It can be tough trying to find a church you like. I fully recognize that, but sometimes people take things to the extreme.
Churches can be a little too this, or not enough of that. The natural inclination is to look for a church home that meets your preferences. That absolutely makes sense. It’s important not to set the bar impossibly high, though. “The Perfect Church” simply does not exist. Even if it did, it would be ruined once you, an imperfect person, started attending there.
“I don’t like the worship.”
“I don’t like the preaching.”
“It’s not welcoming enough.”
“The people there are too friendly.”
These can all be criticisms of a church, but let me point out that when you walk into a church for the first time, you’re likely to find what you’re looking for. That is to say, if you’re looking for a reason not to like a given church, you’ll probably find one. If you’re looking for hypocritical behavior, it’s probably only a matter of time before you encounter it. If you’re looking for someone to do or say something that doesn’t jive with your preferred code of conduct, yes, it’s going to happen.
Instead, I’d like to propose that you walk into a church looking for solid Bible teaching and a congregation of people that’s imperfect but loves Jesus, loves each other, and wants to spread the Gospel. Once you find that, be on the lookout for a way to volunteer your spiritual gifts in humility. (By humility, I mean exactly that…even if you believe you’re blessed with more talent than whoever is already serving in that capacity, you should not expect to impress everyone and be given the leeway to transform an existing ministry into the version you’d like) A healthy church welcomes new attendees and looks to employ those new attendees’ spiritual gifts and willingness to serve.
Rather than looking for reasons not to attend a particular church, look for the things you know God would applaud about the church and the ways you can fill the role of the missing puzzle piece that makes the church a more complete entity. Christianity isn’t a spectator religion; you’ve got to get involved. Maybe you haven’t found the church you like because the one you’re attending is still missing the thing you can offer.
Who knows? Your contribution to the congregation may be the thing that makes a future newcomer say “yes, this feels like my new church home.”
Years ago there was a sitcom on TV called “Parks and Rec.” It was a comedy that focused on the staff of the Parks and Recreation Department of a small Midwestern town in Indiana.
The main character in this show is a woman named Leslie Knope, a very energetic civil servant overflowing with enthusiasm. Leslie’s best friend is Ann Perkins, a bubbly and fun (but not nearly as over-the-top as Leslie) nurse. My personal favorite is Leslie’s boss, Ron Swanson. He’s a deadpan middle-aged guy that enjoys solitude, fine alcohol, well-prepared meats of any kind, and making government bureaucracy less efficient.
In one particular episode Ron learns Leslie is planning a surprise birthday event for him, which, in Ron’s mind, is a mortifying idea. Leslie’s panache for flamboyant celebrations is something he fears will be turned on him. Out of morbid curiosity, he asks Ann about a past surprise birthday party Leslie threw for her. You can almost sense his nausea as she fondly recalls being “kidnapped” from work, brought to a restaurant where a mariachi band sang happy birthday to her and made her wear a sombrero, then afterward heading home where virtually all of Ann’s friends were waiting to surprise her.
Ron went into defensive mode. He starts sleeping at the office to reduce the opportunities for him to be kidnapped. He starts learning of little hints that another kidnapping is in the offing. When Leslie finally comes to him with a lame attempt to get him to a specific location elsewhere in the building, he resigns himself to the fate he’d been trying to avoid. He follows Leslie to a conference room and she opens the door, where he expects someone to lunge at him.
Instead, he finds a comfortable chair at a simply set table for one. The table has a large steak, a heaping side of bacon, a baked potato with plenty of toppings, a bottle of booze to complement the steak, and two war movies for him to enjoy by himself.
As he stumbles to find the right words to say, Ron mentions the party Ann had described to him earlier. Leslie replies “I did that for Ann. Why would I throw Ron Swanson an Ann Perkins party?”
This oddly touching scene is the perfect analogy for the way the Lord commissions us to do His work. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, when I was younger I always feared I’d have to grow up and become some kind of missionary in a far-off land. I know that’s important, but I don’t want to do that! To any missionaries out there, a thousand thank yous for the work you do. I can’t rule out the possibility that being a missionary is still somewhere in my future, but I feel blessed that God’s said something similar: “I already have people for that. I need you to do this thing nobody else is equipped to do.” Hopefully you’re hearing the same message.
As it turns out, there are plenty of roles God can use you for, and there are some we may not enjoy. Sometimes though, you may just find that God hands you an assignment and you mull it over for awhile, only to come away saying “yeah, you know, I think I could do that!”
They won’t always be fun, but you’ll be blessed each time you say “yes” to God.
Lord, thank you for knowing us better than we know ourselves, and for training, equipping, and preparing us for the things You’ll ask of us. Help us be brave when we’re asked to do something we don’t want to do, be appreciative when we’re asked to do something we like, and be confident in You at all times. In Your name I ask, Amen.
To see this “Parks and Rec” exchange, have a look here. There’s some crude language sprinkled throughout, but it’s still a fun clip.
There are a lot of bible verses about leaning on God or relying/depending on God. Lots of times they’re connected to the idea either that “this is more than I can handle on my own,” or “no matter how cool I think I am, God’s really the one in charge.”
Here are a few examples:
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. –Isaiah 41:13
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. –Proverbs 16:9
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. –Psalm 121:1-2
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. –John 15:5
When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. –Hosea 13:6
God wants us to rely on Him, but that way of thinking doesn’t come naturally to us. That last verse from Hosea gives a little insight into God’s thoughts. When we’re happy and satisfied with our lives, we tend to drift away from God more than when we’re in the middle of some kind of crisis. During a crisis, “reliance on the Lord” becomes a hands-on lesson for us. It’s that reliance that ensures we don’t forget Him.
There are a lot of circumstances in life that drive a closer reliance on God. Loss of a loved one, an extended illness or other medical situation, a job loss, relationship problems, and on and on and on. It’s kind of the opposite of “fair weather followers;” when things are fine we don’t talk to God much, but we cozy right up to Him when we need or want something. It’s human nature.
Here’s the part that’s important to remember. If we don’t rely on God on our own, He tends to introduce events in our lives that force us to reconsider. I think it’s interesting to note that as you look at famous biblical characters (Moses, Nehemiah, and Paul, for example), they all had their personal problems, certainly, but those problems were not the primary outlets for their reliance on God. Rather, their reliance showed through when they were doing something bigger than themselves, focusing up and out rather than down and in. When Moses was focused on leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he wasn’t terribly focused on his speech impediment. Nehemiah took charge of a project that gave a ruined city its identity and confidence, allowing him to look past the anxiety he felt for his languishing brethren. Paul traveled all along major trade routes spreading the gospel, planting churches, and empowering the next generation of Christian teachers, not really sweating the small stuff like multiple shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments, or being bitten by a poisonous snake.
Another way of saying this is that if you’re not looking at the big possibilities and purposes God is offering you, you’re limiting the options He has in your life to teach you this continual lesson. You leave only the opportunity to experience “defensive” lean-on-God moments, and by avoiding the tasks that stretch you, you shut the door on the “offensive” version. When you don’t give Him options, He creates His own, and that often leads to “crisis mode” situations. This is doubly troubling; when we do this, not only are we turning down the opportunity to do big things for God’s kingdom, we’re also unintentionally sending God the message “hey, I’m not getting it; I need you to do something that grabs my attention.”
Don’t misunderstand; even if you do everything right and jump in with both feet every time God sets a challenge before you, your personal life is not guaranteed to be free of stress and crises. We live in a fallen world. People die. We harm, betray, or steal from one another. What I’m saying is that by responding to God’s calling for your life, by reaching for something that’s beyond what you can achieve on your own, you willingly walk a life of dependence on God, and He looks on that favorably.
One final example. Peter got out of the boat and walked on water. Imagine if he opted instead to stay in the boat. God still would have had ample opportunities to use him for His plans, but He may have had to sideline Peter for a little bit to teach him reliance through a sudden personal tragedy. Peter probably would’ve learned the lesson, but it wouldn’t be nearly as inspirational as what actually happened.
What do you think, have you only been giving God “defensive” reliance opportunities? Maybe it’s time to get out of the boat and walk on water.
If you live a righteous life, you’re going to encounter opposition.
It’s a tricky thing, this balance Christians need to maintain. On the one hand, we need to have other Christians we can depend on, go to with our problems, and lean on for support. On the other hand, we can’t immerse ourselves so much in this support system that we never have contact with the people we’re meant to witness to. Our job, after all, is to go forth and make disciples of all nations. It’s tough to do that if we only spend time with other believers.
I’ve got a story to share that’s going to make me sound like I’m touting how perfect I was at a certain time in my life. That’s not my intent, so please hang in there for the point I’m trying to make. I worked construction for a couple of summers in college and then for about a year and a half after graduating. You meet a lot of interesting (translated: rough) characters in that line of work. The crude speech alone was enough to raise some eyebrows.
I stuck out quite a bit in this field. I didn’t swear, I didn’t drink, and I didn’t chase women. That’s pretty unusual for a young man in that line of work. I didn’t act in a morally superior or “holier than thou” way. It wasn’t necessary. People took notice over time. Different guys would leave or join the crew, but it seemed like everyone except me indulged in at least one of those three behaviors. One of the guys even told me “I’ve met dudes that avoid one of those things. I’ve even met a couple of guys that avoid two of those things. But you’re the only guy I’ve met that doesn’t do any of those things.”
A lot of times a few of the guys would try to prod me to let slip a dirty word or two. Occasionally a few of them would conspire to make me have a rough day, just to try to get me to lose my temper. Now why would they do that? They saw somebody more disciplined than them and they tried to get him to stumble so he’d “descend to their level.” I’m not going to sit here and tell you that people who drink or cuss or make mistakes can’t get into Heaven. I will tell you though, that blamelessness bothers sinners. I’m not perfect, but guys on that crew figured I was, and it was an image they wanted to mar for their own satisfaction. If they could make a “perfect” person stumble, it made them feel better about the way they lived their own lives.
That’s one side of the coin. There’s a very important flip side to it. When you stiffen your spine in response to consistent opposition day after day, week after week, month after month, there’s a certain amount of respect that others develop toward you. I wasn’t preachy about my faith to the other guys. In fact, I don’t know that I ever even threw “I’m a Christian” out there. One guy, who had given me a lot of grief, but who was also a very philosophical type of fellow, one day told me he had a lot of respect for my convictions. He seemed to take at least a little bit of joy in finding hypocrisy in people that called themselves religious. After months of working together and trying to get under my skin, he told me “you are who you say you are.” (I never had to say who I was.)
Not only was it a very high compliment coming from him, it was an acknowledgement to me that it had been worth the heat. Soon after that we spent some time talking about the Bible and some of the things it contained. We eventually went our separate ways, but a few years later my wife and I looked him up and visited him and his family. They had us over for dinner, breaking out some big steaks, sharing their table and their home with us. I can’t say I led the guy to Christ, and I haven’t had any contact with him in probably 15 years, but I hope to be one member of the team that takes part in his years-long journey to the Lord.
God will ask you to do things that are hard. He asks you to do it because He knows you’re uniquely suited to get it done. If He asks you to be above reproach in a difficult environment, it might just be because He knows blamelessness bothers sinners, and He’s using you to get somebody’s attention. Hang in there. God uses teams of believers to accomplish His will in any given person’s life, but you may be the one He’s chosen to get the ball rolling.
Did you know that? A lot of people seem to think that Christians are supposed to be pushovers or doormats. That’s categorically false. We’re supposed to stand apart from the culture, and that’s something that often takes great courage and fortitude.
You probably don’t often feel like a mighty warrior, though. Of course there are giants of the faith, and you might wonder how you can even be mentioned in the same breath as some of them.
Listen to me. If you’re not yet at the end of your Christian walk, God can still do plenty in and through you. He wants you for who you are, not who you ought to be. Yet He looks at you and sees not who you are now, but what you can become.
The world is dark and getting darker. Let the light of Christ shine in your life, whatever that looks like in your circumstances. We need you. Other Christians need you. Unbelievers need you. You may have some thoughts right now about how you can do that in your own life. God equipped you with certain talents or interests, and He did that for a reason. Follow through, and let God use you.
There’s a song that was very popular a few years back. It was about a guy that saw some of the hurt and injustice of the world, and he cried out “God, why don’t you do something?”
God said “I did. I created you.”
It might be true that you’re not a giant of the faith…yet. But it doesn’t take a giant to start with doing some of the little things that need to get done.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited about the widespread release of Top Gun: Maverick tomorrow.
I was too young to enjoy the original movie when it first came out, but after I saw it, it instantly became one of those movies that was easy to quote back and forth with other fans of classic 80’s movies.
I don’t go to the movie theater as much as I used to, but I’m going to make a solid effort to get there for this one. I thought about trying to see it in IMAX, but was afraid I’d get motion sick or something. As it is, I already bring earplugs to wear when I go to the movies. (I’m an aspiring grumpy old man. I’ll probably wear a cardigan and shake my fist at the screen while shouting “turn that infernal racket down!”)
This is a unique case; the sequel was made more than 35 years after the original. It makes you think back to some of the scenes from the first movie. Set in the Cold War, the whole film is about these cocky hot-shot fighter crews that go to a highly competitive school where they’re trained to be even more aggressive than they already are. There’s a lot of exciting aerial photography, tense rivalries, and high-octane action that plays well on the screen.
Uh oh. Five enemy aircraft inbound.
In the climax of the movie, two American fighter crews get into a fight with five enemy fighters. One of the American planes is the first casualty in the fight, leaving a sole U.S. fighter to contend with five enemy aircraft until help arrives. Fresh out of super-aggressive school, the remaining pilot announces “three MiGs dead ahead, coming down the left side. I’m going after them!”
Is this guy for real? This is insane! He’s outnumbered five to one, and he’s still thinking in terms of being on offense! Dude, you need to tuck tail and run if you want to survive!
And yet…it’s what Christians are called to do.
I’ve got some sobering news for you. If you’re a Christian that wants to let Christ shine through you in a world of darkness…that dark world is guaranteed to push back at you. The attacks will get personal, and they will exact a price from you. Yet He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
If you’re truly living a life that glorifies God and aims to strike deep at the kingdom of darkness, expect that opposition to be even greater. You will appear to be the underdog, but you’re supposed to be the underdog. If your actions are a cakewalk, that doesn’t bring God a whole lot of glory, now does it?
I heard something interesting awhile back. Aside from “praise the Lord,” did you know that the most common command in the entire Bible is some form of “do not fear?”
What’s the significance of that command’s frequency? It’s probably important to reflect on all the promises God made to His people, including promises to be with us, to provide for us, and to empower us to do His will. To me that sounds a lot like He wanted to set us up to be secure enough in His love and provision to be aggressive in living our lives for Him.
You’ll mess up. You’ll wonder if you’re doing the right thing. That comes with the territory. Stay true to the commands God laid out in scripture and He’ll be able to use you for great things even if failure is an old friend of yours.
The next time you have the choice of “bugging out” and running away from the challenge or standing to face something you know will be difficult, remember to focus on your security in Christ, knowing that if He’s prompting you to follow a certain course, He’s also prepared the way for you.
It’s aggravating to me to see the way people intentionally ratchet up tensions, even stoking violence, toward others that don’t share their same view of the world. Sadly, this is the new norm now, and it seems like it’s intensifying. Sometimes it’s tempting to use this site as a platform to unload on the people doing it. Rather than indulging in that right now, though, I thought I’d share a fun four-minute video I recently came across.
In the early 1980s, before Michael Jordan got hugely famous, some of the most dominant names in professional basketball were Irvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics.
These guys could not stand each other. Both were exceptional talents, but they had a way of getting under each other’s skin and they developed a professional relationship that extended past rivalry and into hatred.
So in 1985 when the athletic shoe company Converse hired the two to shoot a commercial featuring the superstars playing each other one-on-one, nobody quite knew what to expect (least of all Johnson and Bird).
There’s a radio station I listen to sometimes that says “the world is full of good people. If you can’t find one, be one.”
Hang in there. Better times are coming.
God, it’s bad out there. People seem like they’ve absolutely lost their minds. Please help us know when we should stand up and push back, and when we should be willing to take it on the chin. Help our pride not get in the way as we try to reflect You in the course of our daily lives, even if it means the other guy/gal walks away thinking they got the better of us. Their eternal destination is far more important than our bruised ego. In all things, may Your name be praised. Amen.
We all make mistakes, right? Sometimes they’re accidental and sometimes we do the wrong thing even though we know it’s wrong. So…what’s God’s level of patience with us?
Fortunately, God often gives warnings before He gives punishments. We just need to be sensitive to hearing those warnings and being humble enough to change the thing we’re being warned about.
In the Old Testament we see a lot more examples of God “letting ‘em have it” as a result of bad behavior. In one instance, the book of Numbers, chapter 11, tells of a recently liberated Israel growing restless with God’s miraculous provision. By this point it had been over a year since God first provided manna, and the Israelites were getting pretty sick of it.
I can certainly understand how eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for over a year would get old. When you’re not carrying any spices, there are only so many ways you can alter the taste of something that’s already bland to start with. The first part of Numbers 11:1 says “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused.” The notes in my study bible say that this wasn’t just a passing grumbling; their complaining was outward and loud. I can imagine God saying “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re not pleased with the fact that I spared you from the horrible plagues that beset your captors, then I set you free from bondage, and now I’m bringing you to a fruitful land you’ll call home? I’m feeding you what you need and your clothes and shoes aren’t wearing out, but I’m not moving fast enough for your liking? Did I miss anything, your highness?”
Moses wrote the book of Numbers, and sometimes it’s kind of funny to see how he was in a hurry or just didn’t feel like taking the time to elaborate as he wrote things down. Maybe writing materials were in short supply. Here’s verse 11:1 in its entirety. “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”
It seems like God doesn’t take the same approach these days. Imagine if He unleashed His wrath every time we did something displeasing to Him? There’d be nobody left!
Let’s consider what He did, though. Yeah, He let some of His anger off the chain, but He didn’t go as far as He could have. Israelites became known for their complaining. The fact that He focused His wrath “on the outskirts of the camp” suggests that He intentionally limited the damage. God doesn’t miss. It’s not clear how the fire started; I don’t know if we’re talking about raining literal fire down from Heaven or if it was “just” divine fire that sprung up in certain portions of the camp, but the outcome was the same…God made an example out of a relatively small number in order to serve as a warning to everyone else. The text doesn’t tell us who bore the brunt of God’s wrath that day, but from what we know about Him, I’ve got to think that they weren’t totally innocent of wrongdoing.
God tends to give warnings before He metes out punishment. In our current era, having people fall over dead doesn’t seem to be quite as common as in Bible times, but He has other ways of warning us to get back on track. A conscience is crucial for doing that. You’re also more likely to heed small warnings if you have a humble spirit. I can’t be sure, but I’m thinking the folks in Numbers 11 probably weren’t all that humble. God turned to straight up death and destruction as a warning. In your case, if you’re doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing, hopefully you’ve got enough humility that reading a post like this is enough to get you to say “you know what? I need to make some changes.”
God will give only so many warnings before He gives you over to the path you’re choosing. Are you doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing? If so, let this post serve as one of those warnings to you. It’s time to face the fact that changes must be made, and that you’re the one to do it.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
I’m a big fan of the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” It’s a 10-part drama based on an elite unit of Army paratroopers that saw action in some of the major battles and events of World War II.
Back in the 1940s it was a new concept to use paratroopers in warfare. These men endured some of the most miserable training conditions the Army had to offer, being conditioned to keep fighting despite not knowing when relief or resupply would come. They learned what it means to give “whatever it takes.”
During WWII, Hitler ordered a final, massive offensive in mid-December of 1944. German forces massed artillery, infantry, tanks, and just about anything else they could throw against Allied forces. Designed to break through the line of troops, wreak havoc, and seize the initiative, it caught the Allies by surprise.
The Germans moved so quickly that they surrounded an American-held town in Belgium called Bastogne. Before the road into Bastogne got cut off, regular American Army troops pulled out while paratroopers hastily moved in on foot to defend it. They lacked sufficient winter clothing, ammunition, and food, and were about to have their supply line cut by enemy forces.
The German thrust trapped a pocket of Americans and civilians in Bastogne
In the miniseries, a young armory Lieutenant arrived in a jeep carrying an assortment of badly needed ammunition just as the paratroopers headed into dangerous territory. As he and a few Bastogne-bound officers exchanged the little information they had, he said “The Panzer Division’s about to cut the road south. Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded.”
At that point Captain Dick Winters, a now-famous soldier and the main character in the series, responded “We’re paratroopers Lieutenant. We’re supposed to be surrounded.”
I don’t know if Winters actually made that statement in real life at that time, but it reflects the attitude the soldiers came to embrace.
It’s not much different than the attitude Christians should have. In the world, but not of it, we’re pilgrims in an unholy land (John 15:19). We’re hunted by a prowling adversary (1 Peter 5:8). We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
Yeah. The pressure’s on. Evil lives on every side of you, and you’re charged with standing up to it and beating it back. Your life will not get easier if you become a Christian; in fact, it’s likely to become harder. Like the paratroopers in the forest around Bastogne, we’re to look after one another. We’re supposed to encourage one another, draw strength from one another, help each other up when we’re down, and bear one another’s burdens. That’s why it’s so important to have fellowship with other believers. Hang tough until the bitter end, even though it’s going to get rougher out there, because there’s hope:
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. – John 16:33
In 2018 I felt called to do something very uncharacteristic. I felt like God was leading me to start blogging.
After wrestling with the idea for a little bit, I got a blog set up. At first I didn’t know what it was supposed to look like (I’m still figuring it out). It started out recounting adventures from my younger days with an added biblical tie-in, but has since evolved to include other things as well. This blog has been up and running for almost exactly three years now. This is post number 188.
DareGreatlyNow doesn’t have a huge following. It doesn’t even have a large following. Some entries have been read or shared hundreds of times, others less than 10. Sometimes I’m excited about a post I’m writing, other times writing is a chore.
It’s not easy. I usually spend a couple of hours a week writing new entries. After some days at work, I’d sure like to be doing something else. It’s a tricky thing…I initially felt God calling me to start this blog. I’ve had some personal experience writing regular updates on extraordinary or exciting events in the past whose list of recipients quickly ballooned to hundreds. Well I figured “it’ll be just like that!” Well, truth be told, it’s been nothing like that. The subscriber list has slowly grown over time, but even though I’ve received some feedback here and there, I’ll likely never know the degree to which God’s used these posts to work in someone’s life.
Despite all the negatives that go along with it, I can’t stop just yet. I definitely felt called to start it, but I haven’t yet felt called to quit doing it. Giving up might be easy, but quitting a calling wouldn’t reflect well upon me as someone that considers himself a dedicated Christ-follower, nor would it bring honor to my Savior, the one that put this task on my heart.
This past week I read some footnotes about one of Jesus’ famous parables that helped remind me of what I should do. In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus tells the parable of the master entrusting three of his servants with large sums of his money before he departs on a trip. I’ve written before about this Bible story, but sometimes reading the same thing at different times in your life can help things hit home in different ways.
Most of us know the parable. The master charged the three servants with different amounts of money, according to their ability. The first two guys, entrusted with about 375 pounds of gold and 150 pounds of gold respectively, worked hard and doubled the amount of gold they oversaw. The third guy, in charge of roughly 75 pounds of gold, went out and hid it in the dirt, rather than put in the effort to turn it into something that benefited his master. When the master returns and links up with the three to get an update, He’s pleased with the first two guys, but he’s miffed at the third guy, who didn’t even put the gold in the bank where it could collect interest.
What I’d like to focus on here is the first two guys. Can you imagine being so diligent that you double the value of something just by being persistent? Earlier this week the price of gold was $1,750 per ounce. That price, times 16 ounces in a pound, times 375 or 150 pounds means that the first guy was entrusted with $10.5 million and the master put the second guy in charge of $4.2 million, and both of those guys earned a 100% return!
Here’s the part I want to focus on, though. The master was obviously pleased with their performance. For the guy that turned $10.5 million into $21 million, the master said “That’s great! I’ll put you in charge of more, but for now, come celebrate with me!” (“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”) Know what he said to the second guy? The guy that “only” turned $4.2 million into $8.4 million? He said the exact same thing.
Do you know what that means? It means that God’s looking for faithfulness in His servants as they perform the tasks with which He’s charged them. He’s looking for them to demonstrate consistent effort even when it’s not convenient, not just something that starts out with good intentions and then fizzles out after awhile. Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that we’re all to demonstrate as our walk with Christ deepens.
Know what else it means? It means those same servants should perform those tasks with the full expectation that God will use their efforts to do something great for His kingdom. Not only that, but those servants should serve in the effort fully expecting they’ll one day be put in charge of something bigger. Being faithful in our callings prepares us for future callings.
So…do I believe the Church will collapse or the sky will fall if I stop writing entries for this blog? No, but if I stop prematurely, I believe that someone down the road (maybe me) will somehow get short-changed. The third servant in the parable was put in charge of about 2.1 million dollars. Think he got a second look the next time the master was going out of town?
Assuming I’m currently entrusted with this lowest-value task (the one-talent version, rather than the two- or five-talent version), instead of hiding it under a rock or burying it in the dirt, I’m going to put some effort into remaining faithful to the task, fully expecting to one day be entrusted with something bigger.
God charged me with a task. I don’t know what He wants to do with it, but here’s what I know: outcome is God’s responsibility, and obedience is my responsibility. That takes a lot of the pressure off me! I can’t possibly know what God’s got planned for this blog or why in the world He prompted me to start it, but that’s okay, because that information isn’t necessary in order for me to follow through on the assignment He’s given me.
Is there something you’ve felt called to do, but have given up on it? Please consider having another look. It could be your first step in God moving you along to something bigger.
