Is There Success In God's Economy?

I was listening to a podcast yesterday, and there was a comment made in passing that was not central to the topic at hand. Yet, I have not been able to shake it. It's gotten in my head and won't leave me alone.

Jeff Henderson is the campus pastor at Buckhead Church in Atlanta (a plant off of North Point Community Church). He was talking about how his team pursues excellence rather than success. Here was his simple observation;

success is measuring yourself against others, while excellence is measuring yourself against your own potential.

Hmmm. If, in God's kingdom, we are to be focused more on others than ourselves it would beg the question; "is there such thing as success in God's economy?" That is to say, if success is measuring yourself against others (with the obvious implication that I am trying to surpass others) would this not fly in the face of all the values that define God's Kingdom?

This thought has rocked me on multiple levels. In regards to how I desire to be perceived. In regards to how I pursue my career, or my ministry (which happen to be one and the same in my case). How I embody my role as husband, father, and friend.

If I am trying to live a successful life, I am living a competitive life. I am trying to be perceived as better than most. As long as I am at least one percent above average, that's something. And, with work, I could be perceived as in the top 10% or even 5% of whatever. I am one of the most happy people around. Secure. Mature. Fill in the blank. If I am living a competive life then the drive is to be successful. I need to be better at my job than others who may be in some sort of competition (known or unknown to me). I need to be a better husband than most. I guess to be successful is pretty much all about perception in the end...

But if I am trying to live an excellent life, that all of a sudden feels very different. There's no competition with anyone (except myself). In my work and minsitry, I need not worry about measuring myself against others, but rather against the potential God has placed within me. I need not compare myself to other husbands or fathers, but rather become the best husband and father I can be. I need not worry about how I am perceived, but rather how I am growing into the person I can become.

On the one hand, this thought is incredibly freeing, as it releases me from the grips of trying to please and impress other people. On the other hand, it feels like the bar has just been raised by an infinite proportion signing me up for a life of nonstop change and growth. I don't really have an end goal that is within reach. I've always found comfort in the idea of arriving.

This is really messing with me...

Money Money Money

We are in the middle of a series on money at my church. Rick's sermon yesterday was super powerful. He really honed right in on arguably the root issue behind our issues with money: greed. You can get the podcast on itunes, or download it here. Every week I write sermon summaries for the use of our home community leaders. Below is an excerpt of the one I wrote today for this week's sermon.

Here we go...the church talking about money again. Why do we have to do this? Quite simply, as a faith community centered on Jesus, our desire is to ask all the hard questions of life in our pursuit of following Christ more closely as we grow. If the gospel isn’t preached in the biggest spot of idolatry in any given culture, the gospel is not truly preached. Is money the biggest idol in our culture? That’s hard to say, but if you are uncomfortable or annoyed that the church is preaching about money, it is probably a worthy question to fight through. Jesus was always talking about money and possessions, so it’s hard to say that it’s the church’s agenda. It would actually seem quite odd if we never preached about it (seeing that it was quite central to Jesus’ teaching). But here’s the real question. How can one possibly say that they trust the church with the care of their spiritual development, their time (as they volunteer), and even to care for their kids ... And yet not trust Christ’s bride with their cash? If that defines you, there is a need to elevate your understanding of your spiritual development to include your possessions and cash.

You can read the rest of this summary, and find links to older posts (if you're interested) here.

U23D

Story of Stuff

This is a fascinating video. It takes 20 minutes or so to watch, but if you can carve out the time, it's well worth it. The most interesting part to me was the strategic development of planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence in the development of a consumerist culture. Lot's of thought provoking ideas in there, especially in light of advent conspiracy. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts/comments...

Left Brained Anyone?

I ran across this fascinating test. Are you right brained or left brained? According to this test I am clearly left brained. Every time I look at the picture, I see the woman spinning counter clockwise. For the longest time it's the only way I could see the picture. But then I figured out a trick (that worked for me at least) to get the girl to switch directions. Let me know if you want t know my secret...

A Christian Onion

In an attempt to stay true to yesterday's commitment (keeping this blog current, interesting, and compelling) I am back for my second post in as many days. Today is purely for fun. I stumbled across a website I had not seen before. It's Lark News. This is sort of a christian version of the beloved Onion. (If you have not ever heard of the onion, take 10 minutes to peruse their site, and then go talk to all of your friends about it like you've been reading it for years like they have). Only, Lark News is done well. Most "christian" versions of secular things I run across are stupid attempts to mimic culture in the name of Christ that neither reflect the quality culture has to offer nor does justice to the name of our savior they invoke. However, Lark News is well done satire that Christians can enjoy. Wow, I feel like a commercial. Well, enjoy...

Give Yourself Away

I have not been posting as regularly as I would like on my blog. I joined facebook a few weeks back, and that seems to have won the battle for my interest. I suppose I will keep trying to keep this blog going, interesting, and (hopefully) compelling for those that happen to read it.

One of my favorite things in life is music. Now that I have a two and a half year old, I have to be honest and say that I do not listen to music nearly as much as I used to. However, music still is, and always will be, an integral part of my life. I have played guitar in multiple bands, and have event led one of my own. By far my favorite times of playing music have been in leading worship bands.

A new band I have been listening to is the Robbie Seay Band. If you have not heard of them, check them out. Solid. Love them. Robbie is the brother of Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston Texas. Robbie is the worship leader for that church. Chris was preaching at Imago this past Sunday, and I was able to hang out with him a bit at a Portland Trailblazers game that afternoon. He told me that a song off of Robbie's new album, "Give Yourself Away," was chosen to be the theme song for American Idol this season. It's the song, "Rise." I've heard that "Song Of Hope" is getting airplay. And "New Day" is featured on the second half of one of the Advent Conspiracy Videos.

Maybe not my top album of 2007 (Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" and Radiohead's "In Rainbows" are fighting for that spot). But definitely one of my favorite new bands...