Of Resolutions and the Mundane Life

            I don’t like making New Year’s resolutions. Part of my reluctance has to do with a poor track record in following through with my resolutions. But, I also think that we need to be making resolutions throughout the year. If I see an area of my life that needs change, why wait until January 1 to work on that issue? Why not, instead, make a monthly resolution? So, I am against New Year’s resolutions; however, I am not against resolutions. I find it important for us to make resolutions in order to rise to a greater level of expectation. It is too true that we often sink to the lowest common denominator, but if we resolve to improve, and have a goal in mind, we are much more likely to make real, healthy change.

            I have been thinking a lot about resolutions, especially as they relate to our everyday lives. Let’s face it – our lives, in general are mundane. I realize there are times when crisis enters our lives. There are times when our schedules are hectic. But, in general, our hours, days, weeks, and months tick away in the morass of the mundane. How many days in the past two weeks have you done the same thing on a regular basis. If you’re like me, you wake up at about the same time each day, eat breakfast (and lunch and dinner) at the same time each day and generally eat the same things over and over. Your weekdays are spent going to work for a set number of hours. You wear the same 7-10 outfits over and over. You brush your teeth in the same pattern each day. You tell your kids you love them each day. You drive to the grocery store using the same path each time. You watch the same old TV show each week (and sometimes watch it even when you have already seen it before). You probably do laundry on the same day, fill up your gas tank at the same gas station, and go to bed at the same time each night. Sure, there might be some interruption to the routine, but in general your days pass by, one after another, with little variety.

            It is in these times of mundane activity that we can make resolutions, and in which we can see God so effectively growing us. Look over your past year or two. If you are walking with Jesus, do you see change in your walk with Him? Is there growth? Are you more spiritually mature? Can you think of things that you have asked God to develop in your life that, as you look back over time, you see that He has answered? If you cannot answer these questions positively, maybe it’s time to make a resolution or two.

            I have some resolutions to make. I just will not be making them on January 1. May the Lord bless you in the coming year.

A Community of Tech?

            My family recently invested in some technological upgrades. My wife and I have purchased our first Smart Phones. My family invested in a new satellite TV provider, which includes DVR and on demand movies and TV. I wonder at the access that we now have to technology and I wonder at the advances in technology. (I know some of you are laughing at me because you’ve had DVR and Smart Phones for some time, but we’re new to this.)

            On a more philosophical level, however, I worry that our fascination with technology may negatively affect our need for community. I grew up in a day and age in which school-age children spent their summers riding bikes, making up imaginary games, and participating in sports and other physical activities with neighborhood children. Today, children can have TV shows on demand, movies on demand, video games on demand. How will our fascination and reliance on technology impact how we relate with neighbors? Will we become more enamored with a screen (with images or words) than with our families? Will we experience all of God’s good earth and wonder from a video screen? Will we forsake outdoor play and exercise for Wii fitness?

            I also am concerned with how technology is changing our level of conversation. Although some technology can give us a common language (think of the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, or our ability to all see a movie or read a book), I do see two troublesome trends. First, while we may have access to common books or movies, our level of discussion regarding those books and movies is too simple or dumbed down. How often do you hear someone say, “I saw that, too. I loved it.” This is the extent of the conversation. There is little or no discussion or debate about thematic elements, moral implications of the choices characters made, etc. We have a common frame of reference, but our ability to process information and converse are detiorating. Can people go to the theater and afterward discuss the playwrights conclusions? Do we wantto (or even care to) discuss an author’s thesis or themes?

Second, since we are able to freely choose from a variety of media outlets (Ipods, Kindle Readers, Wii gaming systems, Blackberrys, 200 cable channels, etc.) we are able to customize our life experiences to such an extent that we seem unable to relate to others with a common experience. Gone our the days when ABC, CBS, and NBC held the market on what people watched on TV. No longer is there a handful of radio stations to listen to, or a handful of news outlets to bring us information. Now I can choose from TV, Internet, Smart Phone, E-reader to seach for news or plan my day. So in a very real sense, there is no “common” language or experience. It becomes difficult to discuss life issues, news event, or the latest book when we do not have a common medium.

            Another concern with technology is that I lose touch with the natural world and the society around me. Often, I am absorbed in the world of my computer, reading my Facebook home page, or reading news from my chosen digital news source to the exclusion of my family, friends, or neighbors.  I can become so interested in doing a Google search that I neglect taking a hike, or working in my yard to prune the rose bushes or rake the leaves. How often do I miss out on the beauty and sounds of the natural world because I am listening to a podcast on my iPod.

            I realize the irony that I am writing about the evils of technology and posting my reflections on a blog site. But the truth is that I am not arguing about the evils of technology. I am discussing our reactions to that technology. I love my Kindle. I appreciate the convenience of my Smart Phone. I like “connecting” with my Facebook pals. There are some great advantages we have because of technology. I am, however, concerned with what we might be sacrificing for the sake of technology.

Lead On

God has worked with me and changed me substantially over the past year. I am growing into a leadership position in ways that I could not have imagined without His direction. I am sure that some people stand amazed as they watch how God has grown me and changed me as a pastor/shepherd/elder and find very little similarity between the former pastor and this current pastor.

            God has led me in some directions this past year where I did not want to go. And God has called me to make decisions in this past year that I would not make without a firm conviction that I must make these decisions to uphold His name and the character of His church. However, it is still difficult for me to boldly make decisions. Often, people look to me to make decisions or to have answers to situations, and I just want to cower and allow someone else to make a decision or avoid making a decision altogether.

            In some ways, I have taken great comfort in the story of how God used Moses to lead His chosen people out of captivity in Egypt and toward the Promised Land. I can relate to Moses in ways that I previously criticized him. In the biblical account, we see God grooming Moses to be the leader God designed him to be. Is God working in my life in the same way?

            From the first time we see Moses presented in the biblical narrative, we see God’s sovereign hand at work in Moses’ life. Moses is spared from the Pharaoh’s decree that all male Hebrew newborns be put to death. When it becomes impossible for his parents to hide this boy child, he is delivered into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter where he is raised within the Egyptian court, receiving the best education and cultural training at that time. When Moses flees Egypt as an adult, God leads him to the desert where, among other things, he learns how to survive as a nomad in the same desert climate that he will lead the Hebrews through for 40 years after their release from slavery.

            All of this training leads up to God’s call on Moses’ life. God calls Moses to go back to Egypt, confront the new Pharaoh, and lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. It is at this point that I can relate with Moses. Moses begins to object to God’s plan. He claims that he cannot lead the people. He claims that he is not an eloquent speaker and that he cannot speak to Pharaoh or the Hebrew people. God answers all of Moses’ objections, and Moses reluctantly becomes God’s leader.

            We see Moses grow into his role as God’s appointed leader. This man who claims that he cannot lead the people becomes a storied leader. The man who claims that he is not eloquent will elegantly interceed for the Hebrews through prayer and boldly call the people to obedience to God’s word and law.

            Like Moses, I have somewhat reluctantly taken a role of leadership. Please understand, I do feel God’s clear call on my life, but I am still somewhat hesitant to fully submit to God’s call and unabashedly follow God’s call on my life. And please understand that I am not comparing myself with Moses or claiming that God’s purposes for my life are similar to God’s call on Moses’ life. But, as I see God leading Moses to become a stronger leader, I also sense and feel God’s working in my life to make me a stronger pastor/leader for the church he has entrusted to my care. May Christ be glorified through His work in me. May it never be said that I refrained from making decisions for fear of people’s perceptions. May it never be said that I made decisions outside of God’s authority to further my personal ambitions or agendas. I pray that I always submit to God’s authority as He molds me into his undershepherd.