Emergence

Blame it on the massive doses of steroids, but I have a compulsion to write.

A few years ago I attended a conference at a big church. I've since written off most of those conferences--not because there aren't some valuable lessons, but because I've realized the most valuable part usually isn't the workshops... it's the people you meet and relationships you build. I can meet people and build relationships without flying halfway across the country, for the most part.

I digress...

at this one particular conference, I heard something that will stick with me forever. A National Geographic photographer named Dewitt Jones said something that has led to years of wonder in my little mind.

He was sharing about a particular photo he won an award for. It was a shot of a little boy who was at a state fair attempting to intercept the "jumping fountains" with his face. Dewitt knew it would be a great photo, so he set up the camera and snapped it. The action shot was impressive. A kid getting pummeled by water, and reacting accordingly. Only that wasn't the pic he won the award for. Something inside of him said to wait a second after the action and get the next shot. He did, and it was nothing short of photographic magic.

The lesson to be learned was don't settle for the first answer--the obvious answer--the easy answer. There is always a next answer, and that answer may be the best one you have ever found.

I'm amazed by the way that Satan steals what God wants for His children. The enemy has a way of presenting something so mundane in such a desirable light that we as people actually yearn for a heaping pile of garbage.

This became obvious to me again this week during a counseling session I had with a couple friends of mine (one of the joys of being a pastor is I can actually be friends with people and out of the love that we have for each other, I can talk to them frankly and offer some insights).

These two folks are two of the most free-spirited, joyful, relational, unassuming, non-consumers I know. They're both extremely gifted people who thrive on new, exciting, and organic experiences. They're also both placed in a world and a culture that has marketed to them that the way to reach success is to work a 9 to 5, find stability, and become "normal". All of that began to happen--at the expense of their passion, call, gifting, and life. Even people close to them were telling them the "right" answer is to work the steady, life-sapping system so they could put some money aside every month. 

Let me explain: these two are NOT in debt. I don't think they even own a credit card. They live off what they get from their freelance work (work that they LOVE) and don't live off a cent more. If they were in debt, this would be a different story. I'd tell them they made their bed of financial ruin and now they have to dig out of it. In this case, however, they are--at times--wasting their passion and the most potentially energetic and life-sparking years of their lives in pursuit of "stability".

In what warped world does someone who believes God has come to give them abundant life... who believes God has given them gifts to develop and use... who believes God wants them to live a passion-filled existence for Him... throw it all away for stability?

In a world with a thief--that's where.

John 10:10 jumps off the pages of my Bible. Jesus says:
"The thief comes only to steal and  kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Full! Not mundane. Not stable. Not unfulfilled. Not vanilla!
Spicy, salty, knock you off your feet kind of life.

Now--how many people are really living that? There's a whole lot of theft going on.

Melissa and I sat down to watch So You Think You Can Dance tonight. Yeah. It's a guilty pleasure. LOST and 24 ended this week, so it's become that one fry that's left at the bottom of the bag. 

At the end of the episode, they told the story of a young guy from the streets of Miami. The kind of street with hookers on it, and drugs everywhere. The kind of street you don't leave. Certainly the kind of street you don't find a young man looking to become a lyrical dancer. Yet, here was this kid. He refused to settle for the answer he was told was "normal" and obvious. He refused to settle for that first possibility.

I applaud that guy. I hope he wins it all. Heck, he has already won.

What about you? No matter what age, stage of life, or situation you find yourself in--are you settling? Have you eased into the easy answer? Have you even forgotten there are other answers out there?

If so, can I urge you to approach the words of Jesus with openness? He's got life out there for you. Don't get robbed.