Has your heart also grown wide?

The drama triangle is evoked in pious beliefs directly from the Bible. Here one finds texts that suggest that there are persecutors, victims and rescuers . It’s about contrasts that you read and now interpret according to your own trepidation. Put simply, it’s about the good guys and the bad guys, ourselves and others. There is a difference between the two, which suits a compartmentalization and fear-avoidance strategy. The Bible is interpreted as restrictive and delimiting. Of course, it doesn’t have to be, but it is a way of looking at the Bible that is unfortunately quite common. Even if such thoughts are not prevalent in a community, insecurities often resonate in the minds of people, members, believers. Insecurities lead to anxiety and constricting attitudes toward life.

Paul was also dealing with this when he wrote to the Corinthians:

“Has your heart also become wide? You are not narrowed in us, but you are narrowed in your innermost being! In return (as to children I speak) you also become wide!”
2Cor 6:11-13

“Become wide!” is the healthy call to change and the healthy picture the Bible holds out to us. It is not the Bible that is constricting, but we ourselves can be constricted. The encouragement of Scripture runs in the opposite direction as one’s own fear-avoidance strategies.

Reading the drama triangle from the Bible

The drama triangle lives from this game with pursuers and victims. Translated to an understanding of faith, it is about “wrong” and “right”, about “us” and “the others”. Where can you read that out? Of course, from those places that actually talk about a difference.

Jesus once brought this contrast to the attention of his disciples:

“I have given them Your word and the world hates them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to save them from evil. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in Your truth: Your word is truth.”
John 17:14-17

These are clear words. Let us try to understand the interpretation from the point of view of the drama triangle.

The juxtaposition here concerns Jesus and the disciples on the one hand and the world on the other. The “world” hates the disciples because they are not “of the world”. I read here something like a xenophobia of the world towards the disciples, that is, a fear of the unknown followers of Jesus. The problem is obviously with this world.

In pious beliefs, however, the picture is reversed. The image is reinterpreted and it is no longer a problem from the world, but the world itself becomes a problem, namely for the believers. There is a conflict between the believers and the “evil” world. Believers do not belong to the world, but should keep away from the world, because the world is “evil” or “sinful”. Just such a conclusion, however, is not supported by the biblical passage. Here an interpretation from the point of view of the drama triangle is carried out.

Poison for thinking

Conclusions such as briefly outlined here above are poison to the mind. It is never a good idea for us to project our own thoughts onto the Bible. The antidote to such a misinterpretation would be given: We should not think and consider beyond what is written (1Cor 4:6).

At the same time, this invitation from Paul points us in a healing direction. The inference is problematic, not the Bible itself. It is as if a proper medicine had been used wrongly, so that it became poison. The Bible is not narrowed down, but we can interpret it that way. Then the medicine is misapplied. You could say that we should go back to the package insert and learn proper application.

What does the Bible text say?

Jesus speaks of this difference in the text because the disciples actually have something that the others around do not know. The disciples took up the words of Jesus. This experience has given her life a new direction. Inspired by the prospect of the “kingdom of heaven,” the disciples stand in the world with a different expectation. It is understandable that this difference triggers a response. This is quite normal. We all tick a little differently anyway, and when we are inspired by new ideas that give our lives a positive direction, it can cause anxiety and consternation or defensiveness in others. That’s a statement.

What is decisive here is how Jesus deals with it in prayer. He acknowledges the differences, but now says: “I do not ask You [Gott] to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one”. Interesting: No escape from the world is in front of Jesus, but a probation in the world. Those who place their trust in God are certainly not understood by everyone. But that doesn’t mean we have to flee the world. Jesus’ speech points in the other direction:

“As You sent Me out into the world, so I also send them out into the world.”
John 17:18

Amazing: Jesus does not lead into a world escape. World escape has nothing to do with faith. Those who shut themselves away in a quiet chamber with their faith and supposed knowledge do not live better, only lonelier. Jesus sent his disciples out into the world. “World”, that means in the direct context of this biblical passage: the Jewish people, the Jews in Israel. “World,” then, is not “the globe,” and there is no sense of mission here. The contrast remains simple in context: there are some who have heard and accepted “the word” of Jesus. The world, that is the others who do not see it that way.

Exit from the drama triangle

If the Bible is interpreted in terms of the drama triangle, then there is only one solution to liberation: getting out. Not stepping out of faith, not stepping out of the God relationship, but stepping out of this flawed, constricting interpretation.

If that’s the only interpretation you know up to that point, it might feel like you’re losing your footing. Here I would like to encourage you to leave behind the constricting, non-viable interpretations and to engage with Scripture once again. I myself have made the experience that these interpretations have nothing to do with the Bible at all. These are ideological approaches that deeply mock the liberating message of the Gospel. But you have to discover that first.

What was in front of Jesus’ eyes?

Jesus says this prayer in John 17 before He walks the way of the cross. There are moving times ahead. So what is Jesus talking about in context? What is the goal He has in mind? How does He proceed? There is this difference between the “world” and the “disciples”.

“For them I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. But not for these alone do I beseech Thee, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I am in Thee, so may they also be in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
John 17:19-21

Jesus sees this world, but his gaze also sees beyond it. He has a goal in mind and sees His life having an impact on the lives of the disciples. He has God’s goal in mind and at the same time is completely with Himself. This is what faith does: trust towards a goal, trust towards a greater reality, but without loss of actuality. This world stands for Him in a larger context. Jesus is in relationship with God, His Father. It is from this relationship that He speaks here. He sends his disciples out into the world, but not without support. “For them I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Holy is the one who is in relationship with God. Believers are called saints (e.g., Mt 27:52, Acts 9:13, Rom 1:7). There is no working declaration of sainthood from a church, but there are people who enter into relationship with God. Holy is not who is faultless, but who is in that relationship and connection. Jesus says “For them I sanctify myself”. He lives out what he wanted to see in the disciples. “That they also may be sanctified in truth.” From this context it can be seen how Jesus was connected to Himself and also to His God and Father. This is the opposite of compartmentalization. Jesus was in relationship. Precisely because of this, He could also be completely with His disciples and their task. From relationship comes relationship. From sanctification follows sanctification. Those who live truth also enable others to do so. Faith leads to belief (cf. Rom 1:17).

Being loved

In the same prayer, Jesus concludes with the words:

“Righteous Father, the world did not know You, but I knew You; and these have known that You sent Me. I have made known to them Thy name, and will make it known, that the love wherewith Thou lovest Me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:25-26

Jesus did not simply label the world as “hostile.” That’s not even up for discussion here. However, he sees the need to love. Jesus is loved by the Father. He is a beloved (Mt 3:17, Mt 17:5, 2Pet 1:17, etc.). Precisely this should also be the experience of the disciples when they go out into the world. “That the love wherewith Thou lovest Me may be in them, and I in them.” So that! This is the declared goal and shows the connection.

Become a lover

Now, one may think that all love always comes from outside, that is, we are “hanging on the drip of God’s love.” Quite a few believers see it that way. It is a terrible condition that can best be described as, “I may not love myself, but at least God loves me.” One has a self-image that is characterized by rejection and dependence. As a victim of the world and one’s own inability, as a supposedly unworthy, unloved, self-unaccepting human being, one reaches out to God as Savior, but at the same time persists in self-rejection. Those who always remain victims cannot become free. That’s disgusting.

Such a victim attitude may have arisen from the personal environment, from the family and from one’s own experience. However, as described in this article, it can also come from the theological environment. The dissolution of such entanglements succeeds only if we look, step out of these games and learn to love completely what we see. To love here means: Integrating, transforming, realigning, being gracious with oneself. Becoming more loving then means that we assist others to these very transformations, that we show grace and in love make everything grow into Him who is the head (Eph 4:15). There are many people who have dared to set out, who have become travelers, who have discovered new horizons.

There are many people who have dared to set out, who have become travelers, who have discovered new horizons.