Before you head off into your weekend, here are three things I have read and been thinking about this week. Hope they are as helpful and challenging for you as they have been for me.
Have a great weekend!
#1
Have “the courage to be a nobody.” – J.D. Salinger
Jesus reminded his followers often that the way to get ahead in his kingdom was to be the last of all and serve all. Thomas Aquinas highlighted the four primary idols that we face as money, power, pleasure, and honor (fame). It takes courage to seek a position of anonymity or, even more extreme, a person who is looked down upon. To not only serve the least, the last, and the lost but to identify as such.
#2
Reassurance is futile. – The Practice by Seth Godin
Place no hope in the feeling of assurance. You may have to get along without it. – New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
Reassurance is seeking comfort that things will be okay. That we will be okay.
Until very recently, I thought that assurance / reassurance was a good thing. It was actually helpful to my perseverance to get a sign or a word from the Lord from time to time. Reassurance helped me to keep going. It gave me confidence.
But I am beginning to see things differently. Perhaps my need for assurance is, at best, a sign of immaturity and, at worst, a sign of a lack of faith in God. Reassurance has me focusing on the outcome while faith is focusing on the outcome giver. Maturity is the ability to persevere without assurance. To trust in him alone no matter how long it takes.
Full disclosure…I seek reassurance (a lot) by re-reading my work and re-watching my sermons. I cling to attaboys and am obsessive over the slightest of criticism. I often find myself feeling better when I receive assurance that things are okay…that I am okay. But I need to release (and am working on it!) that need and desire. I see now how it detracts from God by placing confidence in myself instead of Jesus.
#3
Give me the prudence necessary to avoid all flatterers and the practice needed to bear with those who oppose me. – The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
Are you seeing a theme for the week? Yeah, me too. Another good reminder for me to find my identity in Christ alone and not in the highs or the lows of public perception.
todd nelson 