It's That Simple

I have to admit that I spend a large portion of my time obsessing about my job. Why do I do that? Sigh…well, I can give you a variety of seemingly “good” reasons, chief among all: I care about my students. Deep inside, though…what I care most about is other people’s opinions. I want to impress my co-workers and supervisors with my highly polished skills as an educator and a scholar. That’s it. My reasons are purely selfish. I’m killing myself at this job so I can have an impressive record. Recently, however, I was crushed. My ego was destroyed when, after spending years shaping up what I thought was an awe-inspiring portfolio to submit for promotion, I was denied. I was rejected for this promotion I thought was in the bag. And it was a most humiliating refusal…one that is causing me to reconsider everything I’ve done at my current institution for the last 17 years.

My pride was hurt…because it was my pride what was leading my efforts all along.

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36)

A couple of days ago, while speaking to one of my colleagues who is going through some challenging, personal situations, made worse by the natural disasters currently going on around her country of birth, some words came out of my mouth that surprised me. As she was expressing her concern about her family issues and how she might have to fly back home at a moment’s notice, I said to her: “of all the things of this world, this job is the least important, yet…this is where we spend most of our time and energy. That’s not right.”

I don’t know where that came from. I don’t even think those words were truly for her alone. I think they were mostly for me. I needed to verbalize that thought aloud so I could really hear it myself. The choice of giving the best of me to a job risk drawing me away from what matters most: following Him. I’m still as confused as the people who followed Jesus around just because of His miracles. I still don’t get it. I need to be reminded over and over again, by Jesus Himself, what the work of God is…the good news is that He left it written for us to read today:

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6: 28-29

That’s it. It is that simple. No amount of money, respect, possessions, worldly success and recognition will ever mean anything. In the end, the only thing that matters is whether or not we believed Jesus is Our Lord and Savior…Our Redeemer…Our Sustainer. That’s it. It’s that simple.

I am seriously re-thinking the way I want to spend my remaining years at this job. I don’t want to waste my time on things that might mean everything from the material point of view, but that are completely irrelevant from the eternal perspective. I pray the Holy Spirit guides me and guides all of us who are presently at crossroads of this nature. That we may be inspired to make the right choice in the path that leads us to Christ. In His Precious Name, I pray.  Amen!

Good Wins!

I read in a devotional a couple of days ago that humans hunger for hope and justice…basically, most of us want the good guys to win. That is probably why superhero movies that don’t have a clear conclusion in which the villains are defeated by the heroes who make them face their evil crimes and punish them, are not satisfying. We don’t mind our heroes showing vulnerability and getting beat up a bit (or a bunch). BUT, we need them to win. At least I do. I have watched my fair share of superhero movies with my sons and I tell you, I have truly enjoyed most of them…until I watched one, recently, that I found extremely disappointing. The basis for my disappointment was that the hero had to adopt evil ways to defeat evil. Goodness was not enough. He had to invoke darkness to conquer darkness. I mean, really? Does that even make any sense? Haven’t they heard? A house divided cannot stand! We have to look no further than Matthew chapter 12 to understand,

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12: 24-28)

It is Light what overpowers darkness. Darkness is only made deeper if attacked by darkness.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 5

The problem is the world’s love of darkness,

And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19

The good news is that the story is not over yet. Not unlike our feelings after watching a movie in which the good had to turn evil to “defeat” evil, as Christians we may feel discouraged and disappointed at the way the world is going. Evil does seem to be triumphant so much so that even superheroes are turning bad…but the curtain hasn’t closed…the stage is still wide open…the Greatest Hero is yet to make His triumphal appearance. As we wait…our job is to continue to hope and to hold on to the promise of His return. Our job is to remember that He is Sovereign and that He is in control. Our job is to know that His Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven and that His Will is Perfect, not corrupt and corroded like the will of our human heroes.

Let’s wait in assurance that the Goodness of God has already overcome! In the Precious Name of Our Divine Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. Amen!