It is more difficult for me to put words to this vow. For this year cycle of the dojo, obedience will be the last rhythm we explore (probably about 2 months from now). Maybe it is hard for me because I haven’t spent a lot of time wrestling with it with others.

I think the place for me to start is to acknowledge Jesus as something more than the price that was paid for us. I think it is easy to focus on this narrow perspective of Jesus because it is very personal. But I think obedience calls us to acknowledge Jesus as much more. It calls us to also acknowledge Jesus as our teacher and guide and to recognize that Jesus has been given authority over all of creation. 

It is through his Son that we have redemption– that is, our sins have been forgiven. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were create all things– in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities– they have all been created through him and for him. He existed before all things and he holds everything together. (Col 1:14-17)

I think in many ways, this is a little hard for us to grasp. We don’t know what it is like for someone to have "supreme" authority in the west so maybe it is a little difficult to imagine what that means. For me, it has been both comforting and arresting to think of presidents, prime ministers, CEO’s, and other rulers as no-rulers but as stewards of earthly power that has been given to them. Or, to put it another way, Jesus is Lord, and you are not.

But what about Jesus as teacher in the ways of the Kingdom and the way of Love? Do I trust what he tells me in the scriptures? As Paul mentions in 1st Corinthians 1, do I trust that God’s "nonsense" is wiser than man’s "wisdom"? Am I willing to follow it?

So much of what Jesus did and said was counter to the way our world and culture works. He was mysterious,  subversive, and elusive. He was radically compassionate and embracing while simultaneously critical of the rulers and authorities. He was a healer, mystic, companion and a traveler. He was the Son of God.

How do we go about obeying him and not all of our "isms"– capitalism, liberalism, conservatism,  technicism, and so on?