When I hear the word 'centurion', I get an impression of the fella on the horse whom Russell Crowe chopped down in Gladiator (about a minute after the scene above).

Can't beat a guy on the ground when you're on horseback? What a loser.

The famous centurion of Luke 7:1-10, a pagan boss in Roman-controlled areas, was a winner. He can teach us quite a bit about true discipleship:

1. He has never met Jesus (he's only heard of our Lord, 7:3), yet he was sure Jesus could heal i.e. he saw the often-missed connection between, "Jesus can heal" and "Jesus can heal me and my people!" (he didn't need extra-vivid confirmation of Jesus' power before trusting in Him)
   
   
2. He was a caring master, willing to take desperate measures for those way below him in the social strata, in this case a mere servant (he had compassion for all)
   
   
3. He was obviously a respected (pagan) leader who developed friendships with Jewish elders and even built their places of worship and publicly demonstrated his love and respect for Jewish territory (7:5); it was the elders who became the centurion's first messengers to Jesus (7:4) (he connected well with the 'outsiders' whom he governed)
   
   
4. He accurately 'mapped' Jesus' authority to heal with general principles of power and subordination, applying the incredible insight that the healing can be performed 'from a distance' (7:8) (he intelligently related the spiritual world to the natural political order in his application of faith)

This is the kind of "great faith" that even Jesus commended and declared non-existent in 'all of Israel' (7:9). A faith built upon compassion, servant leadership, respect for those outside one's identity-group, intelligence and the personal appropriation of the knowledge of what Jesus can do (i.e. it went way beyond head-knowledge).

Of the four points above, which do you feel most lacking in? Which does your/the church talk about most? Which is more urgent in our Asian context? And why?