give me jesus

In the morning, when I rise,
In the morning, when I rise,
In the morning, when I rise,
Give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
Give me Jesus.

For Black history month, the church here is using lots of good spirituals during worship. We sang this one on Sunday. That last line is especially good, "You can have all this world, give me Jesus."

It reminded me of some conversations I had recently. Some friends here are impressed by the "new monasticism" movement, and are wondering how to respond to the challenges these young people offer. I replied that I thought their challenges were a mixed bag. Some seem valid and some questionable. And I said we find much more powerful challenges (in the same areas of concern) when we look to Jesus himself—shouldn't Jesus be the one we're responding to? I raised a similar question in a new monasticism forum discussion over a year ago, wondering at their choice of monasticism for a model:

I think we lose something if we copy a copy. There is no second-hand Christianity, as Kierkegaard said. The monastics tried to follow Jesus and in some ways they are helpful to us and in some ways are unhelpful...

...why not use Jesus' life (and his community) as the model we're striving for?

And I thought the same thing Sunday, hearing about the spiritual example of the slaves and the witness of their spirituals. There is a lot there that reflects Jesus' endurance in suffering and hope in God. But there are also aspects of Jesus' witness that seem to be missing, like his announcement of the kingdom of God present, and his demonstration of utter freedom despite the oppressive forces bearing down on him. Like in any human Christian disciple, we see something of Jesus and something missing. Which should direct our attention past the disciple and towards the one they follow.

There's definitely value in paying attention to the Christians who have gone before us. But they are not the best source of guidance or hope, Jesus is. "You can have all this world, give me Jesus."