Author: Eric Segawa, Volunteer Chaplain, Highland Hospital, Oakland
24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. (Luke 23:24, NIV)
I avoid confrontation. Being Asian this is culturally commonplace. I make the effort to employ relational finesse when disconnects arise; I’ve seen this in my parents and others whom I respect. Arguing is rarely a good thing. But being Christian is more than being Relationally Correct; it is following Christ, who handed Pilate an opportunity to stand for integrity or to appease the masses and avoid an uncomfortable confrontation. More than I care to admit, I can relate to Pilate who was politically astute but spiritually timid. Pilate’s choice was not one of faith but one of packaged expediency. The Lord gives us similar choices every week.
In private the boss gets unfairly and unconstructively criticized and the Lord hands us the opportunity to make a difference by what we say or don’t say, and how we say it. We can take a stand for Christ by confronting attitudes that are not of the Lord, attitudes that also drag down the workplace that can subtly resemble the mob that demanded to crucify Jesus. Faith rises above culture, personal preferences and public circumstances. This faith results in courage that confronts in the name of Jesus who confronted Pilate and the cross.
Looking to Jesus who looked beyond the mob, Pilate and personal preferences, we are to look beyond the stress of confrontation to see the faith that takes a stand for Christ.
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The ISAAC 2009 Lenten Devotional, edited by Rev. Dr. Johnson Chiu. This devotional was written by Asian American English ministry leaders and pastors in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. To purchase, click here: Road of Suffering, Road to Glory: A Lenten Adventure with the Savior
