Pride

^{Note: This article was originally published at SI on October 2, 2006.}

I really love Peter. It is so easy for us, in retrospect, to snipe at him for his antics, but I have been thinking a lot about him lately. Peter strikes me as a man who had given himself over entirely to follow Jesus. He rightly vested in Christ all of his hopes and dreams. So much so that when asked if he were going to leave Jesus, he responded, “Where else can we go? You have the words of life.” Peter was exactly right; Jesus is the only way to life. All other paths are leading directly to sin and death.

Yet much of Peter’s ideas of discipleship were colored by his own misguided expectations and misunderstandings. Jesus had a habit of turning those expectations upside down, and we frequently find Peter struggling to reconcile what Jesus was doing and teaching with his own preconceived notions of the way things were supposed to be.

In John 13, we see this misunderstanding clearly demonstrated. Jesus stooped to the level of a servant and approached Peter to wash his feet. Peter immediately (and somewhat impulsively, I think) responded that this wasn’t right. According to all he understood, the rabbis, teachers, and great people of his day didn’t ever do such things. It was unbecoming of their status and position, and Jesus was even greater than these. In Peter’s eyes, this request was an affront to the accepted order of things.
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I really love Peter. It is so easy for us, in retrospect, to snipe at him for his antics, but I have been thinking a lot about him lately. Peter strikes me as a man who had given himself over entirely to follow Jesus. He rightly vested in Christ all of his hopes and dreams. So much so that when asked if he were going to leave Jesus, he responded, “Where else can we go? You have the words of life.” Peter was exactly right; Jesus is the only way to life. All other paths are leading directly to sin and death.

Yet much of Peter’s ideas of discipleship were colored by his own misguided expectations and misunderstandings. Jesus had a habit of turning those expectations upside down, and we frequently find Peter struggling to reconcile what Jesus was doing and teaching with his own preconceived notions of the way things were supposed to be.

In John 13, we see this misunderstanding clearly demonstrated. Jesus stooped to the level of a servant and approached Peter to wash his feet. Peter immediately (and somewhat impulsively, I think) responded that this wasn’t right. According to all he understood, the rabbis, teachers, and great people of his day didn’t ever do such things. It was unbecoming of their status and position, and Jesus was even greater than these. In Peter’s eyes, this request was an affront to the accepted order of things.

However, Jesus was insistent. If Peter wanted to be His disciple, his obedience was essential; and when Peter realized this, he exclaimed, “Then don’t just stop at my feet! Wash the rest of me as well.” You have to give Peter credit. Once he knew what to do, he zealously jumped in headfirst. Of course, he still misunderstood the point. Jesus was preparing to teach the disciples an important truth regarding discipleship, and Peter especially would need to understand it in the coming years. Fundamentalism needs the same lesson.
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Missourians, stand up and be proud. According to a news release on March 24^th, your state may possibly be housing the largest domestic cat in the world. Weighing in at 50 pounds, Iggy boasts a 33-inch waist and consumes 30 pounds of food a week. Although that represents a lot of clumpy litter, the $10,000 that Iggy is looking to win from “Funniest Home Videos” just might deliver him some forgiveness.

I’ve been mulling over in my mind whether our own family cat could procure any kind of cash reward. We acquired Cougar four years ago when several undercover PETA sympathizers, otherwise known as students, were discovered harboring a stray kitten in their campus residence. After receiving the “he goes or you go” ultimatum, the animal lovers skillfully exercised their collegiate gift of sidestepping trouble and pawned the little kitty onto a couple of unsuspecting, completely delighted kids. I recall distinctly not wanting another family pet, but when your toothless wonder of a daughter, along with her supportive big brother, eagerly presents you with a gift that is given by students desiring to do nothing other than to “express their sincere love and appreciation,” you accept it; and then you claim a renewed resolve not to ever be manipulated again. At least not for the next 24 hours.read more