Myth: "My calling is just to love whoever is in front of me."

Myth:  “My calling is just to love whoever is in front of me.”

Your calling has broader implications for the surrounding culture and what God is doing in the world.  What you can offer is not simply to impact who ever might cross your path at the time.  Don’t underestimate your place in the Story by thinking too casually,  “My calling is just to show God’s love wherever I am.”  It includes that dimension, but more.

God is not casual or haphazard in his efforts to redeem all of creation from the ground up.  If you are too casual about your place in the Story, whole groups of people may live without what you uniquely can offer them.  God doesn’t want to have to send them someone else:  you’re the best fit.  

This isn’t about pressure or guilt – it’s about getting perspective.  Even the devil doesn’t underestimate you. 

“Some Christians prefer to keep their faith to the level of the personal, the relational, the spiritual, and the simple.  I believe that such a view of faith is misguided.  Calling is certainly a truth that touches our personal lives intimately, bit it also touches cultural life potently.  Calling is more than purely cultural, but it is also more than purely personal.” (Os Guinness, The Call)   

Guinness laments further that

“…second only to the joy of knowing [Jesus] has been a sorrow at the condition of those of us today who name ourselves his followers.  If so many of us profess to live the gospel yet are so pathetically marginal  to the life of our societies and so nondescript and inconsequential in our individual lives, is there something wrong with the gospel, or does the problem lie with us?”  ( The Call)

What you are called to individually, is directly tied to what God is currently up to in human history.  It's that important.

"Something more glorious"

 “For God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo.  Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity.” – C.S. Lewis

Here's the key part of that quote:  "something more glorious than unfallen humanity."  At what point in history did we have unfallen, untarnished humanity?  Of course we have to go way back to Adam and Eve.  Is it possible that we today, as restored by Jesus work, have a capacity that Adam and Eve did not -- even in their unblemished and shame-less state, prior to their Fall?

So how can you have people that are better than Adam and Eve began as?  Well, we can't say that these "more glorious" ones Lewis is talking about would never sin like Adam and Eve; because even in our redeemed state as Christ-followers, we may still sin.

We also can't say that we now have God at our side to help us, for they enjoyed the tangible presence of God as well.

So what's our advantage over our unfallen Parents? 

Alongside vs. Inside:  While God may have walked alongside Adam and Eve in the Garden, he now moves inside us  - on a permanent basis; inextricably bound to our bodies, hearts, minds and souls.  He has enmeshed and entangled himself in us, through the restoring work of Jesus for us. We are now flesh of his flesh and he flesh of our flesh, spirit of our spirit, mind of our mind.

"Christ in you, the hope of glory" is not a description of the future alone:  it is who you are right now.

What is better about this inside-you, God-bound-to-you, gift we were given?

1. Because Jesus cannot die, you cannot die.
2. What Jesus knows about living well, you can know as well.
3. Jesus' capacity for living well is yours now.

Do you see any other ways in which we in Christ are "more glorious" than unfallen Adam and Eve?  (Leave your comments.)

You are more than your job.

It's not about a job, employment, or an occupation.

In his book, Working, Studs Terkel realized...that working is about the search for daily meaning in the struggle for daily bread.  Most people, he found, live somewhere between a grudging acceptance of their job and an active dislike of it.  But a recurring theme in [his] interviews is a yearning for a sense of meaning that comes when calling precedes and overaches work and career.  -- from The Call, by Os Guiness

What if you lose your job:  Do you lose your calling?  What if you leave (or are asked to leave) a 'ministry' position:  Do you lose your calling?

Not at all.  As Gary Barkalow says, "Your calling can't be contained in any single job."  Why?  Because you take your calling with you wherever you go -- to work, home, friendships:  It is your particular splendor - the impact and affect of your life on those around you.  It is how you, in particular, shimmer.

Note:  "Shimmer" will be the title of my upcoming book on identity.  I'll try to give you bits and pieces of it here on the blog as the book takes shape.

Ideally, your 'job' will line up with your calling.  Yet there are times, when God (for good reasons) assigns us to a job that doesn't seem to match -- yet he still needs you to bring your splendor and unique brilliance there.  Don't underestimate the importance of what you bring, wherever you are.

VideoBlog - LOSS OF IDENTITY

Use verbs that reveal your design

Choose verbs that reveal your design.

I have this need to figure out why something or someone exists,  their design or purpose.  Because of that, I've written countless memos to myself, scratching out statements and creeds that help me understand my own design.  Through this process, I've gained greater and greater clarity about why I'm here.  It's clarifying.

Here's my calling credo:  "I have consistently loved to create and reveal design."  And here's how that has showed up in my life:

• Loved to sketch as a teenager
• Loved to create high-quality music since a child
• Love identifying the layers of instrumentation in a song
• Love to create digital graphic design – website headers, images
• Love to help others see their design (purpose, identity, true heart)

Notice the two verbs that I used in my calling credo:  "create" and "reveal." 

Here's a credo sentence structure you can use to help you: 

"I have consistently loved to (verb/verbs) _______________________________."

Here are some common verbs.  See if any resonate with your heart:

lead, challenge, create, provoke, identify, develop, influence, train, support, comfort, heal, transform, encourage, prepare, invite.  [There are more common verbs here.]

Here are some sample credo statements:

• I have consistently loved to identify others strengths.
• I have consistently loved analyzing information in order to help organizations or people perform at their best.
• I have consistently loved encouraging and developing courage and confidence in children.

Of course, at the end of your credo sentence is the what that you want to see happen:

• "others strengths"
• "help organizations or people perform at their best"
• "courage and confidence in children."

What verbs would you use to describe what you consistently have loved doing?

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Related posts:

"Is there a specific calling for each of us?"

VideoBlog - CONCERNS vs. CALLINGS

Related posts:

• Podcast -- DISCOVERING YOUR CALLING - guest Gary Barkalow talks with Jim

God is committed to your splendor

What if God couldn't keep quiet about you?  Eager to show you off -- to expose not your sin; but your splendor and goodness? 

Your glory is God's mission.  Listen to what he says:

¹ For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
       for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,
       till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
       her salvation like a blazing torch.

 ² The nations will see your righteousness,
       and all kings your glory;
       you will be called by a new name
       that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

³ You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand,
       a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

 ⁴ No longer will they call you Deserted,
       or name your land Desolate.
       But you will be called Hephzibah, [my delight is in her]
       and your land Beulah [married] ;
       for the LORD will take delight in you,
       and your land will be married.

 ⁵ As a young man marries a maiden,
       so will your sons marry you;
       as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
       so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:1-5

Let him do this.  It's quite possibly backwards from what you've been taught your whole life.  Give him permission to show you off.

Podcast-Discovering your calling -- Guest Gary Barkalow talks with Jim

How do we move beyond the personality inventories and spiritual gifts test that often leave us unsatisfied and still looking for our calling?

Gary Barkalow spent seven years on the men's leadership and speaking team with Ransomed Heart Ministries when God called him to launch full-time into helping others discover their place in the Story. 

Gary's teaching on calling is the best and most helpful I've found.  You can learn more about Gary at his website:  www.thenobleheart.com.

You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes.

Interview with Gary Barkalow on discovering your calling

Tomorrow, on BlogTalk Radio, I will be interviewing Gary Barklow on the topic of "discovering your calling."  Gary was formerly on the men's leadership and speaking team with Ransomed Heart Ministries. 

Gary's teaching on calling is the best and most helpful I've found.  You can learn more about Gary at his website:  www.thenobleheart.com. 

Here's the link to tomorrow's interview with Gary.

Photo of Jim's crest ring

A week or so ago, I showed you the design I came up for my crest ring.  A personal crest is a helpful visual reminder of our unique identity.  My design included very specific symbols that reveal how God has re-named me and called me.   [See previous post, "Creating a personal crest"  for the original design on paper, and an explanation of the different symbols on the ring.]

Below is a photo of how the actual ring turned out. 

As I worked with the designer, we decided to turn the sword sideways and have the blade wrap around the ring.  In addition, the musical whole-note is on the back of the ring and not visible in the photo.  I think it turned out really well.

The jeweler I worked with, deSignet International,  was fantastic and reasonably priced.  They have a website, but are physically located near Niagra Falls.  Their designers - Harry, Bob, and Reg - were very helpful and talked me through the process.  They were open to my ideas while providing the experience I didn't have to translate my thoughts into reality.  I have no problem recommending them to you.  On their website, you can see lots of designs for men and women, and they enjoy custom work, as they did for me.

Hope this gives you ideas for remembering your own identity.

Video - "The Power of Your Story"

Is there a SPECIFIC calling for each of us?

Is "calling" simply doing whatever is in front of us - just living from our heart wherever we find ourselves; or did God intend something more specific and tailored for each of us?  In other words, is calling general or specific? 

There's certainly validity in assuming calling is general -- that each of us should love and relate from the new reality of Christ-within, wherever we find ourselves.  But I'd suggest that there's more:  Paul had a specific calling to Gentiles; Moses was to rescue Israel from Egyptian tyranny; and Jesus' calling was to reveal the Father.  There was intent and deliberate direction in each of those cases.  Movement with meaning.

There's a reason you have the gifts you do -- they benefit a certain group of people who need exactly what you offer.  There are also contexts that will be more suitable to your passions and skills than others.  For example, the institutional church was not an appropriate context for my gifts.  As a former pastor, I was even told right from the start that I would never find a role in the system where I could bring what I most wanted to.  If only I had known then how true that would be.

God intended something distinct and distinguishing when he introduced you to the world.  You clearly have latitude and a voice in shaping your unfolding story; but it's better to move through life knowing the specific thing (s) you offer.  Christ lives in you, as you:  He has bound himself to your personality, your experiences, and your unique brilliance.  There's nothing general about you. 

“You have so many extraordinary gifts.  How can you expect to live an ordinary life?”   -- Marmie’s counsel to Jo in Little Women.

Finding your hidden vein of gold

Quite often, we're asked to be honest about our weaknesses and shortcomings -- job interviews ask us to disclose this, churches obsess about it,  and accountability groups major on our failings.  There's nothing wrong with being honest about our weaknesses, but there's something more worthy of our attention:  it's the vein of gold within:

"Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness; yet, perhaps, as few know their own strength. It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of." -- Jonathan Swift

The vein of gold is where God focuses his attention:  he is obsessed with what's most alive, radiant, and strong in you.  A vibrant seam of gold.

Welcome to Special Forces.

Whether you realize it or not, you've already accepted the invitation to join Special Ops.  The invitation came with the whole salvation package.  Both men and women are in this elite unit.  Each operator offers a unique set of skills for work behind enemy lines.  And please note:  I'm not using "Special Forces" as a metaphor ...

The Israeli Special Forces have some of the most elite counter-terrorist units in the world, and most difficult to get into.  In his book, The Brotherhood of Warriors, Aaron Cohen describes the Israeli Special Forces philosophy for placing individual soldiers in specific operations:

In their tireless search for individual strengths, the Israeli Special Forces are diametrically opposed to the U.S. NavySEALS and British SAS models, with their famous emphasis on instilling mulitdimentional, broad-based skills in all Special Forces operators.  In Israel, they don't try to mold everybody into all-purpose supercommandos or Hebrew-speaking versions of James Bond.  Almost from the outset at [Counter-Terrorism] School, the instructors start making talent-driven decisions to determine who should fulfill which missions.  Certain guys were physically suited to playing a woman or an old man; others delivered the Palestinian dialect so convincingly they could engage in more interactive undercover roles without ever tipping their hand;  guys with superior marksmanship or driving skills worked the perimeter without donning a fake beard or opening their mouths to speak Arabic...

Cohen ends with this: 

The Special Forces philosophy became: Cultivate individual strengths, look for natural talent.  Don't waste time and resources forcing a square peg into a round hole."

What unique set of strengths do you bring to the mission.  Can you look back over your story to see how God has been trying to call those strengths out?

Our new name is God's way of healing us

You are named by your parents, then you are named by God.  Until you discover the secret name he's given you, your story won't make sense to you and your wounds will haunt you.

He gives us our new names so that we may be healed. 

When I heard my new name, it felt like I was making it up.  The skeptic would say that because I wanted to hear it, I fabricated it in order to make myself feel better.  That certainly could happen -- if you leave God out of my story.

It happened when I was watching Tolkein's Lord of the Rings - the Return of the King for a second time.  God whispered something like, "You have a strength like Aragorn's."  Aragorn is the warrior-wanderer who would one day assume the throne as the true heir to the kingdom.   (Again, all this will sound self-serving unless we understand what God is up to.)   By the way, God renamed people all the time in Scripture:  'Abram' to 'Abraham,' 'Saul' to 'Paul,' 'Simon' to 'Peter.'  He hasn't stopped renaming people.

Why call me, 'Aragorn?"  I'd heard God whisper that name to me before.  The answer is that all men doubt their strength.  But in my case, there was more:  I had been a young pastor who challenged the unquestioned authority of those in positions of power.  I stepped out of my "proper role" to dispute the status quo.  Older and more tenured men in leadership saw it as insubordination and threat.  I was tossed out on my ear and kicked out of the pastorate. 

Congregation members who knew what was really happening voluntarily wrote letters on my behalf to the district leadership and to the bishop.  They fell on deaf ears.  The system wasn't designed to hear opinions other than its own.

Here's the parallel:  Aragorn faced a similar challenge with established leadership.  You may remember the scene in which King Theodin has just been released from the grasp of Worm Tongue's poisonous lying.  Under this spell of deception, Theodin had no mind of his own.  He was easily deceived.  The light in his eyes had gone out, his skin pasty and prematurely aged.  Then Gandalf banishes Worm Tongue and his foul counsel from the great hall, and King Theodin becomes himself again.

But Theodin is reluctant to expose his people to war.  The younger, inexperienced Aragorn challenges him:  "Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not."  Theodin is taken aback by what he thinks is Aragorn's brash arrogance -- but the would-be heir to the throne is simply speaking what needed to be said.  And Aragorn's unwelcomed counsel ended up moving the elder King to rescue his people from a dark army approaching their doorstep.

"Jim.  You have a strength like Aragorn." 
So my wounds began to heal as God spoke the name meant for me:  the pain of rejection (being thrown out of 'ministry'), as well as the doubting:  "Was I justified in what I did?  Was I the one who was wrong?"   And through the new name I hear, "No Jim.  That was your strength coming through.  It cost you, but they don't write your story.  I do."

Over the last 6 years, on several occassions, God continues unwrapping more layers of meaning to "Aragorn."  And so the healing continues. 

Have you begun to hear your secret name?

ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ - 'How much do you know about grace?'

Do you want to see how your answers compared to other people's?
I've included the percentages below of those who answered 'false' and 'true' for each question.

1.  Grace simply means that you are forgiven.     
False (84.4%)  True  (15.6%)

Answer:  False.  Grace does include forgiveness; but must also include a restored heart.  Otherwise, we have stunted grace:  much like a prisoner who is pardonned and his debt paid;  yet the prisoner remains the same person who committed the crime -- unable to relate well and to live well.  He's technically free, yet functionally bound. Unless he's transformed, his pardon won't help him.

Grace requires restoration.  That's the offer of Jesus.  Your heart was restored (the old was removed and a new one put in its place)  when you said 'yes' to him.
..............................................................

2. God the Father looks at me through 'Jesus glasses,' so that he only sees Jesus and not my sin.      False (68.8%)  True (34.4%)

Answer:  False.  Because of Jesus' work on the cross and resurrection, your heart (true self) is absolutely pure.  The old was removed.  (Because of the flesh, you can still sin -- but that's not who you really are any longer.)

God can look directly upon you - without Jesus glasses - because you're actually good and holy now, not simply 'positionally' holy.  God is not pretending.
..............................................................

3. My heart (my true nature) is totally clean right now.
   False (6.5%)   True (93.5%)

Answer:  True.  Jesus gives us nothing less than his own heart and goodness.  Your true nature is his nature.  You now want and have the capacity to love as he did. 

..............................................................  

4. There's a mix of good and bad in my heart now -- like two dogs fighting for dominance.   False (81.3%)   True (18.8%)

Answer:  False.  Though the flesh remains, it is no longer you.  It is like a thorn lodged in your body - it can cause pain, but it isn't actually you.  You no longer have a divided heart.  Your heart and flesh are diffferent things:  The heart is the real you.

..............................................................

5. Any good in me is because Jesus now lives in me.   
False (56.3%)   True (46.9%)

Answer:  False.  This might surprise many of you.  It is certainly true that Jesus lives in you.  However, he doesn't need to stand between you and the Father (like Jesus glasses).  You are actually good now.  Today.  He made you so by giving you his own goodness.

Any goodness in you is now your goodness - coming from the new heart Jesus gave you.  He certainly is the source of that goodness; but that purity is now your own.  It is borrowed, but nevertheless your own.  His righteousness has become your righteousness:  It's the result of your union with him through his work.

..............................................................

6. Discipleship is about taking on the behavior and habits of Jesus.     False (65.6%)  True (34.4%)

Answer:  False. Discipleship is cooperating with the Holy Spirit as he strengthens and releases the new desires and goodness of your new heart.  Habits flow from heart.  Otherwise we end up with behavior-management.

..............................................................

7. I grow more like Christ only because I am accepted by God.  
False (53.1%)   True (46.9%)

Answer:  False.  This is also surprising to many. 

Acceptance alone will not restore a person.  Only restoration restores.  We are indeed fully accepted by God; yet we needed something more -- a new life and power to love well.  Otherwise, what you have is a fully-accepted dead person:  much like pardonning and accepting a corpse.  The corpse needs life.

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Were you surprised, even troubled, by any of the answers?  Do you agree with them?

How much do you know about grace? ... Take the quiz.

I've put together a quick quiz to find out what people know (or what they are convinced they know about 'grace.')  I've  used SurveyMonkey.com to create this short quiz. 

The answers to the quiz may be quite surprising to some - even for those who have been walking in grace for years.

The quiz is short - only seven true/false questions.

I'll be revealing the answers this weekend here on the blog.

Click here to take quiz.

Trusting your heart is the biblical thing to do.

It's o.k. to trust your heart now.  In fact, Jesus wants you to.

Your heart can be trusted now because it is no longer 'deceitfully wicked.'  If you follow Christ, it would be wrong to mistrust your heart:  It would be at cross-purposes with what God is doing in your life to constantly hold your desires under suspicion.

I recently asked a group of men to raise their hands if they thought that trusting their hearts was the right thing to do.  About a third of the hands went up.  The majority thought that holding their heart under suspicion was the biblical thing to do.  As we unpacked the truth of their new hearts, given to them when they said 'yes' to Jesus, we exposed the debilitating assumptions they were taught about their hearts.

I explained that within the new heart Jesus gave them came new and noble desires -- and that dismissing those desires as selfish or inherently wicked would prevent them from doing certain things like:

• discovering their unique calling
• loving God and loving each other

But not all desires are created equal
There are, of course, competing desires that can be whispered to us, but those desires are not ours.  They are either whispered by the Enemy, or our culture, or our 'flesh' (which is no longer us, not our real self);  but those desires are not our desires.  False desires are like thorns lodged in the skin -- they are embedded in our bodies, but not of our bodies.  The thorns cry out for our attention, but our health lies in the vitality already present in our bodies.  Our concern must focus on what's most alive and already present within us.  That's where God focuses his energy.

Ask God to reveal the desires of your heart. 
Stay with the process.  It's what he's up to in your life.  Trusting your heart is biblical.

Training scars

Law enforcement and the military have a term for an inappropriate or mistaken response that was mislearned during training, a behavioral script that gets laid down during the officer's training that would clearly not be helpful in a real situation, or perhaps even yield a deadly result. The term is "training scar."

David Grossman, in his book, On Combat, describes an officer-in-training who learned how to grab a gun out of a would-be criminal's hand. During practice, the officer would grab a gun from a colleague, then give it back to him in order to rehearse it again. During a real confrontation with an assailant, the officer surprisingly grabbed the gun from the man's hand, then gave it right back to him. Fortunately, the officer's partner dispatched his own weapon and shot the attacker. The officer who had learned an inappropriate response during training -- giving the gun back -- nearly cost someone's life. That's a training scar.

The Church today is functioning with numerous training scars, or behavioral scripts that are not serving us well. These scripted beliefs are wreaking havoc on The Body. These rehearsed patterns of thought are perhaps even neurologically wired into our brains in ways that lock the spirit and body (Spirit and Body) into dis-ease. The training scar I'm particularly concerned about is our continuing belief that the human heart remains dark, inwardly bent and sinful even after Christ has given the Christian a new heart, goodness and identity at their conversion.

We have remained in the Old Covenant approach to relating, refusing to pass over into the New. Listen to most sermons on any given weekend, and you'll discover the following ingrained script: "Your heart is still selfish and prone to wander. Kill you heart and call that 'holiness.' It's our job to help you behave more like a Christian so that you can do more, be more committed, and stop being so spiritually inept. You don't really want to follow God, so we'll pressure you into becoming like him."

The script of "New creation in Christ, but bad heart, still" is the pervasive training scar of the day. It is not the Gospel. And the result to the unwitting Christian is this wound: "You're not pleasing to me. Try harder." ---------------------------------

For more on behavior scripts, see Laurence Gonzales' books, Deep Survival and Everyday Survival. "Training scar" gun story, from Everyday Survival.



Being 'accepted' by God isn't enough.

One of the members of The Good and Noble Heart community I moderate asked a great question.  The core of her question goes to real the offer of Jesus.  Here's her question:

What exactly did Jesus accomplish for us? I really believe that He brought us to a place of being able to be with the Father, unrestricted and free. That's how I life my everyday life with Him. But I really don't know how to see myself...am I really good now and therefore can go to the Father, or still the same old me, but completely accepted through Christ's dying on the cross, and that being accepted as I am gives me the hope and strength to be able then to change.

Her confusion is understandable and common to many Christians:  Am I merely accepted by Jesus (which is a beautiful thing in itself) but am still essentially the same person I was before I met him; or did he do something to me -- making me truly good and pure of heart? 

The trouble with seeing ourselves as only forgiven and accepted is that is doesn't solve the root problem -- a diseased and fatally-incapacitated heart.  If Jesus were to 'accept' us without giving us the capacity to love and relate well to him, we would not be able to live or love as he did -- unable to fulfill the command to "love God with all your heart...."  It would be a cruel and unfair expectation on God's part. 

Further, we would be debilitatated and diminished in our capacity to love others:  "Love one another as I have loved you." You can't love like Jesus unless you have his heart.  And that's exactly why his offer includes acceptance ... and a gloriously new heart.

The salvation Jesus offers is a rescue of the heart. It has to be.  There is no loving and living well without a reborn, alive and supernaturally-vibrant heart. 
...................................................................................................

Is this understanding of the Gospel what you were taught?