Vulnerability

As we look around, and listen to the global, national, and systemic and structural discussions, there are a few words that seems to describe the “spirit of this age” in which we are living.

Uniformity - the quality or state of being the same : the quality or state of being uniform or identical, Conformity - behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards, Singularity  - the state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular, though this word is also uses for a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence and other technologies have become so advanced that humanity undergoes a dramatic and irreversible change:

These three emerges out of the desire to have a Predictability – which is the degree to which a correct prediction or forecast of a system's state can be made either qualitatively or quantitatively.

Ultimately these emerge from a need to be in Control - the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events. 

Man must be in control of the world he is left to rule and govern, whether it is nation, or systems and structures of the world. These dominant spirits control the way we live out our lives in our families, communities, and societal structures.

It is in this context, we need to reflect and look back at the foundations of our faith and see what values core to the foundations were.

The creation story is one where the creator, celebrated diversity, and variety. There was only one singularity - the life came from the creator. The expressions of this life were to be varied and diverse and they were to be celebrated.

We see in the story of the tower of Babel, when mankind decided that uniformity, predictability, and control of their destiny was important, God confused and confounded them, because, the cultural mandate was to be “²⁸ “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

In the same way, as we look at Jesus pictures of the Kingdom, we find variety in the expressions of the Kingdom – the salt, yeast, the light, the mustard seed, the wheat, and the chaff, and many such pictures portraying the variety of expressions. But there is one singularity – the singularity of purpose – the Kingdom of God and God as the King.

Even at the first century church, when persecution broke out “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered” – God used that event to move people out across the then known world to carry out the mandate of the King – with varied expressions across nations, communities, and regions. They were giving up control from their hands and moving out as a vulnerable community, with the singularity of purpose of being members and messengers of an eternal Kingdom.

The problem with this model is – we lose control. We become vulnerable. We become the foolish of the world. The world and its systems expect Uniformity, Conformity, Predictability and Control, and be wise by taking control of our destiny. But the Kingdom challenges us to celebrate diversity and variety and be vulnerable by giving up control. We have one singularity – a singularity purpose and singularity of the creator, who has promised that he will use the foolish of the world, the vulnerable and weak of this age to turn the world upside down.

How shall we then live counter cultural to the spirit of the age, where Uniformity, Conformity, Predictability and Control are the expected paradigms of living within a nation or community. How shall we live vulnerable and weak lives, that depend not on our ability to control but on the one who has promised to keep us….