Shifting Allegiance

Then he (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Exodus 24:7

That sounds like a group of fairly committed people. In fact, I think they believed the intent of their own words and didn't plan on falling short. In that moment the people of Israel wanted to follow God and stay under his authority. Sadly, history tells us that less than 40 days later they had failed miserably and suffered the consequences of their decisions. 

On the surface it seems hard to believe that an entire group of people could shift their allegiance so quickly. Before we decide to judge the Hebrews too harshly perhaps we should examine our own life patterns first. How quickly we walk away from our commitments? How often do we make bold statements about our convictions and then abandon them in a matter of days? What life changing resolutions have we written down and then ignored once the shine of their newness wore off? 

If we want to make positive declarations about what we will (or won't) do, we've got to have a corresponding action plan to make it stick or we're just making a lot of noise.

Sure It's True

I was brought up (like many other people in my generation) believing an old wives' tale. It was the fable that you could not go swimming for 30 minutes after eating or you would get cramps and drown. How many children sat by pools, rivers, lakes, and ponds watching the clock and waiting for that time to tick away? How many parents held firmly to that belief because their parents had held them to the same poor standard? It's staggering to think of the millions of hours of lost swim time due to this joy-robbing falsehood.

It makes me wonder how much time we've lost in our lives because we've believed other lies. How often do we hinder our own growth because we feel limited by a restriction someone else has placed on us? What tradition do we blindly accept just because it's been done that way for years? What assumptions are we making about other people that are holding us back from genuine relationships? What obstacles are we afraid to overcome because we have made them bigger than they really are? What lessons have we been taught by well-meaning, but poorly informed people?

Don't just assume that something is true because that's "the way it's always been" or "he/she said it was true." Choosing to base your life decisions on information without checking its veracity can cost you more than lost swim time in the long run.

See the Mess

I shared a quote from Madeline Albright on my blog a few weeks ago where she had been quoted as saying, "The world is a mess." I think that might be fairly evident to some people, but what if we're in denial about the true state of things?

• Are we calling something clean when it's dirty?
• Are we calling something right when it's wrong?
• Are we calling something orderly when it's in chaos?
• Are we calling something good when it's clearly not?
• Are we calling something healthy when it's sick & dying?

We can't begin to fix things if we can't admit things are broken. Let's get a realistic assessment of the world we live in and then let's get to work providing the solution.

Final Remarks

It seems as if I have been part of more funerals than usual lately. It's obviously always a difficult time for family and friends as they mourn the loss of someone they cared for so deeply. As a pastor you try to do the best you can to share an accurate representation of who they were while steering loved ones to the hope that is found in Christ. When people are appreciative of our efforts after the funeral we tell them that their loved one made it easy on us. They had been writing these words for us by the way they lived their lives. 

We are all writing our own eulogies as we live. Our character is having a consistent impact on those that are close to us and forging strong bonds that will last long after we are gone. While I don't think we can live healthily by overanalyzing every word & action, we should still give some consideration to the legacy that we leave behind. 

A life that is lived well by focusing on serving others will give us a foundation for positive impact. When we seek to honor God through the way we live it becomes less about our reputation and more about our allegiance to Him. That speaks a message that is so strong it will last long after we have breathed our last here.

Avoiding Complacency

I was watching an ESPN segment about the coaches from Alabama & Ohio State on the day of their big game earlier this week. Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are recognized as two of the top college coaches in their profession as their teams are consistently successful and they have multiple national championships. One of the journalists was commenting on how both men have continued to maintain high levels of performance through the years. He said that both men believe that complacency is the enemy and obsessive attention to detail is the solution. 

I believe it's possible for most people to find occasional success in parenting, leadership, and even sports. The key to consistent success is in refusing to allow complacency to set in. It's established in the discipline of repeating positive behaviors while staying hungry enough to fight for what is important. 

The Long Haul

I was thinking this morning about my children and trying to help them as they move through this next phase of life. The truth is that I sometimes struggle with what to do as a parent and the best way to help them. I feel the tension of dealing with current problems while trying to do what will help them best in the long run at the same time.

That's really one of the most difficult parts of leading--making choices that affect more than the immediate moment. We can pretend to make decisions that are only for the current situation, but the truth is the impact is longer lasting than that. Sadly, I haven't always realized this and have ended up causing more damage than good. My responses in the short-term have not always created the best long-term impact. It's not always easy to balance the immediate need for response and the desire to do what is best for the long-term, big picture.

I know that we won't always get it right, but if we can at least understand that principle we stand a better chance of making the correct decision most of the time. 

Finish It

God is a finisher. He always finishes what He starts. In fact, it tells us in Scripture that He began something in us and will see it through to the day of completion. It's a quality of God's character that highlights His indomitable and perfect will while revealing His tenacity in doing what is best for us.

What about us? Do we finish what we have started? Is our passion for change fueled by our drive to make it happen? Are we willing to endure difficulty as we pursue what is important to us? I believe that God has shared this characteristic with us, but we have to choose to act on it. When we aren't finishing the things that we have started we are ignoring part of who we are.