Blog
“A Spectacle”
Categories: M. W. Bassford, Meditations
Language is a funny thing. Over decades and centuries, words shift in meaning, sometimes dramatically. One such word in English is the word “spectacle”, particularly in its adjectival form. Rather than merely referring to that which is attention-grabbing, “spectacular” now is generally that which is both attention-grabbing and good. People today would not describe the Hindenburg disaster, for instance, as spectacular.
However, every major English translation of the Bible uses “spectacle” in its older sense in 1 Corinthians 4:9. When Paul writes there that he and the other apostles have become “a spectacle to the world”, he doesn’t mean that they are surrounded by people applauding their virtue and skill. Instead, he compares the spectacle they offer to that of a man condemned to public execution.
The Romans were thrifty people. To them, executions weren’t only an opportunity to rid the world of someone they considered undesirable. Instead, they also sought to shame and disgrace the condemned as an object lesson to anyone in the crowd who might consider defying the might of Rome. The humiliating subtext of the crucifixion of Christ was typical for the Romans.
This, then, is the kind of spectacle that Paul and the apostles are presenting. They are being held up for mockery, reviling, persecution, and slander. More provocatively, Paul says that they are being displayed in this way not by the Romans or even the Jews, but by God. He is allowing them to be exposed to mockery so their mockers could see their faith, to reviling so the revilers could receive their blessing, to persecution so their persecutors could see their endurance, and to slander so the slanderers could see their graciousness. In the end, the spectacle is not of humiliation. It is of glorifying God by imitating Christ.
I have become a spectacle at two times in my life. The first was when my daughter died; the second is my terminal diagnosis. Neither of these are positive. I believe that both are evils conjured up by the devil and permitted by God. My struggles with ALS already have exposed my vulnerability to mental illness. I anticipate that in future, they will reveal the weakness and failure of my body and perhaps even my mind. These are the things that my disease will highlight in me. Nonetheless, I am determined to turn each, so far as I am able, to the glory of God.
I say these things, though, not to elicit either sympathy or admiration. I am only what Christ has made me, and I never will be anything more. Instead, I want to point out that for all of us, the worst times in our lives, the times that shock others and elicit their pity, are also the times when God is exhibiting us as a spectacle.
When we are so exhibited, we choose the kind of spectacle that we will be. Will we display only suffering and shame, human frailty and human failure? Or, instead, will we imitate Christ and His apostles? In the face of trial and tragedy, will we shine with faith, resolve, courage, and hope? We usually cannot choose to avoid becoming a spectacle. However, we can determine that regardless of what the devil throws at us, our spectacle will honor God.
Language is a funny thing. Over decades and centuries, words shift in meaning, sometimes dramatically. One such word in English is the word “spectacle”, particularly in its adjectival form. Rather than merely referring to that which is attention-grabbing, “spectacular” now is generally that which is both attention-grabbing and good. People today would not describe the Hindenburg disaster, for instance, as spectacular.
However, every major English translation of the Bible uses “spectacle” in its older sense in 1 Corinthians 4:9. When Paul writes there that he and the other apostles have become “a spectacle to the world”, he doesn’t mean that they are surrounded by people applauding their virtue and skill. Instead, he compares the spectacle they offer to that of a man condemned to public execution.
The Romans were thrifty people. To them, executions weren’t only an opportunity to rid the world of someone they considered undesirable. Instead, they also sought to shame and disgrace the condemned as an object lesson to anyone in the crowd who might consider defying the might of Rome. The humiliating subtext of the crucifixion of Christ was typical for the Romans.
This, then, is the kind of spectacle that Paul and the apostles are presenting. They are being held up for mockery, reviling, persecution, and slander. More provocatively, Paul says that they are being displayed in this way not by the Romans or even the Jews, but by God. He is allowing them to be exposed to mockery so their mockers could see their faith, to reviling so the revilers could receive their blessing, to persecution so their persecutors could see their endurance, and to slander so the slanderers could see their graciousness. In the end, the spectacle is not of humiliation. It is of glorifying God by imitating Christ.
I have become a spectacle at two times in my life. The first was when my daughter died; the second is my terminal diagnosis. Neither of these are positive. I believe that both are evils conjured up by the devil and permitted by God. My struggles with ALS already have exposed my vulnerability to mental illness. I anticipate that in future, they will reveal the weakness and failure of my body and perhaps even my mind. These are the things that my disease will highlight in me. Nonetheless, I am determined to turn each, so far as I am able, to the glory of God.
I say these things, though, not to elicit either sympathy or admiration. I am only what Christ has made me, and I never will be anything more. Instead, I want to point out that for all of us, the worst times in our lives, the times that shock others and elicit their pity, are also the times when God is exhibiting us as a spectacle.
When we are so exhibited, we choose the kind of spectacle that we will be. Will we display only suffering and shame, human frailty and human failure? Or, instead, will we imitate Christ and His apostles? In the face of trial and tragedy, will we shine with faith, resolve, courage, and hope? We usually cannot choose to avoid becoming a spectacle. However, we can determine that regardless of what the devil throws at us, our spectacle will honor God.
