Aiming for significance

Effectivity? In my own little way, in my own little world, I’ve been there and I’ve done that. How did it make me feel?

Empty.

I’m currently in the process of a paradigm shift and I am actually astonished to realize that the shift was not TO THAT but FROM THAT. I do not want to be effective anymore, I want to be significant! The word effective itself presupposes that a certain standard has to be achieved, a group of people have to be impressed and the world has to be pleased.

I don’t buy that anymore.

The bit about pro-activity and seeking to understand before being understood had me though. I’ve reflected on biblical passages concerning those (In “A brother-in-law’s keeper” with always choosing to serve the Lord and in “Ouch again!” with the bit about sympathy and compassion). The rest of the principles? Sounds good, works better, simply the best- if you’re still aiming to please men.

But we’re here not to please men aren’t we? (Galatians 1:10) We’re actually here to let our light shine (Matthew 5:11). Our light should never be affected by how much light the darkness expects but by how much light we can give. If our light hurts the eyes of other people, should we therefore dim it and think win-win? NEVER! What happened with never giving the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27)? The world tells us to compromise but a true Christian knows that a little bit of compromise with the world is all it takes to go downhill. We are the salt of the earth- the same salt that gives food its flavor is the same salt that causes rust in shiny metals. Yes, we are to live in peace but only if it entirely depends on us (Romans 12:18) but in a compromising situation, it doesn’t entirely depend on us, does it? That’s why it became compromising in the first place! In Matthew 10:34 Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The sword is the word of God and if the “win-win” situation goes against the sword itself, why did I have the sword in the first place? I know that the bible tells us to live in peace with our brothers and sisters who long for the same noble things that we do but never with the world. The Prince of Peace will reign on earth but will it be through compromise? Chapter and verse please. Shouldn’t we rather lose in the sight of the world than lose a battle in the spiritual realm? Shouldn’t we rather be hated by the world yet have peace beyond all understanding than be peaceful with the world and lose our own souls? (Do not misread. I do not advocate winning by violence but by surrender.)

Put first things first. But how in the world will you know what is “first”? Isn’t that the point? To some “work” comes first, to others “family” comes first, and to a few “self” comes first. Aren’t we told to seek “first” the kingdom of God? If God told me to put the little things first, what happens to the presented paradigm? He is a jealous God you know. We can put all our rocks in a glass bowl perfectly but if He wants to break the bowl- and believe me He will if He sees a hint of perfection in our life- then broken it will be. What’s “first” now when you have no bowl to put it in anymore? The presented paradigm doesn’t allow any room for God’s intervention and emphasized doing things on our own strength. My God is not like that- when I am weak, then He is strong! I believe that He can enlarge the bowl to accommodate all my rocks if He wants to if I just realize that He is the cornerstone out of which every thing I have is founded upon.

Synergize! Great word. I wonder if Jesus Himself “synergized” with the Pharisees and Sadducees of His time- they had the same goal you know- to bring everyone into God’s authority. But as I remember, He did not cooperate in any way, that’s why He got nailed to a cross! Jesus synergized with the Holy Spirit and it was enough to change the history of the world, even dividing time itself into before Him (B.C) and After Him (A.D). Synergy. Should we therefore be equally yoked with unbelievers? (2 Corinthians 6:14)

I do understand about the vision stuff though but it wasn’t discussed on a biblical perspective. The paradigm suggests being result-oriented as a philosophy. How about the means to reach that result? Should we disregard it? What vision are we talking about? Solomon, the wisest person ever to walk on earth, thought about the end result and what did he discover? Death! Vanity! (Entire Book of Ecclesiastes) Thinking of the end will just make us morbidly obsessive and desperately hopeless. Shouldn’t we have been addressing God’s purpose and God’s vision instead of our vision? What happens if God doesn’t want the same thing as we do? What happened to prayer, to asking the Creator about the purpose of the Creation? The bible tells us in Habakkuk 2 to wait on the Lord’s revelation first before going through anything else. “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me xxx [T]hen the LORD replied xxxx”

If Moses ever sat down on one of THESE seminars, the Ancient Israelites would have reached the promised land in two weeks. There would have been no manna, no Shekinah, no parting of the Red Sea and no Book of Exodus at all. Thank God that Moses didn’t.

Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone. I will hold every so-called paradigm against the Bible alone for it is God-inspired and is profitable for correction, even rebuke (2 Timothy 4:16). As Christians, we are called to cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:10).

I do not consider it as heresy to NOT accept everything that the Church says. On the contrary, I would like to believe that I am like the Bereans of Acts 17:11 in that, “They receive the word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” I cannot, in good conscience just nod and not ask questions. Not when the very root of my faith was born out of Jesus who questioned the Scriptural scholars of His time and argued with their seemingly flawless and popular arguments. Not when my faith is also historically anchored on Martin Luther who nailed his 95 theses as a protest against the prominent church authority of his generation, measuring its doctrines against the truths of the Scripture.

There are many effective people who never led a significant life. I pray that we all aim for the latter instead of the former. Significance through obedience- and the world just has to conform to what God wills for my life.

(Nota Bene: I would never have reacted as much if the paradigm was presented as it should have been presented; as a BUSINESS model and not as a spiritual one. I would have read the book if it’s what I really wanted to learn.)