Who am I, really?

Yesterday my son was telling me that he did not get on the Student Council at school. The teacher who made the decision told him that the essay he submitted was not what they were looking for. That got me thinking about how people try to present themselves.

My son said that in his essay he talked about how the Student Council should have a Prime Minister instead of a President. He also thinks they should be tougher on rule breakers. Some of the things he was telling me were a bit out there but everything he said was purely who he is. He wrote the essay with his honest opinions about how the Council should work. I assume that the teacher thought Dima would be more trouble than help. Maybe so.

I am not saying that the teacher made the wrong decision. Dima can be exasperating at times. I wonder how many other kids were as honest in their essays. If everyone was completely honest with their thoughts about what they would do if elected would they have been selected?

The purpose of writing the essay is to give the teacher a basis to judge the character of the individual. However, some people may be tempted to write what they think the teacher wants to hear. The goal may be to get selected as opposed to answering the questions honestly.

How many politicians in our country are like this? It feels like we never really know what a politician will do until after they are elected. "I will not raise taxes.", said George Bush. He did anyway. "I will close Gitmo.", said Obama. It's still open. Granted, keeping some of these promises may be impossible after the election for various legitimate reasons but we tend to not believe people after awhile.

What about the rest of us? According to Statistics Brain, 78% of resumes are misleading. Are people being honest or just trying to tell people what they want to hear to get a job? Sounds more like the latter then the former.

What about honesty and integrity? We seem to have little of it from top to bottom in this country. Even in schools. We encourage people to conform rather than be real. Does that conformity benefit society? Do politicians do the right thing after getting elected? Do job seekers rise up to the company's expectations after getting hired. Do the Student Council members learn anything about leadership? I hope so, but it does not appear to be that way.

Maybe we would be better off with honest people who did the right things for the right reasons. John Kennedy's "Profiles In Courage" has several examples of people who did just that. What if we all started living according to our convictions? Would we have a better society or anarchy? Would we get rid of partisan politics and start making real change or become hopelessly mired in indecision?

One thing I know for sure is that if Christians always acted with conviction the world would be a better place. Let's all do our part to act with it integrity. Let's all have the courage to do the right thing despite the cost. Let's be real.

High Achievers and God

<disclaimer>: I do not know God's mind. These comments are my own and are meant to stimulate thoughtful reflection.</disclaimer>

God's will is that all people are saved. He wants everyone to know the truth. What is the best way to accomplish that goal? If you were going to build a core team of people to go all over the world, and communicate a message that was meant to fundamentally change people's hearts and minds, who would you recruit. Most people would look for the best communicators and motivators they could find.

That was not what Jesus did. He gathered together 12 mostly uneducated men who did not seem to have the high performance qualities we look for today. They were self-centered--arguing about which of them was the greatest. They were arrogant--thinking they could do the miracles Jesus did. They were not focused--sleeping when they should have been helping Jesus prepare for the biggest challenge any human would ever face. When things got really bad, they all ran away, abandoning their mission at a critical time. Worst of all, despite being around Jesus almost every day for three years, they did not understand his mission. On the day Jesus went back to heaven, they asked Jesus if he was going to restore His kingdom, meaning, was it time to take down the Romans. Doh! Messiah. Lamb of God. Sacrifice. Resurrection. Get with the program.

Despite all of this, these guys were Jesus ministry team. They would have been fired at modern companies, but Jesus kept them. They went on to be wildly successful. One rally they held converted about three thousand people in one day. They went all around their area recruiting new members. They even witnessed to foreign dignitaries. Their organization got so big they had to delegate responsibilities. They held a convention and drafted a belief statement.

How did these under achievers manage to accomplish all that they did? Overnight, they went from slackers to charismatic leaders. The answer is simple: Pentecost. After the Holy Spirit came on the disciples, they were changed. God did not abandon them to their ministry, He took it over. God did not hope that these guys would get it right, He actively worked with them to accomplish what He wanted. God turned the disciples into apostles. The disciples can take no credit for what they did. They were simply willing workers who emptied themselves to let God work through them.

So, if we need people to help with God's work today, what kind of people do we look for? High Achievers? People with a track record of accomplishments? Good-looking, charismatic folks? Team leaders? Maybe. Those are all good qualities to have. But maybe the best quality is to have a heart for God. The best candidates for working in God's kingdom may be those who have a passion for serving Him. Those people may not have the outward qualities of high achievers, but they have Jesus working inside of them. How can they fail to accomplish God's will and be successful in God's sight if God is with them? Two thousand years ago, God used a bunch of misfits to change the world. He can still do that today.

<aside>The other side of this coin is that leaders in God's kingdom need to look to God for a vision of the future. This may mean letting things go in a direction they did not originally intend. More on that in a different post. </aside>