Well….. Here goes….
It’s no secret that we here in America have very comfortable lives. We have every modern convenience; most of which can be delivered to our door with amazing speed. We have strong physical protection in the way of giant homes all guarded by Ring cameras and a military that provides a peace of mind so strong that we rarely ever stop to think about it. We have become SO comfortable that it’s created major problems – Michael Easter wrote a whole book on it called, “The Comfort Crisis.” Here’s a great quote from Mr. Easter’s book that bravely outlines how Americans have created an environment so void of difficulty that it allows for a focus on an ever growing shallow checklist.
“Western laziness.” It consists of “cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so that there is no time at all to confront the real issues….If we look into our lives, we will see clearly how many unimportant tasks, so-called ‘responsibilities’ accumulate to fill them up….Going on as we do, obsessively trying to improve our conditions, can become an end in itself and a pointless distraction.”
Know anyone like this? Calendar entry after calendar entry, a gazillion things to do, and a constantly buzzing phone, so ubiquitous they don’t pay attention to what they oughtta?
I do. I know someone like this. Because it’s me. (* I know a lot of people like this, and suspect many of you are raising your hands with me right now, and if you aren’t, well, I know many of you should be).
I always have a lot to do. Always. I run, and train for marathons, and lift weights in addition. I have young kids in school. I have a very demanding job with a fancy title that comes with a lot of responsibility and direct reports. I coach youth sports all year around; multiple sports at once. Most days, I’m home long enough for a shower in the morning, and long enough to change clothes to go coach a practice in the evening. I am the President of a non-profit wrestling club. My wife is in the same boat, with her demanding job and running around from travel commitment to kid activity. It’s not slow. Ever. We know many of you reading this are just like us. We see you. We know you.
And just like all of us self-obsessed with self-actualization Westerners, I have read the self-help books. I’ve listened to the podcasts.( Some offer some great advice and practical ways to manage your time.) But I have remained very guilty of Michael Easter’s definition of Western Laziness. Always busy with self-imposed responsibilities to remain comfortably busy without addressing what should be at the top of the hierarchy – my relationship with Christ. Or to be more exact, being obedient to what Christ commands.
You see, I’ve been a Participation Trophy Christian for a while. I have believed in Jesus. I’ve attended Church and have taken my family. I read the Bible. I pray. But that’s about it. For a long time, it has come from a sense of obligation, rather than love. To be brutally honest, it’s been pretty half-assed.
But something has changed dramatically in these last few months. You hear of others going through transformations in their lives, and you don’t really understand it…. Until it happens to you. Here’s a shortened version of a recent prayer:
Holy Spirit: You know this new business you want to buy and grow. I have a question about it.
Me: Go ahead, shoot.
Holy Spirit: Whose glory are you after? Yours or mine? Whose Kingdom are you trying to build; yours or Mine?
Me: ( No words. Heart sinks in the truth of it).
Holy Spirit: You know, we’ve given you these leadership positions for most of your life. You can use that to build the Kingdom.
Me: Ok. What are you thinking?
Holy Spirit: Lead your family first. These people on Earth that you love the most, lead them to me. It’s your job as a husband and father.
Me: You’re right. Really, there’s nothing more important.
Holy Spirit: Put your efforts there. Do that and then keep going.
Me: ( Uncomfortable) I will.
After this, wild things started happening.
Soon, I’m flying home from a short trip with my wife, when I run into a friend and his family in the Atlanta airport catching the same flight back home that we are. Mid-conversation, he sends me this video to watch. I watch and listen to it the next day. ( *At first, I thought this friend was trying to send me a not so subtle message to grow up and stop wearing flat brim hats; a look he loathes on dudes over 35. He has a point. I digress…) The message spoke so clearly to me on my role as a husband and father, and what I should be doing.
Within a couple of days, my son and I are driving home from football practice, when, out of nowhere ( and I do mean out of nowhere, because the previous few minutes of conversation was about Metallica), he says to me “Dad, I want to be Baptized.” Shock and elation ensue. We have a conversation about it, and decide on talking through it for a few weeks before he takes the plunge. The Holy Spirit gave an opportunity to lead one of the people I love most, to the most important thing – Him. The timing of this is clearly not coincidence.
(*To put some of this into context: I get to spend a lot of time in the truck with my young son going to and from school, practices, and games. I’ve used this time to have him listen to sermons, the Word of God, or just have sometimes awkward and disjointed conversations about Jesus because Dad being the dummy that he is, doesn’t always translate the Gospel to “kid-speak” all that well. It’s uncomfortable, and at times, hilarious. If you were listening no doubt you’d be like “what is this idiot trying to say!!??”).
Also not a coincidence.. A couple of days later, His mother, my amazing wife, also comes to the conclusion that she wants to be Baptized after some gentle nudging. My Son and Wife end up publicly professing their faith in Christ on the same day. This is God’s work, and I’m simply the servant pushing it along.
(*Also worth noting, my daughter and first born has also led our family, making the decision to be Baptized just over a year ago after having a friend invite her to Church a few years back now. She doesn’t get as many mentions in this story, but none of this happens without her. That’s a separate entry that deserves its own space.)
During this same short time period, I met with another good friend of mine for coffee. Over the last couple of years we had discussed putting together a men’s group; an idea that we both had passively thrown around on many occasions; never coming to fruition. This time we didn’t let the opportunity pass, and immediately got to work on contacting some men that we thought would be interested. We got almost instantaneous “yesses” from everyone, set a date and time, and within a couple of weeks we had our first meeting.
You may be wondering, what’s the ACTUAL point of all of this??? Good question. The point is THIS. If THIS,…meaning a relationship with God and Jesus Christ is the most important thing ( and if you’re wondering still… it IS the most important thing) you CANNOT be passive about it. You must be active. Jesus calls us to get out of our comfort zone and do so ( Matthew 4:19: “Come, follow Me” and the final recorded command of “follow me” from Jesus appears in John 21:22. ).
When you get out of the overly-comfortable participation trophy mode, amazing things happen. When your actions are from love instead of for love, amazing things happen. When you ditch the compulsive and shallow distractions we Westerners adore, and instead focus on what’s truly important, amazing things happen. When you get “uncomfortable” and work toward building God’s Kingdom instead of your own, amazing things happen.I’ve given a couple of examples of this here, but I’m only scratching the surface.
This leads me to this:
If you’ve read this far, awesome, I always appreciate it when anyone takes the time to look at anything I’ve said, written, or done.. BUT… I have something important for you. I’m not sure where you are in life and where your relationship with God is right now. You may exist somewhere on the spectrum of “I don’t believe in God at all but I’m curious ” to “I’m a missionary in Africa saving babies and full of God’s love”, no matter where you are I would love to talk with you about it. This is your open and non-judgmental invitation to talk. I promise to meet you where you’re at. I don’t claim to be a Bible scholar or an expert on anything, really, but come to conversation knowing this…. I am a highly imperfect person who has received a ton of non-deserved grace from a loving Heavenly Father, and so are you… even if you don’t know it yet. It would be an honor to talk with you about Jesus, and his love for ALL people, even if we have to sit in our discomfort for a bit.
( I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity. – CS Lewis)
Andrew L Hamilton 