When given the opportunity to take a risk, to launch an adventure, to give valuable things away, to blindly embrace change, to recklessly accept a call... what do you do?
And the question doesn't have to be as shocking as that. What do you do when presented with an opportunity to bring the flavor and shape of God's grace and justice into someone's world, right here and right now? Do you stop and ask whether it's the right thing to do or not? If so, I can answer that question for you.
Richard Stearns, author of The Hole in our Gospel, an Ivy-league MBA, and a highly successfuly corporate CEO, came to a crossroads. There was sacrifice involved, and there was so much potential too. He calls the day that the World Vision board of directors offered him the position of U.S.-based president 'one of the lowest points' in his life.
A low point? One of the lowest points of his life?
When faced with decisions that will change everything about our life, it can bring us to the end of ourselves, to the end of our rope. It can make us feel, well, low.
But there were other low points in Stearns' life. Like when he was fired twice in the same year, first from ParkerBrothers, and then from Franklin Mint. Like when he spent 14 months as an educated, highly qualified, and unemployed father of 5... wandering through the wilderness.
Like the freed slaves trekking from hard labor in Egypt to heavenly promises in Canaan, wandering through the wilderness. And along the way, hunger ensues, and helplessness too. When we are left with nothing, hands empty, hearts dry, it is then that we find everything we are, everything we have, and everything we need comes from God and God alone.
Stearns took a call in 1984 from a friend, Bill Bryce, and advised him to confidently and faithfully go to work for World Vision to help the world's poor. In 1997, Stearns took another call from Bryce. This time Bryce asked Stearns to join him in also giving his gifts and skills to helping the world's poor. Stearns resisted. He felt that World Vision was looking for someone who was part CEO, part Mother Teresa, and part Indiana Jones. Sounds exciting, but unlikely.
Finally, a provocative and jarring question moved the process forward. It's a question we should ask ourselves, today and always.
'Am I willing to be open to God's will for my life?'
Two other questions help us find the kingdom-shaping adventure in our lives.
'Why did God make me?'
'What kind of disciple am I willing to be?'
These questions aren't just for the Mother Teresas and Indiana Joneses of the world. It's not just for the prophets and apostles. Not just for the preachers and poets. These questions are for each of us. So... are you willing to be open to God's will for your life? Why did God make you? What kind of disciple are you willing to be?
Please join this Advent book club by reading The Hole in our Gospel
and this blog every day until Christmas.
These are questions full of everyday struggles, at least for me! But, I do know that God made me to love, serve, and obey Him. I like the opening quotation, "To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice." In our comfortable lives, it can be easy to turn a blind eye to what goes on in our town and in our world, to remain in our comfort zones. I pray that my heart is open to the needs of those around me. I pray that I recognize and faithfully accept the opportunity to take a risk, to launch an adventure, to give valuable things away, to blindly embrace change, to recklessly accept a call...
Posted by: Carrie Mollette | November 29, 2010 at 05:54 PM