This is a fairly difficult subject to talk about; well, for me it is, anyway.
Comparison is one of Satan's greatest tools, I think. Is it because we have too much pride? Is it because this life that we live as Believer's is a competition? Is it because we are all too competitive?
My answer to those questions would have to be, "Yes and no." (I'll get to the 'yes' part farther down.)You see, when we compare ourselves to others, particularly when it comes to ministry, we become blinded to what our focus should be.
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Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
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I heard this example used by an evangelist by the name of Ed Newton; hopefully it fits with the point I'm trying to make:
When you're at the beach, you sort of set up camp in a particular spot, especially when you're with a bunch of people. You lay all our stuff down; shirt, flipflops, sun glasses, cooler, towel, maybe an umbrella. So you set up camp, and while you're out in the ocean swimming, boogie boarding, surfing, etc., if you're not paying attention, minutes and minutes can go by and you glance toward the shore looking for that place where you put all your stuff and you can't find it; you don't know where you are or how far you've drifted; the current just grabbed you and took you away, sometimes without you even noticing. And by the time you realized you had drifted away from where you should be, you're wondering, "How did I get here?"
Do you see where I'm going with this? That may be a ridiculous example for this, but there's a lot of truth in that. When we begin to compare ourselves to others, we lose focus; we get distracted by trying to keep up, or out-do the next person, instead of rejoicing in what they are doing and being thankful for how God is working. We'll forget about focusing on the true, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable things and we'll end up letting our hearts drift and drift until we're awakened to the fact that we've lost a hold on what was important.
As I am typing this, I am struggling with comparing myself to another Brother in Christ. (Here comes the 'yes' part to that earlier answer.) It's difficult not to compare ourselves to others when they are doing well and seem to be so much stronger than we are. Why? No, the Christian life is not a competition amongst other Believer's. It comes down to pride, and Satan wants to use that to discourage us and get our focus off. Not one of us can say that we haven't compared ourselves to others, especially within the Church. We want to be the stronger one, we want to be the one with the best ideas, we want to be the one that people talk about and say, "Oh, they're so wise." And when we start comparing our life to others, problems start occurring. Pride has essentially taken over because we want to be better, and sometimes feel that we should be better, than others.
Understand this; letting comparison take over your mind can cause division between you and a fellow brother or sister in Christ, and when that happens, our hearts start taking on damage.
Just something for us to think about. It is just something I struggle with and I just wanted to share that with anyone who decides to read this. I pray that no one struggles with this like I do. And I sincerely pray that we can all join together in community to glorify God in everything we do; focusing and meditating on the truth that Paul has written in Philippians 4:8.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The sweet beginnings to bitter-sweet endings
I wish I would've started doing this whole blog thing months ago--when I started the internship at Nags Head Church, in particular. It has been an incredible summer; so much learning and so much growth. I've developed relationships with people here on the coast of North Carolina that I'll never forget.
It's kinda funny, never did I think I would be living and working in such an awesome place with such great people; people who are a great example of what the church is all about. For those that are reading this, please don't read this and think, "Well this guy is just full of himself, ain't he? He just keeps talking about himself and the things he's done." Please understand that I'm setting up the thought for this blog...
I've had countless conversations with men who are heroes of the faith to me; some of these include my father and my "uncle" Billy. Different situations we experience throughout the day just spark good, wholesome conversation about past, present, and future. Some of the greatest conversations I have ever had the privilege of being a part of were between my Dad, "uncle" Billy, and myself. This past week marked my family's vacation, and whenever we are altogether life is just good. But, anyway, multiple times the topic of my time as an intern coming to an end came up, or the topic of my summer being almost over, or the topic of being done with school in a couple of years; I really got to thinking about all the "endings" coming up in my life... and it scared me.
Let's think about this: how many "endings" are coming up in your life within the next week? month? year? few years? It's kinda scary right? Our routine is going to be gone. Everything you knew, or thought you knew anyway, is going to be completely changed. High school? done. College? done. Summer? done. Camp? done. A job? done. Your teenage years? done. Whatever it may be, things keep ending for us! Sounds pretty negative, right? Kinda depressing? Maybe scary? But, why on earth are endings scary? Because with an ending, comes a beginning.
You see, where there is an ending, there is a beginning. Marriage? It's an ending to being single, and a beginning to a (hopefully) life-long partnership. Having children? Ending to being just a couple or being childless, and a beginning to dedication to raising children (hopefully in fear and admonition of God). High school? Ending of high school, and the beginning of college or a career. The list is ridiculously long.
So, i refer back to my mentioning of the conversations I've had with my father and others. Yes, the ending to my internship is here. Yes, the ending to my summer is here. But beyond that, there are beginnings that are waiting for me. New found knowledge i gained from some very wise people this summer that I will carry with me into my future ministry endeavors, beginning to a new school year in new classes and in new leadership positions on my dorm, and even some decisions and commitments in my spiritual life. Sure it makes me a little nervous, because these things bring new challenges, new responsibilities, and even potential frustrations, but it's all part of God making me into the man He wants me to become.
The purpose of this post is to get us to think; think about some things that we may need to do away with in our life. What kind of things do you need to put an end to? What are some beginnings you can start preparing for right now?
It's kinda funny, never did I think I would be living and working in such an awesome place with such great people; people who are a great example of what the church is all about. For those that are reading this, please don't read this and think, "Well this guy is just full of himself, ain't he? He just keeps talking about himself and the things he's done." Please understand that I'm setting up the thought for this blog...
I've had countless conversations with men who are heroes of the faith to me; some of these include my father and my "uncle" Billy. Different situations we experience throughout the day just spark good, wholesome conversation about past, present, and future. Some of the greatest conversations I have ever had the privilege of being a part of were between my Dad, "uncle" Billy, and myself. This past week marked my family's vacation, and whenever we are altogether life is just good. But, anyway, multiple times the topic of my time as an intern coming to an end came up, or the topic of my summer being almost over, or the topic of being done with school in a couple of years; I really got to thinking about all the "endings" coming up in my life... and it scared me.
Let's think about this: how many "endings" are coming up in your life within the next week? month? year? few years? It's kinda scary right? Our routine is going to be gone. Everything you knew, or thought you knew anyway, is going to be completely changed. High school? done. College? done. Summer? done. Camp? done. A job? done. Your teenage years? done. Whatever it may be, things keep ending for us! Sounds pretty negative, right? Kinda depressing? Maybe scary? But, why on earth are endings scary? Because with an ending, comes a beginning.
You see, where there is an ending, there is a beginning. Marriage? It's an ending to being single, and a beginning to a (hopefully) life-long partnership. Having children? Ending to being just a couple or being childless, and a beginning to dedication to raising children (hopefully in fear and admonition of God). High school? Ending of high school, and the beginning of college or a career. The list is ridiculously long.
So, i refer back to my mentioning of the conversations I've had with my father and others. Yes, the ending to my internship is here. Yes, the ending to my summer is here. But beyond that, there are beginnings that are waiting for me. New found knowledge i gained from some very wise people this summer that I will carry with me into my future ministry endeavors, beginning to a new school year in new classes and in new leadership positions on my dorm, and even some decisions and commitments in my spiritual life. Sure it makes me a little nervous, because these things bring new challenges, new responsibilities, and even potential frustrations, but it's all part of God making me into the man He wants me to become.
The purpose of this post is to get us to think; think about some things that we may need to do away with in our life. What kind of things do you need to put an end to? What are some beginnings you can start preparing for right now?
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