If we’re smart, all of us will say this at least once in our lives. Even bad guys need help from worse guys on how to be effectively bad. (Teach me your thievery tricks, O Artful Dodger.) When it comes to faith, the question is not, “Do I feel like I need help?” A sense of “needing help” may not be all that God is looking for–he is looking for helplessness. Let me illustrate:
Story 1: Karate trainer. An impotent boy is bullied by the neighborhood boys and comes home bruised and ashamed every day. Finally, weeping on the street, he encounters an old martial arts master, who agrees to teach him the secrets of ancient combat. After many grueling months of training, including seemingly pointless tasks like “wax on, wax off”, strange concentration exercises, and rigorous physical training, the trainer transforms stringy-armed boy into a fighting machine who defeats the bullies in a national fighting championship, winning the gold and humiliating his old opponents!
Story 2: Coast Guard rescuer. While at sea, a large fishing boat is caught and a storm and run onto the rocks. It begins filling with water. The fishermen climb to the highest deck and call for Coast Guard assistance. A boat soon arrives and they board, when they realize one fisherman is not accounted for. One brave rescue officer rejects the advice of his superiors and plunges back onto the almost-sunk boat. Buffeted by huge waves, he nevertheless descends into the lower decks and finds the missing sailor, unconscious and bleeding from the head. He heaves the man onto his back and makes the escape. With medical attention on the Coast Guard ship, the sailor regains consciousness and his shipmates rejoice, thanking the rescuer!
Now, both stories involve someone helping someone else. But the difference between them is evident: in the karate story, the final glory rests on the helped person, not the helper. The trainer is not in the spotlight at the end of the story, because he has only helped to unleash the boys own inner potential. In the coastguard story, the opposite is true: the final glory rests on the helper, not the helped person. It was the inner potential of the rescuer, not the sailor, that won the day.
All faiths of the world affirm that we need “karate training.” None but the Way of Jesus affirms that we are “unconscious” and in need of saving. God gets all the final glory in the Christian story; man shares the final glory in every other account of the universe. The beauty of Christianity is that it’s not a matter of how hard we work to get victory–we awake (like the sailor) to find the victory done for us already! It’s not about assistance, it’s about rescue.
What kind of help do I seek from God? The help of a martial art master, or the help of a coast guard rescuer?
Ben Taylor 