I don’t really like the word sticky. Whenever I type it or say it, I make an ‘S’ noise as I suck in air through my teeth and wait for the reactions of my ‘viewers’ (does ‘viewers’ sound pompous? I couldn’t think of another word. You can laugh; it’s a little funny). It makes me think of trudging through gooey mud while wearing really nice clothes and having my hair done and make-up on. However, I felt it was appropriate for this post, because this is a topic that can get a little sticky (‘S’ noise to follow) when brought up in the wrong company. But it is necessary that we take a look and really examine our lives and if we are truly using our lives to help others and serve God or just living our lives to serve…well, ourselves.
Sometimes we as Christians forget some things about God. We forget that He created us. We forget that he created the ocean. We forget that ‘as many grains of sand as there are in this world, are as many thoughts our Father has about us.’ That’s intense. A little too intense for us sometimes. I think the biggest thing we forget about God is that He is Glory. I don’t mean full of glory, or glorified, or looks like glory, (even though He is all of those things) I mean He is Glory. Webster defines glory as “great beauty and splendor: magnificence.” He is not only great beauty and magnificence, He is THE great beauty and magnificence.
And sometimes we forget that.
We forget that we exist to bring glory to Him and amplify the fact that He is Glory. The Glory.
When we are walking about our daily lives, we tend to minimize every blessing, warm sunset, plate of food, ounce of love, job offer, sport’s achievement or whatever strikes your fancy, as something that we’ve ‘earned;’ deserved, or gained. We put them on our little bookshelf of achievements and categorize them as items that deserve a ‘well done me’ pat on the back (If you’ve never heard that phrase, please watch the latest episode of the Joshua and Jessica Show). And then we start to rank our achievements. My 7th grade 2nd runner-up baseball trophy is shinier than yours. My 5-tiered fondant wedding cake made by Buddy Valastro from the Cake Boss is moister than yours. My full-time job that I actually hate pays more than yours. And we resort back to the children version of ourselves by comparing our newest Barbie dolls and latest Power Ranger playing cards. Side note: I literally just saw a guy wearing a Power Ranger’s t-shirt walk past me. Fate? At the end of the race, we get to the finish line as realize that we’ve done this all for our own glory, when we weren’t designed to BE glory in the first place. Every single blessing, gift, and achievement is a result of God’s favor and his desire to love His children. How can we, no, how can I, take these things and not turn around and place them back at the alter to be used and stewarded by His hands?
I can’t take credit for this revelation, (I mean, can any of us?) but for the moment, I am writing off of a sermon I heard today by the Campus Pastor at Buckhead Church, Billy Phenix. He was preaching about having a posture of servant hood and how that is hard for us today because we are centered on a “Me” culture. We play sports to win games and achieve trophies. We go to college to get a high-paying job and spend $100,000 on redoing our kitchen. We mound up accomplishments for ourselves, and sometimes our immediate families, and somehow that’s become OK. We’ve succumbed to the fact that this life is about us and that we should learn to fend for ourselves and be our ultimate provision. And it’s fine. Heck, it’s even applauded! We live lavish and entertaining lives at the expense of others suffering and we get a certificate that we end up putting in a drawer and trophies that end up getting dusty and ignored. Side note No. 2: I just noticed Power Ranger boy has nasty, scraggly hair and has painted his nails black. Fate ignored.
Now, please hear my heart in this. I am not standing on a soapbox chucking Bibles at people while I live out of a cardboard box and boycott Starbucks. I’m actually sitting in a Starbucks right now, sippin’ on a tall white-chocolate mocha. I’m writing this just as much for myself as I am for the World Wide Web. (I say that because I actually don’t know who all is reading this J) I also want to say that high-paying jobs, achievements, and trophies are not bad, by any means. They are a blessing from God that should be stewarded well and offered right back to Him. My mom always said to do everything as if you were doing it for Jesus. Well, I think she said that because we were doing chores at the time, and she didn’t want us to do a crappy job. Nonetheless, she had a good point. We should do everything as if were for doing it for Jesus and God’s glory because that’s why we’re put on this earth, right? To do everything with excellence in hopes that it will help others and bring more glory to Him? That’s my challenge for us. No, that’s my challenge for me, and I’m writing this all out to ask you to help me be accountable to it, even thought it’s sticky.
Side Note No. 3: Power Ranger boy is a creeper.
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