3 Steps to Becoming the Most (un)Successful Person in the World

monastery2I spent yesterday morning at a local monastery seeking to create some space to not only clear my mind and heart, but to listen to the voice of the Creator. As life produces more and more “noise,” these times are hard to come by, but remarkably significant. I can’t imagine a better, yet more challenging way to begin a new week. 

Much of my time was spent reflecting on something a mentor of mine recently said, “God’s will is not success, but peace.” 

What does this mean? And if it means what I think it might, the implications seem pretty high.

What is “Success?”

In our culture, success has been defined primarily by how well we produce X that leads to wealth, power or reputation. Our identity is rooted far more in what we do (and how well we do it) than it is in who we are. And, to be honest, most of us don’t even know who we are. For me, it often feels like a daily struggle. 

How Do We Define God’s Will As Peace?

It is the restoration of all things back to Himself. It is wrong things being made right. It is a humanity that is reconciled to God and to one another. It is knowing that our identity is not informed by what we produce, but by who we are as sons and daughters of the Father.

What would my life look like if I spent my best energy towards peace rather than the building of “success?”

When I pursue culturally constructed versions of success, my image bearing neighbors (near and far) become means to my end rather than ends in and of themselves. Not only do I fail to acknowledge their humanity, I lose my own. If success is anything other than about the love of other, then it will be destructive. 

I don’t have to look far for examples of this. No, I simply have to look inward. This definition of success has infected my DNA as much as the next guy/girl. It is a daily reality that requires daily repentance and realignment. 

To trust that God’s will is peace changes everything about how I live, love and lead. Rather than seeking to climb every ladder to stand over people, I begin to choose to pick up my cross and lift other people up. I become more concerned about living into who I am as a son of the Father than who I am perceived to be by those I seek to impress. I am free to love God and others selflessly, because self no longer takes center stage.

I become fully human again.

I have so much to learn and so many areas to grow.

I finished the day by walking the way of the cross. It was profound. In fact, it reminded me that walking the way of the cross isn’t a once a month spiritual disciple, but an everyday choice to follow the one who suffered so we might find life.

  

Book Tour Interview: Death By Living, N.D. Wilson

Death By LivingThe good folks at Thomas Nelson Publishing recently contacted me about hosting a stop on their blog tour for N.D. Wilson’s new book called, Death by Living. They mentioned his work had much resonance with my own, so I gave it a read and was thoroughly impressed. Not only at the prophetic challenge to live fully into the story God has for each of us, but because N.D. is an incredibly gifted writer and storyteller. It is writers like N.D. who embody the artistic elements of writing. Like a captivating painting or a beautiful lyric, N.D.’s writing has the potential to move you; not just to different thinking, but to renewed action.

I asked him a few questions to give a bit more insight into this work:

1. Death by Living. Based on your intro, it seems this title comes from the perspective that our everyday life is a series of deaths. Or the mundane can overwhelm and run us down. But you’re turning it towards a message of hope. Unpack that for us. Or, if I’m totally misinterpreting, guide us towards your vision behind the title.  

N.D. What breaks us down? What ages us? What, in the end, will all of us die of? We will die of living. Cause of death: life. The point of the title (and the book) is to add an urgency and a gratitude and a joy to our living. If someone gave you a million dollars and told you that you could had a week to spend it before it all evaporated, you’d have a jolly week. But that’s exactly the situation we are in. We have hands, feet, a mind, a heart; we have breath and laughter and sight and taste and songs–but we can’t keep any of it. We can’t keep our selves…we will be spent, the only question is how well.

2. “Did you clothe the hipster and give him his coffee and inverted brand fascination?” 

I just love this quote (and live in a bit of a hipster world myself), so I figured I had to turn it into some kind of question: Hipster’s & God’s Provision. Talk to us… 

N.D. Character irony is everywhere. Hipsters are God’s creatures too. He gives giraffes hilarious necks and llamas goofy faces, and birds of paradise the need (and the flashy ability) to strut. He gives us the ability to be swept up in the faux importance of trends and brands and weird scruples, which we display as if we have found some truly unique plumage. And you know He laughs.

3. Readers of this blog care alot about story.  Not just the communication device of story, but that we are all active participants in a Story that requires our full attention for it to unfold in the way that is not only best for us, but for the whole created order.  You talk about narrative and story through your book.  Invite us into your understanding of story and how it informs your work in this book?

N.D. The lovely (and terrifying) truth about the macro story in which we all exist, is that it doesn’t depend on us to make it unfold in a way that is good for all of creation. Our own choices determine what kind of characters we will be in God’s story (fools, villains, hypocrites, food pharisees or hand-wringing political idolaters), but the triumphant arc and glorious resolution of the Story rest in His hands, not ours. If we suck as heroes, its not like He’ll have trouble crafting better ones. Live as a fool and He might just use you as a thematic cautionary tale. Live as a villain and you will be a vessel of His wrath (like Pharaoh). Live as a self-righteous tick and He’ll use you in His story to show His readers what happens to the proud and the haughty. But live faithfully, by grace, serving and imaging our older Brother who threw down death…and be used for His glory more directly. But like it or not, every creature will be used for glory, no matter how rebellious.

4. In chapter 9 you transport us to your experience walking the holy sites of Jerusalem. You invite us into your Western desire for historicity that often trumps our willingness to simply worship.  You also challenge your reader to engage places like this in that they allow us to see we are each part of a story that requires we know the story of our ancestors who have come before us.  How might our identifying with earlier parts of our story enhance our participation in the story we to live today? 

N.D. There is nothing new under the sun. We live and die and struggle and doubt and love just as many others have done before us. By looking back–especially at the history of our own families (spiritual and physical)–we can see the enormous impact that relatively small decisions (especially moments of faithfulness) had our own lives before we ever existed. How we choose to exist in our own moments will have the same kind of massive impact on future generations. There is no small life–no person with choices in the narrative that don’t matter.

5. What is it you hope your reader walks away thinking, saying or living as a result of this book?

N.D. Live with eyes wide with gratitude, and leave a wake in the lives of others.

A Prayer for Peace; in Syria and Around the World

TGIP13-6814-LToday’s of millions of people all around the world are committing to prayer and fasting for the peace of Syria. We know that the peace of Syria has direct implications for peace in other parts of our Global Village. The stakes are high. We must be on our knees. Further, we must arise with actions that lead to transformation. 

My friend, Brian McLaren, wrote this beautiful and profound prayer to center us on the things that matter most on this day of intercession. He offered it to be shared for the global community of God, so let’s each take five minutes and join hands with our brothers and sisters for the sake of a new day.  

“Living God, our world is broken-hearted by the atrocity of chemical weapons being used in Syria, killing children, women, and men indiscriminately. And our hearts grieve no less for the many tens of thousands killed and millions displaced by the civil war there.

We pray for peace, God of peace: not just the cessation of conflict, but a new day of reconciliation, civility, and collaboration for the common good … in the Middle East, and around the world.

We also pray for the United States, whose leaders are contemplating military strikes in retaliation for the atrocity, to punish those who ordered it, and to deter those who might plan similar atrocities in the future. We acknowledge that our leaders are trying to do what is needed and right, based on the understanding they have. But on this day, as millions of us around the world pray, we ask for greater wisdom, greater understanding, greater foresight, so that we can find new, better, and non-violent ways to achieve lasting and profound peace. 

We know from bitter experience that “our” violence promises to end “their” violence, but in the end, it only intensifies vicious cycles of offense and revenge. We also know from bitter experience that inaction and passivity also aid and abet evil. So on this day, we seek your wisdom, for a better way forward … a new way that we do not yet see.

We Americans sense that our nation is on the verge of rethinking its role in the world. In this moment of rethinking, we also pray for guidance. Help us learn from past mistakes, and help us imagine better possibilities for the future. In this time of political tension and turmoil – not only between, but within our political parties – may your Spirit move like the wind and give us a fresh vision of what can be, so that we do not repeat old, tired, and destructive cycles of what has been. May the wisdom and ways of Jesus, upon whom your Spirit descended like a dove, guide us now – to a wise and responsible role as good neighbors in our world. Amen”

Syria: The Stuff No One Wants To Talk About

TGIP 13I have read countless articles from political, religious and ethical perspectives on why or why not the U.S. should militarily intervene against the Syrian regime. Most do a decent job evaluating the situation, but I am yet to read one that really puts the human element on the table as a deciding factor.

A few months ago I was going to bed in my hotel room in Tel Aviv when I saw the breaking news alert that there was rocket exchange between Hamas and Israel in and around Gaza. While I have been to many places in “conflict,” there is something much different about being somewhere that is only miles away from live fire. 

I started playing out the situation in my head: “What if this expands into a major conflict? Can I catch a flight back home to be with my family before it gets worse? I’m only 30-40 miles away from the active conflict, am I already in range sitting in this hotel room?”

Anxiety. Fear. Uncertainty.   

Now let me be clear, that experience of anxiety and fear is NOTHING compared to what most Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians or Syrians have felt in recent years (and MANY other populations). But – even if only in some small way – I could immediately feel the weight of pending war. It is palpable. It is crippling. And if I had my family with me, it would have potentially been unbearable.  

Reality is, I’m a product of Western isolation and security that has never put me in a position to experience the anxiety, fear and uncertainty of war. With the exception of refugees, military and limited segments of Americans, most of us haven’t. Yet, we are often the ones who get to determine whether or whether not others in our Global Village experience the realities of war. We read the latest headlines, hear a few sound bites and in the next moment passionately argue our views around the water cooler or dinner table.  

Let’s be honest, it’s easy to make decisions and take sides when you live half way across the globe from the actual conflict. We are so removed from the realities that it is impossible for us to fully embrace and confront the human elements of war.  

There is a family in Syria as I type this.  

The kids just returned home from school. It’s not like it used to be. No longer a place for rigorous academic learning, it has become a place of underlying fear at the daily violence. Further, the kids are now hearing that the largest military super power may start sending missiles their direction. 

When the father gets home from work, he tries to reassure his kids that everything will be ok, but he knows full well that they may never gather around the dinner table again as a complete family. Unsure what to talk about, he encourages them to prepare for their evening prayers (whether from the Muslim or Christian tradition) as a way to create a semblance of normalcy.  

They plead to God for peace.   

Imagine that being your family.

Of course, sitting here in the West, there are very few of us that could even pretend to know what that feeling is like, but let’s at least give it a shot. We have to. Our decisions and actions here in the West don’t just magically evaporate in a political vacuum or rallying cry on our favorite news station. Our decisions and actions have direct implications for humans beings just like you and me.

Yes, I know we are only shooting at military targets.

Yes, I know these people may have it worse from the Assad regime. 

Yes, I get that civilian death is a reality of war. 

I get it. 

While all those things could be argued against (which I won’t do here), all I’m proposing is that we enter the human reality for a moment before we begin waging our wars of rhetoric.   

It is beyond me how we as Christians could for one second try to talk about this decision outside the reality of real human beings, living in real time and space just like us.  

On a human level we now have a responsibility. 

On one hand, we can’t simply launch missiles into this region that kills innocent civilians (which they will) and then go eat a burrito and talk about our fantasy football teams.  

On the other hand, we can’t simply stand idle as tens of thousands of innocent civilians are being killed by a regime that devalues life.  

Friends, our decisions matter and all their complexities must be put on the table. Simple black and white, party line decisions have no place here. These are God’s children we are referring to and if we can’t sit around their dinner table at the end of another day of soccer games, school yard disagreements, work drama and everyday life, then we better at least do our best to make decisions as if we have.

Our Obsession with Violence & the Stories You’re Not Supposed to Hear

Banksy ArtUpon my recent return from the Middle East (with The Global Immersion Project), I was struck more than ever before at our Western infatuation around military aggression, violence and division. Not only are these the primary narratives we are fed through our major media outlets, they are the narratives we subconsciously embrace through the latest bestseller, box office hit or video game.  Violence, death and division have become normative. We are becoming numb to the very things that we – as ambassadors of hope and reconciliation – are to turn from as Resurrection People.  It is as though there is a strangle hold on our on our ability to see and participate in the stories of healing and new life.  

As surprising as this may be, embedded in the midst of these conflicts are endless stories of hope that never make the latest headline or sound bite.  And in the times I’ve followed Jesus INTO these places of conflict, I continue to encounter stories of peace and hope that embody the gospel message, stories by real people, happening right now, in places usually known only for conflict, violence and death. 

Meet Shaul, a Jewish Israeli who lives in a settlement in the West Bank.  When a group of young men from his town threw a Molotov cocktail in a taxi filled with a Palestinian family from a neighboring Arab Village, he chose to go to the hospital where they were being cared for.  He sat with the family, apologized for the incident and took responsibility for the terrible act because as a member of the community at fault, he considered himself complicit in the violence. 

Meet Milad & Manar, a Christian Palestinian couple who live in a small Muslim town in the West Bank. Seeing a narrative of violence and division taking hold of many of the youth in their town, they started an organization that teaches peace and reconciliation through art and vocational training.  They are now a bright beacon of hope among their neighbors who not only support and encourage their work, but do anything they can to get their kids into this program. These former hotel room cleaners are now not only running an organization that is radically changing the tide of their town, they are finishing their master’s degrees in reconciliation and non-violence.  

Meet Roni & Moira, a Jewish Israeli and Muslim Palestinian who have both lost loved ones in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Rather than demonizing a whole people group as a result of the loss they endured, they choose to sit and mourn with those who are supposed to be their “enemy” because it is in that space that they experience the most healing.  It is in the midst of shared grieving that reconciliation is taking place and a movement towards a shared future is bursting forth.  

We do grave harm to these regions and the people within them when we fail to highlight these gritty, subversive and everyday movements of hope in the midst of conflict.  As followers of the great Reconciler, we are to be ambassadors of hope.  

We have a responsibility to tell THESE stories.  

In fact, when we don’t – and instead spend the majority of our time fueling the escalation of fear and division – we not only fail our heroic brothers and sisters working for peace in these regions, we fail to reflect the Christian hope we have been entrusted to advance. 

Now back at home, I am again blanketed by news that only tells one fraction of reality, but thankfully I know there is much, much more to be told. I think of my friends, my role models, my teachers who are living out the most redeeming faith in the very places we often deem as irredeemable.

May we begin a new movement.  A movement marked by hope.  A movement that humanizes people rather than demonizes. A movement marked by God’s continued presence in and among the cosmos, rather than his removal from them.  A movement that is rooted in reality, which sparks our divine imagination for what God desires for the world.