It's so funny and infuriating, how susceptible we are to the folly our pride produces.
Even when we know what we're doing or about to do will end with disastrous results, we forge ahead like a charging rhino, lumbering in to the fray with a "devil may care", bravado.
I can't tell you how many times, I've shaken my head in attempt to rid it of the rubble of my stupidity, brought down by pride's subversive whisper...
As i look back through the annals of time i see more public figures and even nations who have been brought low by the alluring notes of pride's serenade.
Oh, that it were so easy to look forward by looking back...but then again, perhaps it is.
Our problem, is this issue of pride. Though we can learn from history, we choose to ignore it, believing that through our superior intellect, technology and ingenuity we can overcome the specter of blunders past.
So, lest I ramble further, I pose a couple of questions.
Why is it so difficult for us to lay aside our pride and admit when we are wrong or in need of wise counsel?
Why do we refuse to see that we are headed down a path that is well trodden and littered with the bones of those whose pride blinded them to the hazards that became their undoing?
Perhaps it's like the age old story of the man who refuses to stop and ask for driving directions even though he knows good and well he is hopelessly lost...
We constantly run from the appearance of need...
If I ask for help I am weak,
If I admit I'm wrong I am a fool.
I don't need anyone to help me...i am self-sufficient, i am master of my destiny.
Funny, for those who relish the perception of power and control, we frequently flounder in the shallows of insecurity, flailing away, yet never really making any headway or achieving much of value because we just can't seem to get out of our own way.
And there we stay, wallowing in the repetitious folly that is handcuffed to us by our pride.
Perhaps the race is best run while following someone who knows where they're going.
In the end, we might even discover the key that unlocks the fetters of our pride.
Showing posts with label service; selfishness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label service; selfishness. Show all posts
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Kingdom Mindset part 2
This is a continuation of the thoughts from my last blog post...
I just can't get over the images conjured up by my own children.
Life really is meant to be done together.
In order for us to do this Kingdom of God stuff effectively, it must be more about others and less about us. Jesus said, "the son of man did not come in to this world to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Giving sacrificially of ourselves for the sake of others ultimately benefits all. The problem is, even in church, we have become so self absorbed that others really don't even come in to focus. It's like we have blinders on and all of our actions, our conversations, eventually come back to us as the central figure.
How can life be done together if we won't let any one else come in to view?
This brings up the primary thought for this post:
We must become committed to building the success of others more than we are to building our own...
The longer I do this thing called ministry, the more I see how easy it can be to become enamored with the things one can do and be.
However, I think this is true in any vocation, not just ministry.
We can become impressed with ourselves. So much so that we will guard that image of success or our achievements with an almost paranoid intensity.
I think this occurs because our sense of worth becomes attached to those things we have accomplished or can accomplish.
We must begin to get over ourselves and look to the development (raising up) of others. Especially as adults, it is incumbent upon us to invest in the young people around us.
If you attend a church and you're just a casual observer, you love Jesus, but you don't feel "led" to get involved in a particular ministry...get off your lazy butt right now and put your comfort in the trash and begin, maybe once each month to start, volunteering in some capacity that allows you to speak into the lives of children, youth or young adults.
The longer you live, the more you have to give.
Your life experiences and wisdom have not occurred or been obtained for you to wear as some cheap badge of honor, that no one will remember when you're gone.
You've been given those experiences or had those privileges in order to allow someone to learn from your life.
"My own children are my mission field"...great, now what about those kids whose parents are not in the picture or who do not presently have the capacity to provide a positive role model for their children to follow?
What about them, huh?
Sorry, got a little fired up over that one...
We must become committed to building the success of others more than we are to building our own...
Ask yourself these questions:
Am I o.k. with some one else being better at something than I am?
Can I teach some one who will ultimately become better than I am at a particular skill or activity?
If the answer to either of those is no...reality check time.
The students who are presently in our ministry at Bethel Church, are so much smarter than I am...their brilliance astounds me.
The only things that separate us intellectually are wisdom and life experience...once they figure that out, I'm toast, but here's the point.
Some where along the line...(my mama used this one on me years ago), there will always be somebody who is better than you.
If you have the opportunity, why not be the one that shows them how?
The Kingdom of God is built by such sacrifice.
It is destroyed by insecurity, selfishness and the like...
Would you rather be known as a builder or a destroyer?
Whether you look at this through the lens of the church or through the lens of your vocational environment, see above questions...
Christ is shown through your life in many ways, one such way is your willingness to serve rather than be served.
Think about it.
I just can't get over the images conjured up by my own children.
Life really is meant to be done together.
In order for us to do this Kingdom of God stuff effectively, it must be more about others and less about us. Jesus said, "the son of man did not come in to this world to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Giving sacrificially of ourselves for the sake of others ultimately benefits all. The problem is, even in church, we have become so self absorbed that others really don't even come in to focus. It's like we have blinders on and all of our actions, our conversations, eventually come back to us as the central figure.
How can life be done together if we won't let any one else come in to view?
This brings up the primary thought for this post:
We must become committed to building the success of others more than we are to building our own...
The longer I do this thing called ministry, the more I see how easy it can be to become enamored with the things one can do and be.
However, I think this is true in any vocation, not just ministry.
We can become impressed with ourselves. So much so that we will guard that image of success or our achievements with an almost paranoid intensity.
I think this occurs because our sense of worth becomes attached to those things we have accomplished or can accomplish.
We must begin to get over ourselves and look to the development (raising up) of others. Especially as adults, it is incumbent upon us to invest in the young people around us.
If you attend a church and you're just a casual observer, you love Jesus, but you don't feel "led" to get involved in a particular ministry...get off your lazy butt right now and put your comfort in the trash and begin, maybe once each month to start, volunteering in some capacity that allows you to speak into the lives of children, youth or young adults.
The longer you live, the more you have to give.
Your life experiences and wisdom have not occurred or been obtained for you to wear as some cheap badge of honor, that no one will remember when you're gone.
You've been given those experiences or had those privileges in order to allow someone to learn from your life.
"My own children are my mission field"...great, now what about those kids whose parents are not in the picture or who do not presently have the capacity to provide a positive role model for their children to follow?
What about them, huh?
Sorry, got a little fired up over that one...
We must become committed to building the success of others more than we are to building our own...
Ask yourself these questions:
Am I o.k. with some one else being better at something than I am?
Can I teach some one who will ultimately become better than I am at a particular skill or activity?
If the answer to either of those is no...reality check time.
The students who are presently in our ministry at Bethel Church, are so much smarter than I am...their brilliance astounds me.
The only things that separate us intellectually are wisdom and life experience...once they figure that out, I'm toast, but here's the point.
Some where along the line...(my mama used this one on me years ago), there will always be somebody who is better than you.
If you have the opportunity, why not be the one that shows them how?
The Kingdom of God is built by such sacrifice.
It is destroyed by insecurity, selfishness and the like...
Would you rather be known as a builder or a destroyer?
Whether you look at this through the lens of the church or through the lens of your vocational environment, see above questions...
Christ is shown through your life in many ways, one such way is your willingness to serve rather than be served.
Think about it.
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