In taking a journey or trip, it’s important to have a good attitude. To maximize our enjoyment in our travels, we need to have a proper mindset. If, as a kid, we thought going to Disney World would be really neat, we need to have that viewpoint when we travel in our life journey with the Creator of the universe! I mean seriously, think about it–how cool is that?
PERSPECTIVE is our 6th P and the last of the three associated with Love your neighbor. We are to trust God and know that He is sovereign and has the best possible plan for all of mankind of which our individual journey is a part. The goal is to create synergy with everyone’s journey–to collectively be the best we can be.
The first P of this series of loving thy neighbor was Process–we do everything in love. Love is the tactical action that guides us each and every day. The next P was Proclamation which is our strategic objective. If we love our neighbor, then we want the best for them, and there is nothing better for them than to receive eternal life and walk in the ways of Christ. We meet them where they are and share the Gospel message. Now, our Perspective is how do we make this journey together as the body of Christ to be the most effective and receive the most fulfillment?
Let’s ponder this for a moment. In our life’s journey, accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior is an individual act. No one can do that for us. It is the most important decision you or I will ever make. However, following Christ is a team sport. We are God’s children, the Church is the body, and Christ is the head to use a common analogy. As the body, we must work together in love and harmony to accomplish our mission and purpose–we’re on Team Jesus to glorify God!
The famous verse(s) Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
Although this was spoken to the nation of Israel, it applies to us individually and to us as the universal Church as well. God is sovereign, not even a lowly sparrow falls outside His will, He has a plan for each of us, He has a overall plan for the entire world, and His plan has our very best interests in mind. If this is not true, then everything descends into chaos. If it is true, then trust God!
There are two major points to consider. A body that does not work together is dysfunctional. Imagine if our heart pumped blood but it did not make it to our organs. Imagine if our eyes sent images to our brain, but the brain did not receive them. In the first case, we would die, and in the second we would be blind. The human body is a complex set of systems—nervous system, digestive system, circulatory system, etc. that must work together to be healthy and functioning properly. We as the body of Christ need to do so as well.
This is an area where the Church has much room for improvement. Of all the people of the world less than a third profess to be Christians and we are fairly confident that we do not have a 100% batting average. There are some who are Christians in name only (refer to Matt 7:21). Given that, we spend an inordinate amount of fairly useless time declaring our differences among the various denominations. Granted, we do not want to preach heresy as a little leaven can ruin the entire dough. However, that is not what I am addressing. Though we can debate whether Jesus changed the water into wine or grape juice, whether women should or should not be senior pastors, or whether you, dear reader, was predestined from before the foundation of the world to be reading this blog–those are all interesting topics, but the greatest point of all is that Jesus is Lord! That is what we need to focus upon and that is why we (the Church) need to come together in unity to be a bright light for Him! We’re already outnumbered by more than two-to-one so why this internal bickering? It’s a target-rich environment out there–the world is full of lost people and we’re going to argue about secondary doctrine? It is at best an inefficient use of time and resources. It is far better to rally behind the Lordship of Christ and be a united force for good in the world. God greatly desires for His children to get along and to thrive.
The second point is understanding that as a team player our way of measuring our success is not to compare ourselves with one another, but compare our actual self with our ideal self. Think of a football team. The left tackle doesn’t compare his job or his stats with the quarterback. His job is to block and how well he blocks determines if he is successful. What the quarterback does is his responsibility. Likewise, we work out our salvation with fear and trembling…meaning we examine ourselves in the context of our specific mission, purpose, and calling from God. Each of us is to measure how well we are doing as compared to our best. Yes, we work with others, we love and support them, we function as a team, but we measure our individual success by our unique calling. The ultimate goal is that the team performs better than the sum of its parts. By working together our collective light shines brighter.
The final takeaway is the confidence and peace that passes all understanding that a proper Perspective we will give us.
A quick story: My wife Ellen and I went on a mission trip to Guatemala during the week of Thanksgiving a few years ago. There, we and others built a house for a family. The house, which was a single-room cinderblock building which would be no more than a glorified storage shed for most Americans, was an amazing blessing for this family. (We Americans need to be more thankful in the great blessings God has bestowed on our nation!) At the end of the week, the family was given the keys to the home and served us a meal inside. To see the joy in this family and especially the children was humbling. There was not a dry eye in the room.
During that weekend, there was the big rivalry football game between Georgia and Georgia Tech. We could not watch it, but were getting texts from people back in the states on the status of the game. Georgia Tech, my alma mater, was behind the whole game, but came back to win in the end. When Ellen and I got back home, we made some appetizers, poured ourselves a tasty beverage, and put on the video of the game. During the game, Georgia would score, yet I was not worried. The refs made a bad call, but I did not yell at the TV. It was the most peaceful football game I have ever watched. Why? Because I knew how it ended. It ended in victory!
God is sovereign. He is in control. He loves us with an everlasting love! No matter what we must endure on planet earth and many of us will have some very difficult circumstances to venture through, God is in control. He is right there beside you. He will never leave you or forsake you. And we have the confidence–that blessed assurance that we will win in the end! Amen!
