Is it really importance that matters?
Have you ever wondered why it is that the world values what it values? And I do mean the world. Why diamonds? Why perils? Why gold and silver? If it's because they're shiny, we need to figure out more criteria. Is it because they are rare? This has been the most common response. But as I consider what I value and what I should value, I'm drawn back to considering how Jesus redirects our attention away from these rare temporary things to something that is eternal.
I met with one of my students on Friday. We got together and chatted about life at a restaurant in downtown St. Paul. During the course of our two hour conversation, we eventually got to talking about what we value. Most people measure a "good day" or a "bad day" by whether or not they were "productive". Think about those conversations. "How was your day?" You might ask a friend. "It was great!" "Oh really? What made it a 'great!' day?" You quip back. "Well, I got so much done today. I cleaned my house, went to the store, helped my friend move, did some home work, read a book I wanted to read, and went over to a friend's house to watch a movie, after which we went to a restaurant that is open 24 hours and just hung out." She may proudly list off. This all sounds good doesn't it? But what then, do we do, think, and feel when we have a day that is non-productive, in the sense of getting very little accomplished? We then remark, "I had a bad day today."
When we become keenly aware that we no longer want this system for measuring our days is when we have multiple "bad days". In other words, when we have multiple days in which we are largely unproductive. What I discovered during the three weeks following the conclusion of my sophomore year of college is that I too was measuring my life by how productive I was in a day, but this was not a good thing. I had about three straight weeks of being unproductive. I had waited until the end of the year to begin looking for a job and I spent three weeks doing so, only to discover that it was going to be much harder than I had anticipated. My logic was that due to the diaspora of college students leaving Manhattan (Kansas that is:) for the summer, certainly there would be vacant jobs. This ended up not being the case. Thus I spent day after day for three straight weeks looking for a job only to discover that they were not available. Thus, once five o'clock rolled around and I could apply at no more jobs, I was on my own. There was no one for me to hang out with because all of my friends had left for the summer. I was left to read. And read I did. I think I read eight books in those three weeks that I was there.
Maybe you are not like me. Maybe you do not love to read books, but instead fill your day with all of the latest reality TV shows, or watching your favorite movies. But no matter how much you love those things, if you do not have people to interact with, eventually, those simply will not do it for you. I discovered that my love for learning and reading books became less and less when I was no longer reading them to learn but simply to fill the chasm of time that existed between me and sleep, just so I could start the process all over again. Can any one relate with this?
The beginning of that summer illuminated for me rather clearly how pervasive this method of measuring a "good day" had become in my life. Thus, it sent me on a quest to discover what I value, and more importantly, what God values. I figured, whatever God values, as His follower, I should value the same.
In the course of discussing this with the student that I was with, he then told me that how he measured a good day was similar. He had determined that if he had gone deeper with a thought about something, about himself, or with someone else in a relationship, then he had a good day. That was his only measurment. The one thing I heard missing from that was how he came to that value. Thus, I challenged him to try to discover what God values and make that his value. He may discover that the two already line up, and maybe not. Nonetheless, "Seek God's values and not your own." I told him.
Once we discover what we value, and measure our lives to that, then we can intentionally have good days every day, as long as we live congruently with who we are, especially when who we are is who God has created us to be. Since that summer, I have rarely had a bad day, only good, great, or fantastic. Does this mean that I am productive everyday? Nope, but then again, I'm not interested in measuring a good day by how productive I am, but by how congruently I have lived with what I say I value. I may spend an entire day building relationships, be it with God or with others, or with both, and that would be a great day. I may spend a day where I build relationships, seek Truth, serve, learn, and lift, and that would be a good day. Any combination of those five things would make a great day.
Today I was reading one of the gospels in the NT and in it Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, as he often was. He was concluding a discussion on wealth from a temporal perspective (i.e. money) and eternal wealth when he said, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." God seems to always be interested in the condition of our hearts more than other's perspectives of us, our wealth, our popularity, or even our happiness. People can think we are awesome, but God measures our lives not on what the world values but on what He values. He wants desperately for all of us to be in relationship with Him and to live in that reality. But it takes us moving that direction and determining that what God values is more important than what the world values.
How do we determine what we value? How do we determine whether or not our values are God's values? It's really quite simple. How do you spend most of your time, even when you are at work? If we follow the rabbit trail of our time, it will lead us to what we value, and what we value will communicate to us what or who is on the thrown of our hearts. It's simple really ... we make time for what's important to us.
I met with one of my students on Friday. We got together and chatted about life at a restaurant in downtown St. Paul. During the course of our two hour conversation, we eventually got to talking about what we value. Most people measure a "good day" or a "bad day" by whether or not they were "productive". Think about those conversations. "How was your day?" You might ask a friend. "It was great!" "Oh really? What made it a 'great!' day?" You quip back. "Well, I got so much done today. I cleaned my house, went to the store, helped my friend move, did some home work, read a book I wanted to read, and went over to a friend's house to watch a movie, after which we went to a restaurant that is open 24 hours and just hung out." She may proudly list off. This all sounds good doesn't it? But what then, do we do, think, and feel when we have a day that is non-productive, in the sense of getting very little accomplished? We then remark, "I had a bad day today."
When we become keenly aware that we no longer want this system for measuring our days is when we have multiple "bad days". In other words, when we have multiple days in which we are largely unproductive. What I discovered during the three weeks following the conclusion of my sophomore year of college is that I too was measuring my life by how productive I was in a day, but this was not a good thing. I had about three straight weeks of being unproductive. I had waited until the end of the year to begin looking for a job and I spent three weeks doing so, only to discover that it was going to be much harder than I had anticipated. My logic was that due to the diaspora of college students leaving Manhattan (Kansas that is:) for the summer, certainly there would be vacant jobs. This ended up not being the case. Thus I spent day after day for three straight weeks looking for a job only to discover that they were not available. Thus, once five o'clock rolled around and I could apply at no more jobs, I was on my own. There was no one for me to hang out with because all of my friends had left for the summer. I was left to read. And read I did. I think I read eight books in those three weeks that I was there.
Maybe you are not like me. Maybe you do not love to read books, but instead fill your day with all of the latest reality TV shows, or watching your favorite movies. But no matter how much you love those things, if you do not have people to interact with, eventually, those simply will not do it for you. I discovered that my love for learning and reading books became less and less when I was no longer reading them to learn but simply to fill the chasm of time that existed between me and sleep, just so I could start the process all over again. Can any one relate with this?
The beginning of that summer illuminated for me rather clearly how pervasive this method of measuring a "good day" had become in my life. Thus, it sent me on a quest to discover what I value, and more importantly, what God values. I figured, whatever God values, as His follower, I should value the same.
In the course of discussing this with the student that I was with, he then told me that how he measured a good day was similar. He had determined that if he had gone deeper with a thought about something, about himself, or with someone else in a relationship, then he had a good day. That was his only measurment. The one thing I heard missing from that was how he came to that value. Thus, I challenged him to try to discover what God values and make that his value. He may discover that the two already line up, and maybe not. Nonetheless, "Seek God's values and not your own." I told him.
Once we discover what we value, and measure our lives to that, then we can intentionally have good days every day, as long as we live congruently with who we are, especially when who we are is who God has created us to be. Since that summer, I have rarely had a bad day, only good, great, or fantastic. Does this mean that I am productive everyday? Nope, but then again, I'm not interested in measuring a good day by how productive I am, but by how congruently I have lived with what I say I value. I may spend an entire day building relationships, be it with God or with others, or with both, and that would be a great day. I may spend a day where I build relationships, seek Truth, serve, learn, and lift, and that would be a good day. Any combination of those five things would make a great day.
Today I was reading one of the gospels in the NT and in it Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, as he often was. He was concluding a discussion on wealth from a temporal perspective (i.e. money) and eternal wealth when he said, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." God seems to always be interested in the condition of our hearts more than other's perspectives of us, our wealth, our popularity, or even our happiness. People can think we are awesome, but God measures our lives not on what the world values but on what He values. He wants desperately for all of us to be in relationship with Him and to live in that reality. But it takes us moving that direction and determining that what God values is more important than what the world values.
How do we determine what we value? How do we determine whether or not our values are God's values? It's really quite simple. How do you spend most of your time, even when you are at work? If we follow the rabbit trail of our time, it will lead us to what we value, and what we value will communicate to us what or who is on the thrown of our hearts. It's simple really ... we make time for what's important to us.
posted by Aaron at
12:34 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the post. I remember you talking about that summer, and I remember that you said you read a lot that summer. Your posts are always well written, and I can see the structure in your writing. Your first two posts have been about value and identity, both integral parts of WHO we are. I can't wait to read a book you will eventually write.
pearl, throne
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