I have not made this statement in a while, so perhaps some of you still don't know this about me.
I am a Gamer. I enjoy games. I like playing them, watching them, creating them, analyzing them. In fact, with me it goes even further in that I see Life as a game. I interact with the world as if it was constructed with a set of rules and certain Victory Conditions. So, this post will make quite a bit of sense to me. I am hoping it will make some sense to you as well.
There is a theory in games, economics, and life in general called "Zero-sum". This is basically the idea that in any system (be it national resources, a marriage relationship, or a sports competition) for every winner there must be a loser. If I drill for the oil then you cannot drill for it. If we go where I wanted to go on vacation then we cannot also go where you wanted to go (assuming it was a different place). If I have the ball then you cannot also have the ball.
We see this at work economically in many cases where people begin to feel like resources are limited. Oil is a great example currently because people are under this weird assumption that we are about to "run out" of it. So, they operate as if any time someone else gets more then they must be getting less. The possibility of everyone having enough just does not exist in their minds... thus crazy price swings occur and people may even be driven to violence to protect their piece of the pie.
In fact, a pie is a great example of a Zero-sum system. The Law of the Pie (my own phrase, feel free to take it) is that if I get a bigger piece then there is less left for you. We cannot both eat 75% of the pie.*
I am one of those strange people that could sit here an enjoy a discussion on Zero-sum and its affects on economies** and gaming systems, but it recently gained a new application in my life. I realized that I often see people treat Love and Respect as Zero-sum systems. Here is how it works:
1) My best friend just met someone and clicked with them. I hear about this "new" person all the time now, and I begin to feel like I am losing part of my friendship as this new person takes their own piece.
2) A co-worker just had a great success at the office and gained respect from the bosses. I feel as though my own stock went down because there is just not enough respect to go around.
3) I feel the need to be more appreciated, and to accomplish that I need to show just how unworthy the people around me are. That way people will appreciate me more.
4) A new church moved into my part of town. I hope they don't grow too big or they will start to impact our growth. What if they "take my members!"?
I am pretty sure every parent has worried about this at least once when they went from One child to Two. Even if it was for a moment, the thought of, "Will I love this child as much as I love my first?" goes through their mind. Hopefully they soon learn that love is not a Zero-sum system. There is no limit to how much love we can have, how much we can give, how much there can BE in the world. The same goes for respect, honor, appreciation, and any number of things that we so often guard jealously. If we are going to love like God loves, then we must move out of the Zero-sum mindset and understand that just because someone else is moving up it does not mean I am moving down. We can all move up together.
* Ok, perhaps I was the only one who spent some time wondering just how it would look if we DID both manage to eat 75% of the pie. Obviously some regurgitation would be involved... and can you still call it "pie" after that has happened?
** A quick pet peeve of mine. People often talk about how blessed we are in America, which is true. They then mention how tough the rest of the world has it, which is also true. Then they generally go on this rant about how we need to have less so that the rest of the world can have more, which just does not make sense to me. I suppose I don't see the world as operating in a Zero-sum, at least not yet. Instead of us going down so that they can go up, why can't we all just go up together?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
It's Just Easier
There is a truth that it has taken me many years to believe. I still struggle with it, in fact, because I have a skewed definition of the word "easy". The truth is that it is easier to explain your Convictions than your Exceptions. Let me give some back story as an example.
A couple summers ago my wife and I opened our house to the young man leading worship at our church. I wanted him to continue leading over the summer, and he needed housing. We worked out a deal in which he ate all my food and lived in my house and kept me up talking about all the things young people talk about much too late at night. (It was a wonderful summer actually, but my memory tends to block out all those good times as the years roll by). We have a rule about being alone in the house with a member of the opposite gender who is NOT your spouse. That means no females here with me and no males here with Leslie. Generally that is not a big issue... but when you have a young man living in your FROG it becomes slightly more applicable and difficult. There were numerous times that we had to adjust schedules to work it so that either he was not home or Leslie was not home or neither of them were home until I got home.
Just a few nights ago this same young man stopped by to pick something up from me, but I had not quite made it home from work. So, he stayed in his car until I got home. We have known him now for over 18 months, and he is more adopted-son than "college guy living in our house". In fact, I would have no real problem knowing that he was in my house for 15 minutes before I got home talking with my wife. But, that would be an Exception to a Rule that we live by. And, if we make that Exception then we open the door to new ones. Instead of a simple rule "No people of the opposite gender in the house when you are alone", we now have some complex rule of, "No people of the opposite sex that you have not known for a long enough time and have both agreed upon and that are only staying for a short amount of time when you are alone."
In the end we realize that it really is easier just to say, "Hey, will you wait in the car for a few minutes" than to try to create some all-flexible rule system that never creates any controversy and never steps on any toes.
That is going to be true of the most important Convictions in your life. People say that living by your convictions is hard. I suppose it depends on how you define hard. It is not hard to explain such a life. It is not hard to reap the benefits of such a life. It can be hard to answer the questions that such a life will provoke from friends and family. But, it is immensely harder to try to live a life in which you are continuously making exceptions to your convictions. Because, then you begin to realize that your convictions are not really all that convincing after all.
A couple summers ago my wife and I opened our house to the young man leading worship at our church. I wanted him to continue leading over the summer, and he needed housing. We worked out a deal in which he ate all my food and lived in my house and kept me up talking about all the things young people talk about much too late at night. (It was a wonderful summer actually, but my memory tends to block out all those good times as the years roll by). We have a rule about being alone in the house with a member of the opposite gender who is NOT your spouse. That means no females here with me and no males here with Leslie. Generally that is not a big issue... but when you have a young man living in your FROG it becomes slightly more applicable and difficult. There were numerous times that we had to adjust schedules to work it so that either he was not home or Leslie was not home or neither of them were home until I got home.
Just a few nights ago this same young man stopped by to pick something up from me, but I had not quite made it home from work. So, he stayed in his car until I got home. We have known him now for over 18 months, and he is more adopted-son than "college guy living in our house". In fact, I would have no real problem knowing that he was in my house for 15 minutes before I got home talking with my wife. But, that would be an Exception to a Rule that we live by. And, if we make that Exception then we open the door to new ones. Instead of a simple rule "No people of the opposite gender in the house when you are alone", we now have some complex rule of, "No people of the opposite sex that you have not known for a long enough time and have both agreed upon and that are only staying for a short amount of time when you are alone."
In the end we realize that it really is easier just to say, "Hey, will you wait in the car for a few minutes" than to try to create some all-flexible rule system that never creates any controversy and never steps on any toes.
That is going to be true of the most important Convictions in your life. People say that living by your convictions is hard. I suppose it depends on how you define hard. It is not hard to explain such a life. It is not hard to reap the benefits of such a life. It can be hard to answer the questions that such a life will provoke from friends and family. But, it is immensely harder to try to live a life in which you are continuously making exceptions to your convictions. Because, then you begin to realize that your convictions are not really all that convincing after all.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Are you trying to "Go Back"?
We all have specific ideas that jump into our minds when we think about what it means to "go back". I wanted to help clarify what I mean when I say those words and point out some specific dangers that they carry. Here are a few areas that people often wish they could go back to change:
1. Education. I find people all the time who talk about how different life could have been if only they had made different educational choices. If they had applied themselves more at school, or taken different advice on which degree to get then surely they would have ended up in a better place.
2. Spiritually/Morally. This is a big one. Many people live with regrets about spiritual or moral decisions they made in the past. They torment themselves with how different things could have been today had they only made a different decision back then.
3. Relationally. Whether this is business partnerships or marriage covenants, I often find people who are stuck analyzing past relationships and their impact on current circumstances.
I want to make something clear. I am not saying that we should just forget our past. What I am saying is that the past is useless to us if it stays in the past. And, when I spend my time remembering past decisions and the effects they have on my present then I am wasting my time. The only way to give your past any value is to allow it to change your future.
So you made a poor educational decision in the past. If you truly believe that then why are you not pursuing a new educational route today? Don't give excuses about cost, time, and availability. Either drop the guilt you are feeling about your past, or turn it into conviction that will lead you to a different future. There is a rule in my house that says, "You may complain about an issue and fix it. You may be silent about an issue and not fix it. You may not complain about an issue and not fix it." Be careful that you do not spend your time and energy locked up in the past. If the time you spend evaluating the past does not then correlate to equal or greater time planning for the future... then you are wasting your time.
When I see people who are constantly thinking about their spiritual and moral past I generally find that one of two possibilities is true. First I find people who have made great mistakes in the past. Because of that they believe they are not worthy to experience the life that more righteous people deserve. These people need to understand just how deep and wide the love of God is. Our past proves our need for Him and His grace; it does not define our worth to Him. The second person I find looks more like me. They look back on a past that seems full of good choices and right living and fall into the trap of believing that they deserve the good life. These people need to understand just how depraved and hopeless they are on their own. The sacrifice that Jesus made proves our need for Him and His grace. That grace defines our worth to Him, not our actions.
The simple fact is that we cannot change our past; but we can use it to evaluate our future. Just as the Old Testament was given to us as an example of what happens when people follow God and when they disobey God, so too our past experiences can be a personal example of the same. We waste time when we think about what it would be like to Go Back. We spend our time wisely when we think about what it means to Go Forward in light of what we have experienced in our past.
1. Education. I find people all the time who talk about how different life could have been if only they had made different educational choices. If they had applied themselves more at school, or taken different advice on which degree to get then surely they would have ended up in a better place.
2. Spiritually/Morally. This is a big one. Many people live with regrets about spiritual or moral decisions they made in the past. They torment themselves with how different things could have been today had they only made a different decision back then.
3. Relationally. Whether this is business partnerships or marriage covenants, I often find people who are stuck analyzing past relationships and their impact on current circumstances.
I want to make something clear. I am not saying that we should just forget our past. What I am saying is that the past is useless to us if it stays in the past. And, when I spend my time remembering past decisions and the effects they have on my present then I am wasting my time. The only way to give your past any value is to allow it to change your future.
So you made a poor educational decision in the past. If you truly believe that then why are you not pursuing a new educational route today? Don't give excuses about cost, time, and availability. Either drop the guilt you are feeling about your past, or turn it into conviction that will lead you to a different future. There is a rule in my house that says, "You may complain about an issue and fix it. You may be silent about an issue and not fix it. You may not complain about an issue and not fix it." Be careful that you do not spend your time and energy locked up in the past. If the time you spend evaluating the past does not then correlate to equal or greater time planning for the future... then you are wasting your time.
When I see people who are constantly thinking about their spiritual and moral past I generally find that one of two possibilities is true. First I find people who have made great mistakes in the past. Because of that they believe they are not worthy to experience the life that more righteous people deserve. These people need to understand just how deep and wide the love of God is. Our past proves our need for Him and His grace; it does not define our worth to Him. The second person I find looks more like me. They look back on a past that seems full of good choices and right living and fall into the trap of believing that they deserve the good life. These people need to understand just how depraved and hopeless they are on their own. The sacrifice that Jesus made proves our need for Him and His grace. That grace defines our worth to Him, not our actions.
The simple fact is that we cannot change our past; but we can use it to evaluate our future. Just as the Old Testament was given to us as an example of what happens when people follow God and when they disobey God, so too our past experiences can be a personal example of the same. We waste time when we think about what it would be like to Go Back. We spend our time wisely when we think about what it means to Go Forward in light of what we have experienced in our past.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Historic Days!
This is an Historic Day. I never really thought it would come... call me a man of little faith or someone stuck in the past. But, the evidence was strongly in support of my stance, and I don't feel bad for holding it. I am one of those guys that expects you to prove something has changed before you expect me to believe it has changed.
So, when the weather man told me it would snow today... I did not believe it. They said it would snow at Midnight. It didn't, I was awake and there was no snow. Then they said 3 a.m. Wrong again... and I can give personal testimony to that. They came back and said that 7 a.m. was the new magic number... but my old body just was not up for a true all-nighter. So, I went to sleep finally, only to wake up to my son screaming about the Snow MAN falling from the sky. Apparently in his mind this is all the death of some huge cosmic snow man who is giving his life for our enjoyment. Either that or we have not clearly communicated the concept of "snow" as separate from "snow man". I will stick with the first one because it is somehow more cool in my mind, and it gives a story of sacrifice and love!
Of course you will be seeing the words "Historic Day" in other contexts today as well. That is because today History is being made as we inaugurate the first Black president in America. Perhaps I should have said African American, but honestly I do not like all of those Adjective American descriptions. And, if I am admitting things then let me admit also that I hope this day will not be such a big deal in 50 years. It is my sincere hope that just like a true professional does not celebrate every touchdown or tackle with a 5-minute victory dance that in 50 years it will be common place for Americans of all colors and backgrounds to hold the highest position of power in our country.
I have no idea what this means for black community in America. I don't think I could have any idea. I know it is "big" and that it is "exciting", but from the response of my friends (who happen to be black) I know that these words are too small to truly communicate what they are feeling.
I have said for some time that the color of a person's skin does not matter to me so much as the character of their heart. I hope that the next four years proves that is true of me. I also hope that this might begin to mark true change in our nation. Change that leads to a time where I don't cringe just before I type the word "black friend" hoping that people won't get offended or believe me to be racist. Change that leads to a time where we are all just Americans, and everyone actually feels that way. Change that creates a focus for us all that goes beyond color and into character.
This will be an Historic Day regardless of what changes President Obama brings to our country in regards to policy, economy, and foreign/domestic relations. It will prove to be a truly historic day if in 50 years it is not remembered purely because he was the first African American to become President.
So, when the weather man told me it would snow today... I did not believe it. They said it would snow at Midnight. It didn't, I was awake and there was no snow. Then they said 3 a.m. Wrong again... and I can give personal testimony to that. They came back and said that 7 a.m. was the new magic number... but my old body just was not up for a true all-nighter. So, I went to sleep finally, only to wake up to my son screaming about the Snow MAN falling from the sky. Apparently in his mind this is all the death of some huge cosmic snow man who is giving his life for our enjoyment. Either that or we have not clearly communicated the concept of "snow" as separate from "snow man". I will stick with the first one because it is somehow more cool in my mind, and it gives a story of sacrifice and love!
Of course you will be seeing the words "Historic Day" in other contexts today as well. That is because today History is being made as we inaugurate the first Black president in America. Perhaps I should have said African American, but honestly I do not like all of those Adjective American descriptions. And, if I am admitting things then let me admit also that I hope this day will not be such a big deal in 50 years. It is my sincere hope that just like a true professional does not celebrate every touchdown or tackle with a 5-minute victory dance that in 50 years it will be common place for Americans of all colors and backgrounds to hold the highest position of power in our country.
I have no idea what this means for black community in America. I don't think I could have any idea. I know it is "big" and that it is "exciting", but from the response of my friends (who happen to be black) I know that these words are too small to truly communicate what they are feeling.
I have said for some time that the color of a person's skin does not matter to me so much as the character of their heart. I hope that the next four years proves that is true of me. I also hope that this might begin to mark true change in our nation. Change that leads to a time where I don't cringe just before I type the word "black friend" hoping that people won't get offended or believe me to be racist. Change that leads to a time where we are all just Americans, and everyone actually feels that way. Change that creates a focus for us all that goes beyond color and into character.
This will be an Historic Day regardless of what changes President Obama brings to our country in regards to policy, economy, and foreign/domestic relations. It will prove to be a truly historic day if in 50 years it is not remembered purely because he was the first African American to become President.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
You can't always go back
The truth is not always fun. That could be another blog title, but for now let me just use it as a way to describe my feelings toward the current blog title. I realize the truth in the statement, "You can't always go back", but I don't necessarily like it. I am pretty sure most people are with me here. That is why you have "reset" buttons on game consoles. Games are much less fun when you cannot go right back and fix mistakes you made, or when you have to work for hours just to get back to the place where you made the mistake. But, many times in life there is no reset button.
When I make statements like this people tend to mistake me for a pessimist. They make silly statements like, "Anything is possible!" or "You just have to keep the faith!". Granted, I do believe in a God who can do literally anything. I also believe in a God who created this world to follow a certain set of rules, and barring a minuscule set of examples He seems happy to keep things that way.
Using my example from Monday, I find that Samson made a decision that carried consequences from which he could not just "go back". I bet he wished for a reset button about the time he realized his hair was cut off and his loving wife had turned him over, again, to the Philistines. But, he didn't. He was captured, his eyes were gouged out, and he became a slave. God released him from two of those situations, and perhaps the third if you want to get into the whole "his vision was restored in heaven" argument. But, a clear lesson is that his decision carried a consequence, and you cannot just go back to the time before your eyes were gouged out.
Perhaps I am not making a great case against me being a pessimist. Let me begin that path by saying I do not believe the main point to Samson's story is that his eyes were gouged out. That is not what I remember in his story (I actually looked it up again just make sure I was remembering correctly when writing this!). What I do remember is a story of a man who absolutely despised God's call on his life, made numerous decision to mock that call, ended up losing the call, and was still restored and used by God in his death. The patience of God is incredible. The ability for God to pick Samson up from his incredibly low place and still use him is incredible.
Would that have happened if Samson was still obsessed with losing his eyes? Would Samson have been able to move forward before he completely gave up his past? I find so many people that are wasting their future trying to change their past. That is not Optimism, it is Futility. God does not expect a perfect past from us. He knows just how screwed up we have been, and He paid an incredible price to cover it and redeem us to a different future.
Just because you cannot always go back does not mean that God cannot take you where He wants you to be moving forward.
When I make statements like this people tend to mistake me for a pessimist. They make silly statements like, "Anything is possible!" or "You just have to keep the faith!". Granted, I do believe in a God who can do literally anything. I also believe in a God who created this world to follow a certain set of rules, and barring a minuscule set of examples He seems happy to keep things that way.
Using my example from Monday, I find that Samson made a decision that carried consequences from which he could not just "go back". I bet he wished for a reset button about the time he realized his hair was cut off and his loving wife had turned him over, again, to the Philistines. But, he didn't. He was captured, his eyes were gouged out, and he became a slave. God released him from two of those situations, and perhaps the third if you want to get into the whole "his vision was restored in heaven" argument. But, a clear lesson is that his decision carried a consequence, and you cannot just go back to the time before your eyes were gouged out.
Perhaps I am not making a great case against me being a pessimist. Let me begin that path by saying I do not believe the main point to Samson's story is that his eyes were gouged out. That is not what I remember in his story (I actually looked it up again just make sure I was remembering correctly when writing this!). What I do remember is a story of a man who absolutely despised God's call on his life, made numerous decision to mock that call, ended up losing the call, and was still restored and used by God in his death. The patience of God is incredible. The ability for God to pick Samson up from his incredibly low place and still use him is incredible.
Would that have happened if Samson was still obsessed with losing his eyes? Would Samson have been able to move forward before he completely gave up his past? I find so many people that are wasting their future trying to change their past. That is not Optimism, it is Futility. God does not expect a perfect past from us. He knows just how screwed up we have been, and He paid an incredible price to cover it and redeem us to a different future.
Just because you cannot always go back does not mean that God cannot take you where He wants you to be moving forward.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Changed by it or Chained to it
Until I deal seriously with my past I cannot be serious about my future. I am not sure why this issue of dealing with the past is sticking in my mind so much, but I find that many people seem Chained to their past. Past decisions, past relationships, past choices, past loves, past hates, past fears, past dreams. I see them chained because their present and future are effected by their past and they feel like they are helpless to do anything about it.
Samson comes to mind as I consider this reality. He is a great example of someone who had a real and powerful call from God, and then chose to despise that call in exchange for his own pleasure. He made a mistake. In fact he made a whole series of mistakes. He tossed away God's blessing and lost his power, his position, and his sight.
Perhaps he is an extreme example, but I believe many people are in a similar situation. God has placed a call on their life and through a myriad of circumstances and choices they have left it, despising it for another call. People have a hard time admitting that they despised God's call. I think the idea of despising God is tough for people to admit, but it is the accurate description of what occurred. God called you to a certain profession, a certain person, a certain position. But, for whatever reason you were too afraid, had too little faith, or were just too interested in other options.
Until we can look back on our past and be honest about our actions and attitudes we cannot hope to move forward in any significant way. One thing that should help us in this process is this incredible fact:
GOD LOVES US. No matter what our past looks like and how we squandered His provision and despised His call... He loves us and longs to redeem and restore us. Remember Samson. He was chained to a post, blind, powerless. When he finally admitted that it was all his fault and asked to be restored... God restored him. His calling changed for sure, the direction of his life on earth was forever changed due to his earlier decisions. But, until he was ready to deal honestly with his past he was unable to focus on his future.
So, how about you? Are you willing to allow God to use your history to change your future? What if He called you to one incredible, and life-altering act in the future? Is your current life so valuable to you that you are unwilling to give it away to be used by God once more? Or, if He asks you to leave it all behind and follow Him... will you do it?
Samson comes to mind as I consider this reality. He is a great example of someone who had a real and powerful call from God, and then chose to despise that call in exchange for his own pleasure. He made a mistake. In fact he made a whole series of mistakes. He tossed away God's blessing and lost his power, his position, and his sight.
Perhaps he is an extreme example, but I believe many people are in a similar situation. God has placed a call on their life and through a myriad of circumstances and choices they have left it, despising it for another call. People have a hard time admitting that they despised God's call. I think the idea of despising God is tough for people to admit, but it is the accurate description of what occurred. God called you to a certain profession, a certain person, a certain position. But, for whatever reason you were too afraid, had too little faith, or were just too interested in other options.
Until we can look back on our past and be honest about our actions and attitudes we cannot hope to move forward in any significant way. One thing that should help us in this process is this incredible fact:
GOD LOVES US. No matter what our past looks like and how we squandered His provision and despised His call... He loves us and longs to redeem and restore us. Remember Samson. He was chained to a post, blind, powerless. When he finally admitted that it was all his fault and asked to be restored... God restored him. His calling changed for sure, the direction of his life on earth was forever changed due to his earlier decisions. But, until he was ready to deal honestly with his past he was unable to focus on his future.
So, how about you? Are you willing to allow God to use your history to change your future? What if He called you to one incredible, and life-altering act in the future? Is your current life so valuable to you that you are unwilling to give it away to be used by God once more? Or, if He asks you to leave it all behind and follow Him... will you do it?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Picture Perfect Past
There is a classic cartoon line that Bugs Bunny always used when he found himself in trouble. "I must have taken a wrong turn back in Albuquerque." (seriously, that is how you spell it) In that statement he did something that many leaders struggle with... he admitted a mistake. He looked back on his past decisions and identified that one of them was wrong, and that the wrong decision led him to a wrong destination.
As I have been thinking about vision and focus and the goals that drive our lives, I have seen many people who really struggle with admitting that their past decisions may have been wrong. Though they would not use these words, it is as if every past decision was the right one, but somehow the path itself has caused them to end up in a place they did not want to be.
In their attempt to avoid responsibility for their actions they are also forfeiting something very valuable. Possibility to change. Most of the people that I talk to who are unwilling to own up to their mistakes in the past are also unable to see the possibility of change in the future. They feel stuck in their current life and see no way that it could ever be different.
When we are willing to admit our mistakes and then learn from them we often discover the path to change. I have found one great tool that helps in this process... the question "why?". Why did I make that decision? Why did I partner with those people? What was I trying to find, avoid, or fulfill in my life with that choice? Never be satisfied with the first answer... but dig a step or two deeper to find the Why to the Why. It is then that I begin to discover my motives and my true desires. And, that is often when I realize that my past is not so Picture Perfect. My choices were not perfect choices because I was not a perfect person and I did not have perfect information. And, just because it may be difficult to change a decision I made in the past, that does not make it any less right to do so.
As I have been thinking about vision and focus and the goals that drive our lives, I have seen many people who really struggle with admitting that their past decisions may have been wrong. Though they would not use these words, it is as if every past decision was the right one, but somehow the path itself has caused them to end up in a place they did not want to be.
In their attempt to avoid responsibility for their actions they are also forfeiting something very valuable. Possibility to change. Most of the people that I talk to who are unwilling to own up to their mistakes in the past are also unable to see the possibility of change in the future. They feel stuck in their current life and see no way that it could ever be different.
When we are willing to admit our mistakes and then learn from them we often discover the path to change. I have found one great tool that helps in this process... the question "why?". Why did I make that decision? Why did I partner with those people? What was I trying to find, avoid, or fulfill in my life with that choice? Never be satisfied with the first answer... but dig a step or two deeper to find the Why to the Why. It is then that I begin to discover my motives and my true desires. And, that is often when I realize that my past is not so Picture Perfect. My choices were not perfect choices because I was not a perfect person and I did not have perfect information. And, just because it may be difficult to change a decision I made in the past, that does not make it any less right to do so.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Slicing Cheese... and other things I suck at
I am one of those people who probably spends too much time thinking about unimportant things. But, at some level it really bothers me that I cannot slice cheese as well as my wife can. We have this little tool in our house that is designed for the sole purpose of slicing cheese. (No, it is NOT an old-fashioned "cheese slicer", this thing is much more cool.) Give her the cheezomatic and a block of cheese and she can create nice, even, unbroken slices. Place the same tool in my hand and you come out with random, crumbly, cheese-like things. It is quite frustrating. For a while I got by blaming it on the cheese. I would make crazy statements like, "Well this Colby is just too soft. If you would get a decent medium cheddar then I would show you how to slice cheese!" The truth is I just don't have the cheese-slicing gene. I have had enough practice now to know that it goes beyond training and into a deeper design flaw that exists within me.
Though I realize this is not such a big deal if it were relegated purely to cheese... the fact is that there are other things in life that I am just not designed to do. It is not that I am unable to do them, just that I will never reach my full potential by doing them. Were my life a giant kitchen whose purpose was to create sandwiches, you would not want to put me on the "cheese slicing" station. Sure I could do the job, but I would slow down the entire kitchen simply because I was attempting to live outside of my design.
One of the things that God has been helping me accomplish this last year is to know myself better. (Did a certain Shakespeare reference pop into anyone else's mind right then?) It may sound odd, but I don't think that people spend enough time really getting to know who they are, what they love, and how they were created to operate. And, if they do go through that process they rarely have the courage to then change their life in order to maximize their impact on this earth.
Most people I meet seem to live under the assumption that the best possible outcome for their life is the one that just happened to them while they were growing up. They made decisions, they met people, they got jobs, and this is their life. It is as if every decision they made along the way was the perfect decision and so nothing should be questioned anymore. That seems pretty arrogant to me, but I think the real culprit is fear.
Most people do not have the courage to leave a life of cheese-slicing even after they realize that it is not what they were designed for. Cheese-slicing pays the bills, it is safe, it is constant, it is known. It is also an illusion. An illusion of security, of fulfillment, of satisfaction, of meaning...
So, what about my dear readers? Have you taken the time to really look at who you are and how God has designed you? Have you then taken that knowledge and compared it to where you happen to be in life? If the two do not match up perfectly... then are you willing to take the steps necessary to start down a new road where they could?
Though I realize this is not such a big deal if it were relegated purely to cheese... the fact is that there are other things in life that I am just not designed to do. It is not that I am unable to do them, just that I will never reach my full potential by doing them. Were my life a giant kitchen whose purpose was to create sandwiches, you would not want to put me on the "cheese slicing" station. Sure I could do the job, but I would slow down the entire kitchen simply because I was attempting to live outside of my design.
One of the things that God has been helping me accomplish this last year is to know myself better. (Did a certain Shakespeare reference pop into anyone else's mind right then?) It may sound odd, but I don't think that people spend enough time really getting to know who they are, what they love, and how they were created to operate. And, if they do go through that process they rarely have the courage to then change their life in order to maximize their impact on this earth.
Most people I meet seem to live under the assumption that the best possible outcome for their life is the one that just happened to them while they were growing up. They made decisions, they met people, they got jobs, and this is their life. It is as if every decision they made along the way was the perfect decision and so nothing should be questioned anymore. That seems pretty arrogant to me, but I think the real culprit is fear.
Most people do not have the courage to leave a life of cheese-slicing even after they realize that it is not what they were designed for. Cheese-slicing pays the bills, it is safe, it is constant, it is known. It is also an illusion. An illusion of security, of fulfillment, of satisfaction, of meaning...
So, what about my dear readers? Have you taken the time to really look at who you are and how God has designed you? Have you then taken that knowledge and compared it to where you happen to be in life? If the two do not match up perfectly... then are you willing to take the steps necessary to start down a new road where they could?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
It is better to give
Christmas has come and gone, and for many of you that means that you have moved past the "season of giving". Already your focus has moved closer to home. Not me my friends! This, my first blog of the New Year is going to highlight my favorite person in the world. I made a post about this a few months back when I mentioned a project that I was going to be a part of this next year. That project will be led by my wife as she begins writing about the things God has taught her over the past decade about being the wife of an associate pastor and about filling the role of "support" in general.
I have done my own writing projects and am involved in one right now, but I can honestly say that I am more excited about this project that anything I am working on right now. I really believe God is going to use the insights He has taught my wife to encourage and exhort countless men and women. There is such a huge need for people who can live in support of a great vision. It is not an easy calling, but it is extremely important. Every God-given vision requires God-given support. And, the fact is that most of us will be filling support roles, not vision-casting roles.
So, take a few moments today and go check out my wife's New Blog and say hi!
I have done my own writing projects and am involved in one right now, but I can honestly say that I am more excited about this project that anything I am working on right now. I really believe God is going to use the insights He has taught my wife to encourage and exhort countless men and women. There is such a huge need for people who can live in support of a great vision. It is not an easy calling, but it is extremely important. Every God-given vision requires God-given support. And, the fact is that most of us will be filling support roles, not vision-casting roles.
So, take a few moments today and go check out my wife's New Blog and say hi!
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