Lent@Landmark: Day 32

Jesus didn’t beat around the bush.

That’s an odd expression, isn’t it? We all know that to “beat around the bush” means that we’re not being direct, skirting an issue rather than taking it on head first. It actually comes from medieval times, when hunters would hire people to go into the woods with sticks and beat the ground around the bushes to chase the game out. However, you wouldn’t hit the bushes directly for fear of injuring the game before the hunter who hired you got a crack at it, or for fear of hitting a bees nest, which of course could bring an end to the hunt in a hurry.

That’s why it’s “around” the bush—fear of what my happen. And that’s why Jesus didn’t do it—he wasn’t afraid, and so he said what needed to be said, like John 12:25, for example.

“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)

That’s a tough one, right? I feel a desire to spin that one into something a little more palatable, which reveals, upon careful introspection, that I am afraid of what might be revealed (or what might jump out of the bushes where it’s hiding) if I said that, or if someone said it to me.

It’s best to just face the question, then. Where have I drawn the line regarding what I’m willing to give up to become more like Jesus? Do I hold out a hand toward the Lord and say, “Stop right there, God. I love these things too much to offer them to You.”

Of course, we probably wouldn’t say it that way. We’d probably beat around the bush. —MH