I was reading this morning, and somehow got stuck on a couple of verses found in the Gospel of Matthew. You can read them for yourself in Matthew 14: 7 and 9, but the gist of the story (found also in chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark) is that Herod offered his step-daughter anything she wanted, up to half his kingdom, because she did such a good job of dancing for him and the guests at his birthday party. Salome’s request (she wanted the head of John the Baptist) took Herod by surprise, and he would have liked to renegotiate, but ‘because of his oath and his dinner guests’ he kept his promise.
I certainly don’t mean to imply that as a general rule it’s ok to break promises, just think about how long your kids remember broken promises, but this was a dumb promise to begin with; and that must have been some fancy dancing to warrant such a big tip. Things would have been quite a bit different, at least for John the Baptist, if Herod had been willing to admit that he had spoken without thinking, and ‘please accept my apology, but that wasn’t quite what I meant to say’.
Bottom line, the king thought he had to save face, and live up to his extravagant claims in front of his friends.
Sometimes we all get in over our heads, and it would be nice to know that it’s ok to pull back and reconsider. We all make decisions that later we wish we had never made, and in a perfect world, there wouldn’t ever be any question if we changed our mind. Of course in a perfect world we also wouldn’t make mistakes. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and sometimes the decisions we make on the spur of the moment, aren’t the best ones we could make.
We’ve all heard that it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. I think that men should have that prerogative too. On a personal level we make decisions regarding education, relationships, careers, housing and finances. Leaders make decisions that impact the future of the organization, and by extension, the future of the people that work there. Politicians make decisions that impact their constituency, and at whatever level, it seems that people get locked into the idea that once a decision is made, there is no turning back.
We don’t want to be seen as weak, or indecisive, or worse that we don’t know what we are doing, but there are some decisions that should never have been made and it’s actually a sign of strength to admit the mistake, and change direction.
I guess I don’t want to be so much like Herod that I let what other people think control how I think. Part of being human is our capacity to make mistakes, but in a lot of cases we also have the capacity to do something about those mistakes. Sometimes we need to back up and reconsider, and often instead of being a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In the Center of God's Will and Stuff Still Happens
Wouldn’t it be nice if all you had to do to have a perfect life was to become a Republican or a Democrat, a conservative or liberal, a vegetarian, a used car salesperson, a doctor, a telemarketer, a religious leader, or even an ordinary Christian? Just think about how nice it would be to not worry about getting behind on the mortgage or car payment, adolescent anguish, sickness, accidents, marital strife, midlife crisis, growing old, and even death.
For years people have been looking for the fountain of youth, or a magic elixir that would make you invincible and immortal. No one has come close to finding anything quite like that in this world, but that doesn’t stop us from looking. We keep looking even though 2000 years ago a man named Jesus told us what the secret was to eternal life. Many people grab on to that bit of information and then get disappointed when ‘stuff’ still happens. A big problem for the 21st century church in America is that we often confuse things and forget that Jesus didn’t say that things would automatically get better for the duration of our time here, but rather that He was talking about salvation and eternal life.
History students remember that the early Christians were persecuted for their faith and belief in Jesus. And in some countries today professing belief in Jesus Christ is still a dangerous thing to do. In many cases we’ve dummied down the Gospel message to the point where a statement of belief is supposed to guarantee a fairy tale ending to any life. If we want to be a little more realistic, we look at things the way Eugene Peterson explains them in his wonderful book Leap Over a Wall (Harper, 1997): basically he said that no matter how devout of a Christian life style we follow, illness and accidents are still going to happen, we’re still going to feel pain; and when that stuff happens it will hurt as much after we accept Christ as it did before we made that decision
Yeah, the bad stuff still happens to us, but Jesus didn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t, what He did promise is that there was something much better waiting for us. Eternal life. Abundant life.
Our problem is that we don’t always remember that. We don’t remember that God is more interested in healing us from our sin so that we can have eternal life, than He is in healing our physical frailties so that we can be comfortable for whatever number of years that we will be on this earth.
But this me oriented generation assumes that if we turn to Jesus then we must be in the center of God's will and He’ll protect us from anything that might pop up. Sorry, that’s not what the Bible tells us. There are lots of people in the Bible that seem to have been fairly centered in God's will, and I’m not sure that there were living what I would call a life of ease. Jonah had to face the Ninevites, the bad boys of his day; Daniel ended up in the lion’s den; Shadrach and friends got thrown into the furnace; David had some really bad hair days; James was beheaded; Paul and Peter were flogged, arrested and martyred. Even Jesus, the ultimate center of God's will, ended up going to the cross. So much for being safe and comfortable.
So God's will may not be the safest place for us to be, at least according to the standards of the world, but from an eternal perspective, it certainly is the best place to be. Are you moving closer to the center of God's will, or are you still trying to move God to the center of your will?
Guess what, if you’re trying to move God, you need to remember that God won’t fit in your man-made box. Let Him tell you where He wants you to be and what He wants you to be doing, and without even realizing it, you’ll be moving closer to being in God's will. Then buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life.
For years people have been looking for the fountain of youth, or a magic elixir that would make you invincible and immortal. No one has come close to finding anything quite like that in this world, but that doesn’t stop us from looking. We keep looking even though 2000 years ago a man named Jesus told us what the secret was to eternal life. Many people grab on to that bit of information and then get disappointed when ‘stuff’ still happens. A big problem for the 21st century church in America is that we often confuse things and forget that Jesus didn’t say that things would automatically get better for the duration of our time here, but rather that He was talking about salvation and eternal life.
History students remember that the early Christians were persecuted for their faith and belief in Jesus. And in some countries today professing belief in Jesus Christ is still a dangerous thing to do. In many cases we’ve dummied down the Gospel message to the point where a statement of belief is supposed to guarantee a fairy tale ending to any life. If we want to be a little more realistic, we look at things the way Eugene Peterson explains them in his wonderful book Leap Over a Wall (Harper, 1997): basically he said that no matter how devout of a Christian life style we follow, illness and accidents are still going to happen, we’re still going to feel pain; and when that stuff happens it will hurt as much after we accept Christ as it did before we made that decision
Yeah, the bad stuff still happens to us, but Jesus didn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t, what He did promise is that there was something much better waiting for us. Eternal life. Abundant life.
Our problem is that we don’t always remember that. We don’t remember that God is more interested in healing us from our sin so that we can have eternal life, than He is in healing our physical frailties so that we can be comfortable for whatever number of years that we will be on this earth.
But this me oriented generation assumes that if we turn to Jesus then we must be in the center of God's will and He’ll protect us from anything that might pop up. Sorry, that’s not what the Bible tells us. There are lots of people in the Bible that seem to have been fairly centered in God's will, and I’m not sure that there were living what I would call a life of ease. Jonah had to face the Ninevites, the bad boys of his day; Daniel ended up in the lion’s den; Shadrach and friends got thrown into the furnace; David had some really bad hair days; James was beheaded; Paul and Peter were flogged, arrested and martyred. Even Jesus, the ultimate center of God's will, ended up going to the cross. So much for being safe and comfortable.
So God's will may not be the safest place for us to be, at least according to the standards of the world, but from an eternal perspective, it certainly is the best place to be. Are you moving closer to the center of God's will, or are you still trying to move God to the center of your will?
Guess what, if you’re trying to move God, you need to remember that God won’t fit in your man-made box. Let Him tell you where He wants you to be and what He wants you to be doing, and without even realizing it, you’ll be moving closer to being in God's will. Then buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A WHOLE LOT OF STUPID
School has been in session for a few weeks now, and I’m sure I speak for any family with school aged children in their immediate or extended family, when I say that I would like to end the school year with as many children as I started it with. The problem is that there is a whole lot of stupid going on out there.
I live in Utah, so it’s a given that if it’s not snowing, you’re going to run into road construction if you drive any farther than say, out of your driveway. When we factor in the orange cones, the flaggers, cell phone users and texters, it doesn’t seem like there’s much room for a margin for error. In other words we need to be paying attention to driving rather than a lot of the other stuff clamoring for our attention, because it’s obvious that the other people on the road are thinking about something other than the safety of our children.
I drive my son back and forth to school every day so I get to see the best (once in a great while) and the worst (several times a day) of traffic etiquette. In the past few weeks I’ve seen all this and more, and it makes me wonder why there aren’t a lot more accidents than what makes the news every day.
-male driver, looking in the rear view mirror, using a battery powered razor to shave as he drives through a school/construction zone.
-female driver, putting on eye makeup, again with the rearview mirror.
- driver apparently eating cereal: holding the bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, moving something from bowl to mouth. But traffic was moving slowly thanks to a previous accident.
-male bicyclist weaving in and out of traffic, no helmet, talking on cell phone, and oh yeah, carrying a small child (also no helmet) on the handlebars.
- bicyclists riding 4 abreast, playing a game of catch
- bicyclists insisting on their right to be on the road, until it’s more convenient to be a pedestrian to avoid waiting for the light
-multiple drivers who are sure they have the right-of-way while making a right turn on a red light.
-skateboarders coming down their sloped driveways into the street, no checking for traffic
- pedestrians stepping into the street without checking for traffic, about 50 feet from the crosswalk, or in the crosswalk but against the light, walking slowly and usually at an angle so it takes longer, but gosh, they have the right-of- way!
- people who must be trying to be polite so they suddenly slam on the brakes on a through street/green light so that the guy at the stop sign/red light doesn’t have to wait his turn.
-those who drive on the shoulder to get to the front of a long line of stop and go traffic, and then think that they have the right to enter in the flow of traffic ahead of those who have been waiting.
Sorry, your time is not more precious than mine; just because you overslept doesn’t mean that everyone else needs to make allowances so you can get to where you’re going. My kid is going to the same school yours is, if you cut in front of me and cause an accident, both of them are late anyway. Leave home a few minutes earlier, respect the rules of the road, and those with whom you share it, including flaggers, construction vehicles, trucks, strollers, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, and even cars. There’s already too much stupid happening, don’t add to it!
BTW, most of the time, stupidity on the road is not a valid reason for a 911 call, and if you’re driving, texting the make, model, license plate number to the local police department isn’t a good option either.
Yep, there’s a whole lot of stupid going on. I just pray that with God's help we’ll get through the next few weeks until it starts snowing, and a whole new set of stupid kicks in!
I live in Utah, so it’s a given that if it’s not snowing, you’re going to run into road construction if you drive any farther than say, out of your driveway. When we factor in the orange cones, the flaggers, cell phone users and texters, it doesn’t seem like there’s much room for a margin for error. In other words we need to be paying attention to driving rather than a lot of the other stuff clamoring for our attention, because it’s obvious that the other people on the road are thinking about something other than the safety of our children.
I drive my son back and forth to school every day so I get to see the best (once in a great while) and the worst (several times a day) of traffic etiquette. In the past few weeks I’ve seen all this and more, and it makes me wonder why there aren’t a lot more accidents than what makes the news every day.
-male driver, looking in the rear view mirror, using a battery powered razor to shave as he drives through a school/construction zone.
-female driver, putting on eye makeup, again with the rearview mirror.
- driver apparently eating cereal: holding the bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, moving something from bowl to mouth. But traffic was moving slowly thanks to a previous accident.
-male bicyclist weaving in and out of traffic, no helmet, talking on cell phone, and oh yeah, carrying a small child (also no helmet) on the handlebars.
- bicyclists riding 4 abreast, playing a game of catch
- bicyclists insisting on their right to be on the road, until it’s more convenient to be a pedestrian to avoid waiting for the light
-multiple drivers who are sure they have the right-of-way while making a right turn on a red light.
-skateboarders coming down their sloped driveways into the street, no checking for traffic
- pedestrians stepping into the street without checking for traffic, about 50 feet from the crosswalk, or in the crosswalk but against the light, walking slowly and usually at an angle so it takes longer, but gosh, they have the right-of- way!
- people who must be trying to be polite so they suddenly slam on the brakes on a through street/green light so that the guy at the stop sign/red light doesn’t have to wait his turn.
-those who drive on the shoulder to get to the front of a long line of stop and go traffic, and then think that they have the right to enter in the flow of traffic ahead of those who have been waiting.
Sorry, your time is not more precious than mine; just because you overslept doesn’t mean that everyone else needs to make allowances so you can get to where you’re going. My kid is going to the same school yours is, if you cut in front of me and cause an accident, both of them are late anyway. Leave home a few minutes earlier, respect the rules of the road, and those with whom you share it, including flaggers, construction vehicles, trucks, strollers, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, and even cars. There’s already too much stupid happening, don’t add to it!
BTW, most of the time, stupidity on the road is not a valid reason for a 911 call, and if you’re driving, texting the make, model, license plate number to the local police department isn’t a good option either.
Yep, there’s a whole lot of stupid going on. I just pray that with God's help we’ll get through the next few weeks until it starts snowing, and a whole new set of stupid kicks in!
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