Written by Jared Byas Illustrated by Jenna Compton
The One
Once upon a time there was a boy who loved his father and longed to be just like him. And even if it was only in the young boy’s eyes, his father was all-powerful, all wise, all good. The father always helped his son, told him what to do and which decisions were for the best.
The boy, he grew, and his childhood was glorious and serene. Whenever he faced a difficult decision, he’d run to his father who would hug him tightly and tell him just which road to take. The boy found such comfort, knowing that he could trust his father with every decision he faced.
At night, the boy would sit with his father by the fire and recount the difficult questions that had confronted him through the day. He would tell his father his thoughts and hopes, but would always end the same way: “That’s what I want father, but whatever you decide is best.” He was glad to trust his father with the answers for his life, to place them in the hands of one who knew far better.
When the boy became a man, his father grew ill. And for the first time, fear assaulted him; it struck him to the core. “I am lost without my father! How can I make a single decision without his clear direction?” And in that moment came the most devastating revelation of all: he was nothing like his father. He was neither wise, nor good, nor powerful.
The father recovered but the son never did.
The Other
Once upon a time there was another boy; who loved his father and longed to be just like him. And even if it was only in the young boy’s eyes, his father was all-powerful, all wise, all good. The son expected his father to give him the answers to life, yet the father never did.
The boy, he grew frustrated. It was difficult to understand why his father acted as he did. When he would ask (and I admit, sometimes he demanded) for the best path to take, the best road to choose, the father would simply smile and say “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Day after day, the boy would come to him with a decision, a crossroads in his life, and the father would simply say “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And the boy felt unacknowledged and hurt.
He would go to his mother in exasperation, yet she would simply read him a passage from the book. The book that told of his father’s acts so very long ago. And sullen, he would say, “I don’t want to know what my father did; I want to know what I should do right now!”
But in bed at night, when the house was still, the boy would read the book again and again. Though he loved the stories, he never quite found the simple answers he sought. He would slam it shut in disgust and say, “I’ll just have to make my own decision.” And so he did.
When the boy became a man, his father grew ill. And fear assaulted him; it struck him to the core. He stood at his father’s bedside. “Before you go, I need to know one thing. Why did you never tell me what to do? Why did you never answer me clearly? Why did you give me nothing when I needed your direction most?”
His father replied, “Nothing? I gave you exactly what you needed. To simply have given you each answer would have robbed you of the gift of the struggle. It is struggle that matures. To be like me, my son, is to be willing to suffer."
The son considered this, and asked his father, “But why did you take the risk? I could have made all the wrong decisions!”
His father answered sternly, “Did you not read the book? You know who your father is. I will always be with you, even to the end of the age. The balance between Love and Power does not stop you from making mistakes, it redeems them.”
And then the son understood. His resentment melted away and was replaced by inestimable gratitude.
The father recovered and remained with the son, even to the end of the age.
Jared Byas is a pastor, professor of Philosophy & Biblical Studies, and a communications adviser. He is the author of Genesis for Normal People
(2012) & dozens of impromptu short stories so his kids will go to
sleep. He lives in VA with his wife Sarah and three sleep-hating kids,
Augustine,
Tov, & Elletheia. You can find him on Twitter @jbyas.
Jenna Compton is a creative in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She likes drawing, coffee, and making other people happy. You can see more of her work at jennacompton.com.
You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to support what we do here, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.
Things have been a bit quiet here over the last few weeks. You may have noticed.
I thought it might be time to explain that, because that silence is about to come to an end.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working behind the scenes with my friend and editor, Sebastian Faust, as well as a number of others, to re-imagine what exactly On Pop Theology will look like for the next month, for the next year, and what we hope to achieve going forward.
The podcast is where we’re really hoping to shake things up.
As always, there will still be interviews with people we find interesting and noteworthy. In fact, we would very much love to hear your suggestions on who you’d like to hear us interview. I can’t promise anything, but I’ve tried some bizarre things in an attempt to get a guest before. Aim high.
Also, our more avant-garde studio shows with Jesse Moon, Sebastian, and myself will still be a monthly feature. If you’ve listened to those episodes, you’ll know we’re game for pretty much anything.
More importantly, we’ll be bringing you two different types of podcasts this year.
In the first, we’ll be trying to explore difficult and complex societal issues. We want to learn about and talk about the hard things and we want to work with the people who understand those topics.
For the second, we’ll be focusing one episode a month on a particular book of the Bible. Our goal is to bring in some of the most knowledgeable Biblical scholars to lend us their expertise as we try and understand how to read the Bible responsibly, respectfully and justly.
Here’s the part where we need your help, and it’s two-fold.
First, we need your ideas. What do you want to read about? What do you want to learn about? What questions do you have? You can leave a comment here, contact us on Twitter at either @BenHoward87 or @OnPopTheology, or send us an email at onpoptheology@gmail.com.
Second, we’re asking you for money. While the podcast isn’t expensive to produce, it’s also not cheap. Our budget for the show this year is almost $400 which covers web hosting and equipment. If you like the show and can spare $5 or $10 to help us cover the costs, we would be deeply grateful.
We’ve added a "Donate" button to the sidebar on the right. Just click there and you can donate whatever amount you’d like via Paypal.
I’ve said before that On Pop Theology, both the blog and the podcast, is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done. I love doing this. I love being creative, I love working with creative people, and I love being able to share that creativity with you.
You are all wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving!
Ben
Howard is an accidental iconoclast and generally curious individual
living in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also the editor-in-chief of On Pop
Theology and an avid fan of waving at strangers for no reason. You can
follow him on Twitter @BenHoward87.
by Ben Howard Reads of the Week 1)The Shameful Neighbor: Food Stamps, Stereotypes and the War on the Hungry by David R. Henson "And if one of God’s beloved children does not have their daily bread, we
are not truly fed, either. Then, we too should feel hungry. Hunger
anywhere is hunger everywhere, particularly in a country that sings of
its amber waves of grain." 2)Real Talk and the SE Asian Sex Trade & The Big Ask: How Can I Help Fight Human Trafficking and Slavery by Jamie Wright "It's real and it's huge. The scope of the problem is astounding. The
sheer numbers of people for sale is shocking - and I'm not talking
about reading statistics on the internet, I'm talking about what I
saw, like, with my eyeballs – one hotel with 300 girls
for sale, another with 500, and then another and another, karaoke
bars with a hundred girls each, street after street of brothels and
fronts for brothels." 3)Why I Can't Stay Angry (Even Though I Want To) by Rachel Held Evans "A skeptic who is prone to cynicism, and a contemplative who is prone to
indulgence, I find myself sinking into a state of bitterness from time
to time. I lose hope—in myself, in others, in the Church, in God. I
forget that we know the ending to this story and that it involves a
lovely bride and a big banquet, and instead I assume the worst of other
people, expecting the worst from this world." 4)Jesus as the Only Way to True Happiness? by Jared Byas "So in order to maintain the belief that true happiness/fulfillment only
comes from Jesus, we often do two very harmful things. First, we pretend
we are happy when we aren’t. After all, if Jesus is the product that
gives me happiness and I’m not happy, I have only three choices (1) say
the Jesus product is broken (2) user error or (3) pretend I am happy so I
can avoid numbers (1) and (2)." 5)Real vs. Fake Christian Persecution: How You Can Spot the Difference by Benjamin Corey
"We are so culturally programmed that there 'will be persecution' that we develop a persecution complex which causes us to look at any given ink blot and see an intriguing case of anti-Christian discrimination." Honorable Mention The Happy Ending by Justin Robinson What Heresy Is (A Post for Rachel Held Evans) by Tony Jones Killing Me Softly: On Privilege and Voice by Christena Cleveland Tweets of the Week "THE RIDER IS BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH. AND HE IS NAKED. HE WAVES A SIGN SAYING THE CHILD IS A BOY." - Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) Note: If you didn't follow Maureen's Royal Baby tweets on Monday you owe it to yourself to check them out.
"For unto a child is born, unto a son is given. And the government will
be upon his shoulders. Sort of. The monarchy is just a figurehead." - Sharideth Smith (@sharideth) "I peed next to Lou Diamond Phillips once." - Aaron Smith (@CulturalSavage) On Pop Theology Week in Review The Memory of Violence by Charity Erickson
"A
few years ago, I worked at a coffee shop on a college campus. There was
a German Masters student and first-year language instructor—a
thick-necked, plaid-and-khaki-wearing bro if there ever was one—who
liked to sit at the bar and chat up the younger baristas while “grading
papers” (i.e. friending his female students on Facebook.)" Tell Me a Love Story: Learning About Relationships From Strangers on the Internet by Ben Howard
"It's
no secret to readers of this blog that I'm a bit of a hopeless
romantic. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies and I even caught the
Bachelorette bug for the last half of one season (Let's all have a
moment of silence for Jef with One F)." A Work In Progress by Ryan Hawk "We
are all a work in progress; that’s the true reality of sanctification.
At no point do I ever fully understand the faith I claim or the church
to which I belong." Song of the Week "Still a Believer" by Nataly Dawn
The Other
