A Chest of Drawers

Do you remember when a bureau was no more than an item of furniture for storing your underwear and socks? It has a couple of smaller drawers on top and three or four more of increasingly greater depth below.

My Grandmother's [1] chest of drawers was taller than I, made of walnut and was always filled with soft, silky, mysterious things that smelled good. Under the clothing she hid valuables, like her pearls, out of reach of thieves who would never think to look there. She was right; thieves never touched those pearls.

My nostalgia would deny it, but furniture is pretty prosaic. A bureau holds our belongings in an organized manner. We tuck things into it and it functions as a container.

Without our action it doesn't work. If we hang shirts on the door knob, throw our socks on the floor or leave our folded undies on the chair, the chest of drawers does nothing. If we produce clutter our furniture will not interfere.

Bureau is a French word signifying a cloth covering for desks. It appears to derive from burra for a shaggy cloth (1699). Apparently the Brits, hearing French badly, thought it was a cool word for the desk itself, especially those having drawers and a slant top. From there it was just a few steps to the low chest of drawers in the bedroom. By the time my American Grandmother bought hers it was taller than most children.

Had this all ended with walnut furniture the world might be a better place. But no, in 1818 the French spotted those non elective government officials bustling about in uncluttered but basically non-productive activity and called them the bureaucratie. Now, even the elected officials of government are seen as part of a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape and proliferation. [2]

Thus, we have politicians today (probably more today than yesterday), who we refer to as "a fixture". They, thinking as they do, believe that being compared to furniture is a compliment. The next time you dust your bureau, pray for these poor souls who have one foot nailed to the floor by the hammer of their own choosing.

Contrarily, our credit and news bureaus seem to defy their definition and actually work quite well. The one, more often than not, facilitates loans for us and the other pushes news dispatches around the world. We often forget these exceptions when thinking of the negatives of bureaucracies.

We think negatively but, unhappily, continue to build structural relationships that hinder rather than help. Why do we compose organizational structures which slow all processes, restrict freedom and cripple our agility for decision making? Why do we soak the good earth of our work together turning it into a quagmire of over control?

Helen Keller said, Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...life is either a daring adventure or nothing. She said that blindly but she understood. (She is a good example of the blind leading the sighted!) We want security and we think we can achieve it by measures of control or restriction. The future is frightening; we worry and seek to harness it with regulations and bylaws. We overestimate our own capabilities of control and vitiate our relationship of faith with God.

Our security is found only in our Lord but we "bureau" (read pigeonhole) Him out of our organizational and personal life. "We must be practical." "Everyone does it this way." "We've never done it that way." These are examples of the linguistic codification of behavior that excludes faith. It might be more accurate and fruitful to say: "If everyone is doing it, we should probably stop and if no one is doing it we should consider beginning."

As declared disciples of Jesus we should think about His example. On the record, Jesus began to behave in an "uncontrolled" manner in the Temple at the age of twelve. He never failed to honor and obey His earthly parents but He never lost sight of The Father. He was no smart aleck kid. In fact, the passage ends by saying that "...Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." [3]

Later, Jesus routinely exhibited a holy highhandedness as he took the Law to fulfillment in the heart. His teaching from the steepness of the mountains stepped dangerously beyond written restrictions to freedom by faith in God's grace. He said outrageous things that infuriated the bureaucracy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law:

       We worry about our image (what others think of us) but He tells us to rejoice when mistreated and insulted wrongly.

       We worry that others will misunderstand our words but He tells us to let ‘em see our good deeds.

       We worry about the details of the law but He urges us beyond legalism.

       We condemn murderers but he says we are no better.

       We have ceased to worry about adultery because we have practiced it with our eyes for so long it just seems right.

       We claim the "right" to divorce because "God wouldn't want me to be unhappy."

       We have developed detailed and convoluted contracts because the simple "yes or no" He requires is insufficient.

       We want an "eye for an eye" but He says we should put up with the wrong.

       We love to kill our enemies but He insists we "kill ‘em" with love.

       We "share" the blessing of our giving in public but He instructed secrecy.

       We "witness" by praying in public but He pointed to the closet.

       We fail to forgive and expect forgiveness.

       We find fasting uncomfortable and forego it but He expects it to be done and done in secret.

       We store our treasures here but He seeks our heart for wealth beyond comparison.

       We worry about the future like the pagans and He says now is all there is.

       We are quick to blindly see the optical obstacle in the eyes of others while unconscious of our own hypocrisy.

       We are spiritually bereft because we fail to ask and then do to others before they can do to us.

       We take the wide "low-way" with the huge majority but He signals the narrow, minority path leading to life.

       We grow like trees and He notes that our behavioral fruit will declare our phylum.

       We foolishly build on the "sand" of public opinion but He exposes Himself, the foundation rock of our being. [4]

We have the audacity to say He didn't really mean what He said or that it meant something different back then. It won't wash; enemies were just as deadly then as now. What Jesus said and did was outrageous and He commanded us to follow Him.

His "reckless" harvesting and eating of grain on the Sabbath was no invitation to licentiousness but to liberty. [5] Why would Jesus allow such a non-issue to be blown out of proportion by the Pharisees? He stayed right in their face by going with them to their synagogue and healing the man with a withered hand. Couldn't He have waited ‘til Sunday? They were so mad they began to plot to kill Jesus.

When some Pharisees asked for a miraculous sign, Jesus soothingly called them "a wicked and adulterous generation". [6] They (correctly) pointed out that His disciples were breaking tradition (and good health practices) by eating without washing their hands. Jesus charmed them by calling them hypocrites. [7] He warned His disciples to be on guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. [8] Couldn't Jesus see this was no way to win them to His side? What about simple social graces and politeness?

Jesus, this man of peace and light, blows into the temple one day, overturns the tables of the money changers and interrupts a traditional business arrangement. [9] The chiefs were upset again. Jesus just couldn't seem to get His P.R. right. Did He lose His head? Was He being intentionally provocative?

In another moment of spiritual lightheartedness, Jesus told the chief priests and Pharisees that even people from the "IRS" and whores would enter heaven before them. [10] He then cranked the volume up by speaking to the crowds and calling the religious leaders self-serving, blind guides, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, snakes, vipers and murderers. [11] He had no good name for them. Didn't Jesus know the "Thumper principle"? [12]

It seems that this Jesus, who we claim to follow, was extremely patient and loving with children [13] and irascible with officious types. We are often just the opposite; short with the little ones and obsequious with powerful people. We get it backwards but still call ourselves His disciples. Is it really possible to be disciplined pupils of Jesus?

One of the ways governments maintain control of a population is through taxation. When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus on this issue by asking if it is right to pay taxes to the occupation forces of Caesar, He calls for a coin. By flipping the coin with Caesar's image on it back to Caesar he answers nothing about taxes but poses His own question about what belongs to God. The Pharisees, knowing everything is God's, turn away amazed. [14]

While we clearly have trouble with the words Jesus spoke, we are even further from following the example of His daily life. What did all of His offensive behavior mean? Did He really mean for us to imitate that?

When Jesus warns the disciples against the "yeast" of the Pharisees and Sadducees He speaks of their teachings. [15] Later, as He spews names of revilement it becomes clear that Jesus expects obedience to the teachings of the law of Moses but urges the disciples to not do as the Pharisees do. [16] The condemned "yeast" of their teachings is that they don't practice what they preach. The negative impact of their lives is such, even today, we refer to people who don't walk their talk as pharisaical.

The teachers of the law used the perfectly correct teachings of Moses and extrapolated to extensive lists of rules which burdened everyone but themselves. Holding the power of interpretation of the law, they made much ado over the letter not the spirit of the law. The law which is for the benefit of man becomes a burden as it is insinuated into every detail of life. Now, as then, those in control do nothing to lighten the load. [17]

In a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, on April 5, 1887, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, later know as Lord Acton, wrote: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." [18] That is true, in part, because the powerful bask in public recognition, the place of honor, reserved seating, reserved parking and titles of respect. [19] Corruption begins with the imposition of burdensome regulations which give control to those "great ones" among us. God gave Moses ten commandments. By the time Jesus speaks to the Pharisees their traditional extension of the law ran to thousands of rules. The rules are made to validate the position of the powerful. Thus, the disciples are condemned for picking grain and not washing their hands. Their disobedience put that position of power in danger; if they could get away with such "rebellion" others would too.

While important people insist on control (in the name of good order, of course), Jesus models and seeks leaders who behave as servants and refuse to be set on pedestals of power. [20] He does this, and expects it from us, because control slams the door of the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. Not only do the powerful choose to not enter the kingdom, they prohibit others who want to. [21] People in control are playing God. God "plays" people in the man Jesus and does it with humility. In gentleness, He invites us to shoulder His light burden under which we find rest.[22]

Those who live this corrupted pattern of life (which denies life) do so with evangelical fervor. They roam the face of the earth in search of adherents who learn to be even more hellacious. [23] The fact that others adopt and practice arrogance and control establishes that behavior as the norm; it is right, proper and to be expected. We come to believe that the wielding of power is legitimate if the majority vote for it or approve. Hitler understood when he said, "The great masses of the people ...will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." [24] There is no comfort in numbers. All we learn from the majority is that at least half plus one of a group temporarily agree about something, not whether it is right or wrong.

Powerful people will only take so much. The plot to kill Jesus is finally consolidated; Judas betrays Him and He is taken before Caiaphas the high priest, surrounded by the teachers of the law and elders. Those who control things are careful to proceed legally. False witnesses are brought but no evidence worthy of death is found. Jesus refuses to answer any charges. In great frustration, the high priest finally asks if He is the Messiah, the Son of God and Jesus says, "Yes, it is as you say...." The first real question elicits the answer. Truth does not come from falsehood and God is not the author of lies.

When bureaucracies collaborate it can be fatal.  The bureaucracy of the Hebrew leadership, in utter subjection, takes Jesus to Pilate, the governor of the Roman forces of invasion. The chief priests and elders decide to put Jesus to death and astutely pass the "hot potato" to the authorities of the Roman occupation of Israel. Pilate and the Romans are an illegal government but by agreeing to help with the "Jesus problem" they legitimatize their own illegal presence in Israel. Pilate knows Jesus is innocent but the political opportunity is too good to pass up. [25]

Pilate, too, asks one real question, "Are you the king of the Jews?" and Jesus answers that He is. Then Pilate is deafened by the thundering and insubordinate silence of Jesus before His accusers. His refusal to answer highlights His kingship and denies recognition to all false authority. Even the intervention of the Governor's wife is not sufficient for Pilate to do the right thing. He proclaims his own innocence and orders Jesus to be crucified. [26]

When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we use the bread and wine remembering that crucifixion and death. We often fail to remember the behavior that led to His death. Further we, almost always, refer to His resurrection in order to lighten the load. Jesus instructs us to remember His death on the cross with all the pain and shame because He died in our place. As we structure our relationships we should also remember that the two most powerful bureaucracies of the day put Jesus to death. Albert Einstein said, "Bureaucracy is the death of any achievement." They could not kill His achievement; but, they did kill Jesus.

Jesus died for us but He also lived and died in open warfare with the two bureaucratic systems which impinged on Him. His example is clear. Jesus also preached what He practiced.

When two of the disciples enlist their mother to sneak the seats of power by His side the other ten are indignant. All twelve are wrong. Jesus points out that their heads are full of the world's patterns of power. The exercise of authority, so sought after by many, has no place among the followers of Jesus and He forbids it. Greatness is only possible in servanthood, in being a slave to others. [27] St. Francis of Assisi understood and listed the refusal of power as necessary for discipleship. Do we intentionally misunderstand?

Whatever our final behavior in relation to the governments we live with, [28] we must seek to follow both the words and behavior of our only example. That is even more important as we relate to one another in the Body of Christ. Jesus models a relationship with His followers that corresponds exactly (not legalistically) to His words. Even when Peter denies Jesus (which Jesus had predicted) he is never treated with power and punishment but with frank forgiveness and the command "Follow me!" [29]  Triple denial is forgiven but the exercise of power, whether personal or corporate, is ruled out. We can serve but we can't rule. We only have one King and He is our servant.

How does this play out in our churches and Christian organizations? Do we organize our relationships so as to serve one another more readily? Do we seek to factor out positions of power and prestige? Do we refuse to set up structures of dominance? Do we make it easy to move at the insistence of the Holy Spirit? Do we believe that the majority should have the last word? Do we accommodate manipulation because we are primarily political?

There are many questions we might ask but one might be more important than others. Do we go to church or are we the church? If we primarily go to church it is not surprising that we feel we must control things, that we must worry about what people think. After all, churches are incorporated, have bylaws and boards and statements of faith. It is easy to feel that our reputation is safeguarded by the organization; our faith is in the statements and structure that are written to cover every doctrinal and practical contingency. The feeling might be that we must "protect" our church for the sake of future generations. It is difficult to come to that conclusion from the example of Jesus.

If we are the church, however, following His example is more straightforward. If we love one another as Jesus commanded, people will know we are His followers. [30] Our good works will result in praise to God. [31] We will serve one another because He expects it, not because we have a certain position in the organization.

We know "no servant is greater than his master." The plot to kill Jesus was carried out. He was hated for no reason and we can expect the same reaction if we follow him. Some will obey His teachings through us and others will hate us because we obey. [32]  Bureaucratic organizations demand uniformity in what is ostensibly morally neutral behavior. If we exercise power we validate their exercise of power. If we serve in humility, with no position of power, we will irritate the powerful. As with Jesus, that irritation will arise among the bureaus of organized religion. They might even count us out of the church or worse! Jesus Himself warns of this. [33]

Can we trust the Holy Spirit? Or, must we be guided by General Motors in structuring our churches and organizations? Must we be organizationally presentable to the world? Who establishes the "rules of the game?"

Do we dare follow Jesus? My grandmother did; she knew what a chest of drawers was for.

William T. Hunter, Jr.
Santo Domingo
October 1994

[1] Ruth Anne "Mom" Sanders 1892 – 1982

[2] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.

[3] Luke 2:52

[4] Matthew 5, 6 & 7

[5] Matthew 12:1-8

[6] Matthew 12:38-39

[7] Matthew 15:1-9

[8] Matthew 16:8-12

[9] Matthew 21:12-17 It is amazing that many people use this incident to justify the killing of enemies in war. It is hard to imagine that the killing and loving of enemies can be done simultaneously and even more difficult to see this incident as teaching that. Jesus does not use lethal force here.

[10] Matthew 21:28-32

[11] Matthew 23

[12] In Walt Disney's movie Bambi the mother of a young rabbit (Thumper) says to him, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

[13] Matthew 19:13-15

[14] Matthew 22:15-22 This passage is used for teaching on modern day taxes. It is not clear to me that we should extrapolate from Jesus' comments about taxes to an illegal, occupation government to a doctrine of taxation by legitimate authority.

[15] Matthew 16:5-12

[16] Matthew 23:1-3

[17] Matthew 23:4

[18] Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Sixteenth Edition, page 521-5

[19] Matthew 23:5-7

[20] Matthew 23:8-12

[21] Matthew 23:13

[22] Matthew 11:28-30

[23] Matthew 23:15

[24] Mein Kampf; 1933, vol. I, ch. 10

[25] Matthew 27:1-2

[26] Matthew 27:11-26

[27] Matthew 20:20-28

[28] The examples of Joseph and Daniel are often sited as justification of our participation in positions of power. On that basis we are told of our obligation to be good citizens and to even seek elected office (the higher the better). We fail to remember that both of those men were prisoners of foreign governments and were assigned their positions of power. They were bounced from prison to furnace, from pit to den. They did what came to hand with "all their might" which meant good work. But when orders contradicted God they never flinched. God always brings good out of what is meant for evil but even that truth does not make these into examples for us to follow into power.

[29] John 21:15-25

[30] John 13:34-35

[31] Matthew 5:13-16

[32] John 15:18-25

[33] John 16:1-4

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