Beautiful Outlaw Chapter 9: Cunning
In Chapter 9 Eldredge makes the case that Jesus was extremely shrewd – he obviously used cunning – in his movements. He was humble, but he wasn’t dumb. He was mission focused. He was just some nice guy wandering the desert being nice to people. Eldredge is most consistently passionate and compelling when describing Jesus’ wartime mentality. His cunning was crucial to meeting his objectives.
The Pharisees tried repeatedly to trap Jesus. They’d follow him watching for opportunities. They’d ask the perfect question to trap him. They challenged him because he was a threat. At every turn, Jesus was a step ahead and, at every turn, the Pharisees left shamed and more determined than ever to trap Jesus.
In addition to the Pharisees, Jesus had to be cunning with the masses that followed him. After all, they were waiting to usher in the reign of Messiah, and Jesus got them pretty excited. But not for the right reasons. Jesus didn’t represent the forceful overthrow they were envisioning. He certainly has a throne, but not the one they were preparing for him. So, to them, Jesus emphasizes holiness to keep them from becoming an unruly mob. That too would be a distraction to his mission.
Eldredge’s take on the Samaritan woman at the well may be perfectly historically accurate – I don’t know otherwise – but it wasn’t completely compelling to me. I felt like he turned the woman into Flo from Mel’s Diner. A sassy caricature of an overstatement of a real person – she seemed very much over the top and out of context to me. Jesus comes off better, but I’m not sure I would interpret this passage as an example of cunning. Regardless, even if he’s off somewhat, he’s not off in a way that diminishes Jesus or undermines the significance of what he says to the woman, so it doesn’t really bother me.
The hardest part of the chapter for me was when Eldredge claims Jesus’ greatest work of cunning is in his pursuit of the human heart. It was hard for me because it’s a part of my theology I haven’t exercised much. I believe in the Doctrines of Grace. I believe that it is only by God’s doing that I’m saved – including my belief. But it is still true that a sovereign God did woo me. And he does woo all who come to him. I just have to be comfortable with the tension. That God woos in unmistakable in scripture. That God is in complete control over salvation is also unmistakable in scripture.
But human Jesus absolutely did not impose himself on people. He allowed the rich young ruler to walk away saddened. Jesus was emotionally affected as well. Jesus was not sovereignly impervious to the pain of rejection anymore than he was impervious to thirst or hunger. I know for many people this image will be moving. I hope they find it and are moved by it. It was a stark reminder to me not to lean too heavily to one side or another – but to maintain the tension between Jesus’ desire and God’s sovereignty.
It may seem like a petty correlation to you, but it’s significant to me of a larger issue: this chapter reminded me of how annoying it is when an outspoken Christian makes it onto the cast of Survivor. They absolutely, 100%, lack any cunning. They plod along in the game placing the same faith in people as they do in Jesus. They refuse to actually play the game – a game which requires strategy, deception, trickery and cunning. And, in my opinion, represent us poorly.
I think they represent – in an extreme circumstance, obviously – the extent to which we’ve become frightened legalists. We’re terrified of rocking boats or appearing less than perfect. Jesus doesn’t call us to sin, but he doesn’t call us to play dumb either.