St. John Studies

This is a transitional post that I am writing before I begin posting on John Bevere’s book Good or God.
People who create promotional material often come up with catchy phrases to help sell their products. “Diamonds are Forever, Just Do It, Where’s the Beef? and Got Milk?” are some very popular slogans that public relations people have invented.
Jon Bloom, in his article “Always ‘Be’ Before You ‘Do’”, writes some very important comments about Christian identity. His comments were inspired by a slogan on a tennis shoe box. Bloom writes on Pastor John Piper’s Desiring God website which I often use to teach my Sunday school class. I recently turned to his post on “desiringod.org”.
The slogan reads “Go Do Be” and herein is the problem.
It seems that “Be” is in the wrong place.

I know that movement is important. Go is a popular word. We like it. We often desire it. It is much better to move than just sit when a problem presents itself. The slogan uses “go” implying that we need to “get off the dime” or do something. We need to move. That is not a bad idea.

Do is an action word. We often need to take action in this world to correct wrongs that need to be corrected, to give aid to those who have less than we do, you get the idea: things don’t get done without someone “doing” something.
And then comes “Be”.

“Be” is an identity word. If a person has an identity, they are someone. They have characteristics.

Bloom makes an excellent point about people who discover themselves through movement and action but there is a problem with people who move and act without a basis for moving and acting.

They have no “core.” They move and act without direction.

If you can humor me, let’s go to the Garden of Eden, where you can see Adam and Eve falling into a “go do be” trap laid by Satan. “If you eat the fruit [which takes movement], you will gain God’s wisdom [the movement results in action] and you will become like God [they are promised they will acquire God’s identity].

We all know how this turns out but is it because they don’t have an established identity before they go and do?

I think that may be the problem.

Movement and action should spring from identity for it to be most effective, especially if you are trying to live a Christian life.

In the early days of Christianity, followers of Christ were called “Christian” because they exhibited a Christian identity or they had certain characteristics. Their behavior, activity and speech were like Jesus. Christian was a term that was invented to mean “follower of Christ.”

Unfortunately over many years, the term Christian has been watered down to mean someone who is religious or someone who has high moral values. Some people consider themselves Christian because they do attend church once in a while. Others identify themselves as Christian because they are Americans. The idea is that we are a country “founded on God” so an American must be a Christian.

However, being a Christian is surely more than this. Second Corinthians 5:17 says “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” James says “I will show you my faith by my works” [James 2:18].

First comes the “be” and then comes the go and do.

The Bible defines a Christian as one who has personally received Jesus Christ as Savior, who trusts that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ happened so our sins can be forgiven. Movement and action in the Christian’s life stem from the power of the Holy Spirit, that guiding force which resides within each person who has received Jesus.

What is the point?

Identity or the “be” is the starting point for the Christian, not the ending point.
Someone in my Sunday school class commented on the fact that a person could go and do and eventually discover Christ. That very well could happen. Then they could find their identity in Christ and become a “baby” Christian requiring milk not solid food. Hebrews Chapter 5 comments on the “inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness…for he is a mere infant…but solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil.”

Being a good Christian is about having an established identity so we can grow in love for Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and lives. Hebrews 12:2 “Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.”

The good Christian knows God and identifies with the term “Christian.” This is their “be.”
As they grow in love, grow in faith and grow in grace, they go and do in the name of Jesus.

“Go Do Be?”

Maybe, but let’s rearrange.

“Be Go Do.”

“We also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” [Romans 5: 3-5].

As we wrap up our discussion of Bill Hybel’s  Holy Discontent, we don’t want to let a book like this end with a whimper. 

Hybels has challenged us.

For some of us, maybe he has made us feel a little guilty [we aren’t doing enough].

Maybe some readers have done a little “self-examination.”  Hybels has caused us to ask “why don’t I have a ‘holy discontent?’”

On April 10, 2017, I began to post on Holy Discontent  with the idea that I needed something lighter after blogging on prayer from November 10, 2016 to March 7, 2017. 

Indeed Holy Discontent has been an “easy” read.  Blogging on the book has been fast since I found myself sometimes covering a chapter in one post.

We are at the end.

But Hybels doesn’t want it to end.   In fact, the postscript to his book is entitled “It Doesn’t Have to End Like This.”

What does he want from us?

Action.

Fruit.

If we don’t have action or fruit production, he wants us to hold out for hope.

Why hope?

He wants us to hope that God will show us our holy discontent.                                   

This book gets “under one’s skin”?  It is full of examples of people who are living by faith, people who find something that needs to be fixed and they have taken God at His word.   They are looking to Him to give them what they need to solve a problem.  They are looking to Him to give them strength to tackle a big need.  They are looking to Him to give them wisdom beyond what they possess.

If you have not found your holy discontent, Hybels wants you to know that God will show it to you.

He believes God will put you in a position where you find yourself quoting Popeye:  “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more!”   He believes God will use you in a way that is just right for you.

Here is the hope that Pastor Hybels speaks of:  “Hope that sins can be forgiven.  Hope that prayers can be answered.  Hope that doors of opportunity that seem to be locked can be opened.  Hope that broken relationships can be reconciled.  Hope that diseased bodies can be healed.  Hope that damaged trust can be restored.  Hope that dead churches can be resurrected.”

Yes, he holds out hope that you will find your holy discontent and you will act on it.  I have quoted Martin Luther King before but the quote bears repeating: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing your holy discontent to others’ holy discontent.   It is yours and it fits you.   It may be small; it may be big.  Whatever it is, do it.  It does not matter.  “Figure out what you can’t stand.  Channel your holy discontent into helping to fix what’s broken in this life.”

As followers of Christ, we can be people who act to give people what their hearts need most, which is hope.

It really doesn’t have to end like this.

Ask Him to show you.

Pay attention…

You will find your holy discontent.

The world needs people like you and like me…

Announcing our next study:  we will be transitioning to John Bevere’s Good or God in the coming week.

Sometimes life just grinds you down.

Bill Hybels talks about people who have “holy discontent” over the long haul, people who are striving to accomplish their life mission for a great number of years. What is a major problem?

Hybels calls it “succumbing to desperation.”

I truly appreciate individuals who work with our legal system or correctional system who have to deal with offenders every day of their lives.   They are constantly exposed to people who have not chosen a productive path to life.  How do they keep a positive attitude?

People who work with the poor in our world encounter individuals who cannot make positive moves to break the cycle of poverty in their lives.   Often they are locked into a lifestyle where they cannot get ahead. Life is such a challenge and they don’t seem to be up to the challenge.

Emergency personnel also concern me. They see people in dire circumstances.   Their goal is to put hurting people back together enough to get them to doctors.   Sometimes they don’t have a chance to do that due to the severity of a person’s injuries.

I could go on and on, listing jobs where people are experiencing stress due to trying circumstances, situations where one can easily succumb to desperation.

There are people who deal with these situations on a daily basis.

What can a person do when they seem to be fighting an uphill battle?   Hybels writes about the need to keep our “hope meter high”. When you have a holy discontent and the Lord is serious about you continuing His work, He does not want you to give up.

Hybels begins with a very important verse from the Bible: John 4:4. “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

First of all, he recommends that you take responsibility for your “hope meter.”   You are the only one who can keep it high. He calls this “self-leadership.”   What God has asked you to do is between you and God.   You don’t have to consult your pastor, your mentor, your colleague; you need to assess the strength of the calling by opening yourself up to God, asking Him to reaffirm His need for you to do the work.

Let me throw in some additional practical advice. Don’t listen to the news of the world.   We all know that what gets on the news is mostly negative behaviors.   I guess it is human nature to be fascinated by tales of people behaving badly and the news is full of this.   Focus on the news can have a horrible effect of your attitude.

In addition, don’t listen too much to those around you.   People love to recount negative information [aka gossip] and people would like to see you less on fire for the work you are doing for the Lord.   I don’t know if you frighten others as you experience change and commit to a new work or if your commitment makes them feel like they are falling short in their lives, but people are not as supportive as they need to be sometimes.

Focus on what is right in front of you.   This is essential.   Making general statements hardly helps anyone to accomplish their goals. Going back to my original examples: all criminals are guilty, the poor don’t care about their lives, or trauma victims are hopeless; those kinds of thoughts will suck all the desire out of you to do your work.   Focus on the problem that is in front of you with the goal in mind that you are doing the best work you can do, helping the person with an immediate need.   You can’t help the world all the time; you can help the person who is in front of you.

Hybels says we are all prone to what he calls energy leaks, things which suck the fuel out of our efforts to do God’s work.   When a person who is committed to their holy discontent suffers energy leaks, that means that people around them suffer too. “When hope dies in the leader, the game ends and cause is defeated . . . everyone takes their cue from you” [Hybels, 134-35].

It is important for you to take your passion and find a way to keep it passionate. Know that “the world” is probably never going to be your source of support.

There is only one place that you can get what you need for your uphill battle.

That place is where you have a heart to heart with God.

God is your strength.   He is all that we need.

“What might we accomplish together that none of us could achieve if we all continued to revolve in our separate orbits.” [Hybels, 127].

That quote is from Bill Hybels and the context is that he is wondering what churches could accomplish if they just worked together.

That’s what I call a “big picture” point of view and while that view is worthwhile, let’s take his comments in Chapter 7 of Holy Discontent and apply them to a single church.

What could a church accomplish if church members united to accomplish the same results?

Hybels gives us some ideas about things that get in the way of great accomplishments.

First of all, it is essential to deal with the idea that church members tend to gravitate to the “status quo.” I have heard this so much over the years; the key phrase is “it has worked this way in the past so why change it?” The problem with this is that the church is in the middle of a world that is evolving. While I don’t advocate that churches make themselves over to fit contemporary fads, to ignore the need to adapt is a fatal mistake. Here is a simple example [although one that can be controversial]. More people are discovering that Christian artists have been creating some beautiful, inspiring praise and worship music. The “old favorite” hymns don’t need to be discarded but why not work contemporary music into the worship service once in a while?

Secondly is the idea of “turf protection.” People who are long-time volunteers grow to think that their service to the church is their “job.”  No one else can do it.   Problems occur when a new volunteer comes on the scene; instead of allowing their energy and enthusiasm to come to the activity, they may not be welcomed.   The long-time volunteer senses a loss of control and maybe a change of leadership and they resent it.   In their minds, it is better to discourage the new volunteer so they can hold on to their “job.”

An additional problem is simple lack of coordination. When you have a church with many people “doing their thing,” there is a problem when one group does not know what the other group is doing. This can lead to wasted effort due to duplication of work.   It can also lead to wasted resources since one group may be buying materials that could be used in the other group. This can also lead to unhealthy competition as one group tries to outdo the other, which can cause hard feelings.   All this is so unnecessary. What is needed is an attitude that we need to work together. An additional antidote for this problem is open communication about what is going on. Don’t ignore the need to talk directly to other church members. This cures many ills.

The last challenge for churches that don’t accomplish much is the “country club” mentality. For some Christians, it is “cool” to be seen as a member of a particular church. More than that, it is “way cool” to run around with the right cliques within the church. The problem is that “being seen” is about all that this Christian does.   They don’t want to volunteer at church.   There are so many opportunities, there are so many needs but they are quick to say this phrase that grates on the nerves of pastors: “let the staff do it; we pay them well and they have so much time. You know, pastors only work on Sunday.” The Christian who thinks like this is not in a church for what they can do for others; they are in the church looking for what the church can do for them. God is not the focus of their participation; they just want to be part of the “in-crowd.”

Needless to say the types of church members I have described have challenges that get in the way of their holy discontent. Again Hybels says “What might we accomplish together that none of us could achieve if we all continued to revolve in our separate orbits?”

“If pastors and leaders would let go of their pride, fear, the need to please and the need for control! . . .  What would happen if we took greater risks rather than staying married to the status quo? . . . [what if we asked] What results do we want to create rather than what do I want?” [Hybels, 129].

He answers his own question: “Boundaries get expanded. Leadership competencies get ennobled. Fear gets stamped out. Insecurities get upended. Passion pursuits get clarified and depression is asked to take the slow boat home.”

God has asked that we spread His Word to a broken world. It is a job; our most important job. As a church we need to figure out how to do this together.

Together we can accomplish great things.

Yes, we can even work together to scratch that itch, you know that problem that is so bad that you must do something about it…

You know what I am referring to. . . our holy discontent.

You have heard the following “recreational” expressions.

A bad day of golf is better than a good day at work or a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.

These expressions are testaments to the value of these wonderful hobbies and the drudgery of work.

But let’s add an expression you may not have heard before.  A bad day lived from the energy of your holy discontent is far better than the best day lived anywhere else.

That sounds amazing doesn’t it?  But that is exactly the idea that Bill Hybels is pitching in Chapter 7 of his book Holy Discontent.

Let’s translate.

When you are on fire to correct a wrong or to fix something you think is abominable and you are making some progress, that is an honest highlight of your life.  Those are some of your best days on earth, especially if you know you are being led to produce fruit by God.

Nothing else matches up.

Too often Christians are happy with putting most of their efforts toward being content.  In Matthew, Jesus preaches about our need to be content with what we have and not chase after material things.  In Philippians, Paul writes about being content in a wide range of situations; he finds contentment whether well-fed or hungry.  Most of the Bible seems to preach that contentment comes from a true dedication to a life in Christ.

But that is not what Pastor Hybels is preaching.   He wants us to “get off our dime.”  He wants us to not accept the world as we see it.   He wants us to have a vision that sees something better and he wants us to act on it.  He wants us to not be content to accept things as they are.

Chapter 7 is about what he calls “a completely different state of mind.”   He uses a writer named Robert Quinn to make his point.  Quinn says the person who is content with the status quo is in what he calls a “normal state of mind.”  Normal state people are self-absorbed, they react to life rather than anticipating future needs.  Normal state people work hard at keeping things like they are, never adapting to change [even change called for from an expressed need].  They deny that there is something better.  They deny that they can become a better person.  Besides “normality”, they don’t think any other state of mind really exists.

I am not sure that this type of contentment would be pleasing to our Lord and Savior, especially when we encounter a wrong that needs to be addressed or a problem that needs to be fixed [aka your holy discontent].

Hybels refers to the opposite of normal state people, those Quinn refers to as “fundamental state” people.  These folks are not happy spinning their wheels, never impacting the world around them.  Fundamental state people care about getting results so “they begin to move and breathe in a totally different realm.”  They don’t just bounce around in life; they move with intentionality.  “They act with massive doses of enthusiasm and persistence.”  They are not prideful because they know that will get in the way of results.  They don’t care who gets credit.   They just want things to get better.  Hybels goes on to say “They take risks they wouldn’t normally take…because they have to—there’s too much at stake not to!  Their creativity kicks up a notch.  Their energy soars.  Their passion swells.”

Oh and one more thing.

They draw other people to their cause.

Hybels says that “when you step into the fundamental state, not only will you change ‘states,’ but you will draw others into that new state too.  Think about this for a moment: when you spend time in the fundamental state, you become an increasingly attractive person.  After all, who doesn’t want to hang out with someone who lives passionately, who loves fearlessly and who embraces risk-laden change.”

A bad day of golf is better than a good day at work; maybe we can say the same for fishing.

But what about the life that you are leading?  Are you content letting your “wheels spin”?  Are you so concerned with that status quo that you are ignoring a need that should be addressed?  The “normal state” is so comfortable but maybe it is not the best state for you and me.

“A bad day lived from the energy of your holy discontent is far better than the best day lived anywhere else.”

Could Hybels be right?

We all had dreams somewhere along the way…

Do you remember your dream of what you wanted to be when you were younger?

I remember mine.

Being a child of the sixties, I had a passion for music.  I played trumpet in the band, getting to first chair eventually in my high school trumpet section.  But that was not the dream.  The dream was having long hair, singing and playing the guitar on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans.   Of course, since I was an “all-American” boy, my dream audience was filled with a hefty majority of beautiful females.

That was it: I wanted to be a rock and roll star.

It did not go any further than that.  Beyond being adored, I had no plan.

And then I read about Bono [of U2 fame] in Chapter 6 of Holy Discontent and I realize what a person can do with their rock stardom.  Pastor Hybels is using Bono to try to illustrate what a person can do about their holy discontent.   He says we need to feed it, fight for it and follow it.

That is exactly what Bono did with his fight against African famine.

I have another blog I contribute to from time to time.  It is called shinelight.info.  I use it to reach out to victims of trauma [accident trauma, disease trauma, crime trauma or even PTSD].   My trauma was from an accident and as I walk the road to recovery, it is therapeutic for me to share my thoughts [good and bad] about how I feel. 

God tells us to shine our light.  Matthew 5:16 states “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  I try to shine a light through my hard times so maybe I can help someone else.

I have not turned out to be a fantastic guitar player.   I own two guitars and they sit in an upstairs room, untouched for the most part.  I sing bass in my church choir and so far, I have not had too many accolades tossed my way about that.  Seems I may have truly missed my opportunity to be a rock star. 

What I have enjoyed is writing.

I love taking ideas about faith and trauma recovery and putting them out on the web for anyone to read.   I don’t care if I have five readers or five hundred.   The process is good for my mind, good for my heart and as a fellow Christian blogger told me recently, “God gave me the ability and I am doing my part; I am putting it out there.”

Feed your holy discontent and fight for your holy discontent.

When things get tough, it is important to not give up.  It is important to do your work and do it to the best of your ability.   Hybels says don’t just go through the motions.  He says it like this: don’t be a 25 watt bulb or a 75 watt bulb, be a 1,000 watt bulb!  “If you’re called at this stage of the game to be a leader, then be a thousand watt leader!  If you’re called to sing, then be a thousand watt singer!  Fill in the blank with whatever it may be for you—a pilot, an executive, a mom, a dad, a prayer warrior.  I dare you to approach your holy discontent with an upfront commitment of being a ‘thousand-watt’ at whatever you do.”

And lastly follow it.

Too often we get locked into life too quickly.  We get set in our ways.  We develop habits.  We have a vision and that is it; it never changes.   We can’t adapt our vision when circumstances change.

But in life, circumstances do change.

Humor me as I tell you when I feel the tug of the Holy Spirit the most.   It is not when I am working with people.   It is when I am working in my yard at home.  I know this is going to sound strange but I pray a lot when I do yard work.   First of all, I am thankful to be able to do it.   At times it overwhelms me [I ain’t no “spring chicken”] but all the time I ask Divine guidance as to what I need to be doing, how I need to be doing it and how I need to accomplish my tasks.  The fun part is that I believe God leads me to where I need to be, He helps me know what I need to do and He give me strength to accomplish my tasks.  My wife accuses me of having attention deficit disorder as I flit from one task to another but I am just morphing from one role to another as I feel a need becomes present.

With Holy Discontent, this is necessary because often in life, we don’t wind up doing what we think we will do once we start tackling a job.  But to have a maximum impact on our world we need to be able to adapt to the place where the greatest need exists.

This is God expanding us and stretching us.  “[He wants you to] participate in whatever ‘new thing’ He wants to do through you…follow your holy discontent wherever it takes you, whenever it takes you so that our world…can benefit from your wattage in this generation.”

Photo of Eleanor Josaitis below…

You might say I am a reader. Since 1998 when I finally recognized the true value of loving Jesus, I have read many books on Christianity.

Many of the authors use what I call personal testimonies to make their point.

Bill Hybels is no exception.

Chapter 5 in his book Holy Discontent is entitled “A worthy fight” but most of the chapter is about a woman who had a holy discontent that was a big risk and she went ahead with her plans despite the challenges.

Her name was Eleanor Josaitis and she is the founder of an inner-city organization in Detroit devoted to erasing racism, poverty, and injustice.  It is called Focus: HOPE.

Without rewriting Hybel’s whole chapter, I will recount the basic point of his chapter.  Eleanor was watching a documentary on the Nuremburg Trials after World War II.   As she learned more and more about what Hitler’s Nazi Germany did to so many human beings in concentration camps, she wondered what she would have done if she had lived in Germany during the 1940’s.  Then the documentary was interrupted by breaking news of a civil rights march in Birmingham Alabama that had turned into an all-out attack on the peaceful marchers.   If you are old enough, you remember the fire hoses, Billy clubs, and cattle prods. 

Sometimes a distant problem seems so far away that we just mentally file it away with a wince and say “that’s too bad.”

For Eleanor, Birmingham was much closer than Germany but it was still “down south.”

Then her own city was torn apart with riots. 

Instead of moving out of her suburban home to some other city, Eleanor and her husband packed up the family and moved right into the heart of Detroit; she moved toward the problem instead of away from it. 

This is the stuff of heroes.  When there is gunfire, marines run toward it.   When there is a fire, firemen run into the burning building.  When a crime is being committed, police intervene to restore law and order.

Eleanor and her family dug into downtown Detroit and were determined to bring hope to the poorest of the poor.  First of all, she found ways to provide food for the poor of inner city Detroit.   Then she decided that she had to give hope through training and education.  Some needed jobs and some needed to go to school.  At the writing of Holy Discontent, the Focus HOPE program had helped 8,000 people get jobs with starting salaries that are double the minimum wage.    Focus HOPE is not all about Eleanor.  It is about volunteers.  Ms. Josaitis is masterful at recruiting volunteers.   Focus Hope does have paid staff but it also enlists help from 50,000 volunteers.   People show up to help because they know there is a need.

Back to the main point.

What caused Ms. Josaitis to act?

She saw a need right in her community; a holy discontent welled up inside her to make a bad situation better.   She had one of those Popeye moments:  “I can’t stands no more!”

Most of us don’t have to look far to find a situation that needs attention.  Go to “volunteermatch.org” and see the places in the Hopkinsville area where you can plug in your talents.  Today there are a hundred locations where you can inquire.  Look around at what is going on at your church.  An active church is a hotbed of activity, where the church is reaching out to help the community in numerous ways.

You have all heard the old cliché about the three most important factors to consider in starting a business:  “location, location, location.”  Well proximate location is what drives most of us to act.  The problems halfway across the world just don’t move us.

It is the problem down the street that gets us motivated.

Whatever it takes, that’s ok.  The needs are real.  Let’s get to work!

I try to post my thoughts on a book every other day but on the day I was to post, I developed a fever and have been feeling poorly since.   Been to the doctor and am beginning a round of antibiotics.   I hope to be feeling better soon but it hasn’t happened yet.  Anyone who reads St. John Studies should get an explanation and here it is.  It was probably that little thing above: a tick.   My wife found him on me yesterday.

Be careful out there this summer.

Sorry for the interruption.   Hope to be back soon.

David Carter

Feeding the Frustration…

Wow, what a title for a chapter in a book about taking action to do God’s work…your “holy discontent.”

I don’t know about you but when I get the robo-call from the Alabama School for the Blind asking me to buy light bulbs, a visit from a young man trying to sell “miracle cleaner” or when I see the commercials about the poor starving kids in Ethiopia, I sometimes don’t want to participate. 

I guess it is natural; we turn away from what makes us uncomfortable.  Maybe the school needs the money, and the young man looked poor and probably needs funds to live and of course the kids appear very forlorn as they stare into the camera begging me for a check so they can have food.

But I get off the phone quickly, I may not even go to the front door and I switch channels to local news.

Bill Hybels says not to do that with your “holy discontent;” he says move toward it, get close to it, and expose yourself to the need that is bugging you.  If you are feeling discomfort, that’s ok.  That discomfort may just spur you on to action.

I am going to give you a personal example.  It is born from recent months, the months following an accident where I broke my pelvis.   I should not dwell on this period of my life because it was pretty difficult.   I hurt a lot.  I had limited mobility.  I had to sit most of the day for three months.  

Why do I return to it for my example?  This period in my life taught me a lot.   I don’t want to forget my lessons even though my wife thinks I dwell on this time too much.  She wants me to move on.

Following my accident, of course I could not drive.   The doctor would not allow it.  My wife was my chauffer. 

Many times she would drive me by the corner of Lover’s Lane and Lafayette Road.  I would turn my head to the corner and see a horrible collection of trash.  You know the usual stuff, paper, cups, beer and whisky bottles but even the road signage was bent downward, which added to the ugliness of the corner.   I don’t know who owns the property but it looked awful.   It was not my property to clean up but it bothered me.  For three months I drove by the corner and I could do nothing about it.  I could not even get out of my car except with the aid of a walker.

I knew I had to do something about this and I pledged I would after I recovered enough to be able to walk.  It was a simple example of my “holy discontent.” 

When I recovered and was cleared for driving, I drove past this trashy corner a lot.  It was on the way to town from my home.  I began slowing down and looking at the trash every time I went past that corner.  When was I going to clean it up?  

I could not get away from it.  It was there every day.  When I slowed down and really looked at this location, it disgusted me more than ever.

But why do it?   It was not my corner.  I am not sure people would approve of my efforts.

But I was pledged.  I was convicted. 

Finally, I took two large garbage cans to the location and started picking up the area.  The garbage was nasty and there was more in the grass than I could see from the road.  There was a ditch and it was full of pizza boxes, beer cans and bottles.  I was not sure I could do it due to my diminished strength but I took the road warning signs and pushed them straight up so they looked like they were supposed to look.

As I was working, several people drove by and looked at me or rather stared.  I did not worry about them.   I just concentrated on the task at hand.  I filled up the trash cans and headed for a public dumpster.   As I left the area, I looked back and saw that I had done some good.

Was this a significant “holy discontent?”

Not really.  It does not rank up there with devoting a year to being a missionary in Haiti or trying to save the orphan children of Nepal but it was a step forward for me.

I did not turn away from it.  I exposed myself to the need, I got close to the situation and I finally moved toward the area. 

That is what Pastor Hybels says we should do about our “holy discontent;” when we have a conviction to do something, don’t turn away.  Walk toward it.

I have other pledges I have made to myself and I look forward to fulfilling them. 

My wife is right.   I probably dwell on my recent infirmity too much.  

As Pastor Hybels recommends, maybe I need to expand my world and find other areas of “holy discontent?”  They are out there waiting for me to discover them.

I will but I will never forget my corner…a small spot on this earth where I did some good.

And satisfied my “holy discontent.”

I am just going to apologize in advance.  I am going to leave out many people in my list of examples.   There are too many for me to name them all. 

Pastor Hybels speaks about the people at Willow Creek Church who have decided to pitch in to do work for God.  His examples include an airline pilot who has opened his home to high school students on a weekly basis so they can have a comfortable setting for food and fellowship.   He also cooks all the food.

They have a married couple at Willow Creek who have taken the minimally landscaped church and designed and planted flower beds which they maintain.

There is a carpenter who coordinates free handyman service for all the single moms in the church.

A woman who suffered through a horrible divorce has started up a divorce recovery ministry so others won’t have to suffer the way she did. 

There is a dad who did not have a close relationship with his father and he has become a key organizer in Dad/Son and Dad/Daughter retreats at Willow Creek.

Then there is the businessman who made six figure-a-year income but went bankrupt due to out-of-control credit card spending.   He has started a “Good Sense Financial Ministry” to help young married couples avoid the pit he fell in.

These examples are all excellent and they may stimulate ideas about how Christians may do God’s work in the church but let me add a few examples from my church [St. John United Methodist].   I am not able to list all the volunteers and these examples are in no particular order. 

We have a wonderful husband and wife team who have been cooking in our kitchen for years.   They plan, shop for and prepare our Wonderful Wednesday meals.   I have worked closely with them over the years and I know first-hand how much work they do behind the scenes.   Too often people show up, pay their five dollars and don’t consider how hard it is to cook for 100 people each week.

We have people who are dedicated to Boy Scout, Cub Scout and Girl Scout work.  They value the lessons learned by children in this context and they have organized, coordinated and helped sponsor a growing numbers of children in scouting at our church.   This is time-consuming volunteer work.

There have been for many years a group of men called Levites who work to keep our church functioning.  From plumbing to fixing a leak in the roof, to mowing the huge yard and cleaning gutters, they have saved our church thousands and thousands of dollars.  Their work is done free of charge.

We have a man who very quietly checks on our church members every day.  He takes it upon himself to call and visit people when he can.   He prays with them.  He leads an intercessory prayer team and when you hear his prayers, you realize he is plugged into all the people in our church who have needs.

We have a man who has a gift for landscaping.  Our campus is big and it has lots of flowers, shrubs and trees.   The job is too big for one person but we have one man who is always at church working away at making the ground looks better.  Sometimes he has help but often he is there by himself.

We have a woman who has never been a professional florist; actually she has spent her life as a school teacher and a substitute school teacher.  Yet every week she shows up at church with flowers from her garden and roadside flowers.  She places the most beautiful and creative flower arrangements all around our church.  She makes every Sunday a little prettier.

Our United Methodist Men have builders and they will assist a debilitated church member with an entrance ramp to a home for minimal materials cost.   Their labor is free.  They have built ramps for people who are permanently homebound and people who are recovering from surgery.   It is too hard to move to a new home in the event of a disease or injury.   It can assist in the healing process to be in one’s own home.   You don’t have to be uncomfortable learning how to operate in a new environment. 

I know how it feels to receive this love from my church family.  A UMM church member built ramps in my home when I broke my pelvis in October of 2016.  I needed him and he came at my time of need.

When Pastor Hybels gives his examples he is trying to encourage people to do what they can to serve others.  Maybe some members of my church already understand his message.  I suspect that there are churches all over my community with similar examples.

The main idea is to take the non-volunteer, the attender of Sunday worship and get them to see that there is work to do at church; work that they are suited for.   It does not matter what the work is; it just needs to be done.   Some can do big things and others can do small things.   It does not matter as long as the work is being done for the glory of God.  As the Nike slogan goes “just do it.”

A much less popular but compelling statement comes from Martin Luther King Jr., a man who accomplished a lot in his life.  He wanted everyone involved and he wrote the following words that can inspire us all:  “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

No matter your skills and abilities, God needs you to do His work.

“Just Do It”