Sin as the Status Quo

I feel restless. Not sure how I keep returning to this place, but it seems like I always do.

There is a big part of who I am, of who God created me to be, that doesn’t sit well with where things are. It can be an energizing thing - especially when you have the power and the resources to mold and shape and move. It can be an equally frustrating thing when you have deep desires in your heart that can’t seem to find their way out in the world outside of yourself.

I remember talking with a new friend here in Atlanta a couple of months ago and expressing some of this restlessness in explaining how we made our way to where we are. In my words I explained, “I’d rather find myself in a place of going and failing, than in remaining in a place of what-if.“

Mark Batterson, author of In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day encapsulates this sense of movement by addressing risk in the Christian life. I remember reading through his words last year and feeling the ‘energized’ part of my restlessness finding affirmation as Batterson talked about the parable of the Talents. I don’t have the book or my notes with me right now, but the gist of it was that we see some of Christ’s harshest words come out to a guy who did nothing other than do nothing. The man who had been entrusted with one talent (ie money/gold), in a desire to not squander or fail with what he had been given, opted to bury the money in order to be able to present it back to his master upon his master’s return. The result?

“You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? 27 Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28 Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.“ - Matthew 25:26-30

God does not look kindly upon the status quo. And yet we are continuously tempted to pull ourselves into a place of comfort. If we are not careful, what we see as faithfulness in where we are can easily turn into stagnation when we are not willing to step beyond the moment into the place and the future that God desires for us.

Erwin McManus addresses this in Wide Awake as well. He talks about the Kingdom in relation to the parable of the ten bridesmaids, half of whom were unprepared with enough oil in their lamps for when the bridegroom arrived (Matthew 25:1-13)...

When Jesus gave us insight into the kingdom of God, he focused not so much on what God would do for us but instead on what he will expect from us. Jesus clearly expects us to be fully engaged in this life and in the creation of the future. This parable emphasizes the importance of attributes like faithfulness, proactivity, and initiative. If you’re going to create the life of your dreams, eventually you have to stop thinking about it, dreaming about it, imagining it, hoping, scheming, planning, or even praying, and you have to actually do something. You have to act. You have to execute. You have to step into the real world and bring the change that you can only see through the eyes of faith. ...

Are we living as if it’s God’s responsibility to make sure you have oil for your lamp? Maybe you’re spiritualizing your lack of preparation: “If God wants it to happen, it will happen,“ or “I’m just waiting on God.“ When we fail, when we blow it, when we fall short because we were unprepared for an opportunity, we blow it off and say, “Well, that must have been the Lord’s will.“ That’s a Christianized way of blaming God for our own problems. There are some opportunities you were intended to have that you may not even see, much less seize, because you didn’t prepare yourself for the future opportunity.

So, I’m not sure where I fit into the present. I see where I want to be, where I want my family to be, where I desire for the church to be, and yet I don’t see the next step to get there in a lot of ways.

May God grant me the wisdom to be able to step forward in faith, and the peace to trust in Him to direct my path when I do.

Posted 07.13.2008

Add your own voice to the conversation about this post by filling in this form: