The Road Goes Ever On and On

Land of the Free

Yesterday I read something by Eugene Peterson (the guy who translated The Message) commenting about why he wrote one of his books.  In essence, he wrote the book (can't remember the title, sorry) as a pastor concerned about American Christianity.  His main idea was that those living in the land of the free and the home of the brave should have a bit more spontaneity in their lives.   Instead, we live very boring, secure, insulated lives.

I don't want to come across as a cultural critic, because I value security just like the next guy.  But you can't take all the variables out of life, nor should  you try.  That is where faith comes in.

As a man who is stepping over the threshold of middle age, I find myself bored in many ways.  Don't get me wrong; I don't want to hear that my wife has cancer or one of my kids has a meth addiction.  But does our demand to insulate ourselves from the messiness of life also insulate us from some of its blessings?  It can be like the couple who refuses to have kids because they fear bringing them into the world, they aren't sure they can afford them, or they just don't want to sacrifice a secure income. And then you miss out on one of life's greatest blessings, nurturing another human being to maturity. Yes it is messy, risky, and downright difficult.  But the payoff can be one of the greatest joys in human experience.

I want to live more like Jesus, who didn't have a place to lay his head, yet lived to the full, in dependence on his Father, bringing the coming Kingdom into the world now.

Modern life can confine and even imprison us in our security, simply because we don't want to take risks or mess with the challenges.  But I'm asking God to show me how to live with "responsible irresponsibility instead of irresponsible responsibility" (Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase).  I'm asking God to lead me from the secure slavery of Egypt into the unknown freedom of the promised land.

Core Values

"Men will always be making mistakes as long as they are striving after something." - Goethe

National Community Church, pastored by Mark Batterson in Washington, D.C. has a list of core values.  One of them is, Everything is an Experiment.  I like that.  Why is that most people have crystallized by middle age into rigid thinkers?  When I meet a free spirit, a risk-taker, I usually gravitate to them because I don't meet very many.  Most people my age are trying to fund their 401k's or living safely till they die. That sucks.

We never arrive.  We are always growing and changing.  As Winston Churchill said, "Success is never final; failure is never fatal.  It is courage that counts."  Christians, secure in the furious love of God, should be the most daring people on the planet.  And some are.  I've met missionaries who take a huge risk to lead their families into an unfamiliar culture.  I've met pastors who loaded u-hauls to plant churces where they didn't know a soul.  These are courageous souls.  But so many of us are afraid to step out.  Why?

I honestly believe that God expects more failure from us than we do from ourselves.  I for one hate failure.  I take it personally, and fear what others may think.  But God knows our frame, he understands our humanity.  Secure in his unconditional love, we should be willing to risk failure; it doesn't define us.  As John Hobbs, a man of God I greatly respect, once said, "I may fail, but that doesn't make me a failure!"

Waiting

Moses must have felt a little forgotten, roaming around the wilderness herding sheep.  He was 80 years old.  He had spent the first 40 years of his life as a prince of Egypt.  The next 40 he spent as a shepherd (talk about a fall in social status).  You wonder, did he give up hope of ever doing anything meaningful in his life again?  Did he allow his soul to die because the reality of his life was too painful to face?  Was he hiding after his failure?  He started out wanting to change things for his people, and his zeal banished him to the dessert.

But something in him kept the faith.  Chasing down some lost sheep, he sees a fire on the mountainside.  He's still curious. He puts the rogue sheep in charge of a servant, then goes to see what is going on.  He comes face to face with The Almightly, and his willingness to leave the beaten path changed his life and the destiny of a people.  The last 40 years were incredibly more productive than anything he could have imagined in his first 80 years.  Somehow he had kept his soul alive in the dessert, waiting.

The Bible is full of stories like these.  Joseph who had dreams, but was sold into slavery, then sent to prison, but finally elevated to prime minister of Egypt.  David was anointed king at a young age, but ran for his life from the current and very jealous king Saul for about the next 15 years before he was finally crowned.  Even Jesus spent 30 years as a carpenter, then spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness before his first miracle and the start of his ministry.

Many of us know the dessert all too well.  We struggle with feelings of being forgotten, sidlelined, marginalized. Looking at the stars at night, it's easy to wonder where God is.  "Is this it?  Has my moment, my 15 minutes of fame passed me by?"  It's not easy.  In fact, it can kill your soul if you let it. 

But if you can hope, if you can defy the lie of your enemy who lies about the character of God, saying that He has forgotten you, you will see the fulfillment of the promise God put in your heart many years ago.  That I most firmly believe.  Even in the midst of waiting, I will not allow myself to eat the fruit of bitterness.  I will believe, hope, and stay curious, growing and expectant.  There will be fire on the mountainside; God will show himself again.

A New BHAG

My wife's family is from Serbia.  Her mother can tell many stories about fleeing from the Germans at the start of WWII, living in London during the Blitz, and traveling by ocean liner with U-boats about.  I love her stories.

Anyway, my wife Kosa still has lots of family in Serbia, and her cousin Andreja sent us a link to an old European walking path built in 1901, we think in Spain.  When I saw this, my heart leaped.  I"ve gotta do this!  I made walking it a new BHAG for myself.  Check it out:

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1438490562&channel=1408963331

By the way, if you are unfamiliar with the term, BHAG stands for a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  Mark Batterson has a lot to say about it in is new book Wild Goose Chase.  I think the term was coined by Jim Collins of Good to Great fame.  Regardless of its origin, I think we all need a few God-given BHAG's.  

But they go beyond new experiences.  A BHAG may mean leaving a safe, secure, dead-end, soul-shrinking job and pursuing the work God called you to do.  It might mean stopping long enough to search your heart and discover the passion God has put within you.  Here's a hint: it will be work that makes you come alive, not dread another day.  It will involve risk.  That is the nature of a BHAG, and the only way to find God's best.  Like the path you see in the video, walking out your Big, Hairy Audacious Goals isn't safe, it's risky.  But sooner or later I think we all realize that playing it safe is the most dangerous thing we can do with our soul, and taking a risk is the best thing.