March 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Join us in keeping a Holy Lent! The theme for this year’s Lenten series is Growing Up in Christ! We get to this theme in response to the opportunity and necessity of us all becoming more mature Christians. Our marriages, families, vocations, state, nation and world all will be better when we decide, with new resolve, to Grow up in Christ! Above all, Growing up in Christ is an active friendship with Jesus that changes us and points us toward the world that he loves. For the next five weeks, we’ll offer a video meditation on this theme with a study companion for you to make the meditations as personal and useful as possible.
In today’s episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about the Jesus' temptations in the wilderness and how Bishop Wright landed on Settled as the opening meditation to the series. In a time filled with anxiety and external pressures, it's vital to ground ourselves in the truth of who we are as beloved children of God. Are we truly settled in our self-worth? Listen in for the full conversation.
Learn more about this year's series, watch the weekly videos, and download the reflection guides here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bishop Wright (00:00):
The devil leads with.
If what helps Jesus navigate isthat those are not ifs for
Jesus, and there are some thingsthat don't need to be ifs for
us.
You are my sibling.
You have value, dignity andworth.
I have value, dignity and worth.
God does not delight in you andus looking in the mirror and
not seeing someone who isvaluable, has dignity and worth.
(00:20):
But when we finally embrace whowe are, as told to us by God's
word, and so once my dignity andyour dignity are settled, then
that can send us off in adifferent trajectory.
Melissa (00:40):
Welcome to For People.
With Bishop Rob Wright, I'mMelissa Rau and over the course
of this Lent, Bishop and I willbe having a conversation based
on Growing Up in Christ, aLenten curriculum and video
series produced by the EpiscopalDiocese of Atlanta.
You can access the videos andaccompanying material at www.
episcopalatlanta.
org.
(01:02):
These resources are perfect foryour individual Lenten devotion
or small group study.
Good morning, Bishop.
Bishop Wright (01:10):
Good morning.
Melissa (01:11):
So this week in Lent, your devotion you called Settled
and it is based off of Luke 4,verses 1 through 13,.
When Jesus is tempted.
Bishop Wright (01:25):
Right.
Melissa (01:26):
And you talk about Jesus' identity and purpose
being tempted by the devil andyou kind of drop a big phrase.
You talk about the big word ifyeah.
What's hitting you right now,before we go into the big if
word.
Bishop Wright (01:42):
Well, I think what's hitting me is what's
always hitting me, and that isthat I try to read my Bible and
watch the news and live my lifeand what I realize is is that,
you know, we're in a time now,as I listen to people and listen
to, you know, the media we'rein a time of profound volatility
.
You know there's a lot ofanxiety in the system.
(02:04):
Some of it comes fromWashington DC, some of it comes
from the economics of things,some of it comes from just sort
of personal anxiety in thepeople that I meet.
And so, as I take all of thatto scripture, what emerges for
me, especially when I look atLuke 4 and Jesus' encounter with
(02:24):
the devil in the wilderness, isthat Jesus is settled.
Jesus is fully divine, webelieve, and also fully human,
and yet some things for Jesusare settled.
You know, jesus is a greatcompanion in this regard in this
Luke 4 chapter, because thedevil is not able to come for
(02:45):
him around identity and purpose.
Jesus is settled in hisidentity and purpose.
The world is moving fast aroundhim and what helps him to be
anchored is that the devil'ssort of tip of spear, if you
will, is to have Jesus toquestion his identity if you are
the son of God and that issettled for Jesus, and so Jesus
(03:08):
is able to fend off temptation.
And it occurs to me that whilewe have to deal with lots of
vicissitudes in life the ups anddowns of life, you know the
sinking sand of things one thingwe can be settled on is that we
are the children of God, thatGod loves us, that we are
(03:29):
forgiven, that we have dignity,worth and value in God's eyes,
and that ought to take some ofthe anxiety of modern living
away from us.
We ought to be able to standsecure in that.
Melissa (03:42):
Okay, so how then does being settled in our identity
and in our purpose reflectmaturity?
Bishop Wright (03:51):
Yeah, I mean, I think all of us.
You know, one of the greatestthings about getting a little
older is you start to getsettled in things you know, and
you're in your twenties andmaybe even your thirties you're
still trying some stuff, you'restill thinking about some stuff
which way shall I go?
And then something miraculouslyhappens.
As you get a little older, youstart to know that, hey, I love
strawberry ice cream.
There's lots of different kindsof ice creams out there, but I
(04:13):
love strawberry ice cream.
Or you know, I don't know,jamaican food is my favorite.
You know, bar none, whatever yousort of land on things and you
know some of the gray goes away.
Not all of the gray, becausegray stays with us our whole
life, but some of the graystarts to go away and you start
to sort of integrate lots ofparts of yourself and you start
(04:34):
to know your own mind.
It's not to be confused withbeing rigid either, but your
sort of certain things becomebedrock for you and I hope that
that happens in terms of ourfaith, while we always have to
be growing and maturing inChrist.
In fact, that's the purpose ofthe whole Lenten meditation is
to invite people to figure outwhat does it mean to actually
grow up in Jesus Christ?
(04:55):
So we are growing up, but atthe same time, parts of our
growing that actually give ourgrowth sort of flourishing and
vibrancy is we're settled in afew things, and so my self-worth
is settled.
Now I may struggle with allthese external forces in the
world, but in terms of God'seyes, my identity and my value
is settled.
(05:15):
As I've said thousands of times, you know, there's nothing that
I can do that's making me,that's going to make God love me
less.
There's nothing I can do thatmakes God love me more.
It is what it is.
I am, who God says I am, I ambeloved, and so, you know, jesus
seems to walk around in that,you know, and that settles him
(05:36):
and it actually helps him toparse all of the things that are
happening in front of him, notthe least of which, in this
encounter in Luke 4, is thedevil.
And you know, when you look atthis text, the devil is actually
working on really sort of fineshades of meaning with Jesus,
and so Jesus is a greatcompanion for us as we try to
figure out our purpose.
(05:57):
You know our identity and ourcontribution to the kingdom of
God and on all of these things,you know the devil leads with if
.
Yeah, and I think what helpsJesus navigate is that those are
not ifs for Jesus and there aresome things that don't need to
be ifs for us.
You are my sibling.
(06:18):
You have value, dignity andworth.
I have value, dignity and worth.
God does not delight in you andus looking in the mirror and
not seeing someone who isvaluable, has dignity and worth.
God delights when we sort offinally embrace and I understand
it's a journey but when wefinally embrace who we are, uh
as uh, as told to us by, uh, byGod's word, and so that gets
(06:40):
settled.
And once my dignity and yourdignity are settled, then that
can send us off in a differenttrajectory.
Melissa (06:47):
Well, okay.
So the thing I'm holding intension right now is the concept
of being settled in my identity, my worth, my belovedness.
Bishop Wright (06:56):
Yeah.
Melissa (06:57):
And then the big juxtaposed by the devil's well,
prove it, yeah.
And so like I don't want toconflate the notion of settled
and comfort together, so whatwould you say to that Bishop?
Bishop Wright (07:10):
Well, I mean, that's an important distinction,
right?
So I'm not saying complacency,right, but I am saying to be
settled is to understand that Iam who God says I am and I can
do what God says I can do.
That matter is settled, yeah, Imean, we don't want to grow
complacent, and that's the otherside of the spectrum.
Where I want to start peopleoff with is you know where the
(07:31):
gospel lessons start off withthis Lent, which is Jesus's
settled approach to identity.
Right Now, the truth of thematter is, if we go to the
extremes in the other direction,it becomes complacency and
maybe it even becomes abuse.
Maybe we start to say toourselves oh, I have more value,
worth and dignity than you,right, we can become puffed up.
And, of course, st Paul talksto the church in Corinth the
(07:55):
first time he talks to thechurch in Corinth about, in many
ways, they're being puffed upabout their gifts.
So we're not talking about that.
We're talking about somethingmuch more central, not talking
about extremes, not talkingabout complacency.
The truth of the matter is isthat when I'm settled in who God
says I am and I can be who Godsays that I can be, there's a
(08:18):
great deal of humility thatactually comes over us, right?
So it's the humility that helpsme, from the quiet of prayer in
the beauty of nature, in thegift of service, as I try to
live a generous life, remind meof this great inheritance that I
(08:42):
have, and so that keeps meactually humble.
Humility is actually morenimble than we think it is.
It actually helps me to staymore elastic because I encounter
the word, the world, as goodand gift, and then that causes
me to hold myself sort ofdifferently.
It occurs to me that you know,in encountering the devil, jesus
(09:06):
must have said devil, youcannot offer me more than God
has already offered me.
Right, devil, you want me tobow down and worship you, but
you're false, right, the worldis not even yours to give.
And because Jesus had this sortof posture of humility about
you know the majesty of theFather, you know he was able to
(09:27):
understand what is actually agood gift and what appears right
to be a good gift, so he's ableto hold himself that way.
And for me at least, that kindof humility and that kind of
sort of ability to go deep inthanksgiving helps me to fend
off complacency, because I don'ttake it for granted, now do
seasons happen?
Certainly, we're humans, wefall, we stumble, but as a
(09:49):
general matter, it really sortof keeps me in a worshipful
attitude.
Melissa (10:18):
Well, I love this phrase that you said.
Doing flows from our being, andone of the things that I think
we worship or value, in theworld at least, is productivity.
Bishop Wright (10:31):
Yeah.
Melissa (10:31):
And sometimes, I think we're so busy being productive
that we forget that we are humanbeings and not human doings.
And so, Bishop, how do we holdthat intention right?
How do we put being first andhave our doing flow from our
being?
Bishop Wright (10:48):
Yeah, I mean this is the $64,000 question
especially in this country, inAmerica, where so much of our
identity is really caught up inwhat we do and what we've
achieved and what we produceright.
And when we meet people out wesay, what do you do Right?
And so we participate in aculture that prioritizes doing,
and I understand that thosequestions are not from a bad
(11:11):
place.
We're just trying to get asense of who the person is and
so, you know, even maybe as amatter of spiritual discipline,
maybe we start asking otherkinds of questions when we meet
people.
You know, tell me what you love, what do you like, what really
you know sort of what gets yourenergy going, what fires your
best smiles.
Melissa (11:27):
How you be yeah how you be.
Bishop Wright (11:30):
You know, I don't know if the English teachers
who are listening will allow usto get away with that, but I
mean, I think that's the way wedo this right.
I mean this is that we'vedeveloped and participated in a
culture that prioritizes doingover being, and then we find
ourselves, after many years oftaking that approach to life,
you know, in its extremes, thatwe're empty.
We're exhausted and consumed bya quest for approval, and
(11:54):
really approval, by people whodon't even know us and maybe not
even care about us, right?
And so what a terribletreadmill.
Here's Jesus, by example,helping us to get off the
treadmill.
The reason why I think that thatsort of exchange between the
devil and Jesus is reallyimportant for us to hear with
our modern ears is because ithelps us to reflect on, you know
(12:16):
, a lifetime of just achievingeven if it's sort of for good
purposes.
Is that all there is to life?
You know and here we might goback to Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel and his idea of theSabbath and his idea of
practicing each week ourhumanity just for humanity's
(12:39):
sake, and so I think that's oneof the things that really
afflicts us as a culture.
I think human dignity hasgotten really flattened out,
what it means to be human hasreally become flattened out and
to be a consumer has really sortof rounded out and become more
robust and this, out of balance,I think, leads to this sort of
(13:02):
epidemic of anxiety, ofdepression, of loneliness.
I think it sort of fuels theworst that is happening to us,
which is that we've bought tosome degree or been taught to
some degree that what I have andwhat I make is what I am, and
(13:24):
without that I'm lost.
We see that when people getinto retirement and they really
will have to work really hard tosort of cough up this approach
to life and get down into everyday is a gift.
I'm a gift.
I have some add value.
I also want to celebrate mylife and enjoy my life, and it's
(13:49):
hard for people to get off thattreadmill.
And it's hard for people to getoff that treadmill.
And so for Jesus the way hemodels humanity, even though he
is both divine and human, Ithink is instructive.
Melissa (13:59):
Yeah, I do too, and I was just thinking of the word
worth.
Oftentimes we will lump in whatwe produce as our worthiness,
and so I don't know, Bishoppeople over product, I think is
a good mantra, and I thinkprocess over outcome might also
be a good thing.
I just when we talk about worth, I think this is really what
(14:22):
this is all about.
Right, Jesus knew his worth anddidn't feel like he had to bow
down.
Bishop Wright (14:29):
Well, this is the point of the word settled.
You know which I work hard totry to give you a word to chew
on with the meditation.
So it started off with the oneword settled.
So what would it mean if someof that was settled for us?
You know, yeah, from time totime I have an opportunity to
talk to really bright, brillianttherapists, both professionally
(14:51):
and personally.
I have over the years, and Ithink that the average one of us
, certainly in this culture, hasreally got to think deeply and
thoroughly about this notion ofself-worth.
To have that as a real solidbedrock to stand on.
Your self-worth as settled, itcan really increase the joy of
(15:12):
life.
I think it can increase theinsight into what life is about.
I think it can put us besideother people when those matters
are settled for us.
Otherwise, again, we're just onthis tragic, tragic gerbilbil
wheel, hamster wheel in life,trying to win approval.
And I just, I know that godloves us more than that.
(15:34):
God doesn't want that for us.
You know, and I think scripturebegins to help us with this is
is that?
Look, what would it be like ifyou could just stand in this?
I mean, I understand, Iunderstand the brokenness of our
family of origins.
I understand that by and large,many of us were loved by people
(15:55):
who struggled to know love,because the people that loved
them struggled to know love, andon and on and on.
And yet here comes Jesus, thisgreat liberator, to help us to
break those cycles, to changethe dynamics of our family tree.
And maybe that's the greatestgift that God is endeavoring to
give to us through the ministryof Jesus Christ is to be settled
(16:18):
about who we are and who ourbrothers and sisters are, and
then begin to solve problems inthat way.
Hey, look, just a second here.
What would it be like if webegan to solve problems in this
way, like it's not just about me, over and against you, but it's
about us, because not only do Ihave worth, but you have worth
equal, and so we don't have tobe in this competition for this.
(16:40):
So I think Jesus begins to moveus in that direction, not only
for our personal sort of growthand flourishing, but for the
growth and flourishing ofeverywhere, of the human family,
rather of wherever we findourselves.
Melissa (16:54):
Bishop, you talked about winning approval, and I
think one of the ways that wetry to make people proud, the
people who we want to be proudof us, is by doing more.
And I'm getting the sense herethat that's not what we're
talking about.
Can you be a little bit notthat you're not clear.
Bishop Wright (17:12):
Yeah, no, I mean all of these sort of things, I
mean deserve more than we can doin our you know, 17, 19 minutes
here.
But I guess where I want topoint us to is a step in the
direction of moving away fromearthly approval in all of its
measurements and into divineapproval.
(17:33):
And so what we want to do is wewant to please God, and it's
ironic, isn't it, that the waythat God wants us to please God
is by trusting God.
Right, the Bible tells us thatit is impossible to please God
without faith, and faithrequires me to believe about
myself.
What God says about me Isn'tthat interesting.
And so here God shows God'sloving character to us, that
(17:57):
what God really wants, what Godneeds to make God smile, if you
will, is for us to finallyrealize that when God looks at
us, God says, for us to finallyrealize that when God looks at
us, God says good, right.
And so what would it be like,again, for all of us to come out
(18:17):
from some of the burdens thatwe carry around all of this and
move into this settled notion ofyou know, I love a God who
loves me and has alreadybreathed into me life and
healing, and all that, and all Ihave to do is move in that
direction.
And what I've got to do is I'vegot to believe God more than I
believe the news or more than Ibelieve the fashion magazines or
(18:39):
more than I believe the WallStreet Journal not picking on
the Wall Street Journal but morethan I've got to believe God
about me, more than what myportfolio says about me.
I'm not diminishing thosethings, but they're just not
ultimate and primary for us.
This is an invitation back towhat is center, primary, core,
(19:00):
and that is I am.
Again, I'll say it again, I amwho God says I am, and that is
settled.
Now, for me, it's just aboutliving into that.
Morehouse College is here inAtlanta and they have a
wonderful, wonderful phrase orstory that they tell, and that
is there is a crown over each ofour heads, and so the work is
(19:22):
simply to grow up in statureuntil that crown sort of rests
on our head.
And here for us, that's thejourney, right, the crown is
already over our heads.
It's already over our heads,right.
All you have to do is sort ofjust live up into that crown
that's already over your head.
And so what would it be like tohave that settled for yourself
(19:44):
today.
Melissa (19:45):
Well, that settles it, Bishop.
Thank you.
Bishop Wright (19:46):
I hope so.
Melissa (19:48):
Thank you, listeners, for tuning into For People.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright, or by visiting www.
fourpeople.
digital.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
The devil leads with.
If what helps Jesus navigate isthat those are not ifs for
Jesus, and there are some thingsthat don't need to be ifs for
us.
You are my sibling.
You have value, dignity andworth.
I have value, dignity and worth.
God does not delight in you andus looking in the mirror and
not seeing someone who isvaluable, has dignity and worth.
(00:20):
But when we finally embrace whowe are, as told to us by God's
word, and so once my dignity andyour dignity are settled, then
that can send us off in adifferent trajectory.
Melissa (00:40):
Welcome to For People.
With Bishop Rob Wright, I'mMelissa Rau and over the course
of this Lent, Bishop and I willbe having a conversation based
on Growing Up in Christ, aLenten curriculum and video
series produced by the EpiscopalDiocese of Atlanta.
You can access the videos andaccompanying material at www.
episcopalatlanta.
org.
(01:02):
These resources are perfect foryour individual Lenten devotion
or small group study.
Good morning, Bishop.
Bishop Wright (01:10):
Good morning.
Melissa (01:11):
So this week in Lent, your devotion you called Settled
and it is based off of Luke 4,verses 1 through 13,.
When Jesus is tempted.
Bishop Wright (01:25):
Right.
Melissa (01:26):
And you talk about Jesus' identity and purpose
being tempted by the devil andyou kind of drop a big phrase.
You talk about the big word ifyeah.
What's hitting you right now,before we go into the big if
word.
Bishop Wright (01:42):
Well, I think what's hitting me is what's
always hitting me, and that isthat I try to read my Bible and
watch the news and live my lifeand what I realize is is that,
you know, we're in a time now,as I listen to people and listen
to, you know, the media we'rein a time of profound volatility
.
You know there's a lot ofanxiety in the system.
(02:04):
Some of it comes fromWashington DC, some of it comes
from the economics of things,some of it comes from just sort
of personal anxiety in thepeople that I meet.
And so, as I take all of thatto scripture, what emerges for
me, especially when I look atLuke 4 and Jesus' encounter with
(02:24):
the devil in the wilderness, isthat Jesus is settled.
Jesus is fully divine, webelieve, and also fully human,
and yet some things for Jesusare settled.
You know, jesus is a greatcompanion in this regard in this
Luke 4 chapter, because thedevil is not able to come for
(02:45):
him around identity and purpose.
Jesus is settled in hisidentity and purpose.
The world is moving fast aroundhim and what helps him to be
anchored is that the devil'ssort of tip of spear, if you
will, is to have Jesus toquestion his identity if you are
the son of God and that issettled for Jesus, and so Jesus
(03:08):
is able to fend off temptation.
And it occurs to me that whilewe have to deal with lots of
vicissitudes in life the ups anddowns of life, you know the
sinking sand of things one thingwe can be settled on is that we
are the children of God, thatGod loves us, that we are
(03:29):
forgiven, that we have dignity,worth and value in God's eyes,
and that ought to take some ofthe anxiety of modern living
away from us.
We ought to be able to standsecure in that.
Melissa (03:42):
Okay, so how then does being settled in our identity
and in our purpose reflectmaturity?
Bishop Wright (03:51):
Yeah, I mean, I think all of us.
You know, one of the greatestthings about getting a little
older is you start to getsettled in things you know, and
you're in your twenties andmaybe even your thirties you're
still trying some stuff, you'restill thinking about some stuff
which way shall I go?
And then something miraculouslyhappens.
As you get a little older, youstart to know that, hey, I love
strawberry ice cream.
There's lots of different kindsof ice creams out there, but I
(04:13):
love strawberry ice cream.
Or you know, I don't know,jamaican food is my favorite.
You know, bar none, whatever yousort of land on things and you
know some of the gray goes away.
Not all of the gray, becausegray stays with us our whole
life, but some of the graystarts to go away and you start
to sort of integrate lots ofparts of yourself and you start
(04:34):
to know your own mind.
It's not to be confused withbeing rigid either, but your
sort of certain things becomebedrock for you and I hope that
that happens in terms of ourfaith, while we always have to
be growing and maturing inChrist.
In fact, that's the purpose ofthe whole Lenten meditation is
to invite people to figure outwhat does it mean to actually
grow up in Jesus Christ?
(04:55):
So we are growing up, but atthe same time, parts of our
growing that actually give ourgrowth sort of flourishing and
vibrancy is we're settled in afew things, and so my self-worth
is settled.
Now I may struggle with allthese external forces in the
world, but in terms of God'seyes, my identity and my value
is settled.
(05:15):
As I've said thousands of times, you know, there's nothing that
I can do that's making me,that's going to make God love me
less.
There's nothing I can do thatmakes God love me more.
It is what it is.
I am, who God says I am, I ambeloved, and so, you know, jesus
seems to walk around in that,you know, and that settles him
(05:36):
and it actually helps him toparse all of the things that are
happening in front of him, notthe least of which, in this
encounter in Luke 4, is thedevil.
And you know, when you look atthis text, the devil is actually
working on really sort of fineshades of meaning with Jesus,
and so Jesus is a greatcompanion for us as we try to
figure out our purpose.
(05:57):
You know our identity and ourcontribution to the kingdom of
God and on all of these things,you know the devil leads with if
.
Yeah, and I think what helpsJesus navigate is that those are
not ifs for Jesus and there aresome things that don't need to
be ifs for us.
You are my sibling.
(06:18):
You have value, dignity andworth.
I have value, dignity and worth.
God does not delight in you andus looking in the mirror and
not seeing someone who isvaluable, has dignity and worth.
God delights when we sort offinally embrace and I understand
it's a journey but when wefinally embrace who we are, uh
as uh, as told to us by, uh, byGod's word, and so that gets
(06:40):
settled.
And once my dignity and yourdignity are settled, then that
can send us off in a differenttrajectory.
Melissa (06:47):
Well, okay.
So the thing I'm holding intension right now is the concept
of being settled in my identity, my worth, my belovedness.
Bishop Wright (06:56):
Yeah.
Melissa (06:57):
And then the big juxtaposed by the devil's well,
prove it, yeah.
And so like I don't want toconflate the notion of settled
and comfort together, so whatwould you say to that Bishop?
Bishop Wright (07:10):
Well, I mean, that's an important distinction,
right?
So I'm not saying complacency,right, but I am saying to be
settled is to understand that Iam who God says I am and I can
do what God says I can do.
That matter is settled, yeah, Imean, we don't want to grow
complacent, and that's the otherside of the spectrum.
Where I want to start peopleoff with is you know where the
(07:31):
gospel lessons start off withthis Lent, which is Jesus's
settled approach to identity.
Right Now, the truth of thematter is, if we go to the
extremes in the other direction,it becomes complacency and
maybe it even becomes abuse.
Maybe we start to say toourselves oh, I have more value,
worth and dignity than you,right, we can become puffed up.
And, of course, st Paul talksto the church in Corinth the
(07:55):
first time he talks to thechurch in Corinth about, in many
ways, they're being puffed upabout their gifts.
So we're not talking about that.
We're talking about somethingmuch more central, not talking
about extremes, not talkingabout complacency.
The truth of the matter is isthat when I'm settled in who God
says I am and I can be who Godsays that I can be, there's a
(08:18):
great deal of humility thatactually comes over us, right?
So it's the humility that helpsme, from the quiet of prayer in
the beauty of nature, in thegift of service, as I try to
live a generous life, remind meof this great inheritance that I
(08:42):
have, and so that keeps meactually humble.
Humility is actually morenimble than we think it is.
It actually helps me to staymore elastic because I encounter
the word, the world, as goodand gift, and then that causes
me to hold myself sort ofdifferently.
It occurs to me that you know,in encountering the devil, jesus
(09:06):
must have said devil, youcannot offer me more than God
has already offered me.
Right, devil, you want me tobow down and worship you, but
you're false, right, the worldis not even yours to give.
And because Jesus had this sortof posture of humility about
you know the majesty of theFather, you know he was able to
(09:27):
understand what is actually agood gift and what appears right
to be a good gift, so he's ableto hold himself that way.
And for me at least, that kindof humility and that kind of
sort of ability to go deep inthanksgiving helps me to fend
off complacency, because I don'ttake it for granted, now do
seasons happen?
Certainly, we're humans, wefall, we stumble, but as a
(09:49):
general matter, it really sortof keeps me in a worshipful
attitude.
Melissa (10:18):
Well, I love this phrase that you said.
Doing flows from our being, andone of the things that I think
we worship or value, in theworld at least, is productivity.
Bishop Wright (10:31):
Yeah.
Melissa (10:31):
And sometimes, I think we're so busy being productive
that we forget that we are humanbeings and not human doings.
And so, Bishop, how do we holdthat intention right?
How do we put being first andhave our doing flow from our
being?
Bishop Wright (10:48):
Yeah, I mean this is the $64,000 question
especially in this country, inAmerica, where so much of our
identity is really caught up inwhat we do and what we've
achieved and what we produceright.
And when we meet people out wesay, what do you do Right?
And so we participate in aculture that prioritizes doing,
and I understand that thosequestions are not from a bad
(11:11):
place.
We're just trying to get asense of who the person is and
so, you know, even maybe as amatter of spiritual discipline,
maybe we start asking otherkinds of questions when we meet
people.
You know, tell me what you love, what do you like, what really
you know sort of what gets yourenergy going, what fires your
best smiles.
Melissa (11:27):
How you be yeah how you be.
Bishop Wright (11:30):
You know, I don't know if the English teachers
who are listening will allow usto get away with that, but I
mean, I think that's the way wedo this right.
I mean this is that we'vedeveloped and participated in a
culture that prioritizes doingover being, and then we find
ourselves, after many years oftaking that approach to life,
you know, in its extremes, thatwe're empty.
We're exhausted and consumed bya quest for approval, and
(11:54):
really approval, by people whodon't even know us and maybe not
even care about us, right?
And so what a terribletreadmill.
Here's Jesus, by example,helping us to get off the
treadmill.
The reason why I think that thatsort of exchange between the
devil and Jesus is reallyimportant for us to hear with
our modern ears is because ithelps us to reflect on, you know
(12:16):
, a lifetime of just achievingeven if it's sort of for good
purposes.
Is that all there is to life?
You know and here we might goback to Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel and his idea of theSabbath and his idea of
practicing each week ourhumanity just for humanity's
(12:39):
sake, and so I think that's oneof the things that really
afflicts us as a culture.
I think human dignity hasgotten really flattened out,
what it means to be human hasreally become flattened out and
to be a consumer has really sortof rounded out and become more
robust and this, out of balance,I think, leads to this sort of
(13:02):
epidemic of anxiety, ofdepression, of loneliness.
I think it sort of fuels theworst that is happening to us,
which is that we've bought tosome degree or been taught to
some degree that what I have andwhat I make is what I am, and
(13:24):
without that I'm lost.
We see that when people getinto retirement and they really
will have to work really hard tosort of cough up this approach
to life and get down into everyday is a gift.
I'm a gift.
I have some add value.
I also want to celebrate mylife and enjoy my life, and it's
(13:49):
hard for people to get off thattreadmill.
And it's hard for people to getoff that treadmill.
And so for Jesus the way hemodels humanity, even though he
is both divine and human, Ithink is instructive.
Melissa (13:59):
Yeah, I do too, and I was just thinking of the word
worth.
Oftentimes we will lump in whatwe produce as our worthiness,
and so I don't know, Bishoppeople over product, I think is
a good mantra, and I thinkprocess over outcome might also
be a good thing.
I just when we talk about worth, I think this is really what
(14:22):
this is all about.
Right, Jesus knew his worth anddidn't feel like he had to bow
down.
Bishop Wright (14:29):
Well, this is the point of the word settled.
You know which I work hard totry to give you a word to chew
on with the meditation.
So it started off with the oneword settled.
So what would it mean if someof that was settled for us?
You know, yeah, from time totime I have an opportunity to
talk to really bright, brillianttherapists, both professionally
(14:51):
and personally.
I have over the years, and Ithink that the average one of us
, certainly in this culture, hasreally got to think deeply and
thoroughly about this notion ofself-worth.
To have that as a real solidbedrock to stand on.
Your self-worth as settled, itcan really increase the joy of
(15:12):
life.
I think it can increase theinsight into what life is about.
I think it can put us besideother people when those matters
are settled for us.
Otherwise, again, we're just onthis tragic, tragic gerbilbil
wheel, hamster wheel in life,trying to win approval.
And I just, I know that godloves us more than that.
(15:34):
God doesn't want that for us.
You know, and I think scripturebegins to help us with this is
is that?
Look, what would it be like ifyou could just stand in this?
I mean, I understand, Iunderstand the brokenness of our
family of origins.
I understand that by and large,many of us were loved by people
(15:55):
who struggled to know love,because the people that loved
them struggled to know love, andon and on and on.
And yet here comes Jesus, thisgreat liberator, to help us to
break those cycles, to changethe dynamics of our family tree.
And maybe that's the greatestgift that God is endeavoring to
give to us through the ministryof Jesus Christ is to be settled
(16:18):
about who we are and who ourbrothers and sisters are, and
then begin to solve problems inthat way.
Hey, look, just a second here.
What would it be like if webegan to solve problems in this
way, like it's not just about me, over and against you, but it's
about us, because not only do Ihave worth, but you have worth
equal, and so we don't have tobe in this competition for this.
(16:40):
So I think Jesus begins to moveus in that direction, not only
for our personal sort of growthand flourishing, but for the
growth and flourishing ofeverywhere, of the human family,
rather of wherever we findourselves.
Melissa (16:54):
Bishop, you talked about winning approval, and I
think one of the ways that wetry to make people proud, the
people who we want to be proudof us, is by doing more.
And I'm getting the sense herethat that's not what we're
talking about.
Can you be a little bit notthat you're not clear.
Bishop Wright (17:12):
Yeah, no, I mean all of these sort of things, I
mean deserve more than we can doin our you know, 17, 19 minutes
here.
But I guess where I want topoint us to is a step in the
direction of moving away fromearthly approval in all of its
measurements and into divineapproval.
(17:33):
And so what we want to do is wewant to please God, and it's
ironic, isn't it, that the waythat God wants us to please God
is by trusting God.
Right, the Bible tells us thatit is impossible to please God
without faith, and faithrequires me to believe about
myself.
What God says about me Isn'tthat interesting.
And so here God shows God'sloving character to us, that
(17:57):
what God really wants, what Godneeds to make God smile, if you
will, is for us to finallyrealize that when God looks at
us, God says, for us to finallyrealize that when God looks at
us, God says good, right.
And so what would it be like,again, for all of us to come out
(18:17):
from some of the burdens thatwe carry around all of this and
move into this settled notion ofyou know, I love a God who
loves me and has alreadybreathed into me life and
healing, and all that, and all Ihave to do is move in that
direction.
And what I've got to do is I'vegot to believe God more than I
believe the news or more than Ibelieve the fashion magazines or
(18:39):
more than I believe the WallStreet Journal not picking on
the Wall Street Journal but morethan I've got to believe God
about me, more than what myportfolio says about me.
I'm not diminishing thosethings, but they're just not
ultimate and primary for us.
This is an invitation back towhat is center, primary, core,
(19:00):
and that is I am.
Again, I'll say it again, I amwho God says I am, and that is
settled.
Now, for me, it's just aboutliving into that.
Morehouse College is here inAtlanta and they have a
wonderful, wonderful phrase orstory that they tell, and that
is there is a crown over each ofour heads, and so the work is
(19:22):
simply to grow up in statureuntil that crown sort of rests
on our head.
And here for us, that's thejourney, right, the crown is
already over our heads.
It's already over our heads,right.
All you have to do is sort ofjust live up into that crown
that's already over your head.
And so what would it be like tohave that settled for yourself
(19:44):
today.
Melissa (19:45):
Well, that settles it, Bishop.
Thank you.
Bishop Wright (19:46):
I hope so.
Melissa (19:48):
Thank you, listeners, for tuning into For People.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright, or by visiting www.
fourpeople.
digital.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
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