I think I’m finally sick of faking it…or at least sicker than the last time I resolved to give up on self-sufficiency. I used to be pretty up-tight about multiple “new starts”-now I depend on them. The great challenge of life is not to be all I can be. It’s to be all I can’t be by surrendering my right to myself to Jesus and wholely depending on him. The curse of “competence” is that we become satisfied with ourselves…and that doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for God. Witness Jesus’ words: “Why do you call me good? Only God is good!” While the next Christian self-help book hits the stores I think of the old hymn “help of the helpless, Lord, abide with me…”
To consider myself to be a good Christian is to assume that my faith is something I can be good at. It assumes that either God needs my help, or that he never intended to carry me-only to give me a hand once in a while. Perhaps the heart of wisdom is a deeper acceptance that in Jesus all things hold together. If this is weakness, then bring it on. I’m not arguing for an unremarkable life, but that a remarkable life starts when we admit to our brokenness. This is the jumping off place for worship. When we approach God as broken people, the only way out is up. All that’s left is a wholesome dependence on him to put us back together. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Hey buddy,
Nice piece. Sometimes when I write a piece for my blog and no one responds, comments, complains or calls me names. . . .I think, “Why am I doing this?” Then, I remember – I say the things I say because they need to be said – not necessarily heard. The Lord told Jeremiah, “I will send you to a people who will not hear you.” (What an anointing!) Sometimes though, things just build up inside until you absolutely have to give them voice. Keep giving them voice, Greg!
Thanks, Mike. I just finished one of the most productive elders meetings of my tenure at Trinity. Speaking the word in season and out made the difference-like Jeremiah. What an annointing indeed! Did you get the private email I sent you last week? Peace, dear brother!
Yep,got your email. Just too darn lazy to reply I guess! BTW – Bryan sends his greetings.