Putting on our Construction Hat

How well did you share as a child? Were you the kid who called for others to join you in the sandbox? Were you the kid who said, “Here’s my only car; I want you to play with it.”? Were you the kid who gave your best friend the Nintendo controller because it was his turn? Chances are you answered no, no, and no (raises hand).

That was totally me. I wanted to play with other kids, just so long as they didn’t touch my toys. It was mine. It was all mine. If I could see it, I claimed it. Face it; from a young age we desire ownership. We want to collect. We want to have. It’s mine! It doesn’t even matter if we’re not going to play with it. It only matters that someone else does not.

What are you claiming as your own? What are you fighting to keep out of the reach of others?

Is it your talents?

Is it your house?

Is it your time?

Is it your money?

Is it your ministry?

Ministry? Yes, ministry! As churches grow, as ministry expands, needs and wants also increase. Ministries fight for resources. Ministries fight for people. Ministries view each other as competition instead of teammates. Instead of working together, encouraging one another, building each other up, fighting ensues. We’re all willing to share the sandbox, but we fight to get all the toys into our corner.

Is this how ministry should take place? No. We need to find a way to work together. We need to discover how we can encourage one another, promote one another, build one another up. We have an idea of what our ministry should look like. We want the best people. We want passionate people. We will steal someone from another area instead of reaching out to a new face. We will create a void in another area just to fill a void in our own.

God sometimes has plans that are radically different from our own. Moses was headed to the Promised Land; however, God said no. David was going to build a temple; however, God said no. We claim God’s grace, God’s goodness, God’s work, as our own. We build up monuments that promote us. We develop a me-centered perspective.

Kill it.

Who’s kingdom are you trying to build? Who’s name are you trying to make known?

Share your toys. Invite others to join you. Stop competing and start completing.

Running in Place

I'm not a runner. Don’t get me wrong. I run. But I’m not a runner. I don’t get excited about running. I don’t get pumped about running. I don’t somehow feel fulfilled after a run. But for some reason I keep doing it. I don’t know, maybe it’s Paul’s words from Hebrews 12:1 echoing in my head:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

It’s a practical application. Each run represents my walk with Jesus. There’s a beginning and an end. There’s a crazy, painful, exhausting process in between. I sweat. I grow sore. I want to quit. I have a goal in mind. I have a destination I want to reach. I endure.

That is, unless I’m running on a treadmill. Ever run on a treadmill? It’s lame. There’s no scenery. There’s no fresh air. There’s no ambience. It’s just you on a machine, in a room, and maybe a TV or some headphones. When you run on a treadmill you have to endure all the hardship and pain, but end up going nowhere. Sound familiar?

This is how many of us live. I’ve been there. I sometimes revisit that place. You might be there. We go through our days, living out the same routine over and over again, entertaining both the good and the bad, and pray for something to change. We pray for change, but refuse to do our part. We run and we run and we run and we wonder why we haven’t moved, why we haven’t made any progress. We wonder why we’ve been running in place.

Tired of going nowhere? Tired of running in place? If this is you, if you’re ready to break free, then it’s time to make a change. You might have to stop doing something. You might have to start doing something. Your steps are different from mine. We’re all running the same race, but our strides are unique.

It’s time to get off the treadmill and get outside. It’s time to break free from the monotony of what we know, of what is comfortable, and take a risk. God has set this race before you. He’s paved the way. Trust that He will guide each step.

Remember, you can experience all the benefits of running while on a treadmill, but in the end you’ve gone nowhere.

Invest in Relationships

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4:16-21 NIV

Each and every day we face trials and struggles and hardships. We face difficult situations with difficult people. We face discouraging conversations with friends, family, parents, supervisors, co-workers. Your dreams crushed. Your focus distracted. Your heart burdened. We arrive at the conclusion that our most disheartening encounters occur with the people we love the most.

That’s tough. That’s a difficult truth to allow in. Think about it. The people you’re closest to, the people who know your deepest darkest secrets, know the shape, size, location, and color of your buttons. They know what to say. They know what to do. They know where to take you. They know the quickest route to your pain.

Can you think of anyone like this offhand? You were probably already compiling a list of people as you were reading.

Why do we hurt the people we love? The people we love.

John tells us that love is made complete among us not when we hurt others, not when we bring up past indiscretions, not when we cut someone down, not when we intimidate our spouse or children, love is made complete when we are like Jesus.

He doesn’t stop there. No! He takes it a step further. If you claim to love God, if you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and yet have hate for another, you’re a liar. There’s not enough room in your heart to store hate for some people and love for others.

You cannot control how others act toward you. You cannot control what others say to you. You can control your response, your reaction, through the conditioning of your heart. What needs to change? What do you need to let go? Who do you need to forgive?

Start going out of your way to open your heart, to care for others, to love, to be like Jesus.

The Rebellious Child

“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the Lord. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!”

Jeremiah 4:22 NLT

There are moments in my week, mornings that I wake up, days that I believe I somehow have a firm grasp on reality, that I somehow understand how to live, how to love, how to speak, how to act. I start to believe in myself, my ways, my intellect, my understanding. Me. Me. Me.

I find myself on the verge of removing God from the equation of my life. I find myself teetering on the edge of faith in the cross of Christ and faith in the works of my hands. I find myself tip-toeing between God’s grace and my intellect. When I’m struggling, when life is tough, it’s easy to trust in and rely on God, but when life seems to turn around, it’s even easier to believe that I have conquered it. I have beaten it. I have overcome it.

In Jeremiah, God likens his people to fools, to stupid children with no understanding. God clearly states that we are great at doing the wrong thing. We are experts at failing. We find ourselves returning again and again to the very things that led us to cry out to God in the first place. On our own, the right thing remains just out of reach.

Sometimes children simply need to be redirected. Wrong behaviors need to be addressed. Yelling tears them down. Intimidation instills fear. Time and time again God extends His grace to encourage and build up His people, His children. He’s constantly trying to teach us, to instruct us, to lead us.

Ever grow frustrated with your own children? Can you relate to their rebellion?

Are you reaching out for guidance or are you focused on the routine of your day, sticking to what is familiar, fearing change, living according to your own standards? Listen to what He’s saying. Make a few changes.

Challenged to Grow

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT

I feel as if I’ve recently awakened from a long deep slumber. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Why didn’t I wake up sooner? How did I get here?

It’s amazing how quickly we can lose sight of what lies before us. It’s amazing how easily we can be distracted from the things that matter. It’s amazing how little we actually care that we’re heading in the wrong direction. It’s amazingly sad.

Distractions come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I can sit in front of my television for a few hours at night, think nothing of it, and do nothing other than it, simply for the purpose of relaxing. I can play video games. I can run. I can exercise. I can work on my car. I can start a new project. I can do lots of stuff; however, what should I be doing? Where should my attention be directed?

When I allow my focus and attention to be directed towards anything other than the Kingdom of Christ I find myself either standing still or taking steps backwards. I lose something. I lose that drive. I lose that desire to grow. I lose that feeling of being challenged. I grow stagnant. I become complacent.

I wake up distracted.

I eat distracted.

I work distracted.

I parent distracted.

I love distracted.

Ever feel preoccupied? Ever feel as if there’s something else you’re supposed to be doing? When you’re distracted, when your mind is somewhere else, you cannot give 100%, you cannot be and are not at your best.

How do we break free from this? Give it up. Let it go. Prune away whatever it is that is yanking and tugging and pulling and dragging at you.

Paul prays for God to make you holy in every way, but this isn’t some microwaveable, minute life change. It’s an on-going, lifelong process. God desires to shape and mold you into a person that can change the world, but it requires our effort, obedience, and willingness.

What’s holding you back? What do you need to let go?

The choice is yours. You can remain where you’re at doing the same old same old, or you can grow and make a difference in this world.