Reviewing Goals

With moving this year I realized just how much stuff I have and maybe a reminder of what I need to throw out. In the middle of all of this stuff, I found a laminated paper of my 4-year goals from 2017. (I'm deleting 2020 as a year for my goal list)

After a quick look, I wanted to throw it away as there were several things on it that were not even close to being completed. Getting a complete understanding of basic Spanish just didn't happen. Being in perfect shape for my age, no, going to ignore that. I didn't hit the New York Times bestseller list but then I didn't get published traditionally either so, I missed that too.

I looked over the failures and wanted to throw it out. However, I didn't. I stopped and looked at it again.

So I didn't get Spanish down, but truth be told it was a wish and never made a real priority, so it shouldn't have been on the list. 

Find accountability, yes. 

I didn't publish a fiction book but I did write 4 and instead of publishing one non-fiction, I got 10. My estimate is I wrote 400,000 words for books in the last 5 years. Yes, this was a win. 

I helped more than 3 people get published.

I did all that I was asked on the district I was part of.  

I didn't get in perfect shape but I have lost 50 pounds so that is a win.

I could go on but when I finished going over the list I hit half of them and made a real dent in half of the rest. In fact, the only ones I missed were the ones I mentioned at the beginning of this blog. So where is the failure in this list?

I should be rejoicing. Yet, even as I write this I'm still fighting shame. We are really dumb sometimes, aren't we? We have great victory and yet we focus on the misses.  

NOT THIS TIME! I'm here to say that though the last few years haven't turned out how I hoped they have been victorious! 

With God's help, I WON! and I bet you have to if you really take time to look. 

A Command to Hold

 It seems to me, the western church lives in a culture predisposed to action: do, act, grow, move… Yet, I have wondered if there are times when God’s will is actually for us not to be active? There is clearly direction for taking times of sabbath, which is absolutely a time of non-activity. When I read again the words Jesus spoke to the church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:24-25) I was again brought back to the idea that there are times when action is not the correct decision.  

Jesus said, “Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’” NIV

Hold on? Is that it, Jesus? What!? No, take the castle, drive out the devil, or be victorious in Me?

“Hold on to what you have” was his command. Now there is action is keeping what you have but the command doesn’t sound like a battle cry. It’s more like a command to hunker down until the storm is over. This to me is a reminder (as well as other examples in scripture) that there are times when God’s people aren’t called to be active beyond keeping their faith. Even for a time, Elijah was ordered by God to hide. Perhaps we need to remember that working for God isn’t always a victory march.

John Wesley's Covenant Renewal Prayer gives God permission to set us aside if that is his will.  Therefore, we shouldn’t feel guilty if God sets us aside for a time to rest or to take shelter. I would add that we shouldn’t make others feel guilty if God has set them aside for a time. It is God’s will we want, not our preconceived idea of what we or others ought to be doing for God.

I wouldn’t use this as an excuse to be lazy, but I conclude there are times when God tells us to just hold on, period. At least until He comes and changes things.

Dream Team (this post is for me)

 DREAM TEAM

 

In the book, Talent is Overrated, author Geoff Colvin pointed out that many “Dream Teams” had two people. Being a great team required trust and a willingness not to seek to be first at another’s expense. This showed forth that many of the teams Colvin noted had a person who stood out and was known and a second who was content to stay in the background supporting that person and, in a way, point people to them.

I am considering that if I want Sam (the head pastor I work for) and I to be a dream team, I must do all I can to be the person in the background. I need to remember not to seek my glory or recognition, but to point, of course, to Jesus but them to Sam. It is after all his faith in me that has opened this job. He put his neck on the line for me with his board recommendations. So, I must let him be the lead, the one in the spotlight. Besides, no church has ever grown with people saying, I like the associate better than the pastor. Thus, if I want to see God’s mission in this church done, I must decrease.

It is also true that if I keep this attitude, then Sam will be able to trust me as I take up his vision for the church.

Finally, or at the least the last point I will make, I believe Jesus called us to be servants. Sam is the servant to the church, and I am to be the servant to him. Though he is Sam, I need to be Samwise (if you don’t know Lord of the Rings, let’s say a dedicated servant).  

Time to Think Differently (or not)

 I don't know how many advertisements for leadership training begin with "It's time to think differently" or "Grab a Great New Paradigm." By the way, I'm not sure they know what Paradigm means because what most of them are selling/teaching is just different versions of the same thing. That isn't what I want to talk about today. 

What gets me is what if the way you are thinking is correct? What if your worldview is just as God would have it right now? Do you really want to change if you are not wrong?

Now I do want to say there are lots of times when we need to change the way we see things. When you get married you need to stop looking at anyone other than your spouse as (you know, enough said). When you grow in Christ and all of a sudden you see a need that you didn't before because God is laying it on your heart to deal with it. It could be when you're holding on to prejudice and you need to see others as God does. 

Let's just say there is a time we absolutely need to change the way we see the world.

There is also a time when we need to perhaps see new options. If you are running a business and the cheese danishes aren't selling and everyone is asking for fruit. You don't change your way of thinking about preparing food (unless it's bad), you do change the menu. I really like seedless raspberry by the way. 

When the community demographic has changed and now 95% of the population is over sixty then investing in a youth pastor is probably a less than a wise idea. Okay, it is a complete waste of money. You don't quit reaching out to people. You have a different demographic to consider. Yes, I do understand some people have a gifting to reach a neglected or underserved group, but let's not get distracted more than I already am. Your mission is still to reach and help others but the methods and focus change, not your thinking. 

My concern is that we are so focused on changing our way of thinking to accomplish some good thing that we open ourselves up to changing things that should never be. It's something to consider.