Re-Arranging the Priority List

(Written in December, 2001, reflecting on the New Year after 9/11.)

Assumptions can be dangerous. Still, let’s assume that on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 , the offices of the World Trade Center operated pretty much like the offices anywhere else in America . Workers headed to the coffee pots, some pored over Monday’s stock market performance in their Wall Street Journal, and others were already haggling with customers in different time zones on the phone. In the hallways or over the cubical dividers, there probably was the same petty gossip, idle chatter, political maneuvering, cruel scheming, paltry attempts to exclude some unbearable bore from lunch plans…you know, the general junk that is standard fare for the corporate workplace. Suddenly, 8:46 AM happened. The world brutally veered off in a different direction.

For those who perished, these insignificant office proceedings constituted their final thoughts. Most of the survivors, after their initial minutes of terror, have slowly recovered their sense of worth and being. A few made it through the tragedy, but couldn’t handle the emotional and psychological trauma of the aftermath. For all of them, the remainder of their lives will be lived from the perspective of the worst act of terrorism in history. It is a part of them.

The year of 2002, for America and the world, will be different. How much it will change may have to do with what you do, whether you’re a soldier, a flight attendant, a business exec or a factory worker, but the change in heart will go across the board. All of us have witnessed a number of positive differences already, like the rise in patriotism, the increased mention of God in public, the outpouring of charity and the willingness to help the victims. On the darker side, we see tightened security, racial profiling, a loss of personal rights and freedoms and living with the presence of terror.

As citizens, there are some lessons still emerging from 9-11. We must assume responsibility for our own safety and security. We should recognize that the real heroes are the guys down the street. We must enjoy the moments we have, and hug our kids. We must understand that at some point, free nations have to make another payment on their freedom. We must come to terms with our own mortality. And, we must remember, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

One more change: We ought to know the people we live and work with. One chilling item found in the terrorists’ playbook was that they were instructed to move into a neighborhood where the people didn’t know each other very well. Anonymity became a shield behind which they could hide their evil designs. Unfortunately, this depicts far too many American neighborhoods in the twenty-first century. We’re so busy and we move around so much that we don’t have time for nosey neighbors. We have forgotten that one of the by-products of interaction among neighbors is the opportunity to feel comfortable with each other.

Neighborliness builds rapport. It also provides many intangible keys to emotional and psychological health. Since we are social creatures, we form much of our sense of worth and self-esteem by our acceptance among peers. Technological advances like email and cell phones have, in some ways, changed the way this acceptance process takes place. More significantly, it allows us to develop our relationships with people of our own choosing, not with those who happen to live in the house next door or the apartment below us. As a result, we feel no need to know people in close proximity to us because we can know far more interesting and likable people over the wires or airwaves. We can scurry past dull neighbors on our way to scintillating conversations with real friends.

The real world, however, will not allow us to ignore it for long. Events can swiftly jolt us back to face-to-face dealings with neighbors, co-workers, mail carriers, sales clerks and fellow shoppers at the supermarket. We would do well to cultivate these relationships to some degree. The more we know about the people who orbit in our universe, the better armed we will be if something goes wrong. But beyond selfish reasons, the people in our immediate world need the gospel. When we scurry, we often overlook witnessing opportunities God gives us everyday. Our priorities will be different in 2002 than they were in 2001. Will God’s value system have the upper hand in shaping them to reflect his ideals?

Let us not just be different this year. Let’s be better.

The Little Engine

Remember the story of the little engine that tried to get up the hill? As long as it chugged out the words, “I think I can, I think I can” it couldn’t be stopped. White puffs of smoke poured from its stacks; the train it pulled behind it creaked and groaned; the conductor held his breath. But, the steep grade, the heavy load and its power limitations were overcome by its positive determination that it could make it. The message was simple and clear: if you think you can, you can.

The approach to a new year usually begins with the momentum of excitement and challenge. Many people roll into the first days or even weeks of January feeling pretty good about themselves. The new diet, the new resolutions, the new lifestyle, the new commitment, the new whatever seems like a piece of cake. In fact, if you had known it would be this easy, you would have done it a long time ago. Thirty-one days of unsurpassed, exhilarating success. Then, on day thirty-two, rude February happens.

February throws a cold bucket of water on all of January’s marvelous plans and progress. It turns the piece of cake into a formidable task. It takes the wind out of the sails, wipes the smile off the face, replaces the clouds under the feet with real dirt, ridicules dreams and laughs at good intentions. February asks, “WHAT were you thinking?” February’s shredders gobble up January’s goals. February proclaims itself the reality check to January’s delusions.

Okay! You see it coming. A pep-rally on paper. A back-slappin’ wake-up call. A “come-on, guy, you can do it” kind of encouragement meant to get you though the doldrums. Or, maybe a “shame-on-you”, “why are you such a weakling”, “lose the loser mentality” exhortation.

Actually, I just want to tell you that I know people who have had head-on collisions with menacing Februarys of the past and survived. They did a quick mental calculation about the meaning of God in their lives; about the likelihood of repeating the same scenario the following year if they quit; about worthiness of their goal; about the positive prospects of winning if they would just stick with it. Those who repeat the phrase, “I think I can” when it is truly based upon the promise of God’s deliverance, will discover incredible power out of nothing visible or tangible.

The Hebrew spies checking out Canaan ’s land saw that it flowed with milk and honey, but they also saw themselves a grasshoppers and the enemy as giants. As a result, their succumbing to February’s intimidation cost them an additional thirty-eight years wandering in the wilderness. Finally, Joshua and Caleb, who had originally proclaimed “we are well able to take the land” led Israel to Jericho for a great and decisive battle, a battle that sealed Israel ’s future in the promised land.

The early church exploded out of the upper room with the dynamite of Holy Ghost power. Thousands were saved. Miracles and healings ruled the day. It wasn’t long, however, before they ran into the buzz saw of persecution. They could have turned and ran from their tormentors to disappear back into their surroundings. They did not cave. Instead, they gave themselves to prayer, fasting and witnessing. Their initial momentum was challenged but not squelched.

“I think I can” only signals the beginning of the story. The rest moves to the cadence of “I know I can.” Paul said, “For I know whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.” March erupts in victory shouts for those who refused to give up one, single ounce of January’s momentum to February.

For every faith-based decision you make in January, February will turn inside-out and make it a “feeling” thing. Don’t give in to feelings! Keep repeating “I think I can”. Let it become “I know I can.” Consider your fleshly feelings as drags, weights and traitorous impulses that seek to rob you of your new-found freedoms. When all else fails, remember that the engine driving your forward progress is the Holy Ghost! “Greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world.” Your little engine can take you to the top of God’s hill of victory, blessing and spiritual success. It’s not your start, but your finish that makes the difference.

Passion For Change

People bleed. Buildings burn. Explosions transform houses into charred craters. Human bombs detonate on crowded busses. Tremulous wails from grieving widows and orphans waft with the acrid smoke across bricked ruins. Jack-booted camouflaged uniforms whisk by, hot on the trail of an enemy. Rifle pops disturb the countryside into the wee hours of the morning.

Surveying this strife-torn world from the window frame of a new year presents a sad and frightening picture to civilization. We see passions fueled by long-standing hatred and bigotry flaring up into bloodshed and violence. Tyrants and rabble-rousers issue dire threats to other nations, terrorist organizations continue to plot and execute atrocities against western society, and arms-sellers who profit from conflict and military buildup keep it going. My debate contests of decades past that argued against nuclear armaments falling into the hands of crazed dictators seems more likely every day. No crime seems too heinous for extremists to commit who have sold their souls to change the world.

Passion. Desire. Zeal. Our world, our neighborhoods, our livelihoods turn in the hands of those driven by people obsessed by mission. Misguided and warped they may be, but no one can deny the impact they now have on all our lives. We may slow them down, but they keep coming. We may cut their legs from beneath them, we may capture and prosecute them, we may conduct a savage war against them, but we cannot snuff out their fire. Take away their guns and they will use sticks. Take their bombs and they will throw stones. They implant their venom into the next generation and they will come too. They will strike again, and again, and again. Whatever the power or influence is that has ignited these passions, has reaped a harvest of killing machines who have neither conscience nor human sensibilities. So it is when passion rules. And, passion for change succeeds when it is met with a passive, cowardly opponent.

Imagine, then, a church that moves passionately into its mission. We don’t have imagine it. We have a written witness of the primitive church that gave itself to the work of God as much or more than twenty-first century terrorists give to their ugly causes. The first church threw itself with selfless abandon into spreading the gospel. They were slaughtered, they were boiled in oil, and they adorned Caesar’s gardens as flaming torches. Nothing stopped them from pressing on with preaching, praying, singing, giving and witnessing. Imprisoned, disenfranchised, driven underground, forced to live like nocturnal beasts in Rome ’s catacombs, they did not recant. They were flogged, beheaded, crucified, and thrown to the lions. They were denied dignity, refused honor and were forbidden to participate in commerce and politics. They slogged on, unbowed and unbent by their foes. The typical response was contained in the Apostle Paul’s words, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 .

My pastor’s prayer for the New Year may be summed up in this one word: passion! God has to purge passivity and carelessness from our collective heart and replace it with a holy zeal. Without an all-consuming passion for righteousness and truth, then all our wealth and possessions, our talents and abilities, our charm and charisma, our plans and programs, our history and influence, our accomplishments and reputation, our brains and brawn will fail miserably. Intelligence that is cold, programs that are cut and dried, skills that conform to worldly protocol satisfy neither man nor God. God wants passion. It needs to permeate every fiber and cell of our spiritual existence.

Passion for spiritual power propels the church into intercessory prayer. Passion for intimacy with God draws disciples into periods of fasting and self-abasement. Passion for worship inspires choirs, musicians and worshippers to excellence. Passion for the kingdom’s advancement motivates saints into sacrificial giving. Passion for souls drives witnessing and outreach.

God wants young people who will invest everything in his call. God wants parents who will instill truth and righteousness into their children. God wants wage-earners who will support his cause with faithfulness and sacrifice. God wants worshippers who will wear themselves out to exalt him. God wants teachers who will dedicate themselves to fashioning a new generation of truth-bearers. God wants pray warriors who will immerse themselves in petition and altar work.

Passion depleted? Get re-fired! Holy fire overcomes every missing ingredient.