In Stephen Pressfield’s classic “War of Art”, he mentions that the high performers, the creatives, those who produce, those who are effective, etc. eventually have to learn to “be miserable”.
“The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being more miserable than any soldier…because this is war, baby. And war is hell.” (68)
I believe this is a powerful idea and one every man, every leader and every change agent must learn in order to perform and push through tough seasons of life and leadership.
Navy Seals teach this, two-a-days football practices teach this, and Medical school Residencies teach this…you can be miserable, and still produce and thrive. God teaches this…see Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Paul…take your pick.
What a powerful lesson we should all live! Could there be a greater gift, on a practical level, to invest in our kids? How can we train emerging leaders or church planters with this reality?
In our age of spoiled kids, privileged kids, over-indulgence, helicopter parenting, and the lies we tell kids and young men and women that they “can be and do anything they want to be and do”…many are launching “soft” young adults into the world who have no idea how to struggle well or thrive through misery…so they pout and quit and remain a taker, not a giver.
Couple that with ridiculous expectations that a perfect job is waiting on them along with a perfect boss in exactly the city they want to live in along with a paycheck that is more than they’ll need and you have a recipe for a disaster…check most 20 somethings.
The few truly understand, theologically, that we live in a fallen world, this is not heaven (thank God), life is hard, there is much pain, disappointment and misery…but in the midst of that, by God’s grace, we can learn to cultivate and create in the midst of circumstances that will rarely, if ever, be ideal.
A friend once told me to pinch Gen 1 and 2 in one hand and Rev 19 and 20 in the other. Those 4 chapters are perfection. The other 1,185 chapters in the Bible teach us to contend in the midst of fallenness.
Don’t be a whiner, quitter, or baby and quit pouting or being surprised about “how hard” what you are doing, is. Of course it is. You are a limited human in a fallen world. Learn to cultivate and create…all the while, being miserable. If you can thrive and stay on mission, especially through the worst of circumstances, you are preparing to be a game changer, a true leader, who can adapt, adjust, and endure.
That’s what we need more of….
Martin Luther talks about the need to beat the gospel into your own head, continually. I’ve captured a second list of Paul David Tripp’s statements that help me do just that.
“Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me: to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” *
* Martin Luther, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Smith, English & Co. 1860), p. 206.
Worship is war. The eyes of our hearts are easily seduced by the touch-and-taste, sight-and-sound pleasures of creation.
Are we worshippers of God, or people who have inserted passive, episodic experiences of worship into a lifestyle shaped by other values?
We must fight for our hearts; warning ourselves daily against the disappointment and danger of looking for life where life can’t be found.
When you daily celebrate grace, you go to a worship service not to begin worshipping, but because you have already been worshipping.
Worship: we all make daily offerings, sacrifices of time/energy/money/focus, to the thing that has captured our attention and desire.
Self-righteousness means that what you say to you about you removes from you any sense of personal need for God’s grace.
Grace doesn’t excuse your sin, rather it pays the price for what is inexcusable.
Grace doesn’t free you from the call to obedience, but liberates you from the delusion that you can obey your way into God’s acceptance.
Sadly, we easily become desensitized to how astonishing grace is and religate it’s celebratIon to the religious dimension of our lives.
Apart from Christ, there is simply nothing in life that is worthy of the devotion, celebration, dedication, and adoration of of your heart.
Apart from God’s grace I would be in the center of my world, I would make up my own laws, worship the creation, and live for my comfort.
Lose your gratitude for your welcome into God’s kingdom and you will lose your zeal for its work and pursue the work of another kingdom.
Do you hide what Jesus has already covered? Do you fear what Jesus has already conquered? Do you seek what Jesus has already purchased?
Your success in life is not the foundation of your hope, but Christ’s victory in death.
Grace dismantles your confidence in you, while it gives you more hope and courage than you have ever had.
If you are God’s child, the cross guaranteed your ultimate victory. Will you live today, tomorrow and the next day like you believe it?
When grace is your rest, you no longer panic when you are driven beyond the borders of your own wisdom and strength.
At the center of Christianity is not the world’s best system of theology and rules, but a gloriously compassionate Savior.
We need to guard against making understanding/living grace the new law, thereby contradicting the grace we are calling others to live.
Keller on “Creation and Creativity” and God the Entrepenuer
I’ve collected these and use them devotionally.
Self-righteousness is why we are content with superficial Christianity. Convinced we are okay, we do not long for the daily rescue of grace.
A life-shaping celebration of God’s grace is only ever born out of one thing; a deep sense of profound personal need.
You could not do it, Jesus did. You could not earn it, Jesus did. You could not defeat it Jesus did. He really is your only hope.
Sin results in double death (spiritual/physical), but the promise of grace is life in the here and now and life after death forever!
Grace captures you and won’t let you go while it frees you from things that have held you for years.
Grace will surprise you again and again, but never leave you helpless, hopeless, or alone.
To be accepted with God, freed from shame, cleared of guilt, given righteousness you didn’t earn, power far beyond your own; that’s grace!
Self-righteousness is about being more aware of and irritated by the sins of others than you are conscious of and grieved by your own.
The reason Jesus calls us not to parade our righteousness before others is because we don’t have any of our own! It all belongs to Christ.
You simply cannot live as God calls for you to live unless you have a practical grasp of the forgiving and enabling grace you’ve been given.
The Gospel teaches me that my greatest problem is not environmental. No, it is moral and for that I have been given Christ.
While sin still is a sad and ever-present reality in each of our lives, it is simply no match for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will you measure your potential today based on the size of what you’re facing or based on the magnitude of God’s presence and his grace?
The truth is your heart is always under rule. If it is not ruled by God it will be functionally and effectively ruled by something else.
Grace requires you to acknowledge your weakness, while at the same time welcoming you to rest in God’s greatness.
Anger is not the embarrassing uncle of God’s character. The hope of the world is that God will be angry at anything in the way of his plan.
Grace calls us to admit our need of resecue, for what we once wanted, we became convinced we needed, and now have become addicted to.
Jesus calls us to forsake all, not just so we would submit to his control, but by grace to free us from the control of other things over us.
Tell yourself today that you are surrounded by other lovers seeking to woo you away from the one central love that should shape your life.
When your biggest thrill is not some personal pleasure, but Kingdom advancement, then you know grace is transforming your heart.
Grace rescues us from our fickle hearts that find so many ways of filling every moment of each day, we have little room left for God at all.
Worship isn’t just a religious thing. Worship means one central love fuels everything I do/say in the specific places where God puts me.
It’s been said that Education is THE civil rights issue of our day, I’m hoping this documentary helps, check out this embedded video preview of ”Waiting for Superman” and consider hosting it and a discussion in your community
Everything my friend @benarment puts his leadership paws on is awesome. Story Chicago looks to extend his streak of awesome. You better sign up quick, only a few spots left till sell out. Check it http://www.storychicago.com/
Dear Church or Non-Profit Leader,
Would you please stop hiring someone just because “they are a great guy” and “you guys click”. Character and Chemistry are important…but simply and severely incomplete.
Devastating incomplete. That hire must also be COMPETENT. But not just randomly competent…competent where you and the organization are desperate for them to have competencies.
Your personnel dollars are precious and few…how are you going to invest them?
How are you going to assess what needs your organization has in order to determine what set of skills / type of leader you need?
How are you going to assess the competency of the person you are wanting to hire?
Where are you going to find that hire?
You mis-fire on hires…surround yourself with “great folks” who “have your DNA”…but can’t DO what your organization desperately needs DONE and you will set your organization back years, deeply frustrate the rest of your team, hurt those you are trying to lead, and your leadership credibility will take a huge hit.
And…you do “the new guy” a severe disservice by not making sure he or she is great where you need great…you waste your time and their time. You lose, they lose…your organization loses.
And…for the sake of all that is good in the universe…when you find yourself in that “uh-oh” scenario of a mis-hired person, please do not take the easy path of re-shuffling them through the organization trying to find another fit. That hardly ever works. It feels better in the short term…but usually just buys you about 6 months…then the issue is right in front of you again!
Man up, own the mistake and lead that person through a redemptive exit strategy.
Take your medicine. It should be costly. Invest in them to help them find their next opportunity that fits who they are. You bear some brunt in that…you helped create that mess.
Way better to get clarity on the front in on what you need and get clarity in the process of the potential hires Character, Chemistry and COMPETENCE!
Watching a highly competent person dominate an area of your organization that desperately needs that kind of leadership / skill set is a beautiful thing!
Lead On! Go get em!
