The Sound of Freedom Movie – My Thoughts

How did The Sound of Freedom stir up so much controversy? Why did certain groups of media, celebrities, influencers, elites, and all their sheep hate this movie so badly?  After seeing the movie that is still a mystery to me. 

Before seeing the movie, I watched the docu-series, Light in the Darkness, because I wanted to hear more of the backstory and understand some of the facts before going to see the movie’s portrayal of it. I know how wild movie creators can be with the dramatization of true stories. 

After watching the docu-series I couldn’t understand why there was so much backlash about the movie. The talking heads or headlines of the world were making out like the story is over-embellished, the main character has a hero-dad-god complex, and the movie is for “QAnon believers” (because we have to bring extremism into every discussion these days and label any opposing perspective as the extreme we are against).

My thoughts about the backlash before seeing the movie were, ok yeah it’s probably dramatized for a movie but so what that is the case with literally every true story movie that has ever been produced. Other than that, I couldn’t understand what would be so conspiratorial about the movie, especially after watching the docu-series which clearly lays out the dark reality with all the evidence needed to see there is a problem. 

So I went to the movie with a somewhat open mind to try and see what some people believe is so controversial. Throughout the movie, I was able to pick up on plenty of the dramatized details, but again it doesn’t matter. The overarching truth of the movie remains – there’s a sex slave trafficking industry in the world and it is a problem. This literally cannot be denied. 

Taking my consideration of others’ perspectives a little further, I asked myself the question, “Why would people be so upset about this despite the premise of it being real and true?” Here are the only answers I’ve come up with (and these are purely my thoughts and opinions): 

  • They actively participate in the problem. Maybe they don’t rape children, but consuming child pornography is no less evil. 
  • They know people who actively participate in the problem. Powerful and deceitful people tend to have amazing ways of getting others on their side. 
  • They somehow profit from the problem. This could be as direct as literally gaining from the trafficking transactions or being under the financial influence of those who do (think Epstein, Weinstein, those types).
  • They blindly believe what those who perpetuate the problem say and do to deceive people into believing there isn’t a problem. This removes a layer of positional or financial power. So many people will blindly believe whatever the talking heads say that the evil people of the world get away with literally anything. 
  • They have somehow been a victim of the problem and need help. There are a lot of twisted perspectives from people who have been victims of sexual abuse. It is terribly fascinating how deceived we become during and after being the victims of abuse. 

I’m sure I could expand on these thoughts or come up with more ideas to list, but ultimately it all points back to evil. The only reason I can think of for people to be so up in arms about this type of movie is evil. If a person can’t agree that the problem exists and on any scale, it should be dealt with, and this movie sheds light on that problem, then that is a person too consumed by evil. 

Evil exists. It is very deceptive. And whether a person believes it or not there is an author of that deception commonly referred to as the devil, satan, or the enemy (by us crazy far-right Christians). But again, some people just refuse to believe so they’re repulsed by even the mention of God (just like the devil himself). 

The movie is primarily about children, and understandably so given the details of the true story the movie is based on. But the problem exists for adults, primarily women, as well. It is atrocious. 

One of the powerful lines in the movie is “God’s children are not for sale”. To believers in God and the battle the enemy is waging for the hearts and souls of man, we all know that statement applies to a much broader audience than the young children in the movie. 

Young and old and every race, we are all God’s children, and we are not for sale. 

Three Thoughts From Recently Reading Proverbs

The book of Proverbs – challenging, encouraging, instructing.  It teaches us wisdom, discipline, and moral choices.  I love the book of Proverbs.  I’ve read it more times than I recall, and I believe it would change the world if everyone would read it and try to apply it to life.  Regardless of spiritual or moral beliefs, or age or gender or race, everyone can learn from Proverbs.  No matter where we are on our journey there’s something we can learn from Proverbs, and even if we’ve read it multiple times there’s always something that stands out to us differently than the time before.  If we’re applying what we’re learning then we’re growing, and as we grow we change and see things with a different level of wisdom, discipline, and maturity.

As I read through Proverbs again a few months ago I made some notes and highlights of things I thought I’d share here.

IF/THEN but Jesus

In our high tech world there is logical programming all around us.  It reminds me of the first simple computer program I wrote in a high school class teaching us how computer logic works.  It involved some very basic IF/THEN logic.  IF”X” happens, THEN”Y” happens next.  There could also be and OR added to the logic making it IF/THEN/OR, so IF “X” didn’t happen, “Z” could happen instead of “Y”.  The X,Y,Z could be whatever we told the computer it should do.

As I read through Proverbs this past time I seemed to see a lot of the wise instructions and warnings as IF/THEN/OR statements.  A great example of this is Proverbs chapter 2 (NIV).  Read it and notice the IF’s in v1-4.  Now notice the THEN’s in v5-9.   There’s even an OR at the end of the chapter (v22).  There are warnings about wicked men and adulterous women in the middle, but from beginning to end we could summarize Proverbs 2 with this IF/THEN/OR statement of logic.  “IF you accept, apply, value wisdom;  THEN you will find knowledge of God, blessing, and protection;  OR you will be cut off and torn from the land.”

Look for places where IF/THEN/OR can be applied to what the scriptures are saying.  Proverbs 3:3-4, IF you commit to love and faithfulness, THEN you will win favor.  Proverbs 3:5-6, IF you trust in the Lord, THEN he will make your paths straight.  I don’t want to completely dumb down the scriptures to computer logic, as though I’m a robot, but I must say that looking at it this way is a new way to engage myself with the instruction it offers and commit it to the choices I make.

Before I move on to my next observation I want to point out that none of the IF/THEN statements remove God’s love for us or Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.  Also, none of them are standards or behaviors that can save us from our own sins.  But ALL of them are truths, that either draw us closer to God or push us further from Him.  They move us along His path or down other deceitful and destructive paths.  The most important IF/THEN in the bible is, “IF we accept Jesus as Lord, THEN we will have eternal life.”

God is Wisdom

Wisdom comes from God.  It is the foundation on which all life is built.  It is His first creation before all other creation.  God IS wisdom.   (Proverbs 8:22-31)

Wisdom comes with time and experience, so it makes sense that it was with God, and is God, since the beginning of time.  Wisdom with God the father, son & holy spirit should be a constant desire in our pursuit of Jesus if we really believe in Him and want to follow Him and serve Him.

Gaining wisdom is knowing God.

Wisdom is…

As we know and understand God more and more during our pursuit of wisdom we learn the characteristics of God and wisdom that should be exemplified in our lives.  Here are some that I made note of as I read Proverbs in recent months along with the chapter/verse that brought these to mind:

  • Wisdom is humbling – 1:22-33
  • Wisdom is discernment – 2:9-11
  • Wisdom is obedient – 3:9-10
  • Wisdom is discipline / self control – 5:23
  • Wisdom is listening / speaking wisely – throughout the book of Proverbs, but especially noticed these instructions in chapter 10.
  • Wisdom is righteousness – 11:8
  • Wisdom is protection – throughout, but 13:6 stood out
  • Wisdom is contagious – 13:20
  • Wisdom is rewarding – 13:21
  • Wisdom is content – 13:25
  • Wisdom is patient – 14:29
  • Wisdom is generous – 14:31
  • Wisdom is planning – 16:3
  • Wisdom is action – 16:9
  • Wisdom is honest – 16:11
  • Wisdom rules – 16:14-15
  • Wisdom is invaluable – 16:16
  • Wisdom is just/fair – 21:12-15

This list could go on and on, and I look forward to future readings where I recognize more wisdom nuggets throughout the book of Proverbs.  The point of this list is to recognize that God is the epitome, he sets the standard, for all of those things.  To pursue God is to pursue wisdom, and vice versa.  The purpose of Proverbs is to teach us to pursue God by pursuing who He is, His character, to be drawn closer to Him, and continue to become who he created us to be, made in His image.

I have so many more specific things I’d love to share from Proverbs, so look forward to those on future posts.

3 Reasons to Be Hung Up on Stewardship

Why am I so hung up on stewardship? Nobody has ever asked that directly, but I often feel like some of the comments and attitudes aimed in my direction are dancing all around that question.  So here are three quick reasons I get hung up on stewardship.

1 – Our life is not our own.

Living my life to bring honor to God, managing Gods blessing Gods way for Gods glory (as Chris Brown says it) – whatever you want to call it if we claim to be followers of Jesus then we should be stewarding everything in our life for Him. I’ve seen how financial stewardship affects my own walk with Jesus and I don’t ever want to let being a poor steward hinder my faith. AND I want other Christians to experience the same peace and joy in their walk with Him.

2 – We’re called to share the gospel.

The gospel itself is an act of generosity where Jesus gave His life for our sins. We’re supposed to share it by how we live it. The early church shared Gods love through extravagant acts of generosity and people were so blown away they knew there was something different about followers of Jesus and they wanted to experience it. Being generous requires being good stewards. Sadly not enough of us have let the 2350 money/possession related verses in the bible get into our head and hearts deep enough for our behavior to demonstrate our belief in those scriptures. The world is watching and our generosity is the gospel for a lot of the world. I don’t have to be the one leading people through the prayer for salvation to know that how I steward my resources is part of their experience with the gospel.

3 – Ministry costs money.

A lot of people are vocational ministers and evangelists and, as the body of Christ, it is our responsibility to take care of the needs of those vocations as well as the needs of the ministry organizations they work for. God’s church has to be funded and that requires the diligent stewardship and generosity of His people. We often hear “God doesn’t need your money” followed by “it’s not about what God wants from you but for you” etc. That’s true. God’s plan is gonna happen either way, but shouldn’t we want to be a part of it anyway?

So the short answer is that teaching financial stewardship is part of my calling for spreading the gospel.  If the reasons above aren’t good enough to get every Christian a little bit hung up on stewardship shouldn’t we be concerned why not?

One Way to Keep Our Heart Believing

It doesn’t matter whether we’re long-time Christians or brand new, when life gets difficult and money is tight it is only natural to question things with regard to biblical stewardship.  We wonder if it’s ok to not give, or to give less, even if only for a little while.  We don’t even flinch at the thought of stopping our saving (if we were doing any to start with).  When it comes to spending we might wonder if it’s ok to still spend on this or that non-essential thing while we’re in tough times.  The struggle is real, and the juggling act of decisions is difficult.

As we seek direction from the word we find scriptures to remind us that giving is first and it is an act of faith and obedience.  We can also find that the purpose for that obedience is not just to follow rules but to act on our profession of faith in God the owner and provider of everything.  Here’s an example of that reminder for me.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:10 (NIV)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

Believing with our heart is where our faith starts.  Professing it with our mouth is how we are saved.  Acting on that belief and profession includes the choices we make with our treasure.

Believing is one thing, professing is salvation, but to maintain a big audacious faith in the loving God that forgives our sins and saves our souls we have to ask ourselves some tough questions.  Whether things are good or bad or ugly, where is our faith?  Do we really believe with our heart or was our profession all talk?

We have to stand firm on something or we’ll give in to anything.  One way to keep our heart believing when the enemy challenges our faith is to keep our treasure professing that our faith is in God.

The Generosity Effect of Gravity CEO Decision to Pay $70K

Over a year ago the CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, made the decision to raise the minimum pay for every employee to $70k while reducing his own pay to $70k.  It sparked a huge debate with polarizing opinions ranging from ‘brilliant’ to ‘idiot’ with a full array of doubt and interesting circumstances in between.  I’m not interested in being a part of that debate, but I do want to point out what I saw when the decision was made and what I see now over a year later.

Here’s what I posted on Facebook when I read about the decision last year, because I believe when you take care of people they take care of others, and this case helps prove that point (screenshot linked to article):

Gravity CEO Announces Minimum Pay $70K for Employees

Again, I don’t want to be part of the debate.  We can argue that $70k is a crazy amount of money to pay certain roles or that ‘$70k is nothing in Silicon Valley.  Apparently, going by all the noisy articles that ensued this decision, there’s a lot of detailed circumstances everyone could argue.  I don’t care about all that noise.   My point in posting this has nothing to do with the arguments and everything to do with the effect of valuing people and leading by example.

Here’s what the employees did for Dan Price because of his decision to pay them well. (article)

Video:

Again, we could get hung up on thoughts about circumstances or say things like, “It’s easy to make decisions like Dan if we’re going to get something in return”.  But I’d be willing to bet that Gravity employees are more generous to people all around them than they were when they were being squeezed by the common practice of paying the most qualified people the least possible amount for the purpose of increasing profits – a practice that is a downfall of leadership in this world.  If Dan Price is as good a leader as his example of generosity suggests he might be, then I bet he is as happy to see how others are being blessed as he is to receive this blessing the employees gave him (well, maybe not AS happy, but at least happy).

 

Strengthened Faith Through Finances

It’s been a long time since I shared a keeping-it-real update of our financial journey, so I want to use this post to fill in a little bit of that gap. God is always at work – let me tell you…

In October of 2013 a side gig, a business I helped launch and worked with as an outside contractor for 5 years, came to a fork in the road that resulted in an abrupt ending.  The back-story is a long one and there’s no reason to go into too much detail for the purpose of this post. It was a wild ride full of lots of adventure and learning, and I loved it.  The parting of ways was painful not only emotionally, but financially as well.

A lot of reflection on lessons learned has helped us grow in so many ways, and clarity comes with time and patience and willingness to have open eyes to see the big picture as it unfolds.  We now realize that the Fall of 2013 was the beginning of a two year chapter in our financial life.

You see, right before the parting fork in the road situation, something very significant in mine and my wife’s journey had just taken place. We had asked God to show us what He wanted us to give generously (above tithing), and He answered. It was more than we had ever committed, but we committed it anyway – to God and to our church.

We made that commitment literally a matter of a week or two before the unfortunate parting of ways with the business. The business wasn’t a huge source of income, but it was a source of income significant enough to impact our ability to fulfill the commitment we had made.

A few months later an opportunity arose to sell our house and move into one more accommodating of our growing children’s needs. It was another test of faith. Either God wanted that move to happen or I didn’t come up with enough ‘only if’ contingencies for Him to perfectly align.  It HAD to be God because everything aligned just as we asked for it to.

A year passed and work was going ok. We were adjusting well to the new housing, and our generosity plan was coming together nicely despite the loss of side-business income. Because of the pay structure from my full-time job, the plan was to save monthly toward what we committed to give during 2014 and then give it all during 2015 on a monthly schedule. We had a plan and we believed it was God’s will.

Some months it was extremely difficult to save money for the purpose of giving it away, but we did it anyway. The plan was working. We began to realize that God will provide a way to do what He wants us to do as long as we are willing to take steps of faith and make choices of sacrifice. It is always encouraging to not only trust that God is with us but to see and feel His hand in the things happening around us and in our hearts.

The end of 2014 rolled around, business was so-so, but our resolve was strong. We were still on track with our plan. The beginning of 2015 rolled around. It was time to start giving on the monthly schedule according to the original plan. Everything was working out fine for the first three months, and then life got crazy.

Our 36yr old brother in law suddenly and unexpectedly passed away and rocked our entire families’ world. Then the company I was working for suddenly and unexpectedly went out of business. Then my wife’s grandfather died. All this happened in a two week period of time. We were emotionally down for the count AND had no income.

Between the business fallout, deaths in the family and loss of job, I had what some would consider good reason to be hurt, confused, and angry at God. I had what some would consider a good reason to back out on the giving commitment we had made. But I’m not a child of God only when I’m good. I’m a child of God ALL the time. He is with me and never forsakes me even when I don’t deserve it. How could I be for Him and obedient to Him only when things are good? So we did not lose heart. We did not back out on our commitment.

For two and a half months we had no job income, but we gave. For two months we watched our savings deplete in large sums, but we gave. And for two months we watched God pour out blessings all around us, while we gave. Friends, family, and members of our community, some who we barely know, rallied around us and contributed to our needs. We didn’t miss a single meal, and we didn’t miss a single bill. We were able to complete the giving commitment exactly as planned, and we’d go through it all over again knowing the outcome now.

All that roller coaster of events could be simply explained as life happening, but I believe it was meant to strengthen our faith. God honors our faith and trust in Him, and He always has good plans, often times plans we cannot foresee. The plans He has for our generosity is not only for the good that can be done for others with that generosity. It is also for the good that it does in our own heart and life. Our intimacy with God is deepened. Our faith is strengthened. He is made stronger through our weakness.

 

When Feeling It Is Too Late

stressed-1024x681

For years my financial friends and I have beaten our heads against the wall over and over again because of one simple question: “What do we do to teach young people how to start off on the right track with money earlier rather than later?”  It sounds like a simple question, but it is complicated as…well, it’s just very complicated.  But I can’t let it go.  I have to do something.

The idea is to help young people avoid the mistakes many of us make as we enter adulthood clueless about money because we know that avoiding those mistakes can set people up for accelerated success in life.  I know the argument against this idea.  “Kids aren’t interested in learning about money because they don’t have any”, or, “they don’t have any responsibility yet”, or, “they don’t want to hear about it.”  I’ve got a response to all of that, but first I’ll agree with the fact that many people, maybe even most, are still going to have to learn the hard way.  For whatever reason they won’t listen, or they’ll disregard the timeless wisdom, or they’ll simply make mistakes.  We all make mistakes, just some of us worse than others.

Now for my responses to those typical reasons why we shouldn’t bother teaching young people about money:

Do we give teens a license and keys to a car without making them first prove they know how to drive?  Do we give them a gun without teaching them how to shoot it, a knife without showing them how to handle it safely?  I know those are extreme leading questions, so how about one a little less dramatic.  Does the YMCA let kids go down the water slide just because they want to, or do they make them prove they can swim so they don’t drown?  Why do we reason that it’s ok to let young people mismanage money to the point of drowning in debt before we teach them how to swim?

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they have any money.  They WILL have money one day, and that day might come sooner if we teach them how to be trusted with money.

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they have responsibility.  They WILL have responsibilities one day (unless they’re never expected to grow up and move out), and again that day might come sooner if we teach them that earning trust with money requires responsibility.

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they want to hear it.  They don’t want to hear “save sex for marriage” either, but we tell them to anyway.  It’s a matter of telling them what they NEED to hear, not just what they WANT to hear.

Let me be clear that I completely understand learning financial management is not as high a priority for teens as other issues are, such as actually having a relationship with Jesus, developing the discipline to follow Him, dealing with peer pressure, sexual temptation, drugs, depression, etc etc etc.  There’s a long list of things that I’ve heard referred to as “felt” needs for teens, meaning those needs are much more pressing matters in the present than something that’s in the future.  Trust me, I get it.  Believe it or not, I was a teen once upon a time, and with young teens of my own, I’m seeing their struggles more every day.  BUT, that doesn’t make learning to manage money any less important, and it certainly doesn’t  mean I’m leaving my kids’ knowledge of money management to chance.

The problem with waiting to address issues when they’re “felt” needs is that by the time most things are a “felt” need it is already too late.  They’re already having sex.  They’re already giving in to peer pressure.  They’re already playing around with drugs.  They’re already suffering from depression, etc etc etc.

I recently asked an actual college student when he thought is the right time to make sure students are taught financial management.  He said, “No later than junior or senior year in high school, because if you wait any longer than that it’s probably too late for most people (because of the student loans, credit cards, and for some even car loans that students begin to pile on in college).”  So basically even this young man in that stage of life understands that it is better to be equipped to make wise decisions before being in the stage of life rather than being told later on that the decisions they’ve already made are a problem.  These young people aren’t stupid, and they don’t appreciate being treated like they are.  If they’re like me they’ll one day reach a point in their life where they ask the question, “Why didn’t anyone teach us this stuff in school or why didn’t our parents teach us, OR why couldn’t they teach us this stuff at church?”

If we would talk about money with young people more, I guarantee many of them understand the “felt” need more than we give them credit for, because they’ve watched their parents suffer through one of the toughest economic recessions in history.  I guarantee they would understand that waiting until financial management is a “felt” need typically means someone is already in way over their head in debt and other poor financial choices and habits.  But they won’t understand that if we aren’t talking about it.

Teaching our kids about money is part of our responsibility as parents, as the ones gifted with the opportunity to disciple our kids to be the best living example of Jesus they can be to the world who needs hope.  My kids accepted Jesus as Lord and savior at an early age and adopted the belief that God’s word is truth that provides guidance for how we live our life.  I want them to understand ALL of God’s principles so they can apply them to how they live at any stage of life.

I am far from a perfect parent.  My wife and I are struggling every day to raise our kids the way we feel God has called us to.  The last thing I want to do is come across like I’m some sort of parenting expert.  But please hear me out.  We do everything we can to not only recognize what our kids are dealing with now but to also look ahead and see what they’re going to be dealing with next.  We know there are multiple stages and phases of life for our kids, and we don’t want to be so overwhelmed with fixing what’s now that we can’t prepare them for what’s next.

Teaching young people about money is also part of our responsibility as a church.  It pains me, literally drives me nuts, that we as a church, in general, are sending young people off into the “real world” to earn and manage money on their own with little to no knowledge of financial stewardship.  I know that regardless of what we might teach them they’re going to make mistakes, but they might make fewer or less severe mistakes if we taught them.  I know that generally speaking there are so many young people that need to be reached with the gospel that it doesn’t make sense to teach them financial stewardship.  But what about the hundreds of thousands of them who DO claim to follow Jesus but they’re living according to the world instead of the word with regard to money?  THOSE are the ones we’re called to disciple, as a church, to not only proclaim the gospel but to also live by the word of God in a way that makes their example a proclamation of the gospel.

We all know that God fearing people raised in church are usually more likely to be moral and productive citizens as adults.  Yet it is no secret in church-world that “the last thing people typically surrender to God is their wallet”.  We’ll lie, cheat, steal, and murder before we’ll surrender that to God.  It is astounding that we don’t see the correlation more clearly.  Lack of surrender in one thing leads to lack of surrender in all things.

Do we really believe as a church that we learn that sinful lack of financial surrender as adults?  Do we really believe that the only way to change that sinful lack of surrender is to wait until it is a “felt” need?

It is time to start instilling the discipline and direction all Christians need to fulfill our purpose in Christ earlier in our walk with Him rather than later.  There is no better time to build that foundation for early age Christians than when we are young and don’t yet have the obstacles of adult responsibilities to constantly challenge our faith and compromise our complete surrender.  It is time to stop being so satisfied with “it’s never too late” and be more excited about “it’s never too early.”  The “never too late” mentality is for people who are ok with being late to start with.  The “never too early” is for people who know the power of having a head start.

Anything built on a foundation that has huge gaps in it will be weak when storms come over time.  What if the fire and desire young Christians have for pursuing Jesus is coupled with discipleship that builds a strong and complete foundation for their faith to grow on?  Imagine the impact Christians can have over the course of their life if their foundation of faith is complete with financial stewardship from the beginning rather than being burdened with filling the gap when it becomes a problem.

Every now and then we hear a story of a small group of youth taking steps to sacrifice their own financial needs or desires in order to provide a blessing to others.  What if instead of hearing about only a small few we started seeing the movement of many in that direction?  What if instead of only a select minority of wealthy young people learning to manage money well into early adulthood we saw an entire generation of young people already free from financial pitfalls and poised to change the world?

The current generation of young people making their way into adulthood and taking on the “real world” is a generation that is passionate about doing things that make a difference.  They care about causes that make the world a better place.  But they are just as clueless about financial stewardship as the generation before them and the generation before them and the generation before them, all the way up to the current baby boomers who are retiring broke.  The rising generation will have an exponentially greater impact if we teach them to be better financial stewards sooner.

I’m not sure what else can be said to make this point more clearly.  We can agree that teaching financial stewardship to entire youth groups might not be the most pressing need in general.  But for the young people claiming to follow Jesus, there is no reason to wait because being a Christian includes being a financial steward.  It’s up to us to equip them for the road that lies ahead.  They might not be ready to apply it now, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them what they need to apply it later.

The greatest challenge my financial friends and I have had over the years is not the challenge of making money management interesting or relevant to young people.  It isn’t the challenge of helping young people see the need in their future.  The greatest challenge we’ve faced is getting the adults making decisions about what the young people are taught to provide the opportunity for them to hear.  Parents obviously aren’t doing a great job teaching it.  Schools barely teach it or don’t at all.  The same is true of colleges and universities.  And then there’s the church, the one collective group of people that has the most timeless financial wisdom in the world, the best money book ever written, the Bible.  But we are only teaching financial stewardship when it’s too late.  As a brother in Christ, I ask you, what can we do to change that?

What Do You Do?

Today, 6/1/16, is one year since I started my current full time job.  Happy work anniversary to me, said no one, and I really don’t care.  Some might call me frustrated, some might say I lack faith, and others might think I have mental problems.  All might be correct.  Regardless of the reason for my thoughts and attitudes this one year milestone in my current full time employment has brought to mind the fact that probably my least favorite question in the history of questions is, “What do you do?”  Why is that so annoying you ask?  Well – that’s what I want to explain.

When I hear the question, “What do you do?”, I want to know why they are asking, because the why determines the what I want to share.  I do lots of things.  Are they talking about fun stuff or work stuff?  I can do lots of different fun things as well as lots of different work things, and sometimes they’re both, but if we’re all honest fun and work are usually totally separate things.  I’ll talk about either one, but wouldn’t anyone rather talk about the fun stuff than the work stuff if given the choice?  The sad thing, in my opinion, is that no one ever asks, “What do you do?”, to hear about the fun stuff.  They want to know the work stuff.

So my mind skips past fun and on to work, but I’m still not sure why they’re asking.  Are they someone who values or respects people with certain ‘status’, jobs, positions, or titles in a way that shows preferential treatment?  I do not want to play any form of that game.  Are they genuinely interested in learning more about me and the type of work I do?  That seems ok, but it’s so surface level.

In the spirit of being cordial I almost always get past all my inhibitions and simply play along.  “I’m in sales”, I say, followed by, “in the visual communications industry.  Basically I help retail companies and brands with their point of purchase signage, displays, and merchandising solutions.”  It’s what I’ve done for the past 12 years, full time at least.  If the person asking seems genuinely interested I might add that I’ve been involved in a lot of business and ministry endeavors over the years ‘on the side’ or ‘as a volunteer’.  There might be some mention of my passion for helping people with financial management.  I might even explain my belief in the multi-vocational approach to life.

How deep that conversation goes depends on how much I believe the person really wants to know, understand, maybe even accept about me.  Becuase I don’t want people to identify me as ‘what I do’ as much as I want them to know who I really am.  I hope to reflect the God that gives me purpose, the principles that guide my values, and the passions that drive my focus.

We can talk about one year at the current employer or 11 years at the previous or the three year employer before that doing something completely different, or the two or four or five years here and there doing one side thing or another.  But who I am and who I’m becoming is far more interesting than what I’m doing at any moment or in any season of life.  The same is true for you.  So I hope you have opportunities to get real with people in your life and share the ‘who you are’ and ‘who you’re becoming’, because life is too short to only have ‘what do you do’ relationships.

So on this day that marks a milestone it’s not that I just don’t care about what I’m doing.  I just care more about becoming who God wants me to be so that no matter what I do I serve Him better every day.

Do We Truly Care About Sharing God’s Love?

fake-genuineServing people is hard work. It can be exhausting mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Current culture teaches us that unless we somehow protect ourselves from the taxing effects of serving people then we might burn out. The unfortunate result of that mentality is many people are “serving” without really caring.

Let me explain what I mean. You love Jesus, love His church, love your particular church family (community of people you gather with at a place of worship). You love all that so much you undoubtedly feel the burden, the calling, to serve in ministry.

Whether it be as a volunteer or a career you set out to fulfill the call on your life to serve God by serving others. You’re all excited to see people’s lives changed. You quickly get involved in whatever area of ministry it may be – greeting people as they arrive at church, ushering people to a seat, praying with people, watching and teaching their children – whatever your area of gifting has you doing. You’re loving it – being there caring for people through their good bad and ugly is all worth it to see the work of God first hand and be a part of it.

Pretty soon you and those you serve with realize the demand is greater than the supply. It becomes apparent that as you serve and care for people it is impossible to be as involved in each persons’ journey as you started out being in the beginning. It requires so much time, emotional and even physical energy. So programs and processes are developed in hopes that more people will be served with added efficiency.

It works for a while until efficiency reaches a tipping point where processes begin trumping the actual caring for people. Processes work great for dealing with products or objects as the subject of the process, but it’s much more tricky when the subjects are people. You see people are not as easily controlled or manipulated as products are. People have a choice of what they are subject to. When they are subject to an environment that isn’t providing the love and care they need then they leave to find it elsewhere.

That is the problem I’m describing when I reference “serving” without really caring. Any of us who have served more than a minute in ministry have experienced a moment where it felt more like going through the motions than loving devotion. So how do we overcome the dilemma of serving more people without losing the genuine care?

Well there seems to be a lot of emphasis lately on doing things as part of our serving and our process that can make people “feel” cared for. I understand the intent and admit what I’m about to say might seem picky. But what if instead of thinking about how to make people “feel” cared for we stopped and took the time to understand what it would take for us to get back to actually caring?

What if we challenged more people to step up and care? What if instead of focusing so much on how we can care for more people we focused on how we care more for the people we can? What if instead of only celebrating how many people we churn through our processes we also celebrate the people who become developed and equipped to begin sharing the burden of truly caring for others outside of the processes?

I hope and pray we all can see the eternal implications of how we share Gods love. Feelings are fleeting, but truly experiencing God’s love is eternal. If we’re to be vessels God uses to show His love to others we have to stop acting like we care to make people feel like we do. We have to take action because we care and the truth of God’s love in us will show through. Go read 1 John 3:16-18 and be encouraged to do something heartfelt today. Don’t do it because someone told you to or asked you to or notices what you do. Do it because you simply and truly do care.

Money Management Marathon – Part 3 – Embrace the Present

A first time marathon runner’s account of his experience details how he had to keep his focus on one step at a time to finish the race:

“On the way up this long hill between miles 20-22, I began to see fellow racers struggling. Some of them began to stumble and fall back while others had to drop out completely…”

The runner also stated that he knew there would be another difficult hill between miles 23-25, and he began worrying about whether or not he would be able to make it. As soon as the runner started worrying about what was down the road he started losing focus on taking the steps right in front of him. He recalls zoning out for a period of time:

“I have no idea how I lost the memory of miles 22-24… I finally knew I was going to finish. Until that point, I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not. But, at that moment, I knew, and I was filled with a calm and a joy that only those that have been there can possibly understand. I was going to finish a marathon, and there was absolutely nothing that could stand in my way.”

How was he able to zone out for 2 miles of the race? His training kicked in and he was on autopilot. His discipline was paying off. He also mentioned people who passed him, but all he could do is shrug it off and keep moving forward. He didn’t lose his mind and start trying to keep up with them. He was content to finish the race at his own pace. All he had to do in that moment was take one step at a time – embrace the present.

Managing money almost always feels like a marathon, and the reality of life is the money marathon never really ends until we die. The challenge we all face in finishing well financially is being prepared for the future without worrying in the present. Preparing involves awareness, discipline and contentment. Worrying involves fear.

Matthew 6:25-27 reminds us that we shouldn’t worry about what we have or don’t have now or in the future because it has no bearing on whether or not God will provide what we need to fulfill his purpose for us. All we can control is our discipline, our contentment, and our belief that God will give us at least what we need in the future; that shouldn’t be so hard to believe since we already have what He’s given us to take one step at a time in the present.

What are your worries and fears about the future of your finances?  How do you overcome those worries and fears to continue taking one step at a time?