He was the most powerful person in history. But instead of exploiting relationships to fulfill his selfish desires, he humbled himself and served others.
With each passing day, I see another headline. Another well-known person is accused or fired. I’m talking about sexual harassment. Sexual abuse. We can’t miss it. It's running rampant in our culture. And it’s sickening.
None of us had any idea how bad things would get. Every day we are waiting to see who will be next. It has reached far and wide, from talking heads on TV shows to celebrity chefs to the highest office in our land. Then it dawns on us … the news is only reporting the cases of abuse that involve famous people.
What is worse is that sexual abuse has been everywhere for a long time. Long before the mainstream news media reported these atrocities and long before the balance of power moved from the perpetrators to the victims, many women were reporting abuses to their superiors with no recourse, or suffering in silence. But, thankfully, that is changing.
When we hear these stories, our hearts break for the victims. As a person of faith, this concern extends as well to the oppressed and marginalized. I am grateful that moving forward, men using their positions of power and influence to harass, demean or objectify women will be unacceptable. The “boys will be boys” idea, or whatever ways people try to justify this behavior, is finally seeing its long overdue demise.
As a pastor, it’s not lost on me that this is coming to light at the end of the calendar year, at a time we commonly know as the Christmas season. This special time is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Whatever people’s feelings about Jesus, the reason for the birth of this child was to demonstrate what real humility looks like. God coming to our world as a child and ultimately dying on a cross for the forgiveness of humankind … that is the message of Christmas. And it rings out today as a unique sound, in light of all that is happening.
Any time a person is abused or harassed, it is wrong. And it’s even more alarming when abusers leverage positions of power as opportunities to prey on people. Yet even as human culture has celebrated many thousands of Christmas seasons past, we have yet to really grasp the message of Christmas, and the message of Jesus.
When we consider Jesus, we realize he was the most powerful person in history. He had the most influence on people. And yet, instead of exploiting relationships to fulfill his selfish desires, his life was always about God’s will for him and God’s heart for people. Jesus humbled himself and served others. He showed up as a helpless child. As a grown man, he chose to die on the cross. He ultimately shows us that power does not have to be a means to a selfish end. God wants our positions of influence and power to be an opportunity to humble ourselves, and bless and serve our community and our world. Jesus, rather than seeing himself as superior to others, fully identified with our human condition and served us.
When I think of Jesus and the message he brought at Christmas, I am troubled that 2,000 years after he walked on the earth, masculinity is still trying to figure out its appropriate and proper expression. Far too many men feel that an oppressive, objectifying and demeaning view of women is just how we are — when the whole time Jesus is there, serving as the ultimate example of masculinity, for us to understand and emulate.
Our culture might not realize it, but it is crying out for real masculinity. And Jesus has always been that. I am hoping we will look at him with fresh eyes this Christmas and ask God how we can take on more of the qualities of Jesus. A heart to stand in the gap for other people, to see them in whatever state they are in, and push away any other thought than: God, how do you see this person, and how can I bless them today?
On the other side of the coin, this Christmas I am especially reminded that Christmas is a message of hope. Jesus not only came to show us a new way of living, he ultimately came to bring forgiveness. I am not recommending any get-out-of-jail free cards for anyone who has perpetrated these evils that are being exposed. But we cannot forget that all of us are in need of forgiveness.
Even on my best day, I fail in innumerable ways. I don’t always get it right, and I can hurt others. We all struggle and we are all in process, and the reality God brought at Christmas was a celebration of taking the next step in relationship with God and responding to his desires for us.
I am so grateful that Jesus isn’t done with me yet. And for everyone who has victimized others, I pray this Christmas they will find the way to true spiritual renewal, through the message of Jesus.
Daniel Fusco, author of Upward, Inward, Outward, is the pastor of Crossroads Community Church (Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore.), and hosts TV show Real with Daniel Fusco on the Hillsong Channel. Follow him on Twitter: @danielfusco
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/12/12/what-jesus-could-teach-chefs-celebrities-president-masculinity-daniel-fusco-column/942295001/
