Faith Venture

I saw this quote in my daily dose of Plough.

Madeleine L’Engle

How often we children have been unwilling: unwilling to listen to each other, unwilling to hear words we do not expect. But on that first Pentecost the Holy Spirit truly called the people together in understanding and forgiveness and utter, wondrous joy. The early Christians, then, were known by how they loved one another. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people could say that of us again? Not an exclusive love, shutting out the rest of the world, but love so powerful, so brilliant, so aflame that it lights the entire planet – nay, the entire universe!

We humans seem to like to gather in our tribes of people who are like us. Same skin color, beliefs, adornment preferences, whatever.

But that wasn’t God’s idea. Jesus blew up that model. It would be really something earthshaking if our churches behaved like L’Engle’s vision. Like the example of the first hundred years or so after Pentecost.

But where do we see the light today? How much comes from us?

A friend who comes from a south Asian religious tradition asked me why it is that there are so many types of Christians. “There are Catholics, and there are others, and they all seem to fight with one another. Why is that?”

I guess Christians just like to argue.

To outsiders, or as evangelicals love to say “non-Christians”, the arguing points are relatively minor. But what is minor to some is life-threatening, faith-shaking to others. Many times I have heard someone say that this or that sentence in the Bible is crucial to their faith. “My whole faith rests on that one thought,” they’ve said.

How sad.

Faith is so much deeper than that. Or, it can be.

But, back to humans. There are not two types–Christian and non-Christian. Or Catholic and protestant. Or light skin and dark skin. Or even male and female.

As soon as we begin to divide and argue, then our own heart will become hardened.

It’s like the song said, “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign 
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind 
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?… (Five Man Electric Band)

Focus on orange, diamond-shaped sign in the middle of the road. ROAD CLOSED.

Broaden focus. Car sits past the sign in water up to the door windows.

Ignore the sign, and you put yourself, your passenger, and rescue workers all at risk.

He did. He was ticketed. His car is done. Crashed into a hole left by a washed out culvert caused by rushing water from heavy rains. Lucky to be alive.

The Five Man Electric Band sang of adolescent rebellion against restraint. I sympathized–when I was in college. And some signs are ridiculous, to be sure.

But signs are a warning.

Road signs inform us of pending danger ahead. Ignore them not only at your own risk, but also at the risk of rescuers who come to help the foolish out of their predicament.

We receive many other warning signs–that we ignore.

Signs of coming medical problems. We could take corrective action, but we don’t.

Signs of physical problems. We could start an exercise routine. But, we ignore the signs.

Job problems, relationship problems, emotional problems. If we read the signs, we can do something about avoiding them.

But in our youthful rebellion that rides along with us until old age, we prefer to ignore the signs in some vague hope that we are the exception.

Read the signs. What are yours?

“I’m pretty sure there is an 8th habit of highly effective people,” said Adam Grant in a New York Times article. “They don’t sit around all the time just reading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

I think James, the writer of the wisdom letter found in the New Testament would agree. Early in his letter he writes, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Jesus certainly did spend time alone with God. The derisive people would call it “contemplating his navel.” But that was for his spiritual formation and foundation. We only read that he would go out to a mountain or just be alone. No details. But his daytime life was full of action. We read about how he was constantly interacting with people–teaching, healing, guiding, helping.

He didn’t spend his time yelling at other people to behave like he thought. He didn’t go to the ruling authorities and try to get more laws passed. In fact, he pointed out that the whole passing laws and following them wasn’t working out so well for the Pharisees.

When asked what it meant to love your neighbor, he answered with a story. The story defined neighbor, but it also defined love. We call the story The Good Samaritan.

Or, as I used to ask the leader of the anti-abortion group in the county, “So, you’ve talked a woman into giving birth. Now what? Do you just leave her to fend for herself? Or, do you take an active part in helping her cope?”

It’s one thing to talk and yell and moralize. It’s another to take an action to help someone like Jesus told us. Like James instructed. Like Adam Grant alluded to.

Be a doer of the word. You may not get headlines in the local newspaper. But I’m pretty sure that you get a pat on the back from Jesus.

Ego is such a killer. It kills relationships, businesses, ministries, and eventually its carrier.

Interesting that this phrase reveals two types of actions.

In one, we are driven. We are not that actor. The actor is ego, father of pride, son of unreflected emotion.

We cannot see the havoc we are creating in our wake as we blindly forge onward satisfying our desires.

On the other hand, there is guidance. It’s a bit like stopping to ask directions when traveling in a new place.

We are in fact traveling into the new space of life unknown. We stop, ask for directions, and are guided by the Spirit.

Two different kinds of people. Two different results in life.

Don’t let it be said about you as the old Crusader observed in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “He chose poorly.”

Choose wisely.

There are linchpins; and there are cogs.

I’m not talking mechanics. It’s about people.

Some people fit in. They find their place in an organization or team. They do the quiet, repetitious work. Work that can eventually be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). Or by robots.

Humans have a brain. Organizations, teams, companies need people who use their brains. The become vital to the cause. They are linchpins.

I’ve had very few mentors in the flesh. But I’ve had many mentors through the books they wrote. Seth Godin has become one of my mentors. He wrote the book on Linchpins.

Go find a way to make yourself valuable. Make a difference wherever you are. Don’t be replaced by AI.

If you keep butting against walls where you are, leave. Find a place where you can make a difference.

Another of Seth’s phrases applies–Go raise a ruckus!

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to converse with many people around a couple of subjects of interest to me. Each time I heard many thoughts about incidents and/or motivations about other people.

Then I would talk with the person directly referenced by the preceding conversations. Painted a completely different picture.

No one was intentionally spreading malicious gossip. But they were pretty much all wrong. Often with facts. Always with motivations.

This is not the famous “fake news” which merely means “news I don’t agree with.”

Rather it is when we replace fact with ill-formed speculation.

It’s one reason I shun national news and all TV news. I choose news sources where I can get closer to facts and further from speculation. We have far too many half-educated people who fill print and airwaves with opinion and speculation (note a popular obsession with rumors and speculations about professional athletics, for example).

If we are serious about being fully formed in our spiritual life, we learn and practice discernment. We learn to filter out extraneous fluff and get in touch with the Spirit. Then our life will improve.