A Man and His Mission

I have been doing a great deal of musing about in my mind over the last few weeks. I have wanted to write about these things but honestly what I have been contemplating may not be suitable for most audiences. So, it’s with a great deal of trepidation that I squeeze out these thoughts that are bouncing around in my head.

On the eve of the King celebration services I decided to take my son age 11 to a service being held at a church here in the Kansas City area. I thought it would be good for my son to hear the sights and sounds surrounding a man who was so mightily used of God. No thinking person can deny that Dr King was a man on a mission and as history has shown us, a person and their mission will often mean death for them. The speeches at the celebration were all impressive. There was a big push for education and fair treatment of all people etc. But I have to be honest I left the celebration services somewhat uninspired or perhaps a better word to describe my feelings would be indifferent.

I have been accused of being a bit unconventional in my thinking, so with that I’ll just say what I’m thinking and pray that what I communicate encourages and motivates you If you’ve taken the time to read this far.

First let me deal with why I was so uninspired at the King celebration before I go any further. I got the sense that the leaders and politicians at the celebration I attended are still ridding the wave that Dr. King rode 40 plus years ago. They were still talking about equality for blacks, fair education for blacks, equality in the work force etc. These are all topics that will have to be discussed as long as you have different people with different back grounds who are attempting to coexist in the same world. So I realize that there has to be a voice in the public sector that reminds all people black, white and yellow that we should be treating one another with fairness, respect and with Godly principals.

So, I’m not saying that the topics discussed were inappropriate or even wrong.

What I am saying is this, folks... Find your own mission!! A mission or purpose that burns inside of you that if an obstacle gets in the way you will face it no matter the cost. You ever get the sense that folks support ideas as long as the idea or cause cost them nothing. I wonder how many people would have attended the King celebration gathering if the KKK was posted up around the community daring them go inside. However Dr. Martin Luther King not only would have gone inside but he would have also organized the meeting to begin with. That’s a man with a mission and also a man who is worth following.

I want to get this truth down in your spirit so let me give you some bible to help jump start your heart. Check out Proverbs29:18 “Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy [is] he.” Ok, so the vision in the text means the same as mission or purpose. When you get a vision from God that means that you have received specific direction from God as to which way you should go. So then if you finish the second half of the passage above, then you can read that a man of God gets his vision or purpose from the oracles of God’s written word. I want to encourage you by saying this if God has given to you a clear word from scripture follow his word at all cost. Even if following God’s word cost you your comfort and yes even if following him cost you your life. Happy is the man who makes a choice to follow God’s vision for his/her life no matter what.

The Blessing of Imperfection

Ok, I have needed to get some stuff of my chest and this is not going to be easy for me but okay here goes. My left foot is slightly larger than my right foot. If you’ve ever noticed my left ankle, there are times I have to put on an extra sock just to keep my foot from sliding inside my shoe. I’m now in the forty and over club and five years ago I went to the doctor and I learned that I have imperfect vision in my right eye. The thing is, I have really good vision in my left eye but in my right eye, let’s just say, I have some major problems. The optometrist informed me that my depth perception should be really horrible considering the degree of differences between each eye. Why mention all of this?

I mention these imperfections because sometimes I get the sense that we expect everyone else to be perfect even though we know full well that we ourselves have so many different imperfections.

I think it’s time for a definition here. To be imperfect means the same as flawed; defective, deficient, damaged, faulty, unsatisfactory. Are you starting to get the picture that we all are insufficient and inadequate in some area or another? Each and every person who has ever walked on this planet is riddled with so many different imperfections. Some of our imperfections are physical and some of our imperfections are imbedded into our character. There is no denying, we are all messed up people.

However, I see these imperfections as a blessing in disguise. I have always been a glass half full kind of guy. Let me explain what I mean by that. Have you ever read the story in scripture where Jesus heals a man who was born blind? Check out John9:1-3 “And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth.2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” The disciples here are like us. They see a man who has a physical imperfection and their knee jerk reaction is to think someone did something wrong.

Jesus sets them straight of course and he tells his disciples that this man blindness happened so that the work of God can be made visible. In other words, this man’s imperfect vision became a blessing for him because he had the chance to experience a super natural healing at the hand of Jesus the Son of God.

However, let’s see how the religious elite viewed Jesus healing of this blind man. Check out John 9:13-14&16 “They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.14And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eye…16Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.” Unfortunately, we make the same mistake the Pharisees made this day in regard to the blind man. We become so fixated on the imperfections surrounding the event that we become blinded to the miracles that God is working-out right out in front of us. These men missed the miraculous, healing of the blind man, all because it took place on the sabbath. Is that crazy or what? You look at that and you think they are so silly. But don’t we do the same thing?

A man starts a church and we say he has to go and get a degree in theology first. Never mind the fact that people are being added to the kingdom because of how he is being used. A man commits to the mission field and he is talked about because he puts his family in harms way. Never mind the many lives that may be impacted because of the danger that his family faces each day. A bunch of college students decide to feed the homeless and we accuse them of being less than a church because they are not connected to a church organization. Never mind the fact that the love of Christ is being shared through the willingness of these young people. They are not just talking about doing something but these young people are actually sharing Christ with a willing heart. A man preaches on the corner and we say he’s wasting his time, no one listens that way any more. Never mind the fact that the truth of the Gospel is being shared and God’s word promises that his truth will never return void. A man walks away from everything he owns to serve the Lord and we call that being irresponsible. Never mind the fact that so many lives are being impacted because of a conscience decision to not accumulate stuff but to accumulate experiences.

I thank God for the truth of scripture. Jesus sums up for us the way we should view imperfections inwardly and outwardly at the end of John9:41 “Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” Jesus is saying here that if we understood that we all have plenty of sin and imperfection to go around. And at the point we understand this truth we will be able to grow and mature as we should. But if we fail to see our own problems and imperfections we will always remain immature and controlled by our sin. Now then go and start thanking God for all those imperfections that he blessed you with because truly there’s a blessing in all of our imperfections.