Hostage
What is your favorite movie or story that involves hostages?
(This doesn't sound like the beginning of a post on the Pastor's blog that will get me invited back to write again.)
Really, what stories or movies come to mind that involve hostages?
The first that came to my mind with "Inside Man" with Denzel Washington. As I recall, it involved hostages in a bank robbery as well as the police on the outside trying to negotiate and rescue.
Next to come to bubble up was the real story of the 1972 Munich Olympics. I saw this last week that Jim McKay died and more than one writer put his most famous words as "They're all gone", as he shared with the world the news the Israeli hostages were killed.
I was passing on some verses to our new church council and one of the verses was from Matthew 20:25-28:
Okay back to the movies.... or at least the movie playing in my head....
How would a hostage movie play out if instead of the FBI or a SWAT team, or hostage negotiators, the hostages were dependent on the Christians in their neighborhood to plan their rescue?
One hostage would say to another, "What is taking them so long? Are they forming a committee? Maybe reading a book and holding weekly discussions on theories ethical treatment of kidnappers? Can they at least send a salad or hot dish from their potluck supper?
Seriously, who are the hostages? I am thinking it is anyone held captive. Any of us could find ourselves captive to our sins, our habits of bad choices, our lifestyle. Hostages could be held by chemicals, alcohol, fears, and anxiety. Hostages could be in our own families, they could be next door, in the next workspace, or in a country we can't on a map.
Good news, Jesus hasn't forgotten about them. He as already paid the ransom. So the mission is over?...not quite. The hostages haven't heard yet. It is up to us Christians to let them know. To convince them there is a way out, sometimes the hostages have been brainwashed. To find them and walk with them from the darkness in to the light as often hostages are kept in closets, windowless rooms, basements, or locked in a trunk or container.
But the reality is sometimes like the 1972 Olympics. The rescue attempt fails. Was it too little? Too late? Poorly executed?
Now to get back in the good graces of my pastor and other pastors...The pastor sometimes is used the escort the hostage to freedom, but the pastor's real job is to train and equip the rest of us to escort the hostages to freedom. So like a well trained and experienced FBI or SWAT team, each member of the team has a job to do. Remember the goal is not to climb to the lead position on the team but to rescue hostages.
How about you.... if you were/are a hostage, would you want to be depend on someone like you to be on the team to rescue you?
(This doesn't sound like the beginning of a post on the Pastor's blog that will get me invited back to write again.)
Really, what stories or movies come to mind that involve hostages?
The first that came to my mind with "Inside Man" with Denzel Washington. As I recall, it involved hostages in a bank robbery as well as the police on the outside trying to negotiate and rescue.
Next to come to bubble up was the real story of the 1972 Munich Olympics. I saw this last week that Jim McKay died and more than one writer put his most famous words as "They're all gone", as he shared with the world the news the Israeli hostages were killed.
I was passing on some verses to our new church council and one of the verses was from Matthew 20:25-28:
He (Jesus) said, "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage." --The MessageI chose those verses because of the clear challenge for "servant leadership." But in the last few days, it has been the very last word from the text that has caught my attention: "Hostage". But not just one hostage, but "the many who are held hostage." While Jesus is certainly speaking to his disciples who are pressing for the best "positions of leadership", His focus and goal remains on the mission: free the hostages at whatever cost.
Okay back to the movies.... or at least the movie playing in my head....
How would a hostage movie play out if instead of the FBI or a SWAT team, or hostage negotiators, the hostages were dependent on the Christians in their neighborhood to plan their rescue?
One hostage would say to another, "What is taking them so long? Are they forming a committee? Maybe reading a book and holding weekly discussions on theories ethical treatment of kidnappers? Can they at least send a salad or hot dish from their potluck supper?
Seriously, who are the hostages? I am thinking it is anyone held captive. Any of us could find ourselves captive to our sins, our habits of bad choices, our lifestyle. Hostages could be held by chemicals, alcohol, fears, and anxiety. Hostages could be in our own families, they could be next door, in the next workspace, or in a country we can't on a map.
Good news, Jesus hasn't forgotten about them. He as already paid the ransom. So the mission is over?...not quite. The hostages haven't heard yet. It is up to us Christians to let them know. To convince them there is a way out, sometimes the hostages have been brainwashed. To find them and walk with them from the darkness in to the light as often hostages are kept in closets, windowless rooms, basements, or locked in a trunk or container.
But the reality is sometimes like the 1972 Olympics. The rescue attempt fails. Was it too little? Too late? Poorly executed?
Now to get back in the good graces of my pastor and other pastors...The pastor sometimes is used the escort the hostage to freedom, but the pastor's real job is to train and equip the rest of us to escort the hostages to freedom. So like a well trained and experienced FBI or SWAT team, each member of the team has a job to do. Remember the goal is not to climb to the lead position on the team but to rescue hostages.
How about you.... if you were/are a hostage, would you want to be depend on someone like you to be on the team to rescue you?
Comments
You may enjoy the work of Robert Greenleaf on this topic, if you're not already familiar with his writings. The historical, conceptual, and implementation of servant leadership has been encapsulated in the package entitled Servant Leadership. It's available to view at Trainer's Toolchest's website at www.trainerstoolchest.com and plug in keywords "servant leadership".