In the Name of Jesus - by Henri Nouwen
“The temptation of power is greatest when intimacy is a threat.”
Simon Sinek recognized that every organization and leader knows what they do, some know why they do it, but very few know why they do what they do.
The tendency to confuse motion with progress is prevalent. Many people have bought into the lie that busyness equals importance. That somehow a full schedule, meeting requests, and an overflowing inbox equal you are indispensable.
This unfortunate destructive cycle isn't just common amongst striving professionals, but also vocational and lay Christian leaders. The danger of confusing God's pleasure with human attention and recognition is more dangerous than it has ever been. Christian leaders have to defend themselves against measuring their success by their video views, social media followers, and online subscribers.
Henri Nouwen identified this danger and made a course correction a long time ago.
This is week 27 of 52 in the Tim Challies 2020 reading challenge, and I chose for my book this week In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen. This is an especially odd selection for me, a protestant reformed Calvinist, as Father Nouwen was a Roman Catholic priest. But as the quote goes, which is most often wrongly attributed to St. Augustine, "all truth is God's truth."
I have been encouraged by Nouwen's raw honest assessment of Christian leadership and the crucial need for servants of Christ rather than ministers modeling corporate CEOs.
I give In the Name of Jesus 3.5 of 5 Stars. Bottomline: easy quick read that will assault your current motivations for the what and why of how you spend your time. Stars were taken off mainly for disagreement surrounding the interpretation of certain passages of scripture, and overall a lack of extending certain ideas to their natural conclusions. Overall, a challenging short read!
What follows are a few highlights!
1. How do you measure success?
"After twenty-five years of priest-hood, I found myself praying poorly, living somewhat isolated from other people, and very much preoccupied with burning issues. Everyone was saying that I was doing really well, but something inside was telling me that my success was putting my own soul in danger" (p. 10).
Success.
How do you define it? How do you measure it? Do you think of success only in terms of financial security? Personal popularity? Physical health? Family wellbeing? Professional occupation?
Henri challenged me with his words. How do I think about success in the daily things that I am striving for?
Ultimately, as believers in Jesus Christ, success in life is surrender to Christ. Success is embracing the reality that I can do nothing and am nothing apart from the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ.
"The leader of the future will be the one who dares to claim his irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows him or her to enter into a deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success and to bring the light of Jesus there" (p. 22).
Henri was not only a successful Priest, but a brilliant professor, teaching at Harvard, Yale, and other prestigious Universities. But because he felt Christ's call to surrender himself instead of gain self-recognition, he decided to leave popularity to serve among those with special needs.
Regardless of personal motivation or theological conviction, Henri is right. Christian leaders need to embrace personal irrelevance and bring the supremely relevant gospel to those passionately chasing the glittering wind of success.
2. Satisfied in Christ Alone
"Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance" (p. 31).
Christian leaders need to slow down and stop saying "I think…". To much advice is given in the name of Jesus today that never considers the words of Jesus!
Henri argues for a passionate and dutiful prayer life for the future Christian leader.
Unfortunately, Henri's argument for cultivating this prayer life is to listen to "the voice of love." I say, unfortunately, because while God is certainly loving, he is also full of wrath against Sin. Just as he shows mercy, he will also execute justice.
Cultivating a life of prayer is more than reflecting on God's love for all people, it is also considering his absolute hatred and intolerance of all sin.
However, I do agree with Henri on one subpoint, that cultivating a life of prayer helps combat seemingly urgent matters.
When you spend time in biblically informed prayer, things in life begin to auto-correct into appropriate positions. Suddenly, things you once were extremely worried about start to dissipate. Prayer helps us capitalize on matters of true importance and weather storms of insignificant worry.
"Through contemplative prayer we can keep ourselves from being pulled from one urgent issue to another and from becoming strangers to our own and God's heart" (p. 29).
Closing thoughts
Measuring Success as a Christian can be determined, in part, by your satisfaction in Christ.
Is your sin confessed and satisfied in his death? Is your guilt satisfied by his sacrifice? Is your security satisfied with his care? Is your purpose satisfied in his sovereign plan? Is your joy satisfied in his resurrection? Is your hope satisfied in his future second coming? Is your love satisfied with his love?
Nothing we strive after in life will ever satisfy our created purpose to know God and glorify him forever. Only in the grace of Jesus Christ will we truly find satisfaction.
I enjoyed reading Henri's short book, and while I disagreed with sections, overall, I found the substance of his work to be thought-provoking and personally challenging to find my satisfaction in Christ.
PREVIOUS Reviews
John Owen came from Welsh descent, was educated at Queens College, and became a renowned Puritan theologian, Oxford professor, and passionate pastor who lived from 1616 to 1683. In 1647, he wrote the exhaustive treatise The Death of Death defending Limited or Definite Atonement against the Arminian view of Universal Atonement or Unlimited Atonement.