Unconditional Love

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
                       (Romans 12:18-21)

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We seem to possess a very superficial and even flippant regard for the word love in our society:
"I love pizza."
"Don't you just love it when she says things like that?"
"They have been dating for six months now. It must be love!"

Perhaps because of this, you will occasionally hear people distinguish these sorts of "love" from unconditional love, which means that I care about the happiness of another person irrespective of their behaviors and without any thought for what might be in it for me. Of course, the classic example of this is God's love for humankind.

I bring this up because so many of us strive to serve others -- to function as servant leaders. But to possess a true heart of service seems to require that I care about the happiness of another person without any thought for what might be in it for me. In other words, to possess a true heart of service entails that I harbor unconditional love for all those around me. And that can be a hard row to hoe for many reasons. Chief among them is that some people present themselves in ways that make them very hard to love! And, as any leader likely has experienced, some of these folks you serve may even seem to view you -- for whatever reason -- as their sworn enemy and are seemingly on a mission to damage and destroy you in any fashion that they can.

Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity well knew the challenges of daily bearing a heart of unconditional love to the world with all its warts, rough edges, and hostility. The words below -- sometimes referred to as "Do It Anyway" -- are generally attributed to Mother Teresa. As was true for her and for us, they beautifully articulate the challenges of daily serving all those who we encounter, unconditionally, in ways consistent with how Romans 12 calls us to lead our lives.

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway."

In closing and in a similar vein, iconic musician Stevie Wonder -- physically blind but possessing a vision for how to justly live that far exceeds most of us -- often bids farewell to his audiences through a convicting message: "Use your heart to love somebody.  And if it is big enough, use your heart to love everybody!" This is big work indeed -- especially if we are to love everyone, unconditionally!! But this is our calling. This is our charge. This is how we are to serve. Romans 12 makes this abundantly clear.
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Dear Lord,
Thank You for the opportunity to serve my Brothers and Sisters in all their forms around me. Please help me to acknowledge that, in the role of servant leader, You have provided me a positional hammer that I can use either as a tool to build people up or or as a weapon to tear them down.  How I use that tool is up to me, but Your blueprint for me is clear. May You always tend to my heart, enlarging its capacity to daily live the unconditional love that You model so amazingly for me and for all of Your creation.
In Christ's name, I pray.
Amen.

Service

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." 
1 Peter 4:10

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Children are often peppered with "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Looking back, a couple of the more amusing replies from a much younger version of me were “professional athlete” and “Broadway star.” How about for you?

This simple, common question, reinforced in many different times and ways by our culture over the years, can cause many people later in life to erroneously and unwittingly conclude that who we are is tied to what occupation we do. For example, our culture would have me believe that who I am -- my identity -- is tightly coupled to whatever prestige or lack thereof comes with someone in my occupation, the social circles into which this identity allows me to congregate, the salary and perks that such a role commands, etc.

But our God makes us know that we each have inherent value, irrespective of our role in this world, because we are His children. Truly, the question deserving of deep reflection for us adults, then, is not "what do you want to be?" or "what do you do" but rather "who do you want to be?" And how can what you do create a better version of who you can be?

For example, if I want to be a better person in some way, there is great truth to the following paradox: "We don't think ourselves into a new way of living. We live ourselves into a new way of thinking." That is, applying myself in ways that manifest my God-given gifts to those around me allows me to become, over time, with God's grace, a better version of me -- what Abraham Lincoln referred to as "the better angels of our nature." 

Of course, Christ -- source for all real power -- made this clear years ago to His disciples, who were jockeying for the "power position" at his right side. Christ's response communicated humbly through word and deed was that He "did not come to be served, but to serve." And that they should follow His lead.

So who are you, the real you underneath all the biographical information about race and gender and occupation and so forth? Who do you want to be? How could you find that better angel in your nature? Gandhi has some simple, yet powerful, advice that he also discovered through the opportunities and trials of his life: "You will find yourself by losing yourself in service to your fellow man, your country, your God.” So you folks in servant leader roles, count your blessings! You already have a running start on discovering the real you underneath it all!

In my most hopeful hours, perhaps in a dream, I can imagine one day asking a young child the age-old question about what or who she wants to someday be. And instead of a normal response, I further envision that this young one, much more wise than her years, might instead reply: "When I grow up, I want to be a kind person, someone using my God-given gifts to deeply serve others."  

So do I, dear one.  So do I.

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Dear Lord,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve Your Children, young and old. May I view service not only as my civic and Christian duty but more so as an ongoing opportunity to live myself into a new way of thinking -- to increasingly walk in Your ways and, thus, become a better and truer version of Your creation in me.  I pray that you plant in my heart a desire to pursue such a path forward and that You would always guide and encourage my steps along the way. In Your name, I pray.
Amen.

Humility

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time."  1 Peter 5:6

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We live in a culture that glorifies, and sometimes seemingly deifies, the individual. Athletes, musicians, celebrities, comedians made larger than life -- often getting caught up in and promoting their own narrative, the hype about them and their greatness. I have arrived. I am the greatest! Pay me homage, World. Show me the money! And then months or years later, we are not surprised to witness the other end of the same narrative, the crash and burn that all too often follows -- as "pride comes before a fall."

But amid this cult of personality, I am regularly encouraged by images, such as the one above, which convey that some very gifted people take cues for their conduct and daily walk from Christ, who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart..." (Matthew 11:29). So while the world may heap praise on them, such "celebrities" go counter-culture: applying their God-given gifts to the situation at hand earnestly and humbly, as Christ modeled through his ministry, to give immediate credit and praise where it is rightly deserved -- to the Source of all gifts.

For folks like us in less conspicuous walks of life, it might be important to remember that being humble does not mean that someone has a poor self-concept; it's just that he/she is not self-centered. For as C.S. Lewis so rightly pointed out, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but of thinking of yourself less." Such an orientation bodes well for leaders, as is made evident by John Wooden, perhaps "the greatest" coach of all time in any sport, who led the UCLA men's basketball program to 10 national championships in 12 years, including an unprecedented 7 in a row. But this humble man's comment about all these accomplishments: "It's amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit." That said, it is important to note that Coach Wooden was no shrinking violet. He expected his players to be aggressive; specifically, he expected that, if errors were to occur, that they should be "errors of commission, rather than ones of omission." In other words, while we are not to be arrogant or reckless in application of our gifts, we should apply them with great vigor of heart and soul.

In his classic book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... And Others Don't, Jim Collins found that a key reason for the rare organization of excellence was that it was led by a Level 5 leader, a person who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will. It took years of dedicated research for Collins to arrive at this important finding. But Christ modeled this over 2000 years ago, and it's what He wants from us.

So how well are you living your gifts with great confidence and vigor, yet with deep humility and gratitude? It's what Jesus would do....
______________________
Dear Lord, 
Thank you for bestowing on me Your gifts, both great and small, that align with Your grand purposes. Help me to know my gifts and to share them freely in ways that bring light to this world. May You always strengthen and guide me to share these boldly yet humbly -- and always with great thanks! In Your name, I pray.
Amen.

Joy

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything."                                      James 1, 1:2-4

It's very easy to be a grump these days.

Hard-line rhetoric and "us-them" positioning seems to rule the day, as if that is what advanced living and thinking is. Our world -- even our little corner of it -- seems unceasingly and increasingly locked in the sort of conflict that revels in problem-finding more than in solution-seeking, putting people in boxes that magnify division more than inform a dialogue. And contributing to all this is an environment that far too often lacks even the most basic level of human civility and common decency. Yes, it's very easy -- and popular -- to be a grump these days.

But, as this passage from James 1 reminds us, we are called to be joyful -- even (and especially) in the face of trials such as these. In fact, we are to joyfully persevere. So let us choose to set a more productive tone. Let us discern how we can serve in this place and with the people in front of us, then do so joyfully and even jovially. In so doing, we persevere in the steps of our Savior, knowing that the ability to live joyfully in a flawed world is a mark of Christian maturity.

More than anything, though, let us choose to not be just another middle-aged grump, who fails to reveal through word, action, and disposition the truth of our almighty God and His joy and peace beyond comprehension.

We set the tone. We have a responsibility to be points of light for a world in desperate need of it. So let us choose to be visible reminders to those around us that, in Christ, the battle is already won, the victory is already secure. Let us choose to go out today to live, persevere, and grow -- WITH others, in joy.

________________

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the gift of this day. Help me to embrace and enjoy whatever comes my way this day, in the only lifetime that I will ever have. Strengthen me so that I may persevere through whatever trials I might face to always be a reflection of Your joy and peace beyond comprehension.

In Your name, I pray.  Amen.

Do Not Be Anxious

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  

Philippians 4:6-7



Did you ever know someone who seems to never be rattled? The sky may be falling in one way or another, yet he/she is as cool as a cucumber? A dear friend and brother like this in my life is Damian. And when asked about it, Damian heads to this passage as foundational to his perspective.

In this verse, the apostle Paul is not mincing words. In fact, he writes in the form of a command: "Do not be anxious about anything" because to do so is to sin.  To do so is to fail to trust that God is big enough to handle it.

Sometimes that's easier said than done. Many of us, in our work and daily living, encounter some absolutely terrible, even horrific, things. Read the paper, watch the news, scan social media, reflect on a "bad week" and all sorts of examples and images will come readily to mind. Clearly, we live in a broken world, where the flaws of man can impinge upon our daily walk and cast our faith asunder if we are not vigilant.

At moments like these, a discipline that people like Damian enlist is to come back to this passage for strength and guidance -- and for "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding." Graced with such peace through prayer, we can then move off of the anxiety-riddled concept that we can somehow figure out, take on, and solve all the world's problems to simply discern, "How can I serve here...in this place...as an agent of light... today?"

With such discipline over time to cast my concerns on God through prayer, then free my mind to trust and serve humbly as His instrument, I allow myself to embrace -- and even enjoy -- whatever comes my way, in the only lifetime that I will ever have.  And over time, through such disciplines and through God's grace that comes from them, my hope is to one day receive a gift provided to the mature Christian: the ability to live joyfully and without worry in a broken world.
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Dear Lord,
I recall the words of the classic hymn: "Oh, what peace we often forfeit; Oh, what needless pain we bear; All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer...."  So today I cast my concerns at your feet. May I build the discipline to regularly bring my concerns through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, to You.  Then help me to let any anxiety go, knowing that, though the waters may rage, I will one day claim my eternal safe harbor in You. In the peace of Christ, I pray. Amen.

Peacefulness

"When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared."             (Matthew 13:26)

"Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up."
             (Galations 6:9)

                                            In a classic segment from the sitcom Seinfeld, the wacky letter carrier Newman works himself into a lather explaining why so many folks in his line of work go postal:  "Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. And there's never a let up. It's relentless! Every day it piles up MORE and MORE and MORE. And you GOTTA get it out! But the more you get it out, the more it KEEPS COMING IN!! . . . ."

People serving others can get similarly overwhelmed to the breaking point at times. Day after day, we toil in dedicated efforts to improve the human condition. But, drawing from the passage of Matthew above, as we survey the fruits of our labor, we can at times feel defeated that somehow new "weeds" have sprouted out amidst the "wheat" that we have been trying to cultivate. The "weeds" just KEEP COMING IN!! Somehow, despite our best efforts, every day brings MORE and MORE and MORE to tend to!!

It is times like these when I have been heartened by the counsel of Galations 6:9: "Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up."  

And key to not "being weary" is to accept that it is our job to simply do the good work the best that we can discern it and then leave the rest up to God. That means we don't spend time separating out the wheat from the weeds, trying to sort out the "good guys" from the "bad guys," or figuring out the tally.  No, we just do our part and leave all the rest, including the ultimate reaping, up to Him. That is the pathway toward peacefulness.

Yes, we clearly live in a fallen world. But thankfully, Christian maturity provides the ability to live joyfully in such a place -- with all its imperfections. So do your work faithfully -- and let the rest go. In so doing, you will be pursuing the pathway of peacefulness, walking in step to the words of the old standard: "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me....."

__________________

Dear Lord,
Thank you for allowing me to be an instrument in Your Mighty Hand. Help me to trust that, amidst my toil, no work done in Your name or for Your purposes is ever inconsequential. I look forward to the grand harvest that YOU will one day gather. In the meantime, grant me Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, to guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

Courage

"You were made . . . for just such a time as this."
 (Esther 4:14)


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"That's just not right!  What's the world coming to these days? Someone should do something about that?"

This passage from Esther reminds us how our location and position in the world is no coincidence.  The Lord has a plan for each of us and has gifted us in unique ways to carry that plan out.  But ultimately, it depends on us to act -- to let our conscience be our guide and act on the courage of our convictions.

Yes, the world has a load of problems -- and then some.  And whether the deepest of the world's problems can fully be "solved" is a topic for further discussion.  But there is no question that leadership can change the color of any situation  and that the "someone" who should do "something" about "that" is likely you. 

So listen to that "still small voice,"  build up your resolve, and dive into the situation at hand, remembering that God doesn't call the prepared; He prepares the called.  Trust that and believe in that -- for you were made for just such a time as this.... 
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Dear Lord,
Thank you for creating me with Your grand designs in mind.  Please help me to discern my place and my purpose in this world.   Then may I act confidently, knowing that, with You, I am never alone.  
For Your glory, Amen.