Uniquely Me

I struggle a lot with having people appreciate what I do as an artist.  My purpose in doing what I do is to express and communicate the life I've experienced in God, and my desire is to have people share in that life.  But the truth is that there will always be people who don't appreciate what I have to offer.  For every person who is touched or moved by something I do (whether through teaching, writing, or music), there will probably be one hundred people who aren't, and I'm beginning to understand the beauty behind that reality.

One body, many parts.  That's how Paul described being part of God's family (1 Corinthians 12:14).  It's part of the glory of God's design that not everyone finds something meaningful in what I do.  We each contribute in the ways we were intended to contribute.  Paul also said in Ephesians 2:10 that God prepared, ahead of time, good works for each of us to do, and those works will be uniquely us.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted.  Apollos watered.  But God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers.  You are God’s farming, God’s building.

Paul's argument isn't about personal humility, it's about the twisted thinking we engage in when we think one person's worth in the kingdom is somehow greater than another person's work, especially when we are judging that worth by the number of people that person seems to impact.

We really do live in a warped society, and I find it incredibly sad just how much of an influence our society has had on the church.  Some in the church think that if a teacher doesn't have an audience of thousands, God must not be blessing their ministry; or, if a musician doesn't sell CDs in the thousands, they must not really be making music for God.  For some reason, it seems that few stop to consider the idea that maybe--just maybe--the good works God prepared for that teacher or that musician don't include audiences and sales in the thousands.

And maybe--just maybe--one of the good works for that teacher or musician is finding a way to love and even appreciate those who don't care for what they have to offer because that would be reflecting their Creator.  The world's psychology says that the way to deal with such people is to kick them out of your life like so much toxic waste.  God declares that there's a better way.  It's not easy to keep exposing yourself through your art and receive little to no response, and it's crazy difficult to have someone actively reject your art.  Yet part of being God's true image-bearer means doing what He does, and He loves even those who reject Him.

So I'm going to keep putting myself out there and contributing what is uniquely me, and I hope you will, too.  We may not impact thousands or even dozens, but I guarantee that if we are doing the good works God has prepared for us, we are making a difference in someone's life...perhaps by loving and appreciating them when they reject what we've offered.

How About Not Faking It

We have a phrase that’s very popular and even if the exact words aren’t used in Christian circles, the idea is the same—fake it till you make it.  Well, here’s what I think.  Scripture speaks over and over again about how God desires honesty of heart and how He hates empty, vain ritual.  Am I saying we’ll feel like doing the things of God all the time?  Absolutely not.  But remember, honesty is prized by God.  There will be times when we just don’t feel like doing a thing.  But if we do it anyway out of duty and obligation, secretly resenting it in our hearts, that is a stinky thing to God.  If we do it because we are trying to be pious and “a good church member,” that is stinky to God.  BUT, if we do a thing even when we don’t feel like it and we say to Him, “God, nothing in me wants to do this right now, but I am doing it because I love You and I want to make Your heart happy”—that turns our actions into a sacrifice of worship. 

Sometimes we do things because we truly believe that if we don’t, no one else will.  Now, I’m not saying the motivation is wrong, but there is a more perfect way.  Ask God if He wants you to do it.  Here’s the thing—too often we operate our lives and our churches as if we are the ones who have to figure it out.  If we don’t come through, no one else will, so we’d better step up to the plate.  But what does that say?  It says we don’t believe God is up to the task.  Or, that we believe He set things into motion but it’s up to us to work out the details.  How many of you are doing things in your everyday lives or in service to the church that you thought were good ideas without asking God what He thought?

Yes, God gave us our brains and yes, He intends for us to use them, but that does not in any way mean that He created the world and said to mankind, “You’re on your own, now.”  Bear in mind, Jesus constantly said that He did nothing except what He saw the Father doing.  How do you think He saw what God was doing?  He was in constant communication with Him.  He was always talking with Him and aware of the presence of His Spirit.

NOTE:  He didn’t say He did what He saw that the Father did, He said He did what He saw the Father doing.  God is constantly working and moving.  I always thought Jesus was referring to what He experienced in heaven before He became human.  But He was talking about what He constantly saw God doing while He was a human on earth.