God, Jesus would insist on getting His own way. He obviously had the power to manipulate circumstances and people to provide the outcomes He preferred, but amazingly, He did not exercise it. In Mark 10 we read about Jesus’ encounter with a wealthy young leader in the community. This man came and asked Jesus what he needed to do to get eternal life. When Jesus responded that the man should donate all of his wealth to the poor and then “take up the cross, and follow Me,” the man’s face fell. It turns out that the man was very wealthy and he just couldn’t bring himself to do the one thing that Jesus asked him to do. Without a word he turned and walked away in sorrow.
Now many of us would think the story should continue with Jesus following this individual? Perhaps He would suggest a program whereby the man could give away a little at a time until he grew used to the idea. Perhaps He would argue with the man, trying to convince him of the relative value of eternal life over his personal earthly possessions. Perhaps He would simply comfort the man, telling him that He understood that he needed time to process such an idea and urge him to come back after he’d thought about it a little more.
But Jesus followed none of these natural human inclinations. Once he saw the man’s direction - away from Him - Jesus turned to his disciples and said “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24) No running after him. No trying to convince him. No explaining, arguing, or sympathizing. Just a comment about the realities of life to His companions.
One of the things that irritate others about us is that we don’t know when to leave them alone. Especially when we think we know what’s best for them and want what’s best for them, we struggle to let them go their own way. This is particularly difficult for parents when their children reach adulthood. But none of us enjoys being manipulated into saying or doing what we don’t really believe in. Often we see through manipulative behaviour, recognizing that in spite of the nice way it’s phrased, the manipulator is really seeking his or her own personal advantage.
As we seek to be like Jesus, we will be artless. We will give people the same kind of space that He did. He honoured the right of those who rejected Him and His teaching to do so. He didn’t coerce or manipulate. He stated the truth simply and clearly and accepted their response to it. Perhaps that response would change. Perhaps not. Surely this is a lesson that we all can benefit from. Wouldn’t life be simpler, probably even better, if once we knew that others understood the issue, we stopped trying to convince them to take our position? Our job is to proclaim and live out the truth. Others get to respond to it as they will.
