How else would it be a good idea to let a 16-year-old eighth grader blow smoke in your face in front of other students and you a brand-new principal?
God seems to have this peculiar Law of Subtraction that adds something only He can add.
Jerry tried to subtract from my authority by belittling me. I somehow added dignity to this hurting student by treating him with respect.
I smashed fear of judgment with vulnerability. If I had acted on my fear of judgment--that others would see me as not in charge--I would have attacked Jerry with my I'm-in-charge tools, trying to put him in his place. He was used to being treated that way.
Instead, and remarkably, I let God give me the confidence to be vulnerable in just the right place. By focusing on the attendance issue and forgiving his worst insult to me, I offered him respect and an invitation to think of himself in a new way. More from 1 Corinthians 10:
We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.Jesus, the supreme example of God-confidence, allows us to think of ourselves in a new way when we accept that He led (and leads) by example. He smashed fear of judgment with vulnerability by being beaten and hung on a cross (not typical king behavior), waiting on God to create newness out of the pieces.
We tried (and try) to subtract Jesus right out of life's equation. Instead, we can choose to see that God added an avenue through which we might accept His invitation to think of ourselves in a new way: forgiven, reconciled with Him.
I gave Jerry a way to reconcile with a new view of himself. We both got a glimpse of God-confidence.
Tomorrow: Living out of God-confidence.
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