{"id":3375,"date":"2017-03-13T16:29:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T21:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2017-03-13T16:29:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T21:29:00","slug":"the-doctrine-of-bailing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Doctrine of Bailing"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

If you\u2019ve ever bailed out a basement or a boat, or bailed out anything at all, you know the rightness of this metaphor for self-generated effort. There is the myopia\u2014eyes transfixed on the ground in front of you, the flailing arms, the fruitless effort, physical exertion, frantic pace, and acute awareness of making no discernible progress.<\/p>\n

Bailing is our futile effort to control the uncontrollable. Notice how the disciples seek to secure the aid and cooperation of Jesus. \u201cWill you rescue us?\u201d is a very different question from the one the disciples asked, which is, \u201cDon\u2019t you care if we drown?\u201d One is a request, the other a manipulation\u2014something in the order of \u201cif you really loved me, you\u2019d buy me an Xbox.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the disciples cannot control (a) the sea or (b) their boat, they attempt to control (c) Jesus, who can control both (a) and (b). This is how they\u2019ll bail themselves out. It will not be through Jesus\u2019 mercy, compassion, or power that they are delivered, but through their abil\"\"<\/a>ity to manipulate Jesus\u2019 mercy, compassion, and power. Good thinking, boys.<\/p>\n

But their manipulation is ill-conceived. To start, Jesus doesn\u2019t have to be talked into helping, and as for the accusation of \u201cnot caring,\u201d Jesus could have responded: \u201cNo, if I didn\u2019t care, you\u2019d be rowing effortlessly, wind at your back, sea at your command\u2014twelve little buddhas thinking you run the universe.\u201d Deeply ingrained in our belief system is the idea that love shelters from hardship and pain, and much of what the New Testament has to say about trials is to directly refute this notion: in fact, \u201cThe Lord disciplines the one he loves\u201d (Hebrews 12:6).<\/p>\n

Our manipulations reveal the distortions in our understanding of God: that he can be controlled, that he isn\u2019t favorably disposed toward us, that we can offer him something not already his. But when we come to the end of all our bargaining and manipulation, there is this liberating realization: We have nothing, we can do nothing, we deserve nothing, we are nothing. Nothing is what we cling to, nothing is our collateral, and nothing is our alibi. Humbling ourselves before God is giving him the gift of nothing.<\/p>\n

My friend Amy is the parent of three mostly grown kids. No one in the family has taken a particularly easy path in life. Her oldest daughter, Tia, has gotten into some serious drug problems, and by serious I mean there are bullet holes in her wall. Issues notwithstanding, Tia loves God.<\/p>\n

About a month ago, Tia went missing. She went to West Virginia to visit her grandfather and evaporated on the day she was supposed to come home. Amy filled out a missing-persons report, but we heard nothing. One day turned to one week, then two weeks, and then what can you start to think but the worst?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Continue reading or get the book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Amy has some serious faith. If it\u2019s a mustard seed, it\u2019s one of those Monsanto things, genetically altered to the size of a plum. As the days passed she held relentlessly to God. She prayed without ceasing; in fact she invited everyone who knew Tia, believers and unbelievers, to an evening of prayer, trusting God to miraculously intervene.<\/p>\n

A lot of people came that night, and in a room of hushed praying the ring of Amy\u2019s cell was dramatic like the sound of bowls and vials and trumpets being poured out on the earth. The call showed Tia\u2019s cell number, but it wasn\u2019t Tia. It was, however, the person who had just bought Tia\u2019s phone from her; he felt compelled to call the home number and tell whoever was there that Tia was OK and where to find her. Within two days, Tia was on her way home, and she\u2019s now safe and doing well.<\/p>\n

Watching Amy walk through the ordeal, I\u2019m convinced that prayer is our God-given means to bail. Put another way, \u201cpray[ing] without ceasing\u201d (1 Thessalonians 5:17) is bailing\u2014same reflex, same manic pace, same need to do something\u2014and we do it again and again until something changes. Bailing by any means other than prayer inevitably ends in an act of the flesh. Prayer is an assertive response to events beyond our control, through appropriately deferential and creaturely means given us by God. We bail by faith, not sight.<\/p>\n

\n

You’ve been reading from Watch: Wide Awake Faith in a World Fast Asleep<\/em><\/a>. Author Rick James dives deep into the New Testament\u2019s teachings on spiritual wakefulness, calling Christ-followers to defy the darkness and remain awake as they await Christ\u2019s return. Because being spiritually awake changes everything.
\nContinue Reading Watch<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever bailed out a basement or a boat, or bailed out anything at all, you know the rightness of this metaphor for self-generated effort. There is the myopia\u2014eyes transfixed on the ground in front of you, the flailing … <\/p>\n

Read moreThe Doctrine of Bailing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve ever bailed out a basement or a boat, or bailed out anything at all, you know the rightness of this metaphor for self-generated effort. There is the myopia\u2014eyes transfixed on the ground in front of you, the flailing ... Read moreThe Doctrine of Bailing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/lightstock_184772_medium_david.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"807\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5\"},\"headline\":\"The Doctrine of Bailing\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\"},\"wordCount\":806,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Grow\",\"Personal Growth\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\",\"name\":\"The Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Doctrine of Bailing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker\",\"description\":\"Bold. Loving. Sensible.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\",\"name\":\"NavPress\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"width\":4092,\"height\":818,\"caption\":\"NavPress\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/dgeeslin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker","og_description":"If you\u2019ve ever bailed out a basement or a boat, or bailed out anything at all, you know the rightness of this metaphor for self-generated effort. There is the myopia\u2014eyes transfixed on the ground in front of you, the flailing ... Read moreThe Doctrine of Bailing","og_url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/","og_site_name":"The Disciplemaker","article_published_time":"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":807,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/lightstock_184772_medium_david.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Disciplemaker Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Disciplemaker Team","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/"},"author":{"name":"The Disciplemaker Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5"},"headline":"The Doctrine of Bailing","datePublished":"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/"},"wordCount":806,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Grow","Personal Growth"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/","name":"The Doctrine of Bailing - The Disciplemaker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-13T21:29:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/03\/the-doctrine-of-bailing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Doctrine of Bailing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","name":"The Disciplemaker","description":"Bold. Loving. Sensible.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization","name":"NavPress","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","width":4092,"height":818,"caption":"NavPress"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5","name":"The Disciplemaker Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Disciplemaker Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/dgeeslin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}