Purpose is what makes a life worth living. Our task is to discover
ours and to invest in our purpose faithfully, regardless of consequence. John’s quixotic Rogue Priest act epitomizes that ideal even as his less-than-perfect persecution of his calling enables us to identify more closely with him. It's important to understand the threat John The Baptist represented to the religious establishment in Galilee. John’s fiery rhetoric threatened the authority of the religious figures and even the Roman-installed government itself.  John’s repeated outspoken denouncements of the Roman-installed governor, Herod Antipas, threatened Herod’s position. To Herod, John wasn’t Billy Graham, he was bin Laden, likely viewed initially as a whacky rabble-rouser, John likely came to be thought of as a religious extremist and a terrorist. This led to a less-than-ideal ending to John's story, the reward for his years of service and sacrifice being exiled to a lonely tower and beheaded at the whim of a school girl. Between points A and B, however, are important lessons for all believers.

The Outsider

Here’s why I hate going to Walmart: I work at home, which means I tend to work in my pajamas. It usually doesn’t even occur to me to get dressed until I run out of Cheerios and therefore need to go to Walmart. Walmart has chased all local supermarkets out of the area, so everybody around here goes to Walmart. When I arrive at Walmart, I usually look like I’ve been mugged. If I’m really on my game that day, I might have remembered to comb my hair. In many ways I appear to be a homeless person, quite possibly wearing mismatched shoes and whatever I could find on my tumble out of the house. And, of course, this is where I run into the Church Folk. Lots of them. It is nearly impossible for me to go to Walmart and not run into somebody I know or, worse, who knows me but whose name I have forgotten. There I am, rummaging for bottled water and cheese and, over my shoulder it comes, “Hey, Reverend!” Which leads to the mortifying smalltalk as I remain planted there, looking all the world like Fred Sanford, wishing I could just grab what I need and go home. The solution, of course is for me to spend an hour grooming before going to Walmart, which I’d be happy to do if I were, say, insane. It’s Walmart. I shouldn’t need to rent a tux to go buy cheese. But, socially, a minster is kind of a big target, and I was trained that a minister needs to always look like a minister. Which is helpful and true in terms of real-world application while being entirely unbiblical. I doubt the Apostle Peter, an uneducated fisherman, owned a dress suit or necktie and I am reliably informed that Jesus Christ dressed like the common man. And, of course, there is John The Baptist.

John is my favorite biblical character. I identify with John because he existed outside the box and beyond the norms of the religious community. In the parlance of the black church, John was both a prophet and an apostle. He was actually the last known prophet sent by God the Father before the start of this, the Dispensation of Grace. John came from a prestigious family line of Levite priests and was, from birth, entitled to assume a prominent and respected position within God’s ministry. But, for most of his life, John existed outside of the mainstream of Jewish ministry. Biblical scholars speculate John was schooled by an eclectic group of evangelical fundamentalists known as the Essenes who actively proselytized the Jewish faith to Gentiles, baptizing converts into Judaism. From birth, John had been set aside for a divine purpose, his path divergent from what the Church Folk of his day considered reasonable or normal.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12

This is what fascinates me so much about John. I am hardly a prophet, and certainly don’t consider myself any better or higher than anyone else. But, like John, I am on a divergent path. And because Church Folk are so conditioned to expect what they’ve always had, see what they’ve always seen and hear what they’ve always heard, most everything I do or say seems strange or odd to them. This also was John: a stranger, an outcast. As a result, the Church Folk of his day neither respected him nor took him seriously. To them, John was just some wack job hollering down by the freeway; just another guy who needed a bath. Both then and now, religious people are among the most truly ignorant in any given society. Why? Because these people have no relationship with God. A relationship with God makes you wiser and more patient; allows you to see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears. Church Folk do not have a relationship with God. What they have instead is religion. There is no truth in religion. There is no salvation in religion. Religion is about tribalism, pageantry and a culture of tradition. Church Folk just see what they want to see. Anything outside of the expected, beyond the mainstream, is childishly dismissed. As a result: they do not learn, they do not grow. They gather together and choose yet another ignorant tribal leader as "pastor," and continue marching in place, living purposeless lives that neither serve nor please God.

John’s calling was to be an outsider, a person following a different and unique path. John was likely broke. He probably didn’t own much. He wasn’t a clothes horse. He had none of the trappings of a comfortable and successful religious career. John spent his days prophesying about a huge change coming to the world, a Messiah Whom John was certain was soon to arrive. He convinced many people to repent of their sin and be baptized, and he openly and forcefully called out the religious leaders of the day for their hypocrisy. All of which painted a rather huge bullseye on John’s back, but John was unconcerned about such things. He didn’t care about money or power or political gain. It didn’t matter to him whether or not the other pastors accepted him. He had work to do. John worried about doing his thing, about obeying God, and let everybody else worry about everybody else.

It’s important to understand the threat John The Baptist represented to the religious establishment in Galilee. John’s fiery rhetoric threatened the authority of the religious figures and even the Roman-installed government itself. If there were an uprising, the Romans would surely clamp down on the Jews and put the high priests out of business, if not execute them for sedition against the Roman state. Further, John’s repeated outspoken denouncements of the Roman-installed governor, Herod Antipas, threatened Herod’s position. Not that Romans particularly cared whose wife or cousin you married, but Herod could get sat down just to keep peace in the region. John’s zealotry and angry rhetoric, therefore, made him a target for the immoral and greedy men he criticized. To them, John wasn’t Billy Graham, he was bin Laden, likely viewed initially as a whacky rabble-rouser, John likely came to be thought of as a religious extremist and a terrorist. This paints John’s ministry as one of extreme sacrifice as John knew the punishment for his outspokenness would be torture and death.

Thus, I tend to see John The Baptist not as the fat, aging lunatic often depicted in biblical art, but as a hardened man forged by both his environment and his convictions. I keep searching for an image that best describes what I see in John, but keep coming back to Spoken Word Poet Saul Williams. Williams is certainly not a Christian entertainer (unless I’m missing the point of his artistry), but in virtually all other aspects he embodies the personal qualities I see in John. He exists mostly in his own space, in rarified air belonging to the likes of Erykah Badu, Outkast and the lesser-known but mind-blowingly amazing, talented, driven intellectual juggernaut Jay Electronica. Williams flaunts convention in every possible sense, creating sounds and concepts uniquely his own and living off of the support of his listeners (from tours and digital downloads direct from his website. Williams’ aggressive and demanding themes challenge our thinking and perception of the world even as he seems to struggle with his own place in it. This, to me, is a modern-day John The Baptist: conviction, conflict, and a measure of fearlessness from a man who seems completely at ease with the choice to walk alone. Understanding Williams and his art presents a steep learning curve, but becomes a satisfying and rewarding journey which spirals to unrealized depths of discovery.

My friend Jason Gaulden describes Williams this way: "He never had a chance to be anything other than a free-thinking, peace-loving, action-oriented force for good in this world. Born to two passionate artists, a father who was a Baptist PREACHER and a mother who was a school TEACHER, with hip-hop as his life-long playmate, his life was bound to be a journey of unique artistry, fueled by knowledge and an endless search for more of it. It is no surprise that his life is set to a deep cross-cultural rhythm and marked by his mastery to make reality rhyme. He is one of few in this world able to say 'no thanks' to all pre-packaged definitions of success and instead unabashedly write from the heart, sing from the heart, speak from the heart and be who he is."

Outspoken:: Spoken Word Poet/Musician Saul Williams (with apologies to the Church Folk for the profanity).

An Imperfect Ending

John was less than perfect. My conclusions from these scriptural passages is that John was both in sync with God and then out of sync with Him. In sync in terms of establishing his ministry out in the wilderness, out of sync by neglecting to follow Jesus once John baptized Him. Jesus Christ’ arrival was the fulfillment of scripture, signaling the end of John’s ministry and the beginning of Christ’s. John should have wrapped up his affairs and followed Jesus. Instead, John continued on with his work, at times rivaling that of Jesus even while pointing to Jesus as the arrived Messiah.

This is a common sin for all pastors, myself included, to occasionally wander off-script and into self. It is human nature and evidence of our own imperfection. Preachers should speak as God speaks. Once God stops speaking, preachers need to shut up. but most of us simply keep on preaching, moving beyond the inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit and into opinion, our point of view about things.

John’s story, as with many biographies, has its ups and downs. As with many biblical tales, John’s story does not have a symmetrical or perfect finish to it. We are left to speculate if, in those final moments of life, John lost his faith in Jesus Christ. We are left without the comforting notion of a loving God interceding on John’s behalf and rescuing him in his final hour. My conclusions, throughout this series, is that John wandered off-script; that he was at times saying things God had not inspired him to say and that he was at places God did not call him to be. In the bible, prophets frequently come to unpleasant ends, as did many of Jesus’ disciples. Our takeaway must not be that a life of service to God will result in a comfortable retirement and painless transition into eternity. We do because we are inspired to do. We go where we are inspired to go. For His own reasons and His own purpose, God allows disease, suffering and death to afflict even the righteous, which is the lesson of Job. This is a confounding mystery, as we are socialized to expect reward for sacrifice, a happy ending to our story. God has promised us neither. He has, in many ways, promised just the opposite. Not a grinning, super-rich Joel Osteen, but a life of struggle and perhaps obscurity and poverty as we submit ourselves to His perfect will for our lives.

Purpose is what makes a life worth living. Our task is to discover ours and to invest in our purpose faithfully, regardless of consequence. John’s quixotic Rogue Priest act epitomizes that ideal even as his less-than-perfect persecution of his calling enables us to identify more closely with him.

Following are a series of observations about John and his unique ministry.

Christopher J. Priest
2 October 2011
editor@praisenet.org
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Next: Chapter One: Ecce Agnus Dei