Uncategorized

Makin’ it Big, The Call that Cannot be Assuaged, and Living Small

What does it mean to “make it” or to “make it big?”

Is it driving a Rolls-Royce car?

Is it getting your face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine?

Is it putting up a 405lb bench press?

Is it retiring early?

Is it becoming your own boss?

Not for the Christian. Paul writes:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish*, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. –Philipians 3:7-11 (ESV)

Now, if we were to stop here, it would seem that Paul is saying that attaining the resurrection from the dead is “making it big.” This is a common misconception. But the resurrection is not the prize, it is simply a step to be traversed in the continual pursuit of the prize.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. –Philipians 3:12-16 (ESV)

The prize is the call. Thus, the prize can be had right now–but cannot be grasped. It is ours as long as we pursue it, and yet is lost as soon as we turn from its pursuit. In this way, the call of God can be compared to the lesser calls of the wild, the sea, the mountains, and The Northland. I have felt all these calls. None of them disappear when you chase them. The call of the sea only gets stronger the more nights you spend on deck looking out over the empty ocean and the sky full of far more stars than can be seen even in the wilds of Montana. The call of the mountains get stronger the more nights you spend in a lean-to listening to the wolves howl and the streams murmur. Like these lesser calls, the call of God gets only stronger as you seek to assuage it–and yet, like the lesser calls, the call itself brings comfort despite not being diminished.

There is another way in which the call of God can be compared to these lesser calls. In the words of Oswald Chambers,

The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. —My Utmost for His Highest, entry for 05 Aug

In order to hear the call of God, we must be participators in the divine nature, i.e., we must have the nature of God within us. This can only happen through the quickening of God’s spirit dwelling within us.

To follow any call requires one to be willing to walk away from what he has.

Consider Jack London’s description of the call of the wild:

Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on, he knew not where or why; nor did he wonder where or why, the call sounding imperiously, deep in the forest. —The Call of the Wild, Chapter 6

To follow any call is to turn one’s back on something else. Yet, sadly, rock artists understand this better than Christians. Look again at the lyrics to the song at the beginning of the post.

Dylan sings for millions And I just sing for free .. Well I paint my face with glitter Just like Bowie does And I wear the same mascara That Mick Jagger does

–“Everybody’s making it big but me” written by Shel Silverstein and performed by Dr. Hook

Musicians aren’t afraid to look ridiculous in order to follow the call of fame and fortune, but are Christians willing to look ridiculous to follow the call of God? More than that, are Christians willing to even consider making the financial sacrifices that aspiring musicians make? When I was in college, I ran sound for a Christian rock band for a while, and toured across the country. I met a lot of aspiring musicians, and almost all of them had made major sacrifices to follow the call of playing music for a living. Yet the idea in the church seems to be that one can follow the call of God without turning his back on “the fire and the beaten earth around it.”

You can’t.

Now the fire and beaten earth can stand for many things in your life. Whatever they are, they are comfortable, they are inviting, they are familiar, and they are holding you back from following the call of God. And whatever else they are, they probably include material possessions. There may well be other things that are the fire and beaten earth in your life, but more likely then not, to paraphrase Fight Club’s Tyler Durden, the things you own have ended up owning you.

Jesus understood the trap of possessions. That’s why he commanded his flock to get rid of them. It’s why he told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had. Jesus observed that a man would joyfully sell all that he owned to gain ephemeral pelf, yet when the ruler was offered the opportunity to make the same sacrifice for a much more amaranthine guerdon, he went away sorrowful.

Now, I’m sure some intrepid reader will point out that a man has a scriptural responsibility to provide for his household, and that to shirk this responsibility is to deny the faith. The reader is correct in his observation. However, this does not provide a licence for unrestricted accumulation. Your responsibility to provide does not mean that you must have new cars, a large house, cable TV (or even a television). It does not even mean that you have to have a washing machine–certainly the fathers to whom that passage was originally written did not provide their families with such appliances.

I’m not trying to argue that there is anything wrong with owning a few household appliances such as a washing machine. What I am saying is that the imperative to provide does not excuse excess. Consider your life, your belongings–Does Luke 12:32-33 make you uncomfortable? Are material possessions the fire and beaten earth that are keeping you from following the call of God?

To follow any call requires one to turn his back on something.

Live small.

Follow the call.

Make it big.

But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” —Luke 9:62 (NLT)

*See study here or by clicking above

Free At Last!

Three years after graduating from an (expensive) private Christian college, I have finally thrown off the shackles of debt. It feels wonderful. Tomorrow I will have a few people over to eat grilled lamb, drink cider, and smoke cigars in celebration.

Therefore, it is time to start contributing to my new (Biblical) retirement plan.

Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. —Matt 6:19-20 (NET)

Why I don’t Read the Bible

I don’t read the Bible. Now, I know that right now one of you is thinking to yourself What? Some of this guy’s posts have so many links to Bible verses that every other sentence has a link in it. And he says he doesn’t read the Bible? I get the confusion. I am indeed quite familiar with the Bible. So familiar, in fact, that almost anything someone says to me will remind me of a Scripture passage. For example, after church this past weekend: “Hey, do you want to come with us and go knock on doors and give out literature?” “Sorry, I don’t believe in that.” “Why is that?” “Because Jesus said not to go from house to house.”* But this familiarity does not come from reading the Bible. Let me back up a little. About ten years ago, one of my brothers and I participated for several years on a youth team that competed in rote Bible memorization challenges. Each year a different book of the Bible would be chosen, and we would prepare all year for several rounds of competition. Knowledge had to be exact: if you had a fill-in-the-blank question and you put “reprove” when the answer was “rebuke,” you got it wrong. Here are two questions I still remember from the year we did Revelation:

In Revelation 14:20, how high did the blood rise?

Revelation 21:18-20 List the 12 gemstones of the 12 foundations, in order.

The challenge was not about understanding Scripture, but simply about memorizing it. We quickly learned that the best way to memorize large chunks of text (the year we did Proverbs I could recite chapters 1-20 verbatim, and he could recite from 10 or 11 through 31 verbatim) was to listen to an audio-recording of someone reading it. After hearing a chapter many times, we would start to attempt to recite along with the tape, until we could easily recite the chapter. Then we would add the next chapter, reciting the first with the tape, and then stumbling along with the second. Each additional chapter was added in like manner. What was particularly interesting about all of this is that at the time my sister was not able to read. Nor did she sit down to purposefully memorize the chapters as we did. Yet she knew both of our chapters better than we did, and could probably have won the competition against 4 and 5 man teams completely on her own had she been old enough to compete. She simply heard the tapes being played, and it stuck. This is how I learned the value of listening to Scripture. There is no better way to familiarize yourself with the Bible than to listen to large chunks (for broad context) over and over again (for rote memorization). Because you are doing other things while you listen, your mind associates those things with what you are hearing, so the next time you wash dishes at someone else’s home you are likely to have the passages that you listen to while washing your own dishes come to mind. Faith comes by hearing, but listening to Scripture is not the end-all and be-all. While it will hide the word in your heart, sometimes more is necessary for complete understanding. This is where the next step comes in. This step involves reading, but is far more than merely reading: study. When I am listening to Scripture and I hear something that I do not understand or that I feel I need to look into deeper, I make a note of the book, chapter, and a few words from the verse. Later, I get out my Bible, a pen, some paper, and often my laptop to refer to various translations and to search for related verses, and I dig into it. I’m not really reading–I got the overall context when I was listening–rather, I am parsing, comparing, making notes. As C.S. Lewis would say, I attack it with a pen in my hand and a pipe in my teeth. Then once I have gained understanding, I go back and listen to the larger context of the passage again a few times. If all you’ve ever tried is reading the Bible, I would encourage you to try listening to it instead. (And of course, studying it at well.) BibleGateway has a plethora of audio-Bibles free online, in many versions and even several languages for those of you who are polyglots. They also have a free app for computer-phones that gives you access to the same audio-Bibles wherever you are. Check it out.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. —Romans 10:17 (KJV)

*Yes, I understand that the immediate context of this verse is lodging. However, the larger context is witnessing. This is part of the instructions given to the 72 when they were sent out. We have no record of Jesus or His disciples going from door to door like snake-oil salesmen. Rather, they preached and taught in public areas and let the people be drawn to them. Jesus draws all men to himself. If Christ is within us, then that drawing power is all we need to attract those He is calling. Hawking salvation like a door-to-door peddler shows either a distrust of Christ’s power to draw, or an acknowledgement that we fail the test of having Christ indwelling in us. 

Changing Retirement Plans

When I graduated college a little over 3 years ago, I had approximately $36,000 in student loans. Since then, paying off those loans has been a major priority of mine. I live very simply, so most months I am able to put at least half of my paycheck towards loan repayment. Barring any emergencies, I ought to finally be debt free by September. That will be a welcome relief.

While I have been putting the majority of the money I do not need to live towards loan repayments, I have also put money aside in investment accounts. Because I hate debt, it is hard for me to put money into these accounts when I have debts to pay, but the fact that I am making a higher return on this money than I am paying on the loans and the fact that I have heard all my life that it is important to start saving as early as possible keeps me setting aside a portion of my income for these investments. Currently, I have approximately $10,000 in these various accounts, which is substantially more than the amount of debt I have left to pay off.

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with savings and investments. However, I have recently realized that my investment strategy is woefully lacking.Lately I’ve been reading through the Gospel of Luke, and I have been captivated by Chapter 16, and especially the parable of the unrighteous steward. Jesus’ words in Verse 9 seemed to be a direct rebuke to me:

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (ESV)

I can put half of my paycheck towards my debts, I can put another 10% into investments, but how much do I spend on eternal investments? I have long had a rule that if anyone approaches me and asks for money, I must give them whatever cash I have on me (rarely more than $20). But I have not aggressively sought out opportunities to invest money in the people around me, as I have sought out ways to invest it in accounts.

I am making a change.

I’ll still invest towards an eventual retirement, but as a large portion of my paycheck is freed up when I repay my loans I will be looking for ways to invest money in the people around me. Not just time, not just things, but money. Many Christians avoid giving money to the poor, thinking that it is better to give food, clothing, or other things than the cold hard cash that can be spent on drugs, booze, and cigarettes. Yet this attitude runs contrary to the very words of Jesus. Speaking to the rich young ruler, Jesus commanded that money, and not things, be given to the poor.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” —Matthew 19:21 (NET)

I’m not going full-out Peter Waldo, at least at this point. Maybe God will call me to that, maybe He won’t. But I am going to stop behaving like the rich fool of Luke 12, putting faith in a store of treasures for a future I may never see. I’m going to invest my unrighteous mammon in friends, that they might receive me into eternal habitations.

That’s a far better retirement plan than the one I have been investing in.

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? —Luke 16:11 (NASB)

Actions Beat Words

Are you working in the vineyard? Or are you only talking about it?

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.” —Matthew 21:28-31 (NASB)

Pipe Smoking and Godly Masculinity

A few weeks back I was out of state for a friend’s wedding. The first evening there, after having a beer with the other groomsmen at a burger joint (I arrived after the kitchen had closed, and was not able to get a burger), I excused myself and went outside. I had just lit my pipe when the groom walked out. “They are all in there talking about how manly you are.” “Why, what did I do?” “They saw the pipe sticking out of your pocket when you left.”

That was the first of many comments and questions my evening ritual engendered over that weekend. I was told in nostalgic voices of fathers, uncles, and grandfathers that had smoked pipes. I was asked about everything from why I pack the pipe the way I do to how long a bowl of tobacco lasts. And, after the weekend was over, I was asked to recommend a pipe and tobacco by one of the other groomsmen.

One of the more interesting such discussions was on how cigarette smoking perfectly encapsulates one aspect of the current culture, and how pipe smoking stands as its opposite. That aspect, of course, is instant gratification–what I often refer to as “microwave culture.” For the cigarette smoker, the nicotine “hit” is imperative–even the few seconds required to roll his own cigarette is too much to ask of him. The pipe smoker, on the other hand, is not concerned with nicotine, but rather with ritual. The process of packing the bowl, the false light, re-tamping, the second light, is just as important as the actual smoke. The cigarette smoker drags long and hard, drawing as much smoke into his lungs as possible in as short a time as possible. A pipe, on the other hand, will punish you if you try to smoke it in such a manner (and of course, you never inhale pipe smoke). If you draw too hard and too often on a pipe, you will get a stinging sensation on your tongue. If that doesn’t remind you to slow down, it will be followed shortly by a foul taste from the tobacco burning too hot. You will have to dump out the bowl and start all over again from the beginning.

I don’t know if it is just because of the relative rarity of seeing a pipe these days, or because of the memories it stirs of grandfathers and the like, but that pipe seems to draw people in and start conversations wherever I am. Just as the pipe sparks the interest of those nearby, so you and I ought to strike their interest (even without our pipes). Godly masculinity has become rare, just as pipe-smoking has. Just as my pipe evokes memories of fathers and grandfathers, so too ought Godly masculinity evoke memories of Godly men of the past. And just as my pipe sparks conversation and curious questionings, so too ought the way you and I live our daily lives. We ought to be at least as good as our pipes at capturing the imagination of those around us, at engendering questions and sparking conversations, at stirring the memories of those who have forgotten what Godly masculinity looks like.

And once we have drawn them to us, we must point them to the One who draws them through us.

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. —John 12:32 (NASB)

Choosing Technologies

Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote:

The opposite of manliness isn’t cowardice; it’s technology. ― The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

I think he oversimplified, but there is truth behind the statement. While technology in and of itself is not unmanly, dependence on it certainly can be. So how does a man evaluate the various technologies around him, and decide to what extent to make use of them?

A number of questions must be asked when evaluating a technology. The obvious first two questions are benefit and cost. What benefit will I gain from making use of this technology? How much will it cost me to make use of this technology? However, there are other less obvious questions that are also important: If I adopt this technology, am I in a worse place when/if it fails than I would be if I had never adopted it? Should this technology fail, is it easier or harder to repair myself than my current system? Will the regular use of this technology cause me to lose a skill that would be vital should the technology fail?

Here’s how this looks when I personally evaluate a few technologies:

Technology: GPS navigation for automobiles. Benefit: tells you how to get where you are going so that you can focus on driving; knows the shortest route by mileage, routes without tolls, and quickest route; can help you find the nearest Taco Bell or IHOP. Cost: approximately $100.00, or free as a system app on most computer-phones. Hidden costs: often leads to overconfidence (not having a map) and dependence (not being able to read a map or construct a route from a map). Conclusion: computer-phone app is useful for finding specific business or locations within a city; however, not worth adopting for interstate travel.

Technology: Amazon Kindle. Benefit: allows you purchase books at any time (even when bookstores are closed), with immediate delivery and without paying shipping costs; allows the transport and storage of entire library in a very small space. Cost: $70+, or free as an app on most computer-phones and computers. Hidden costs: no books can be read when device is out of battery, entire library can be lost if device fails or is stolen. Conclusion: worth it for the majority of reading due to ease of transport in travel and small size in limited living quarters; however, a select few of the most important and valuable books ought also to be possessed in physical form.

You may come to different conclusions based on your personal situation: the point is to make an informed decision rather than blindly adopting the newest technologies. Another question I ask myself is if the technology is designed to allow me to do less work, or to help me do more work. For example, a dish-washing machine in a home is designed to allow a person to do less work, while a dish-washing machine at a restaurant is designed to help a person do more work. I avoid as much as possible technology designed to reduce effort, but embrace much technology designed to maximize output. To shirk work is unmanly, but to try to accomplish as much as possible is not.

As you consider what technologies you will and will not adopt or be dependent on, don’t become mesmerized by the the coolness of the latest do-hickeys that can do 1,001 things. Rather, examine actual benefits, hidden costs, and consequences of failure. And don’t forget to have a back-up plan.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. —1 Thess. 4:11 (NET)