Dear Readers, I hope you will continue joining me for “Running Toward the Danger,” based on Scriptural accounts, and research. We are looking at the ministry of Jesus through ficitonalized perspectives of those who were front and center, based on Scriptural accounts, and research.

Each post includes its primary Scripture notation, a stakeholder’s perspective, and question(s) for thought. My goal is to offer new insights into the ministry of Jesus as He chose to fulfill His Heavenly Father’s purpose for Him by running toward the danger for each of us.

James’s Perspective

The Danger of Transparency

Scripture Reference: Matthew 17:1-8 CEV

Perspective

Sometimes being part of the inner circle can have its perks. It can also come with tremendous risks and responsibilities. Let me give you an example.

Peter, my brother, John, and I had been friends, neighbors, and business colleagues all of our lives. We weren’t anything special, just fishermen working hard to provide for our families, when Jesus called us to follow Him. That was kinda weird, but in a cool way.

We had grown up in the Jewish culture of expectation and longing for the promised Messiah for centuries. No really, CENTURIES. As ordinary as Jesus seemed when He called us, there was something that grabbed us by the gut and said, “This is Him! This is the One that has been promised.” We literally dropped everything and followed Jesus. We schlepped around with Him for a few months, watching Him perform miracles, and listening to His teaching of what He called His “gospel of love.” We also wondered what our roles were to be in His ministry.

One day Jesus gathered everyone who had been following Him, around 120 of us, in one place. Then He chose the three of us, plus Peter’s brother, Andrew, and eight others to be His posse, doing what we’d been doing, only from a closer perspective. Being part of the twelve out of over a hundred, was excitiing, but kinda of scary sometimes. Fast forward to risks and responsibilities.

Shortly after being chosen, Jesus told Peter, John, and me to go with Him to a nearby mountsin. What happened there was the game-changer for us.

After hiking up the mountain, the three of us collapsed on a shady spot where Jesus had stopped. Before we could ask Him what was up, He began to change right before our eyes. All of a sudden it was like Jesus had been struck by lightning, It was as if a spotlight shone on Him, and the air around Him was charged . . . but that wasn’t the weird part. We’d seen Jesus heal the sick and feed thousands with only a kid’s lunch. Those miracles were incredible, but this was different.

All of a sudden, two other guys were standing and talking to Jesus inside the bubble of light. He called them by name: Moses, Elijah. Hold the phone, Jack! Moses and Elijah? Prophets of OLD had that lived, prophesied, and died around a THOUSAND YEARS AGO? What! And here they were chatting it up with Jesus, like no big deal, while our mouths dropped open at what we were seeing.

Peter jumped up and said we should build a memorial to this amazing visit bwtween Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Before he could finish, the prophets disappeared, and the sky became cloud covered. As if things hadn’t been bazaar enough, all of us heard a voice thunder from the sky, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!”

Everything we thought we knew and believed changed in that moment. Jesus loved and trusted us with the risks and responsiblities by being completely transparent with us. He knew our strengths and weaknesses, and yet He was willing to run toward the danger of being transparent, revealing Himself in a way we never could imagine, drawing us closer into a new level of relationship.

By being transparent with Peter, John, and me, Jesus risked us twisting the experience into a power play among the other apostles, and followers. What amazing trust He showed by giving us the responsibility of using what we had seen and heard to further our Heavenly Father’s kingdom.

Jesus never shied away from running toward the danger of transparency. There were times some of us apostles wished He had. The more transparent, the more forthright Jesus became with the growing number of followers, the more danger He placed Himself in with the Jewish temple leaders. The focus and courage Jesus demonstrated by being transparent became motivation and encouragement for the work I would do in the years to come.

Question(s) for Thought

Think about a time you chose to run toward the danger of transparency. How did it affect your relationship(s)? Describe how it impacted your personal sense of identity?

Series Links

• The Danger of Conflict
• The Danger of Commitment
• The Danger of Community
• The Danger of Transparency
• The Danger of Doubt
• The Danger of Rejection