Recharge: Big School

THE FULL MONTY:

Numbers 13-14 To read if you have time to take in the full story.

THE CONTINENTAL OPTION:

Numbers 13:1-31 Read this if you only have time for one significant passage.

ONE SHOT ESPRESSO:

Numbers 13:27-33

My daughter is about to go to ‘big school’. Getting over my own anxieties about having a child at secondary school, this is a big deal for her – and rightly so!

We’ve looked around the school a few times, and she’s been there to do some taster lessons and meet her form teacher. We’ve done a trial journey on the bus route: you might say we’ve spied it out a little! ‘I’m more excited than nervous’, my daughter confidently tells me. The main concern is walking to different classes rather than being in the same room all the time – as well as getting up earlier. The main excitement? Well, suffice to say that at open day, when we should have been reviewing the school’s educational qualities, apparently the hot topic of conversation was the food. Our year ten guides gave a well-rehearsed view of the school but raved about the food, and now that tops the list of expectations. Press a little bit more and the nerves have some basis. She’s not sure what to expect: what it will be like to be in a school with 20 times as many people? The lessons look fun, but will the work be ‘way harder’? I don’t remember my first day at big school very clearly, but I do remember going back there recently and thinking it looked incredibly small! Perception is a funny thing.

Big challenges

Whatever ministry we are involved in there are always daunting challenges round the corner. Sometimes this is simply managing or dealing with the events life throws at us. Recently I have been thinking through pieces of research on young people’s disaffiliation with Church, and the changing patterns of religious and spiritual belief. At times I have been excited at what I have seen as ‘sparks of connection’: how we might be able to better connect with some of the questions people have about life. In other moments, I have been utterly dejected at the lack of interest or understanding in what Christianity might offer or mean. As I think about how to help shape a strategy for a parish church to connect to young people and young adults I must admit, ‘I feel more nervous than excited’. Your ministry context might be different. It could be flying. Though perhaps it has its’ own dilemmas and frustrations. Perhaps the challenges seem overwhelming. Perhaps the task seems too hard. On the other hand you might not have seen all the challenges you face, or are simply assured that you and your team can overcome these quite easily. Perception is a fickle thing.

The events outlined in chapters 13 and 14 of Numbers are a helpful account of how we might perceive and act in seeking to be faithful to God’s call. It’s a story of how promise is overcome by pessimism and how optimism results in presumption. Moses has lead the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land: the land that was promised to their forefather Abraham, the land that they were directed to go to when God lead them out of slavery in Egypt, the land that they have been assured is a good place flowing with milk and honey, where they and their descendants might live long and fruitful lives, where as a people they could offer safety and security to others and demonstrate a different way of living that might be a beacon of hope to those around them. This was the promise that had kept these people going for a generation, and this was the promise that might now just be about to be fulfilled.

Sending spies into this land was not a denial of this promise but prudence. Moses wanted to scope out the next step. It would have been normal operating procedure to do so. The brief was simple: take a look and report back what you see.

At first there is consensus on what has been observed: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large’ (Numbers 13:27-28).

Big promises

It seems that the land is full of promise, but there is a problem. There are some people there who might be a powerful prevention to this being such a good place to live. Now, this text poses some difficulties around the concept of ‘possession and dispossession’ that require a wholly different Bible study. However, what is key to this passage is the change in perception that comes as this pessimistic report is dwelt upon. The fruitful land becomes ‘a place that will devour those living in it’ and the people there are no longer ‘mighty’ but ‘mythical giants’. In short, you can forget the promise. I can appreciate the pessimism, frustration and grief this realisation has for Israel. In fact, as the story continues this is seen to be a legitimate response. It’s a terrifying prospect, but the response is to hold to the promise, not be afraid, and to understand that ‘the land is exceedingly good - a land flowing with milk and honey’. In this moment they must trust that if God is with them, then the promise will be achieved, not letting fear overcome this trust.

Unfortunately, this is not heeded and the people rebel and God, once again, defers the promise for a future generation. Now here’s the twist. The outcome is not one of despondency at this outcome, but optimism. No, they can do it. They can possess the land. The travesty of the violent possession of the ‘Promised Land’ arises not from the faithful, fearful following of God’s promises but the presumptuous, false human optimism that comes when we choose not to rely on these. The point? Both pessimism and optimism are the enemies of promise. One can overcome faith and the other overtake it.

Big perspective

In Jim Collins’ book on leadership, From good to great, this scenario is conveyed in what he terms the ‘Stockdale paradox’. James Stockdale was an admiral in the US Navy who was captured in Vietnam. He was the most senior US service man to be taken prisoner and as a result a figure that others looked to for leadership. He remained captive for the rest of the war and became famous for leading resistance movements while a POW. When questioned about his experiences, his perspective – and what kept him going – is interesting. He says he never lost faith and never doubted that he would get out. When asked who didn’t make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied: ‘Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. They were the ones who said, “We’re going to be out by Christmas.” And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, “We’re going to be out by Easter.” And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.’ This is Collins’ Stockdale paradox: ‘You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.’

The Stockdale paradox is a modern parable of the circumstances that Joshua, Caleb and the rest encountered in Numbers. It names the reality that most of us face at some point in our lives and ministry: we can be assured of God’s promises and ability to deliver on these, but cannot deny the doubt that these will come to pass or the difficulties we face in waiting. Such a confrontation will generate feelings of pessimism that we need to defy and feelings of optimism that we need to deflect. We may, depending on our personality and persuasion, be more or less inclined to pessimism or optimism. This inclination often shapes our response to circumstance and challenges more than we might wish. The challenge here is to choose neither. Instead, we must choose to be a faithfull realist.

In the Gospels, Jesus often references people who have the ‘eyes to see’ or the ‘ears to hear’ when he discusses the presence of the kingdom and the capacity to see this coming to fruition. To my mind this is similar to the ‘spirit’ that Caleb has in his exploration of the land. He was a faithful-realist. He saw the fruit and the tribes. He believed the promise, but questioned its fulfillment. As we look at the issues we face in addressing the needs of young people - adapting the structures of church, assessing the options of growth, accepting that initiatives have failed - we find ourselves, perhaps, at the edge of the Promised Land. What do you see? What promises give you confidence? What do you fear? What’s your next step?