“Can’t” Can’t Be, Anymore (Part 1)

Scripture — John 6:1-9 (NET)

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. (Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.) Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” (Now Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “200 silver coins worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?”

Devotion

“We can’t.” It’s easy to default to this answer. The disciples alone often concluded that something can’t be done, won’t be done or they can’t do it. The Bible is a rebuttal against what can’t happen and the Gospels in particular give us lessons of disciples who think they can’t. In Matthew 17:19, they said they couldn’t cast out demons. When people tried to bring children to Jesus, the disciples rebuked their parents and said you can’t do that. And Jesus had to remind them that those with a childlike disposition–the ones who have imagination–are the people who get into the kingdom. Jesus told his disciples that he had to die at the hands of leaders and be raised. Peter told Jesus you can’t do that. When Jesus was praying before he headed to the cross the disciples demonstrated that they couldn’t stay awake. There are plenty of examples of disciples who struggle to see the bounty of beauty in the kingdom and think “It can’t be that way” instead.

Jesus came to give us a better perspective and better imagination—a redemptive imagination, really; a view of this world and life that considers the fact that if God the Father can send his own son into the world and let him die for all of us so that we never have to worry about death again, then just perhaps he can use us to save others, help with homelessness, and figure out a way for us to be together even when things break down.

When you and I came to salvation our view of life and the world should have changed. Yes, this world is broken. Yes, the prince of the power of the air is at work in people. Yes, there are missing pieces. Yes, you and I are the breakers. But there is one who is greater in us than the one that is in the world. God is really good, and God is good towards every problem we see. We believe and serve Jesus who went to the cross knowing even the worst of something can bring redemption. Jesus demonstrates throughout his life that in his kingdom the questions change. Instead of asking and only noticing what is missing, we are learning to recognize what can be. Instead of only noticing the fallibility of others, we begin to notice that potential is proximate also. Instead of only seeing the brokenness, we are learning to see grace and mercy following close behind all the days of a person’s life.

In leadership–influence–of any kind, there are constant reminders of what is missing, lacking, broken. And the result of those encounters of barrenness is to either power through it, ignore it, remain burdened by it, or overcompensate with our own capabilities in it. Andrew Root in his book Churches and the Crisis of Decline says, regarding our postmodern era, “the assumption is that resource accrual is what gives life.” If we just have enough people, degrees, years since the last failure; enough capital, new language, enough to compare to others, then we can get some things done. Thank God that Jesus is present, but not postmodern.  And Jesus used the disciples to help us understand that this extraordinary kingdom changes our perspectives about other people and circumstances and slows down the use of “can’t.”

The disciples were far from perfect in this process. But what a gracious reminder that he kept them as his own. And because of that, Andrew provides the lesson that “can’t” can’t be, anymore.

Banner image by Victor on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Jesus the Bread of Life (John 6).

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