Be yourself...like everyone else?

The other morning I was on the elliptical at the gym. My normal routine is to listen to music on my headphones, my eyes bouncing from television to television taking in the morning news and sports updates.

The other morning, a car commercial caught my attention. It included the following quote from Oscar Wilde.. "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." Great quote. Not sure about the application.

This is the story of our age. Be yourself, just like everyone else. Be unique, dress like everyone else. Show your individuality, do what everyone else does.

It's an honest struggle. Most of us want to be individuals, but we want to fit in. We desire to find our own voice, our own place in the world, but want want to be a part of a group.

Figuring out who we are boils down to two approaches. We can find a group and then find ourselves based much on that group's identity. Or we can find our identity and then discover relationships where we can thrive. The reality is that life is a give and take of both.

But as we grow and mature, I believe we must rely more on the latter and less on the former. When we are young, we rely on our parents, our family, and our close friends to help shape who we are. But as we gain wisdom and understanding, we should make the shift to finding who God has made us to be and look for communities where we can most fully embrace our uniqueness.

Imagine if a trumpet player showed up to try out for a string quartet. How would he fit in? Would he be able to fully use his gifts to bless others? Would he even be able to play the music written for the quartet?

But imagine the same trumpet player walking into a bar where a jazz band was having a jam session. He could walk onto the stage and let his abilities shine. He could play his heart out and join in to add something wonderful to the music that was already being played. He would add his own unique notes to the beauty.

We all need to figure out what our "instrument" is. We need to find our voice, our special wiring. As we do that, we can find a place to play that will not only allow us to be all we can be, but also provide us the greatest opportunity to bless others and add something amazing.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)

We are God's masterpiece, but each of us has to find the place where we best fit.

Let's not settle for being ourselves like everyone else. Even in the church I see this struggle to be like everyone else. If you are a Christian, you have to look like THIS. If you don't fit in the box, then you may not belong.

I believe the opposite is true. There is room in the Kingdom for plenty of diversity. God can use engineers and artists. Public speakers and introverts. Conformists and rebels. Successful people and those who struggle.

God is not looking for a group of people who have it all together. He is an assembling an unlikely, messy family of diverse people who are discovering who they were made to be and how they can work together to bring redemption and restoration to a broken world.

The church doesn't need a group of people who are themselves like everyone else. The church needs a group of people who are themselves, unlike everyone else.

I believe that too often, the church settles for comfort over community, conformity over compassion.

We should all strive to look like Christ, but we don't need to look like each other. If God worked through the liar Abraham, the deceiver Isaac, the coward Moses, the lunk Samson, the adulterer and murder David, the impatient Peter, the terrorist Saul, and many other imperfect people, should we question who God can work through today?

Each person listed above was a life-long work in progress. They all had their moments or failure. They each contributed to God's mission in their own, imperfect way.

Let's strive not to point fingers, but to extend hands. Let's reach out rather than stepping back. Let's embrace each person's unique story so that together we can be a part of God's incredible project of making all things new.

shine!

Jason

Freedom to soar

When I disobeyed as a child, I would often find myself sitting in a chair or my backside encountering an accelerating wooden spoon. My parents were seeking to mold me and shape me, to teach me right from wrong. They were preparing for me for that day when I would become an adult and live the life I was made to live.

The longer I live, the more I realize that our journey with God is much the same. When we are young in our faith, the law exists to instruct us, mold us, and shape us. It prepares our hearts for a lifetime of living the life we were made to live.

One of the greatest struggles we seem to have as followers of Christ is moving from law-based living to grace-based living. From what the apostle Paul wrote a few thousand years ago, this problem doesn't seem to be new...

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” (Galatians 5:1-6 NLT)

When we continue to live trying to follow the law, we will limit our ability to grow in Christ. If we still live trying to check boxes and follow rules, we will be burdened down by our focus on performance. When we discover the freedom of grace to be who God made us to be, we will be uplifted by the freedom to soar.

As I reflect on my recent zip line experience, I remember the freeing feeling when I trusted my equipment and my guide and stepped off that platform. I was terrified when I took that first step, but as I flew through the trees, 100 feet above the ground, I experienced joy and freedom.

Grace is like that. We cannot continue to stand on the ground and allow the fear to keep us from living with reckless abandon. Grace allows us to leave our mistakes in the past and live for the future. We can never forget where we have been, there are always lessons to learn so we don't repeat past failures. But with grace, the past is passed and the future lies before us.

As Paul says in the passage above, and I am paraphrasing, continuing to live by keeping the law is life taking, but living in the freedom of grace is life giving. When we can express our faith in love rather than extinguishing our faith by working even harder to obey the law, we will discover what is truly important.

I continue to wrestle with this struggle on a daily basis, but I am learning to let go. My performance can never be good enough, but when I let go, trust God, and focus on the future, I will be able to live through my failures and use them to become a better, albeit flawed person who can enbody the power of the gospel for those around me.

shine!

Jason

Hope wins

Today, I was blessed to officiate the wedding of a very special young woman. Here are some of the words I shared today...

Hope wins. That is this day in a nutshell.

I cannot tell you how excited and honored I am to be a part of this special day.

I remember seven years ago when we would sit and talk and you told me this day would never come. Well, here we are.

I never had a daughter, but if I did, I would be proud to have one like you. Through the ups and downs, good times and bad, you have survived and now you are thriving. You are a champion and today you receive one of the greatest rewards from all your efforts.

This is not the end of the journey, but it is certainly the start of a new, amazing chapter.

Alex, I know that you know what a precious gift you have in Rachel. I know that you know the road she has traveled and the journey she has made. Protect her. Care for her, Love her. I know Rachel well enough to know she will do the same in return.

Now I know you are not the religious type and I promised Rachel this ceremony wouldn't have a boring sermon, but you know I had to slip something in here, right?

In Revelation, the apostle John attempts to describe a vision from God. While there are a lot of strange visions that John tries to describes (I actually think you would enjoy the strangeness), at the end he describes a vision that explains the return of Jesus Christ...

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.””
Revelation 21:1-5 NIV

Making all things new. This has been your story.

While the tears, the crying, and the pain are not gone, I can see that they are less than they used to be.

While I do believe that there will come a day when Jesus will return and make all things new, I also believe that he is already in the process of doing this now. The Kingdom of God is not yet here, but aleady breaking in. God is already starting to make things new.

And you, Rachel and Alex, are a part of that work that God is doing. Today, you are taking another step in both of your lives of making something new, something beautiful.

It will not always be easy. It will not always be fun. But is life ever that way?

What you are doing today is starting a new chapter. Making a new commitment. Starting a new journey, together. Today, hope wins.

Facing fear

For years it had mocked me. That near 300 foot tall monster had gotten the best of me and my fear of heights kept me from riding. The Power Tower was my nemesis. I had conquered the 300 foot high Millenium and the 420 foot high Dragster, but for some reason, I was afraid of the Power Tower.

But Friday night that all changed. I was sent with a group of three kids because the youngest wasn't sure if he would be tall enough to ride. We knew it would be close. But when he measured and was tall enough, I had a choice. Once again, I could yield to my fear and stand there to watch them ride. Or, I could finally face my fear and ride.

I rode.

I waited in line, anxiety building in the gut of my stomach. And in a cruel twist of fate, I ended up standing in line next to a teenager who was just as afraid of me who had ridden before and expounded on how this was even more awful than the Dragster.

Then the time came. I sat down and strapped in. I thought about sitting in a chair, almost 300 feet in the air, with nothing between me and the ground but air and a restraining bar.

As we started up, something happened. My fear was fading and my awe was building. What a free feeling. What a beautiful view. And even as we shot down from the top, the rush was exhilerating.

Was I still afraid? Yes.

But I was no longer paralyzed by my fear.

Dorothy Thompson said, "Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live." Truth.

There is a healthy fear, a respect, that we must all have. This is good fear. Respect for things that can truly harm us. This is the fear that keeps us from doing harmful things, things that are not good for us.

But there is another kind of fear that can stop us in our tracks from doing what we should. It's the fear that keeps us from living. Fear of what people might think. Fear of what people might say. Fear of what might happen.

Jesus told his followers several times to not be afraid. He was teaching them that fear will keep them from accomplishing great things. Fear caused Peter to sink in the water. Fear overwhelmed them at the Transfiguration. The women who came to the tomb were afraid when they saw the resurrected Jesus.

The funny thing about fear is that we are often afraid of the very thing that will set us free. We allow our fear to be the lock on a door that leads to freedom.

On Friday evening, I grabbed the keys and unlocked the door to a fear that kept me from enjoying a fun ride at Cedar Point. In the grand scheme of life, that's not much to rejoice about.

But what fear is keeping you from stepping through a doorway that will lead to something much more significant? Only you know the answer and only you can open that door and walk through to the freedom on the other side.

shine!

Jason