Right Thing in the Wrong Way

By Bill Hill


The Right Thing in the Wrong Way

There is an old story about St. Patrick baptizing a druid priest. [ii] Both men were standing in the water and St. Patrick had inadvertently placed his staff on the priest’s foot. When the baptism was complete, Patrick said, “You can go now.”

The priest answered, “I can’t.”

“Why not?” a puzzled Patrick responded.

“Your staff is on my foot.”

An embarrassed Patrick said, “Oh, I ‘m so sorry, why didn’t you tell me?”

The priest answered, “I thought that was part of it.”

St. Patrick had done the right thing, baptizing the priest, but in the wrong way, with his staff on the priest’s foot.

Much of the Christian world is doing the right thing in the wrong way. Like the druid priest, we have learned to endure these unpleasant experiences. We think that is just the way it is: leaders who don’t care that much about God or us; churches that bore and drain the joy out of the soul; silly power struggles that sicken the spirit. Yes, being a Christian and living with other Christians will always be difficult. There is sin in us and therefore in the church, but in the midst of the battle, we must know that we are doing things that bring transformation.

We live in a world where two ways or philosophies are at war. The first philosophy is the Jesus way. It is a world of sacrifice, submission, humility, and patience. It is the worldview of Jesus where God is at the center and his disciples live for others because Jesus was a man for others. In the Jesus world, it is not about us, it is about God. The Jesus way shows us that the means is just as important as the ends.

The other philosophy, and it dominates, is the consumer culture. It is a world of consumption, assertiveness, speed, and fame. In the consumer world it is all about me. In the words of Mohammad Ali, “Whee! Me!” In the Jesus way Jesus becomes more—in the consumer way, man becomes more.

The consumer culture creates the consumer church, which gives us consumer Christians.

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