My New Year’s Resolution

I like older people. Much of the time, they are content with where they are and they have an ease about them that makes one drop their defenses quickly. They don’t smirk either…they give you big, wide smiles, savoring them while they share a moment of laughter. They also have incredible B.S. detectors that can be set off at a moment’s notice. Don’t mess with them – they will call your bluff. Older people often have a simple wisdom that can be applied to most any complex situation in life. But most are not begging to give advice to others – they are simply content to live with what life has already taught them and we are presently learning.

I love watching parents turn into grandparents and the slow but steady shift in perspective this creates. Much of the responsibility (and headache) of parenting is gone and all that remains is a simple joy in providing unconditional love to a young child. And, with it, an unending supply of sentimentality and nostalgia. For grandparents, it’s amazing how quickly their nostalgia “filter’ can find and resting place over the most difficult of family situations. Sometimes I wonder if they see life through the warm and glowing lens of Hallmark Channel camera.

We have not had the easiest year. Life threw the kitchen sink at us. And in the past year I have not savored the love and liveliness of a beautiful wife and four children. I haven’t been a “bad” father or husband. I simply realize that there have been times when I was distracted by less important things. And that has caused me to live life somewhere other than in the immediate present.

I don’t normally do the New Year’s resolution thing. But I’m making an important one this year. My resolution this coming year is to live life with the sentimentality and nostalgia of someone double my age. It’s to imagine the fondness with which I will remember these very moments much later in life and transport that same fondness into the present. To revisit memories that, though they seemed bleak at the time, turned out to be powerful moments of grace in my life. And I’m not waiting until the New Year to make the change. There are many chances for “old” Sam to influence “young” Sam’s worldview in the next two weeks. Hopefully, my New Year’s “exercise” will turn into a lifelong habit. Feel free to try it with me.

Adoption Update

For those who have been following our adoption story (here, here and here), I wanted to update you again since many have not heard how we have “adjusted” in recent months. Initially we planned to adopt a son from Rwanda and set out on a year and half journey. With a month or two to go, Rwanda closed its doors to adoptive parents who did not have their documents on Rwandan soil. The reason for this was so Rwanda could become Hague “compliant.” You’ll be happy to know that those families who’s dossiers made it to Rwanda before the deadline are being processed quickly and that many families will see their new family members soon. We rejoice with them over this.

Beth and I spent some time soul-searching and decided to move forward with adoption through other means. We fully intend to internationally adopt a son from Rwanda. But in the meantime, we are domestically adopting a son through a local adoption agency’s minority program. We are very close to being “paper ready” to adopt (once again) but in the USA this time.  This really isn’t that big of an adjustment for us – we had always hoped to adopt two boys.

Now, this becomes a new journey for us. Transracial adoption is more easily accepted when the adoption is international. When you adopt from Africa, your child looks African. But when you purposefully set out to adopt a minority child domestically, people have been known to not be as accommodating. You are specifically choosing someone outside your race and for many this crosses lines. And surprisingly, those most angered are not the ones you may expect. Here’s a link that delves into that controversy some more. So, we realize we are embarking upon a journey that has taken a different turn.

We’re are quite comfortable with that. All children need a home – those in the United States and abroad. They all need loving families. Not perfect families. Loving ones. Maybe God will speak to you the same way he has to us. Maybe the question to ask is not “Why adopt?” Maybe the question is “Why not?”

The Books

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

At the end of the year, I suppose it’s good decorum to reflect on that year’s experiences. Yet, sometimes I find myself looking back further – looking at how this year has added to my overall life experience – just one chapter of many. I often look back at some conversations or books that altered my understanding about a topic. But what if I surveyed the most important books I’ve read to this point? Which books have shaped my worldview – which ones do I come back to? 

I take particular pride in the fact that I have never read The Purpose Driven Life, Blue Like Jazz, or any Max Lucado book. Indeed, you may say: “Sam, that’s exactly what’s wrong with you.” You may be right. But I have been reading something. The books below have been life-changing for me. Very few of them are well-known. Sorry the list is so long…

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression. As I wrote in the post before, I love the preaching style of “the Doctor.” Many of his sermons were edited for books. People love the Acts or Romans or Semon on the Mount sermons. This series is my favorite. It deals with spiritual burnout. And I was there. This book (along with the two books below it) saved my spiritual life.

Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me. I was a perfectionist. A legalist. And very angry. I didn’t understand what the love of God was all about. I didn’t understand the meaning of unconditional love. This book changed that. It’s a great introduction into the grace-oriented freedom that Jesus brought to us.

Malcolm Smith, Power of the Blood Covenant. Using the theme of the blood covenant and the faithfulness of God as its guideline, this is the best summation of the Christian life I have ever read. Hands down.

Jeff VanVonderen, Families Where Grace Is in Place. Within two years of our wedding day, our marriage was on the rocks. This book saved it. VanVonderen talks about how to create a family (as spouses and parents) where biblical notions of grace are at the center. No more controlling, fear-tactics, and shame. The McVeys and Kimmels are more popular but Jeff was the original. We’re still married, by the way.

Clark Pinnock and Robert Brow, Unbounded Love. I’ve read a good many systematic theologies. This one is different. The late (and great) Pinnock was a renown theologian and the late (and great) Brow was an Episcopal priest. The book is an honest attempt to create a systematic theology around the simple premise that God is love. It’s a breath of fresh air. From the conclusion: “God is so radiant that he deserves a beautiful theology, theology done with joy and thankfulness, theology that can dance and sing.”

Morton Kelsey, Encounter with God. A Jungian psychologist and Episcopal priest, Kelsey has written extensively on the intersection between the Bible, psychology, and spiritual experience. For me, Encounter with God is the pinnacle of those writings (though not his most well-known). He easily weaves theological, philosophical, and psychological sources together to create an understanding of how people “encounter” God and what they seek experientially from that encounter.  

Terence Fretheim, The Suffering of God. Several of the books on this list changed my understanding of the Old Testament. But this one changed my understanding of God using the Old Testament. Previously holding God at an emotional distance from his creation, this book helped me understand that God “feels”. The story of God is one of suffering in relation to humanity. Whether you agree with process or panentheistic thought, this book helped me relate to God in an entirely new way.

Abraham Heschel, The Prophets. Raised as an evangelical, the Hebrew prophetic books meant little to me other than a way to “prove” Jesus’ messianic claims. This book changed that for me – I finally understood the importance of the prophets and their lyrical narratives that reflected the heart(break) of God. No surprise that it took a world-renowned rabbi to bring me to those conclusions.

Richard Kyle, The Religious Fringe. This book is solely responsible for directing my academic interests. In it, Kyle (professor of history and religion at Tabor College) doesn’t just recount major religious movements in the Western tradition. He traces all the interconnections and tributaries that make the history of religion interesting. As someone who was deeply intersted in the charismatic lineage of the church and its ancillary movments, this book showed that tracing religious thematic trends through Western history was possible. A remarkable book.

Ronald Hutton, Triumph of the Moon. Second to Kyle’s book, Hutton’s introduced me to the Western pagan and esoteric tradition. I read this book on a church leadership retreat. I don’t remember anything that we talked about on the retreat…but I remember the importance of having a scholar peel back the historical layers of the neopagan movement and expose the “humanness” of religious seekers outside the Christian tradition. I finally stopped seeing heretics or heathens and began to see people reaching out for religious experience. Not sure that’s what I was supposed to be learning….

Anne Punton, The World Jesus Knew. This book is about the contexts of culture and archaeology that surround the stories of Jesus. It’s a wonderful introduction to all the other elements that inform the Gospel narrative that rarely makes it to general Christian readership. Thankfully, books like Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus are changing this, but this book was one of the predecessors.

Watchman Nee, Release of the Spirit. I was a worship leader at several churches for about ten years all together. I read some good articles and books on the technical aspects of leading worship. But this is the book I recommend to beginning worship leaders. It’s about ”breaking” the flesh so that God can release the spirit of each of us for ministry. True worship comes from this state of release. Worship leading is a spiritual event much more than it is a musical excercise. This book explains that event.

“Windowless” Parenting

I am an anxious parent. Scratch that. Petrified parent. I read parenting books constantly. And the sole motivation for reading these books is the sheer terror I feel when I consider that the solutions to the problems I face as a parent are already solved in a book somewhere. And I haven’t read it yet. I have three daughters. They are all extremely bright and independent and beautiful. I’m sure they already intimidate the guys in their classes. Heck, they intimidate me! But I think I’ve already picked up on some things that will be foundation for my relationship with them. For example I have figured out that when raising daughters, the issue at hand is rarely the real issue. The meltdown over not eating vegetables has little to do with hunger. It’s usually a trigger for latent emotion stored up from a hurtful event earlier in the day (or week). I’m a guy so I assume it’s actually about vegetables. Guys, listen up: it’s not about vegetables. The next part of that process is to connect with your daughter in conversation so that she will eventually tell you what the real issue is. To me, that process is one of the most fascinating things about raising daughters…it’s kinda like a treasure hunt. I’ve got some good theories, too – things I won’t be able to test for a long time. For example, I have a hunch that the resistance I will feel from my children at age 16 will return to our relationship when they are 36 if I continue to treat them as I did 20 years earlier. So, I’m thinking about those things now as well…while I try to figure out what’s behind the vegetable “meltdown.”

One of the areas of ministry I oversee at my church is “discipleship.” That simply describes the process of people becoming more like Jesus. It’s a tricky business. I can provide “avenues” for others to engage God. But I can’t make people choose to deepen their relationship with God. Ultimately, I feel the burden for the spiritual well-being of our congregation. However, they are not my most important “calling.” The best place for me to help someone become more like Jesus is in my own home. My children are my ultimate disciples. People at church may get my ideas and programs. And I can counsel and give spiritual direction to them an hour at a time. But rarely can I be available to them like any true opportunity for discipleship needs. That side of me belongs to my children. They get my presence and my ability to teach in the moment.

Parents miss this. We fill our children’s lives with quotes and adages and morality tales as we whisk from one task to another. But we often forget about the most important thing: modeling the beliefs we desire to instill in our children.  We provide them no context in which to grasp our “wise words.” So our words fall flat. I call this “windowless” parenting. Children often have no context or “window” to see why parents feel the way they do. They see no action associated with what we tell them are our most cherished beliefs. We can tell our children to reserve judgment and refrain from gossip, but they listen to every phone conversation we have. We can tell them to be honest and authentic, but they hear how we mask our true intentions with others. We can tell them mom and dad love each other, but they rarely believe it until we ask them to not interrupt us while we tell our spouse about our day.

Be a window for your children. They are your disciples.

Aggressively Pursuing a Life of Peace

I plan to do a series of posts on Christians and competition soon. But I’ve been distracted lately with all manner of personal and professional issues – some of which I wrote about in my last post. But honestly those were just two main issues in the mix of what has turned out to be two dozen in the past 6 months. Beth and I sat down on the couch a few days ago and decided to go back to the basics of what makes our family “tick.” At the core of that is the idea of pursuing a life of peace. And though I’ve blogged on this idea before, I thought I’d share those ideas again - at least for my benefit if not for someone else.

The idea of pursuing a life of peace comes from the verse “Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14, 1 Peter 3:11). Romans 12:18 relays a similar idea: “Do all that you can to live at peace with all men.” We call it aggressive peace. Beth and I try to make decisions around the idea that in every situation, there is a peaceful and overall beneficial decision that keeps balance among our family members. If at all possible, we choose that “peaceful” solution. That’s how we make vacation plans, buy new appliances, choose schools, choose television shows or movies, etc. You get the idea. If there is a choice that leads to unrest, strife, anger, impatience, and irritation, we usually opt for something else.

Now that may sound obvious to you. But there’s a subtle difference. We don’t wait for peaceful decisions to come to us. We make peace happen for our children and for each other. We’re aggressive about pursuing peace. We fight for it. We plan for it. We do whatever it takes to maintain it. A lot of people have financial goals or material goals – and we do as well. But all of that comes from our overall peace goal. What lies behind “peace” for us? Questions like, “Which choice promotes the most security for our children?” “Which choice creates ease of life and rest for our retirement?” “How can we peacefully discipline our children?” And most importantly, “Which choice honors God and draws us to him, not away from him?”

But not only do we not wait for these options for peace to come our way. We take it a step further: we “agressively pursue” them. Beth and I discuss questions like, “What makes for a peaceful marriage?” or “What brings peace to our children?” or “What does financial peace look like?” Then we take agressive measures to implement those details into our lives. For example, with finances, we list a second round of details. Financial peace means ultimately means no financial stress: little debt, no collections calls, solid retirement plans, college saving for children now rather than later, choosing economical and sensible cars and houses, and not living paycheck to paycheck if possible. Then we aggressively make those our goals.

I guess pursuing peace as a lifestyle can only be done by someone who believes they have the ability to make their life what they want. I believe all of us can do that. But it takes a lot of thought and premeditation…in other words, it takes work. And often times our decisions are not the most conventional choice. We’re not experts at this and sometimes lose our focus. And plans can certainly change. But the key is to at least have some plan in place and be willing to adjust it accordingly when life throws a curve ball. Personally, living a life of peace is a way to honor God with what he’s given us – a way to proactively reflect his image in us. Taking the initiative to make life good is not anti-Christian at all. It actually reflects the productive nature of God and his willingness to be involved in every aspect of our life. In the end, life truly is what you make of it. Our goal is to make a life of peace for each other and for our children.

Power or Character?, Part 1

How we interpret the Bible is one of the most fascinating topics of study. Not the “word study” and commentaries part of it. But the subjectivity of it. Yes, subjectivity. Theology (which simply means “God talk”) is a speculative endeavor. Each person’s life experiences are brought to bear on a passage of scripture and even though our paradigms “tell” us how to interpret it, we act as if our interpretation occurs in a vacuum. I suppose that’s part of our humanness – to assume objectivity.

So, knowing that we pass our understanding of God and the Bible through a particular paradigm, I thought I’d share with you two particular paradigms that may affect your reading of scripture and (possibly) challenge your assumptions about a particular text. The first is the context of power. The second is the context of character. The essence of the power context is “Who wins?” The answer is one of two answers: 1) I win or 2) God wins. Both answers are acceptable based on what the interpreter is attempting to achieve. The essence of the character context is “Who loves?” Scripture is interpreted according to the good character of a loving God or the character God builds in us through relationship with him. When placing these two styles side by side, it’s amazing how different the conclusions can be.

Let me give you a few examples. How about Jesus’ words in John 14:21?

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

In the power context (the one I used to proclaim without hesitation), We have a simple back and white scenario: a Christian only loves God to the extent they follow his rules. The issue is not the individual, it’s the track record. As for winning and losing, a Christian wins when they keep the commandments (good luck) and God wins in making the comandments a clear line of demarcation for those who are following him. Not only does God judge you according to this standard – you can do the same by using the commandments to assess the Christian walk of others.

The character context looks at it differently. Concerned with the inside of a person, the character context reads the rest of that verse and places it within the words Jesus actually wrote – “love” and “reveal.” Rather than an outward measuring stick, a Christian keeps the commandments to the extent that their life has been transformed in relationship with Christ. Keeping commandments occurs as character changes rather than through a force of will. Relationship is created by keeping the rules. Obedience occurs out of relationship.

Here’s another verse – from Paul – Ephesians 2:22-24:

 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

This has been a power play for husbands for years. Who wins? The husband. Why? Because someone has to…and that’s the problem. Once spouses play to the power context, they purposefully set aside their relationship to keep score. And everytime someone loses, the relationship is hurt. But there are some important things about this passage that we can learn when we use a character context. For starters, we look at verse 21. But most importantly we see the relational part of the passage: the wife responds to her husband to the extent (“as to”) that his character reflects the great love of Christ for the church. It’s not a game of winning and losing. It’s a choice to follow the lead of someone that you know has your best interest at heart. That’s why Paul put marriage in the context of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. God’s character in us builds the trust to follow each other. Until we start “dying” for each other, we’re not really worth following.

These two contexts apply to life, too – parenting, the workplace, etc. I talk about that next post.

“I Like Best to Think of Him that Way.”

The last few weeks at our house have been insanely busy. Major decisions and life choices have taken a back seat to children’s play practice, the air conditioning going out in mid-July, and babies with ear infections. Beth and I became aware of just how little margin we had for “error” in our daily routines. Sometimes it’s tough to keep your cool in those times. I sure didn’t. By the end of it all, I was raising my voice at my kids and barreling past every insight and principle of parenting I had gleaned in the past few years.

I read a book about…well…bad parenting a few weeks ago. The book spends most of his time talking about the psychological impact of  corporal punishment. And I think the book probably ends up unbalanced in its final conclusions. But the more interesting aspect of the book involves where Christianity and parenting intersect. And that was really fascinating to me. It tells a marvelous story about nineteenth century evangelist Dwight L. Moody:

In [Moody's] home, grace was the ruling principle and not the law, and the sorest punishment of a child was the sense that the father’s loving heart had been grieved by waywardness and folly.

Moody’s son, Paul, relayed an incident where he had been caught directly disobeying his father by inviting a friend over to play after his normal bedtime hour. Moody lost his cool and raised his voice:

…I immediately retreated and in tears, for it was an almost unheard-of-thing that [Moody] should speak with such directness or give an order unaccompanied by a smile. But I had barely gotten into my bed before he was kneeling beside it in tears and seeking my forgiveness for having spoken so harshly…Half a century must have passed…and I can still see that room in the twilight and that large bearded figure with great shoulders bowed above me and hear his broken voice. I like best to think of him that way. I had seen him hold the attention of thousands of people, but asking the forgiveness of a disobedient little boy for having spoken harshly seems to me now a finer and greater thing, and to it I owe more than I owe to any of  his sermons. For to this I am indebted for an understanding of the meaning of the Fatherhood of God and a belief in the love of God had its beginnings that night in my childish mind (emphasis mine).

Horace Bushnell is one of my theological “heroes.” In his book Christian Nurture (1861), he writes some of the most piercing words ever regarding parents reflecting the character of God:

[Harsh treatment by a parent] is a great discouragement of piety in children…Anything that puts the child aloof from the parent…will be a wall to shut him away from God. If his Christian father is felt only as a tyrant, he will seem to have a tyrant in God’s name to bear…But there is a kind of virtue which is not in the rod – the virtue of a truly good and sanctified life. So much easier it is to be violent than to be holy, that [parents often] substitute force for goodness and grace and are wholly unconscious of the posture (emphasis mine).

 These quotes cut me to the core. I passionately desire to be this father but often times find that I am not. Yet quotes like the ones above don’t condemn me – they give me a glimpse of what the Holy Spirit can do in my heart as I continue to seek him. They are not hollow or shallow objectives to meet; that won’t change my behavior or impact my children. But they are examples of what “Spirit-led” parenting can look like. Each scenario is always different, but the love of God can be found in everyday interactions with children. Hopefully, my children will look back fondly on a particular memory and be able to say, “I like best to think of him that way.”

John and Stasi Eldredge’s “Love & War”

I read a bunch of marriage and parenting books. It’s part of my job I suppose. Plus, as a husband and father, I pretty much need all the help I can get. When I had the opportunity to review John & Stasi Eldredge’s book Love & War: Finding the Marriage You’ve Dreamed of (Doubleday Religion, 2009), I jumped at it. I’ve read some of John’s books before and know many friends who have really benefitted from the ministry of Ransomed Heart. I was curious as to what they would have to say about marriage. In short, this is a great book.

John and Stasi start off in the first chapter making the case that a good marriage is something that must be fought for. They wrap marriage in a theological context: marriage mirrors the war that God undertook to bring us into relationship with him. He works within the construct of marriage to reflect this “passion play” to the world. Marriages rise and fall based on their willingness to embrace this idea. “God gives us marriage to illustrate his heart toward us” (p. 32). Ultimately, John and Stasi steer the reader to a deeper need than “fixing” a marriage. We all desperately need Jesus to transform us from the inside out. That’s when marriage gets better.

One of the most refreshing things about this book is its brutal honesty. John and Stasi pull no punches when discussing the failures in their own marriage to the point it makes you wince a little. They are incredibly open about their “near divorce” years and the mistakes that led to them. They balance this with great advice. For example, they relay the critical point that most marriage counselors attempt to tell couples: your spouse cannot make you happy. That’s God’s job. Of course, they relay it humorously:

Of course you are disappointed with your marriage…two broken cups cannot possibly fill one another. Happiness flows through us like water through a volleyball net. We feel responsible for our spouse’s unhappiness…The good news is, of course, you aren’t enough…This should come as a tremendous relief, actually. How your spouse is doing is not the verdict on you (pp. 67-68).

In the midst of the “big ideas,” there is plenty of practical advice as well. But the practical advice never gets very formulaic…simply because the Eldredge’s are keenly aware that marriage is not a formula – as our relationship with God goes, so goes the marriage. Chapters on listening for God in the midst of decision-making, spiritual warfare, sexual intimacy, and managing the smaller details of life follow. Yet, John and Stasi always find their way back around to this theme: “…the greatest gift you could ever give to your marriage is for you to develop a real relationship with Jesus Christ.”

This is a great introductory book for couples struggling in their marriage as well as those who just need to be reminded of the basics. I’ll be recommending it in the future. Thanks to the Eldredges for continuing to provided engaging and relevant material for Christians.

Respect, Community, and Intergalactic Planetary Wars

Final thoughts on the topic of community…

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Or so they say. “Value the differences.” That’s what I heard throughout marriage counseling.

Herein lies one of secular culture’s most ridiculous statements – a statement that runs contrary to human nature, biblical advice and plain old good logic. It shapes our cultural and socio-economic landscape and influences our politics. And here’s the statement: unity and respect occur only when people see our distinctives and uniqueness. In other words, exalting diversity promotes unity. Though that idea makes for good speech writing, really, the opposite is true. Unity comes from the realization that in most ways, all people value and live life the same.

Take marriage, for example. The book title I quoted above and many others say that our marriages improve when we learn to love what’s different about our spouse. But when was the last time anyone loved the most irritating things about anyone, much less the person they live with? No, that’s crazy talk. What keeps people close is their common ground, their similar interests, and their willingness to focus on the things that endear them to each other, not the personality traits that polarize. Compatibility occurs with people who like the same things, not with those who talk about how different they are.

Another great example is race relations. Racial dialogue has been based upon the differences between Hispanic, Caucasian, and African-American groups, among others. So, we sit around and talk about how great our differences are and how distinctive each other’s culture is - we emphasize uniqueness and independent value. But honestly, all that does is subconsciously direct us back to why separation and hostility exists. It’s illogical. Rather than focusing on our distinctives, we should be valuing the similarities among us: food, clothing, shelter, love, friendship, life, death, grief, family, and honor. Those are what make us the same. Community is found in our similarities, not our differences. We need to value what we have in common rather than carving out a place of distinction for ourselves. That’s what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 12 – our differences and distinctives (in that passage, spiritual giftings) must be eclipsed by our vision for the whole body. What did Paul see as the common denominator among all peoples? Jesus Christ.

I heard a statistic long ago that really drives this point home. All the genetic anomalies among all the people of the world only add up to 2%. That means you and I are only 2% different than the person we might think is physically the most unlike us. Two percent! Yet, we spend the majority of our time exploiting that 2% for recognition rather than finding commonality and unity within the other 98%.

So, if I’m just stating the obvious here, why do we do it? Why do we harp on those differences (whether intellectual, cultural, or political)? Because our society promotes individuality. We have to be different so we can stand out. I used to be obsessed with being different. Now, not so much. I think average is pretty great, too. Being average will not bring about societal or spiritual death – it’s just being content as part of the 98%. And that makes for good company and a whole lot of friends.

Are You a Christian Rock Star?

I know I start off a lot of blogs this way, but I’ve been thinking about something. Sometimes I notice little trends in the language choices of Christians or during church meetings. And when you add them all up they point to something worth discussing. Lately, I’ve noticed lots of Christian language about the need to do something “special” for God. Christians say stuff like that pretty often. You know, the whole “do something great for God” language. Usually it’s couched in potential ministry or an opportunity that God has especially for “you.”  Do I think God has specific things that he wants us to achieve as his sons and daughters? Sure. But there’s a flip-side to that equation…

I came across a quote the other day that said something like this: “If you insist on behaving like a rock star, just make sure you actually are one.” Humorous, but true. I feel like sometimes we set up Christians and congregations to look for chances to become a Christian rock star.  Opportunities to serve morph into something larger and worthy of more recognition. This is reinforced by Horatio Alger type stories in the Christian world: where the simplest acts snowball into something far beyond the expected results. As if that’s the “payoff” for giving your life to God. This is easy to do with the Bible,too. Sometimes we forget that “rock star” events in the Bible occur with large spans of time in between. Or that each “rock star” experiences countless failures prior to his/her newly found status as flavor of the month. Yet we pull these passages out of thin air as if they have no work ethic supporting them and dangle them in front of people and call it inspiration and vision-casting.

But what I think God really wants from each of us is to live a life daily that reflects him. It doesn’t have to be super impressive. It doesn’t have to be amazing or conspicuous. The Christian walk needs to be only two things: consistent and true. The responsiblity of the Christian is to live life consistently in each of life’s scenarios. Here’s why. You only get the chance to do something for God that will be categorized as amazing our life-changing in life once. Maybe twice. And even then that doesn’t mean anyone will recognize what you’re doing. But if you live life consistently in regards to your family, finances, profession, and relational choices, then you will be in a position to risk something out of the ordinary because the rest of your life will be stable.

If you feel called to be a minister, don’t quit your secular job. Start by memorizing a Bible verse or two. If you desperately want to raise funds for missions, try paying off your credit card first. If you want to be the world’s greatest dad, start by simply leaving the office earlier each night. And if that goes well, then empty the dishwasher without any fanfare. Want to do something amazing for God? Do the basics. Draw your sword, raise your battle cry, and charge up the hill to conquer the obvious and the insignificant.

Are you a Christian rock star? Don’t be.