Jesus,
Alpha Male
Luke
2:39-40
In a selection* from the book Mama’s Last Hug by
Franz de Waal, the author discusses the essence of a true alpha male.
“In animal research, the alpha male is simply the
top-ranking male of a group…In political parlance, however, it has come to
denote a certain type of personality…emphasizing self-confidence, swagger, and
purpose. Alphas are not just
winners…they beat…everyone around them and remind them every day who won. A true alpha goes it alone and crushes the
competition, like a lion among sheep.”
Many authors have tried to categorize Jesus Christ by
pinning one label or another on him:
CEO, coach, revolutionary. These
and other labels seek to define Christ by putting him in a box—not a box we
find in the gospels, but a box designed from some human viewpoint. It’s as if they say, “Here! We’ve figured out who Jesus is. Accept our definition of him and you’ll
understand him perfectly.”
All these labels are
wrong. Jesus defies all categories
because he is unique. What else would
you expect from the Son of God?
We might be tempted to label Jesus Christ the ultimate
alpha male, and in some ways he fits the description. He certainly had self-confidence. He was never at a loss for words. No matter what company he was in he was at
ease, always in control of himself and the situation. He was equally at home with Roman leaders,
the religious elite of his own faith, the rich, the powerful; and sinners, tax
collectors, prostitutes, beggars, common working folk. Jesus spent time with them all, had a message
for each, offered life-changing opportunities to everyone he encountered.
Jesus had purpose.
Once he began his ministry his focus was on purpose and nothing
else. His purpose was to give his life
for the world; he achieved it. His
purpose was to offer salvation to those he met; he achieved that also. His purpose was to do God’s will, and make
God visible to the people with whom he came in contact; he fulfilled that as
well.
Swagger? No. There was no swagger to him, no ego, no need
to be on top. Instead Jesus was humble,
self-effacing, always pointing beyond himself to his Father, trying to get
people to follow God as completely as he did.
A winner? Not by
the world’s standards. He didn’t “crush
the competition;” he didn’t “go it alone.”
He didn’t remind everyone every day of how good, how important, how
tough he was. Instead he reached out to
people, surrounded himself with them.
Touched them, healed them—loved them.
I believe de Wall would argue that Jesus was closer to
the definition of an alpha male in the animal kingdom than to the distortion we
apply to overly aggressive, highly successful males.
Among primates the alpha male almost always achieves his
position with the cooperation of others.
He may not even be the biggest, strongest, meanest male in the
group. Once he has achieved leadership
he “protects the underdog, keeps the peace, and reassures those who are
distressed.” While females generally
console others more than males, the alpha “acts as a healer-in-chief,
comforting others in agony more than anyone else in the community.”
Sound like Jesus?
It does to me. This is the Jesus
we meet in the gospels, the one whose strength is so great he doesn’t have to
brag about it, whose victory is achieved through love and compassion rather
than through overpowering those around him.
*This excerpt appeared in
the website Delancyplace.com.
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