Thursday: The Mastery of the Secondhand
WEEK 34
THURSDAY
THE MASTERY OF THE SECONDHAND
Romans 8:1-2
We now take another step in mastery—the mastery of the secondhand. The early Christians not only centered on the One—on Jesus—they centered on a firsthand Jesus. We can see the difference between the firsthand and the secondhand in the account of the seven sons of Sceva who were exorcists and undertook to cast out evil spirits at secondhand:
There were some Jews who traveled around throwing out evil spirits. They tried to use the power of the name of the Lord Jesus against some people with evil spirits. They said, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you!” The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
The evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus and I’m familiar with Paul, but who are you?” The person who had an evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all with such force that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. (Acts 19:13-16)
The man who had evil spirits had a firsthand experience of evil spirits, and these seven men had a secondhand experience of Jesus, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you.” The firsthand mastered the secondhand, and they fled. That always happens; the firsthand inferior will always master the secondhand superior. If Jesus is to be power, then it must not be by a repeating of his name at secondhand—the Jesus who is real to somebody else—he must be real to you. Secondhand religion is always overpowered by firsthand evil. The comparative impotence of the church is caused by the secondhand nature of its religion. Its religion is in creeds, in rituals, in books, in services, in prayers; but it is not a fountain of firsthand living experience of Jesus. As “Mary” says: “They preach Jesus, but don’t preach Jesus available.” Jesus is never available if you are preaching a secondhand Jesus. It must be out of one’s own depths to the depths of the other person. Only that which comes from the heart can reach the heart. Only one loving heart can set another heart aflame. In the Acts these people were not guides pointing woodenly to a way; they were men and women who were joyously walking the Way and recounting the wonders of it at firsthand. No wonder multitudes pressed into the Way to accompany them!
O Spirit of God, take the dimness of my sight away and let me see this Jesus face to face, so that his fire may catch fire in my heart and set me aflame. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My religious experience will be firsthand, straight out of the heart of God.