the heavenly screenwriter

I sure would have scripted it differently. From my vantage point, He made an awful lot of poor decisions. But hey, I’m just the copy boy. He is the Screenwriter.

God has made some interesting choices with my life. I might have guessed that I would go to college in Tennessee, but never thought I would spend 13 years in the Bible Belt. My parents may have told you I would be a minister some day, but not a church planter in Greater Seattle. I always assumed I would get married some day, but certainly not to a southern belle from North Carolina. What happened along the way? How did we get here?

God doesn’t work through a committee and typically doesn’t take suggestions. (Although there are a couple very interesting stories to serve as exceptions. Check out the story of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20. Whoa.) There have been many times I tried to gently nudge God in the “right” (aka my) direction. It never works. For some reason He just doesn’t seem convinced that I know what I’m talking about.

This past weekend the family and I were guests at another church's Missions Festival. They were celebrating, honoring and reaffirming their commitments to the missionaries they support. We are blessed enough to be counted among them. All weekend, as I spoke to the people, and thought about the situation I found myself in, I couldn't help but feel awestruck. I never would have imagined this life course. I'm not even sure how we got here. But here we are. And I'm so grateful.

Do you remember the old Garth Brooks song “Unanswered Prayers?” The final line of the chorus in that great song says “some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” Man, am I ever glad God doesn’t listen to me! I asked for so many foolish things and would have ended up in all the wrong places with all the wrong people. If I had been given the opportunity to write the script for my own life it would have been a train wreck. Thankfully God loves me enough to not give me my own way. Instead, as the heavenly Screenwriter, He does what He knows is best and allows me to catch up when I can. Thank you, Lord!

united

When I finished writing my last entry (voices) I immediately thought about unity. Unfortunately, I think it will be very easy to misunderstand the point. If we all hear from God, if we all get our orders from the Commander-In-Chief, we’re not going to be in competition, but in communion.

When there is one Commander-In-Chief with one plan giving the orders, everything fits together. Of course, this is messy when it gets fleshed out with very fallible, weak humans. What about the people who think they’re hearing from God when, in fact, they’re deceiving themselves? Quite frankly, some people just want what they want. What about the people who are blatantly lying and know they’re lying? To put it bluntly, some people are just mean. Everything does not fit together nice and neat. So how do we explain that?

Honestly, I'm sure. I don’t have all the answers. I have discovered, however, that God is not nice and neat either. I cannot explain Him and certainly don’t understand Him. I think that’s a huge part of the problem with Christianity. Most think our faith should be studied and understood and explained like some kind of mechanical structure. We think if we can just work hard and/or long enough, we’ll understand God the way we understand how an engine works or what quantum physics explains or what that black wisp of death is on Lost.

But God is a being—a living organism that we are in relationship with. I have accepted the fact that I will never fully understand my wife. After 12 years together I get surprised and confused...all the time. And she’s a human, I think. Just kidding! (Actually, I'm far more confusing that she most of the time.) The point is that we husbands cannot hope to be fully in tune with our wives. We run on different operating systems. (I'm still not sure, though, if she's the Mac and I'm the PC or...) But we work hard to listen and communicate anyway. We are dedicated to each other for the long haul regardless. How much more so is that true with the immortal, all-powerful God?!

Our relationship with Him is infinitely complex, yet He is there and we are there. He has invited us not only to relate to Him, but to truly relate to others in unity. We don’t have to be satisfied with the surface-level junk we’ve become so accustomed to. We can have intimacy with the God of the universe and His creation. We can learn to love each other and live in harmony even though we often disagree. We can learn how to fight honorably and work through our issues.

God has very often spoken to me through other humans. I look for and expect that to happen. But, on the other hand, my fellow humans have also often led me in the complete opposite direction. I suppose the real issue is discernment. If we are really God’s sheep, we really do hear His voice. Sometimes He speaks to us through others, sometimes through nature, sometimes through a movie, music, or even a random email forward. But quite often I find that He is dying to personally whisper right in my ear if only I will take the time and energy to seek Him and listen attentively.

The Body of Christ is beautiful beyond comparison. I’m so thankful to be one part. I pray often that we will all strive to be the best part we can. We need each other desperately. And we need to all obey what the Head tells us.

voices

I want to be clear from the start: we were created to live in community. An individual cannot and should not attempt to live in isolation. We were wired to exist together and need to seek opportunities to connect and be intimate with at least a few other people on a regular basis. However, everybody has their own opinion…

One of the miracles of being a Christian is our inner ability to tune into the Holy Spirit. It is the often “still small voice” that speaks and guides us, comforts and chastises us. It is the supernatural capacity to know what steps to take and when. It’s not that God makes us walk down this path or talk to that person, but we, as Christians, can know…just know…that God is there. The problem is that everybody thinks they’re hearing from God. And everybody has their own ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong. And all these other voices can very quickly and very easily drown out the voice. Hence, the confusion.

I have always been (and always will be) a believer in getting wise council. But who is wise? Who can we trust? Who is mature enough to discern the voice of the Spirit and not just give you their own opinion? Who is humble enough to say “I just don’t know” or “you need to ask someone else?” Is there a way to be sure that a certain person or persons is capable of truly hearing from the heart of both God and a person at the same time? And even if they do, do they know how to combine those two messages into something that makes sense or is helpful to the one seeking?

Carla and I have been given a lot of council and advice in the past year. Some of it has been wonderful. It typically comes from very Godly people we really trust who completely have the right motives. Some of it has been horrible. It typically comes from very superficial Christians we don’t really know who probably have their own motives. And then, I would say the majority of this council and advice comes from everyone else. We may not feel strongly one way or the other about their character. Their opinions aren’t necessarily great or awful. It just falls into the huge chasm of “well, thank you for saying that. God bless you.” But the more I think about it, the more I believe I really only have one voice to heed—the voice.

Every church plant is different. For that matter, every person is different, every culture is different and every circumstance is different. I believe in guiding principles, but I would argue strongly that each situation demands its own judgment. That’s what we call being “situational.” And once again we’re back to the wondrous benefit of the Holy Spirit with us all day every day. God can literally guide every step we take. We can literally have the mind of Christ as we make those daily decisions. So, the question becomes, are we hearing His voice? Is there enough space and quiet in our lives to listen to what’s inside? Are we courageous enough to get away and/or even put a stop to some of those competing voices?

If a person truly hears from God on another’s behalf it probably won’t feel like a brand new idea or suggestion, but a confirmation of what’s already going on inside. The wisest and best counselors draw out what’s already inside. They recognize that God is already doing something and work to discover the truth that already exists in that particular person and/or circumstance.

Do you know what happens when you type in “Christian” to the search on Amazon.com? You get 605,748 hits for books. You get 322,243 hits for mp3 downloads. Then there are the tens of thousands of CDs, DVDs, t-shirts, magazine subscriptions and pieces of jewelry. There is even a section called “Everything Else” with 2,456 items! How can there possibly be so many voices?! Are we naïve enough to think they’re all saying the same things?! Can they all be right?! These voices aren’t inherently bad. But let’s not assume that makes them inherently good either.

I’ve had to put a stop to quite a few voices lately. I’ve had to remind myself that I, Dustin, am a Christian. The Spirit of God abides within me, personally. I know His voice. I don’t have to get a “word” from a Praise the Lord marathon or church podcast. I get my marching orders from The Top. I hear His voice. And when it gets hard to hear I'm learning to take a few important steps. I'm learning to retreat to quiet and peaceful places. I’m learning to make time in the morning and take breaks throughout the day. I’m learning to lovingly say things like, “I’ll spend some time in prayer about that, but I’m not going to make a decision right now.” I’ve even had enough guts to say “No. It sounds like a fine idea, but it’s not for me.” What a powerful little two-letter word! One gains a lot of freedom when he/she learns to harness the power of “no.”

So many voices speaking. So few worth listening to.

do something

We’ve all the heard the old expression, “don’t just sit there, do something!” It’s usually screamed during a part in the movie where some catastrophe just occurred. Without a doubt, some people are working their tails off to fix the problem and some are just sitting around watching. Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s terrifying.

One of my supervisors in seminary used to reverse that phrase. He used to tell us (and me, in particular) “don’t just do something, sit there.” An interesting idea, huh. Can you do that? I find it extraordinarily difficult. How easy or hard is it for you to sit in a room alone…with no music on and no phone in hand…with no television filling the void and no task to complete. I can take it for about 15 minutes, then I’m up doing again. It truly is difficult for me to stop doing and just be. And yet that is exactly what God has called me to.

I have a little sticky note in my office right in front of my face. I see it all the time. In fact, I see it so often I have to rewrite the note every now and then so I don’t take it for granted and/or ignore it. “Just BE.” That’s what it says. I need constant reminding of that. As I’ve heard said often times, God didn’t create human doings, but human beings. Why do we have such a preoccupation with doing? Why do we find it so hard to relinquish control and relax? Why are we all familiar and even comfortable with ideas such as a 50 plus hour work week, working lunches and even working vacations?!

Even in junior high I can vividly remember being taught about time management. The instructor was helping us to understand that time is a precious commodity. That there isn’t enough hours in a day to get things done. Is that true? Did God mess up when He started this planet spinning in it’s particular orbit? Was He supposed to give us 25 or 30 hours in a day and just forgot?

I love Seinfeld! If you cannot agree that it's one of the greatest television shows of all time...I will pray for you. Anyway, I was watching some behind-the-scenes stuff the other day and they were all talking about Jerry’s commitment to the show. He was on set 6 or even 7 days a week shooting and then spent his evenings there writing the next episodes. If you needed Jerry on a weekend, one NBC executive said, call the studio. His agent even said something like, “if anyone could figure out how to add more hours to a day, it was Jerry.” And they all spoke of this in glowing terms—as if Jerry were a hero for it. As if we all should strive to be that way. Oh, by the way, at the time he had no family, girlfriend or other responsibilities. The show, quite literally, was his life. That show is hilarious. But that fact is sad.

In her book Breathe, Kerrie Wyatt Kent makes this statement: “The pace of our lives has profound implications upon the depth of our lives.” She is absolutely right. I’m tired of doing so much. I want to just be. I crave a deep relationship with God, deep relationships with my family and deep relationships with friends. I hate the feeling of being shallow. I’m sick of playing the game and pretending that everything is great. I don't see any secret to this way of life. It's actually quite simple, but that doesn't make it easy. Put plainly, I must boldly refuse the constant, hectic pace. We battle against what Steven Covey calls "the tyranny of the urgent." But what does that look like? How exactly do I do that?

Gordon McDonald once said that our most unguarded strength is our greatest weakness. I’m a gifted leader. I’m a gifted pastor/teacher. I’m a gifted administrator. Those are my God-given strengths. If I allow them, however, they will drive me to burnout. One is never done leading or teaching or administrating. I can always find more to do. If I do not guard those gifts/strengths they will ruin me. If I don’t pace myself I will end up hating ministry. If I don’t stop doing and just sit there now and then I just may forget what this whole thing is about.

Don't just do something, sit there. Stop. Rest. Be.