Friday, January 18, 2013

Pressing Towards the Goal 4/4



In case you were wondering where was yesterday’s post, there wasn’t one. Thursdays are my family day/date night and even though my default mode is to keep working, I really have to make an effort to not do any work. My wife will be sure to tell you that I’m still working on detaching myself totally. lol

Anyways, this week the two biggest stories that I kept hearing about through Facebook and ESPN was Lance Armstrong’s admitting to taking performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) and the story of Manti Te'o’s imaginary girlfriend. In case you missed it, Lance Armstrong, a famous American cyclist and cancer survivor, won every single Tour de France from 1999-2005. For years, he had denied accusations that he had been taking PED’s. He lied to the American public and made them believe that what drove him forward was his dedication, hard work, and unwillingness to give up in the face of opposition. What a story!

Unfortunately, it was a lie. He in fact, did take PED’s and now his reputation and credibility are down the tubes.

I find Manti Te'o’s story equally incredible. He was the face of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and runner up for the prestigious Heisman Trophy. His football team lost to Alabama in the nation championship game. What was amazing about this kid was his story to the media that what drove him to be a better athlete was the sudden death of his girlfriend who had leukemia.

Unfortunately, it was also a lie. His girlfriend not only didn’t die, she never existed! Now some are wondering if this was a hoax perpetrated against the Notre Dame linebacker or if he was part of the deception as well.

These are two crazy stories that leave you wondering, “What in the world was going through their heads?”

Now, I’m not going to say that these men are not at fault, but it’s pretty sad that at how everyone is bashing them for portraying an image that was misleading when people do it every day on Facebook. (I mean, let’s be real; most people don’t post pictures when they look busted and just woke up. You put the best picture to give others the impression that you’ve got your act together, right?) I’m sure that if the news media were to do an investigation on you, they’d probably find a few skeletons in your closet too.

What was lacking in these men was the last point that we need in order to reach our goals. To reach our goals, we must have a sure foundation.


If you ask the apostle Paul what was his foundation, he could give you a pretty clear answer. We find this in the 2nd half of Philippians 3:14:

14B the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

For Paul, his desire, goals and future focus were grounded on the fact that he wanted to live to be like his Lord. As we saw earlier this week, he said that even though I’m not perfect, I strive to be the closest thing to perfect even though I know that I fall incredibly short of what I’m supposed to be. Now, for you theologians out there, he is not abandoning justification by faith; he is not denying that salvation is free. It is in fact because both our salvation and our sanctification have been perfectly and fully accomplished by Christ that we too can be saved by responding in faith without works, and sanctified by responding in faithful obedience.

The confidence that we can also have in moving forward is the same as Paul’s. It goes back to Paul’s preliminary statement in chapter 3 verse 12.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

As you go forward in life and your story unfolds, people will ask you, “What is the secret to your success?” Lance Armstrong said his success was “hard work.” Manti Te’o said it was “motivation from his deceased girlfriend.” Both of these foundations were built on sand made from their own hands. Paul would say that his foundation was trying to live honestly, openly and humbly like his Lord. If there ever was a time to be reminded of what a good foundation looks like, it is today.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

As people there is a danger in relying on the greatness of our story, our accomplishments or the hope of human glory. As a church, there is danger on relying on the greatness on our money, outreach methods and theology. If you hope to reach your goals using these things a foundation, you’ll be disappointed once you realize that someone has a better story, or the fact that, once we die, people will forget all about your money or your greatness. These foundations are not good ones in and of themselves. Whatever may have been your experience in the past, it’s not too late to begin to rebuild starting today towards a brighter future. Why not start today?

So as you think about your own life, I’d like to finish with the words of F.B. Meyer.

“It is a mistake to be always turning back to recover the past. The law of Christian living is not backward, but forward; not for experiences that lie behind, but for doing the will of God, which is always ahead and calling us to follow. Leave the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are before us, for in each new height to which we attain, there are the appropriate joys that befit the new experience. Don’t fret because life’s joys are fled. There I more in front. Look up, press forward, the best is yet to be!”

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Pressing Towards the Goal 3/4




A few weeks ago, I was in Boston visiting my in-laws. I love Boston. Everyting from the sights and the smells just makes me feel right at home. Not only do I love Boston, I’m a Red Sox fan.

But wait, you may say, aren’t you from Miami? Shouldn’t you be a Marlins fan? Well, I am. They’re my National League team while Boston is my American League team…but unfortunately, neither the Marlins nor the Red Sox have anything to look forward to for the next few years, but that’s besides the point. I remember a few years ago how excited everyone that is not a Yankees fan was when the Red Sox won the World Series. Interestingly, check out what one newspaper wrote after their win:

 "After their team won the 2004 World Series of baseball, fans of Boston’s Red Sox struggled to adjust. A New York Times article chronicled their confusion:
Having waited 86 years for a World Series championship, Bostonians found themselves…swirling with elation, but also scratching their heads.

What are Red Sox fans to do when the angst of being one of the world’s greatest underdogs is gone?

“I’m having trouble dealing with it,” said Mike Andrews, who played second base for the Red Sox in 1967, when they lost to the Cardinals during one of their many close-but-no-cigar face-offs. “You’re kind of caught saying, “What’s next?” I don’t want to say it’s a letdown. But it’s certainly part of your life and it’s gone now, and we need to come up with something new."

In so identifying themselves with a prize such as a World Series title, the Red Sox were left without a mission or purpose after their goal of winning a championship had been achieved. Sure, they became the first team ever to come back from an 0-3 deficit to beat their rivals, the New York Yankees, but what was next after that? Without a greater goal to strive for, they were left with a time of rediscovering their identity.

Striving for your goals isn't bad, but have you ever asked yourself, “What exactly IS my goal?” Do you have anything that you want to do with your life? I don’t mean to sound like your mother, but if you’re just riding the waves of life without a goal in sight, what good is anything?

For some people, their goals are what Tony Montana said in Scarface (I don’t condone that movie, I’m just using it as an example :)) “Money, power, respect.” Unfortunately with things like this, there is really never an end in sight. Once you get your first big break, you’ll notice that someone else has a nicer office or a bigger paycheck and you’ll eventually want their position too. Thus, it becomes an ever ending journey for a goal you’ll never actually reach to begin with.

Paul did have a goal, a desire in life. He said this in the first half of Philippians 3:14:

14A I press on toward the goal for the prize

Sometimes a thing is all the more impressive for being left undescribed. Paul tells us neither what the goal is, nor what the prize will be. Yet suddenly the earthly scene with all of its strivings, sufferings and sacrifices gives way to heavenly glory. One scriptural picture after another fills and elevates the mind upwards to his celestial goal. Still, from this piece of scripture, we arrive at our third lesson for reaching our goals. Namely, to reach our goals, we must have an absorbing desire.

Our desire is based on what we are aiming towards, what we want out of life. What are you aiming towards? Do you have any goals for this New Year? Let’s first talk about you as a person or as a leader. What INSPIRES you? What gives you life, purpose, meaning? Are you happy where you are?

Do you have a goal? Once you reach that goal, what happens next? Don’t be like these guys to the right from Finding Nemo that once you reach your goal, you’re left wondering, “What’s next?” Today, think about what are your goals and make sure that your absorbing desire doesn’t leave you empty once you reach it.

“The meaning of earthly existence lies not as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but in the development of the soul.” Alexander Soizhenitsyn, Leadership, Vol. 7, no. 3.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Pressing Towards the Goal 2/4



"Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight. He was one shot away from claiming victory in the 2004 Olympic 50-meter three-position rifle event. He didn’t even need a bulls-eye to win. His final shot only needed to hit the target anywhere.

Normally, the shot he made would receive a score of 8.1, more than enough for a gold medal. But in what was described as an “extremely rare mistake in elite competition,” Emmons fired at the wrong target. Standing in lane two, he fired at the target in lane three. His score for a good shot at the wrong target? 0. Instead of a medal, Emmons ended up in eight place."


His story shows us that it doesn’t matter how accurate you are if you’re aiming at the wrong goal.

The apostle Paul had a goal in sight. It was a goal that drove him, kept him going even when everything else was going wrong around him. As a matter of fact, he was in jail when he wrote this letter (which was actually a pretty common place for him to write his letters. Maybe it was because that was the only time he could sit still long enough to get work done!). Here in his letter to the Philippians we find the second characteristic that we need to have in order to reach our goals in the second half of chapter 3 and verse 13. 

"13B; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,”
In other words, to reach our goals, we must have a single-minded future focus.


This is to say a single desire that is based on what you hope to accomplish ahead of you. Paul here seems to make a pretty big emphasis on forgetting the past. However, he clearly hadn’t forgotten his. If you look earlier in the chapter, he listed a ton of his accomplishments. So why does he now say that it’s important to forget your past?

I think that it’s because when we become too focused on our past, it limits our present effort and kills any future progress. 

Take for example if someone has done us wrong in the past. The resentment and bitterness (be it real or imagined) can keep us rehearsing the same broken tape over and over again and we’ll carry that baggage with us whenever we meet new people. Or focusing on past sins which, when you keep dwelling on them, make you believe or wonder if God can actually forgive you.

Or the church that keeps remembering the “good ol’ days” when we had x amount of members, or when Pastor X, Elder Y, or Sister Z were here and everything was just rolling along. By contrast, Paul here says that the progressing Christian must cultivate a concentrated forward look to where the Goal lies.
This is a goal that is not caught up on our past success or past failure. Not on our actions, achievements or behaviors, but on realizing that life is all about learning and growing. This is true of both the development of our physical life as well as our spiritual life. 

Who knows what was going through Matt Emmons head when he hit the wrong target. He may have felt that he had success in the bag, but that moment of failed concentration cost him everything. Keep your sights set on the future target because, even though you aren’t all that you should be yet, you also aren’t all that you WILL be yet.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Pressing Towards the Goal 1/4




Have you ever been in church, sitting through just another “regular” service when, all of a sudden, you hear the WEIRDEST thing you’ve ever heard in your whole life? Maybe it hasn't happened to you yet, but that was my case a few years ago. Many moons ago (well, not that many, it was back in 2005) I was a freshman theology major at Southern Adventist University. One weekend, my friend invited me to come up to western North Carolina to preach at one of his churches.

So me, along with about 5-6 other people all packed into a few cars and drove all the way to western North Carolina, stayed with some nice hosts and did a service at this church. Now, this church was a not big at all. During Sabbath School there were maybe about 25 people. They were great people though; there was nothing too much out of the ordinary about them. However, during Sabbath school, it happened.

During the normal teacher/class interaction regarding how was their week, one lady asks for the mic and says “I want to thank God because I’ve reached perfection.” Immediately, my ears shot up like a dog hearing a noise in the house. “Yes, I want to thank God because since Wednesday of this week, I haven’t thought or said anything sinful.” My friend who had invited us over for the weekend quipped back: “I think you may want to start over because you’ve fallen through your boasting.”

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians had a different view of himself when he wrote
  
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

Even though he had, up to that point, done more “good things” than many of us combined, Paul still admitted that “hey, I’m not perfect; I haven’t figured this whole thing out yet.” As we begin our series entitled “Pressing towards the Goal,” I believe that we should possess 4 important characteristics if we hope to reach our goals as individuals or as a body of believers.

The first lesson is found in the first part of verse 13:

 13A Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;

In other words, I believe that in order to reach our goals,we must have a balanced view of ourselves!

There are two ways people tend to view themselves. Either as too high and mighty (like Ms. Perfect in the opening story). Or through the eyes of what’s called The Grasshopper Complex.  You can read about it in Numbers 13:33, but basically this is when you doubt your potential for achievement by throwing some excuse (weather real or imagined) in order to prevent you from trying. Whenever you find the grasshopper complex in either people or an institution, it stunts the growth that’s possible. Why? Because your negative view of yourself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You say you can’t achieve what you’re aiming for. Why? Because (insert excuse here). So what ends up happening? You don’t do anything and, because you don’t achieve your goals, you say it’s not worth trying. Why? Because you can’t achieve what you aim for. It's a vicious cycle.

Imagine the difference in outlook if, instead of calling a small church a small church, they called themselves as “a growing church.” Sure, the reality may be that there are only 15 people in the church, but their identity is no longer that of tiny, lowly grasshoppers; there is a drive for future success based on a balanced view of themselves.

Optimistic people and institutions tend to see success as being part of personal traits that they bring and failure as being caused by unfortunate circumstances. Pessimistic people see failure as part of personal traits that they bring and success as part of random fortunate circumstances. How do you see yourself today? Have you lived with a grasshopper complex? Today, it’s time to get that stigma off your back, have a balanced view of yourself and say like Paul, I’m not perfect; I know that I haven’t reached my goals yet. I’m still working to get there, but I believe that, one day, I will get there!

So tomorrow, go out there and work to be something great (in the words of Mr. Miyagi from the “Karate Kid”) “young grasshoppers.”