Solving our junk.
Dec 2nd by Jon- Tagged in:
- god,
- serious wednesdays
If I ever become a high paid executive, I already know the first two things I am going to do:
1. Purchase nicer belts.
2. Say the phrase, “I’ve got an open door policy.”
The first one is obvious. Everyone knows the power belt is the new power tie. Nothing says, “I’m all about commerce and synergizing our optimized customer touch points” like a gleamtacular belt. Right now, because I’m just a lowly copywriter, I only own one belt. It’s reversible. One side is brown fake leather and the other side is black.
The second part of my master plan is murky. There are a handful of phrases every executive I’ve ever met says at least once. One is “I’ve got an open door policy.” Executives are always talking about open doors, but to tell you the truth, I can’t imagine ever juking around a personal assistant, plopping myself down in the CEO’s office and saying, “Hey, I saw that your door was open. How things going on your end? This new timesheet system is killing me.”
I just don’t see that happening, but “I’ve got an open door policy” is still a fun phrase and it’s kind of the opposite of one my old boss used to say. When people would bring him problems, he would say, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions to problems.” It’s the corporate version of when you’d ask your 3rd grade teacher how to spell a word and she’d tell you to look it up in the dictionary instead. (Remember those things? They were made of paper and heavy? Wow. Good times, good times.) …
I think the goal of telling people to come with solutions instead of problems is to create a culture where people fix their own problems. Where they sit at their desks, solve a situation and then come to the boss for approval of said solution. The hope is that you’ll create an empowered work force that is constantly fixing problems without needing the direct input of the boss. I’m cool with that, but that idea, that mentality, gets a little weird when we try to attach it to God.
Maybe you don’t do that. Maybe you’ve never viewed God through the lens of a boss, or your dad, or a college professor or a million other filters we sometimes run God through. But I have and I’ve definitely imagined Him as some sort of cosmic boss.
I’ve definitely thought to myself, much like an employer with a “bring me only solutions” mandate, I better come to God prepared with a plan on how to get out of the mess I’m in. I’ve made my bed, I better lie in it. I got into this, I’ve got to be the one to get out of it. Maybe if I show a lot of effort in trying to fix this situation, that will make Him faster to forgive me? The only problem with that idea is that God doesn’t work that way.
God doesn’t ask for our fixes. He is the fix.
God doesn’t want our solutions. He is the solution.
God doesn’t need our plans. He is the plan.
My favorite example of this idea is in the Prodigal Son story. One of the things I love, that we talked about before, is the sentence the prodigal son is never allowed to say when he returns to the father after wasting his inheritance on wild living. (If you want to take a breath after that run on sentence, feel free.)
Before he came home, the son did a little brainstorming in the pig pen he called home. Here is what Luke 15:18-19 shows the son thinking out loud:
“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’”
Great plan. He wasn’t returning home with just a problem, he was returning home with a solution to a problem. “Make me like one of your hired men.” I blew the whole son/inheritance thing, that’s broken. What if we fixed it by me being like a hired man?
That was his plan. And it was solid. But when he returns and the father runs to him, embracing him the second he appears on the horizon, what happens? He’s not allowed to say, “Make me like one of your hired men.” He gets the rest out. The repentance, the confession, that spills out of him like marbles down stairs but “make me like one of your hired men” doesn’t.
I think one of the reasons is that the father didn’t need the solution. A well put together plan wasn’t the price of admission to his arms. Maybe, despite what I think sometimes, God cares more about souls than He does solutions.
I lose the truth of this idea when I fall. I think I have to fix things or string together at least three months of holy living before I come to God. I’ve got to come to him with a solution, but that’s not true. That’s not true.
God doesn’t want your solution.
He just wants you.
Comments
God doesn’t want your solution.
He just wants you.
How absolutely freeing, and overwhelming in the same regard. Sometimes I am shocked by the truth in that statement. I'm awed by the grace, the forgiveness, and sometimes it seems a little too good to be true, like getting exactly what you want for your birthday, or hitting all green lights on your way to work. Something has to go wrong. The other shoe has to drop sometime. Yeah, I got what I wanted for my birthday, but along with that comes being guilted about "insert whatever here". Yeah, I hit all green lights on my way to work, but I got in late because my tire blew out. Yeah, God wants me, not my solutions, but He's got to have something else up His sleeve. And it takes every ounce of faith I have in my bones to remember that is so not true. Lovely post. Serious Wednesdays, gotta love 'em.
Truth I am trying hard to believe. Thank you for helping me try.
It is a difficult concept the wrap your head around. I've heard the phrase "God helps those who help themselves." Which incidentally is NOT a scripture – it was Benjamin Franklin, despite the countless times I've heard people attribute it to the bible, but I digress…
I love the way Brennan Manning puts it:
"…And honest, the god of so many Christians I meet is a god who is too small for me. Because he is not the God of the Word, he is not the God revealed by it in Jesus Christ who this moment comes right to your seat and says, "I have a word for you. I know your whole life story. I know every skeleton in your closet. I know every moment of sin, shame, dishonesty and degraded love that has darkened your past. Right now I know your shallow faith, your feeble prayer life, your inconsistent discipleship. And my word is this: I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are, and not as you should be. Because you're never going to be as you should be."
When I was growing up, I developed this idea of God as school principal: make sure you're not doing anything stupid when you see him coming, and abandon hope if you're ever called in his office. And looking back over the way I've been dealing with some problems over the last few weeks, I apparently never let that idea totally go. Thanks for the shake-up.
I haven't read enough Brennan Manning. Every time someone quotes him I am reminded of that. I love his stuff and really should read more.
Principal, that's a good one. I hadn't thought about that, but I could see how easy it would be to do that.
Nice post, Jon. One of your best, imo.
That quote is actually from a video recording at Woodcrest
[youtube pQi_IDV2bgM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQi_IDV2bgM youtube]
Jon, the entire point of this post is exactly why it annoys me so much when people say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”. The verse they take that from is talking about temptation and sin. God routinely, in all facets of my life with two teenaged sons at home and one in the Corps, gives me more than I can handle. He loves it when I come to Him and say, I can’t do it by myself.
Serious Wednesday: wonderful.
Love this post – and love this comment! God DOES give us more than we can handle – because he wants us to run into His arms. Such good stuff.
And the belt thing – totally made me snort coffee through my nose. So, thanks.
Wow! I really needed this comment. I love how God uses this site in so many ways!
Wow… I am blown away by this, a completely new concept for me. I've been trying to "handle" too many things.
Wow.
I totally agree…..God gives you more than you can handle, that way you have the opportunity to come to Him for help. Something I have learned over the past year is to go to Him and ASK for the help. In the past I have been more likely to try to fix it on my own first…yeah…that doesn't really work!
That was a wonderful post to read, Jon. Thank you.
That's the thing, isn't it? The Almighty Otherness of God. He's not like a boss.
The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith. Salvation comes to us the moment we have faith. We have faith when we say to God 'I've messed up'. God counts faith as righteousness, and so the righteous person goes to God with their repentance. Not with their solutions.
It's always interesting to explore how God isn't like us. Humbling and glorious.
Have a good day, Jon
x
I love that quote. I grew up in a church that made me feel like God would send me straight to hell if I didn't do my daily Bible reading or if I sang with an instrument at church. It's still sometimes hard to wrap my mind around the grace thing when I'm going through something in my adult life.
I am wearing my business belt that is reversible with brown, fake leather on one side and black on the other. Today it's black.
Great post! Love serious Wednesdays.
Very good Serious Wednesday. But I'm thankful that you solved something for me.
I have a third grader, whom I homeschool. I'm tired of spelling words for him and wondered when I could make him look them up himself in the dictionary. I couldn't remember how old I was. Now I know. He's getting a big, fat Webster's in his stocking. FREEDOM for me!
Just make sure you get him a speller's dictionary. It's really hard to look words up when you don't know how to spell them.
[...] When Jon Acuff at SCL turns his talent toward Serious Wednesdays, you should check it out. [...]
It's sad, but bosses do tend to throw things back at their workers, wanting us to solve all the problems while they take the credit and the pay for it. Why have a boss in the workplace? That's why I keep trying to remind myself that my earthly boss isn't my REAL boss. And I'm so thankful!!!!
I love that God is the solution and that He really does have an open door policy. The world's buzz words are really about power and self, but God's buzz words are about grace and love.
This is a lesson I keep working on because I have such a messed up view of forgiveness. I feel like I owe God for His grace so I work to make up for it. Instead of just letting Him make me His child I try to make myself as a hired man. It's the least I could do for what He's done for me right?
Nick, I think I do the same thing – I keep thinking that I have to be "gooder" because God loves me.
Man, this post and all of these comments are way powerful for me today.
I believe one can begin to understand (and I do mean begin…not fully by any meaning of the word) the love of God when they have a child. On my four year old daughter's worst day, full of disobedience etc., I can watch her sleep and have the same love I had on her best. I strive to let God love me that way.
So good.
Jon, I can be your admin assistant. We can have conversations over the intercom system. Or Google Wave, if you're riding the Wave.
The Prodigal Son is one of the stories I have the most trouble with. I always feel bad for the older brother. I guess it comes from the mentality of coming to your boss with the answer and being valued for being perfect. Even though I know it's by grace we are saved, I still think, but wait the older brother did what he was supposed to, yeah we can forgive the little brother but can't we at least ground him or something so he learns his lesson? I'm hoping one day that little nagging voice will go away and I'll completely accept and be grateful for the grace demonstrated to the younger brother.
On a side note, on the show Bones, one of the characters always wears this red belt buckle that says "cocky" on it and has a picture of a rooster. I love it!
Tim Keller also wrote a book called "Prodigal God" that I recommend.
I second Rebecca C. After reading Prodigal God and doing the group study, I have a greater understanding of the elder brother position. Being an eldest sibling, I too, used to think he got the short end of the stick. Tim Keller sheds some light that now has me thinking otherwise. It's a GREAT read and also a very quick one.
IMO your Wednesday posts are the highlight of the week. This one is no exception! Preach it, Brother.
Seems like Serious Wednesdays often hit me right where I need it. Thanks for an awesome post.
And…. I am grateful God is not like my boss. If He were, God would never be around because He would either be sick or "working from home." I would get two reviews on my performance per year and no clear idea of what I should aiming for. Buh.
If you're a reader, The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen is a great exploration of this parable. He attacks it from all points of view, including that of the older brother.
Awesome stuff. I love the parable of the prodigal son (and I second elizabeths recomendation of Nouwens book on it) probably mostly cos I can see a lot of myself in it. Sometimes im the prodigal son, sometimes the brother who stays at home. Sometimes i feel like the fattened calf, but thats not a spiritual thing, I sometimes eat too much!
But I really love your angle on it – the lad came with his solutions, but his Father had much better plans… Amazing truth. Awesome.
I talk with so many people who aren't ready to come to God because they haven't cleaned up their life yet. It saddens me. Come to God and allow HIM to clean it up. You will never be able to clean up your life to be good enough for God. That's why Jesus poured out his blood, because we couldn't do it. But he can!
Thanks for this reminder!
I have to laugh because as a homeschooler I am always saying things like "I'm not your human calculator," and "You can figure that out." Because I often view God through the parenting lense, it is easy to come to the "fix it first" conclusion. Thanks for the reminder!
But.. how can He want me? I mean, I'm the same person who prays about something, then I'll turn right around and try to help Him fix it for me the way that I think He should; after all, if I don't help Him, who knows what crazy thing He'll do??! I'm the one who constantly worries even after I've prayed about something because the concept of trusting Him totally completely freaks me out – imagine that: me, not being in control. Are you sure He doesn't want me to do better and be better first – more consistent, more loving, more forgiving, less likely to bear a grudge – before He really, truly loves me and really, truly wants me? Are you sure??
ITA!
I try to trick God all the time in giving Him the problem followed by what I want the solution to be.
It never works.
YES!
What a great analogy. I have a bad habit of seeing God as some kind of powerful human being who's going to be pleased with me or disappointed in me for the same reasons my dad or a boss might. This mentality causes all kinds of problems.
And what you're saying about problem solving, in general, is so true. We spend so much energy trying to fix things, but in reality, when we go to someone who loves us with our problems, we don't necessarily expect them to fix everything. We just want them to be with us and listen.
I've heard a lot of preachers use the "If the president were to ask you do something, wouldn't you do it with all your might / wouldn't you be honored to accept this mission? How much more with God?" It's a tired analogy, but also an interesting one, because it's hard to imagine plopping down in the Oval Office to chat with President Obama, or as you say, doing a fly-by of your CEO's office.
Your perspective on coming to God for a solution rather than with a solution is a great one. What I find even more amazing is the access itself:
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb 4:14-16).
It's one thing to try to juke the assistant to get in the door; it's another (beautiful) thing entirely to come to the throne room with great confidence!
Sometimes I read this blog and just want to pop myself on the forehead – you know that V-8 thing. We have been having an ongoing debate at our house for some months as to what the future holds. Now we both know that God holds our future as well as our today. So why do we spend so much energy and time trying to figure it all out?? So today I am running to God with jobs, incomes, living arrangements, children, and the list goes on and on. Thanks Jon for being available to remind of those truths I tend to ignore at times.
And the heaven's opened and the angels sang "HALLELUJAH"!
Thanks for making the truth about God fun to read. This is one I lived by up 'til a few years ago. Man o man. What an awesome God we serve!
Woo hoo!
Awesome post! My wife pointed me to your site and I find it very insightful. The way God uses you serves as an inspiration for me to look to God as the solution; the fix; the EVERYTHING we need in this life! I praise God for this ministry!
"God doesn’t ask for our fixes. He is the fix.
God doesn’t want our solutions. He is the solution.
God doesn’t need our plans. He is the plan."
I don't think you can bring pure truth any simpler than that.
preach it, jon!
I think I have that same belt. It's actually pretty awesome.
This one made me seriously tear up…not so much the "gleamtacular belt" part, but for the words the prodigal son wasn't able to say to his father. THANKS for this one – wonderful!
What??? You wouldn't get a white belt? You could totally rock a white belt. Or maybe that's what "gleamtacular" means.
So…we just found out this morning about a big financial challenge we'll be facing in January, and since then I've been coming up with solutions for God. Thanks for the well-timed reminder that He is the solution.
He does need to get a white belt if he can. He did make the metro post, and needs to add points to himself, even if he is not a worship leader.
So true!!! I'm such an independent person, I can't stand not being in charge or in control. Love it, keep up the good work Jon!
And here's for a bit of shameless self promotion. Your blogs inspired me, so I mentioned you in my own blog today about "Prayer Retweets" haha – http://wp.me/pEjJA-1F
Fantastic post. I loved "A well put together plan wasn’t the price of admission to his arms."
So many times I try to "fix" myself and my issues on my own thinking I'd better come to God with more than just repentance. Too bad that just wastes precious time in His arms.
I love coming to your site and laughing! Although this still did make me laught, it was so beautiful and full of God's truth. Thank you!
How did you know I needed to hear that?
Well done, my friend.
God has an open door policy. Let's all take advantage of it.
No doubt I see God like the boss in the Dilbert cartoon. "Why is the solution to the problem always the LAST thing you try?"
As for the belt. Hubs has been wearing the same braided leather belt since…the 90s, and one day his pals were trying to convince him to upgrade to a newer model. My hubs said, "If the only thing standing between me and coolness was this belt–I'd change it." He proudly wears that belt (and pleated pants and Dr. Sholls shoes) to this day. *smile*
I hate having to trust another with any tasks given me. I will forever do all that I can or just give up on the whole thing. I do not even like doing that, but I cannot easily bring myself to trust another unless I am at my end. When the happy-go-lucky music fades in my life, then I still try to do it all by myself without any help. I do not like doing that, but I do anyways.
Who is with me in this, refusing to trust another, let alone God?
I have one of those belts. It rocks!
That last line was absolutely perfect. Thank you.
“It’s the corporate version of when you’d ask your 3rd grade teacher how to spell a word and she’d tell you to look it up in the dictionary instead.”
That’s exactly what I say to my third graders. They hate it. I love it.