Walking Backward / 反其道而行

[Dexu Xia]

Walking Backward

Rather, [Jesus] made himself nothing. Philippians 2:7

I stumbled upon footage from a British newsreel crew who filmed six-year-old Flannery O’Connor on her family farm in 1932. Flannery, who would go on to become an acclaimed US writer, caught the crew’s curiosity because she’d taught a chicken to walk backward. Apart from the novelty of the feat, I thought this glimpse of history was a perfect metaphor. Flannery, due to both her literary sensibilities and her spiritual convictions, spent her thirty-nine years definitely walking backward—thinking and writing in a counter-cultural way. Publishers and readers were entirely baffled by how her biblical themes ran counter to the religious views they expected.

A life that runs counter to the norm is inevitable for those who would truly imitate Jesus. Philippians tells us that Jesus, though His “very nature” was God, didn’t move in the predictable ways we would expect (2:6). He didn’t use His power “to his own advantage,” but “rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (vv. 6–7). Christ, the Lord of creation, surrendered to death for the sake of love. He didn’t seize prestige but embraced humility. He didn’t grab power but relinquished control. Jesus, in essence, walked backward—counter to the power-driven ways of the world.

Scripture tells us to do the same (v. 5). Like Jesus, we serve rather than dominate. We move toward humility rather than prominence. We give rather than take. In Jesus’s power, we walk backward.

Reflect & Pray

How has Jesus demonstrated a way of walking backward in the world? Where is God calling you to live out Christ’s humble example?

The only way to healing and goodness, the only way to move forward, is to join Jesus in walking backward.

反其道而行

反倒虚己，取了奴仆的形像，成为人的样式。-腓立比书2章7节

我偶然看到英国新闻影片制作小组于1932年，拍摄当时年仅6岁的芙兰纳莉．欧康纳（Flannery O’Connor）在自家农庄的一个生活片段。这位后来成为美国知名作家的芙兰纳莉，当时正在教一只鸡倒退走路，让制作小组十分好奇。我认为这件事不但新奇，而且是个完美的隐喻。芙兰纳莉对文学的敏感度与对基督信仰的信念，让她在39年的人生中反其道而行，以逆向思考和反文化的方式写作。出版商与读者完全无法了解，她写的圣经主题为何与他们期待的信仰观点背道而驰。

对真正想要仿效耶稣的人来说，人生的方向必与一般人相反。腓立比书告诉我们，耶稣“虽然本质上是上帝”（2章6节，当代译本修订版），但祂的言行却与我们所预期的大不相同。祂没有自恃身分地位，“相反，祂放弃了自己神圣的特权，取了奴仆卑微的身分”（6-7节，新普及译本）。这位创造宇宙万物的主基督，为了爱而甘愿受死。祂没有自恃尊贵，反倒心存谦卑；没有霸权揽势，反倒交出主控权。事实上，耶稣与世俗趋向权势的潮流完全背道而驰。

圣经告诉我们应当效法耶稣（5节）：服事人而非支配人；心存谦卑而非追求声望；乐意给予而非拿取。藉着耶稣的大能，我们也要像祂那样反其道而行。

耶稣在世时，如何反其道而行？
上帝要你在哪方面活出基督谦卑的样式？

不要跟随这世界，与耶稣一起反其道而行。