Olympic Gold

Living in Seattle right now is very exciting! The Olympics are right down the road, everyone talks about it, some co-workers even went on a whim and saw some events! Whew! I myself was unable to go, but it has been neat to see all the different ups and downs.

Thinking (as I always do) about the Olympics I was a bit jealous. All these cool young kids in the spotlight that I will never be in, corporate sponsorship, the flash and excitement, national television coverage, etc. "I want that too!" I say on the inside. There is a price though, and I want the glory without having to pay it. I think this is a typical human emotion, but maybe it's just me.

The Olympics very closely echo life. We go throughout our lives living very basic, daily, mundane existences. If you read anything about the speed skating team not only did they have grueling daily practices for 4 years, but they were also broke until Stephen Colbert helped them out. Think about that for a second. Grueling daily practices for 4 years. Giving everything you have in your young life, your education, goals, friends, family, excitement, entertainment, fun, etc for 4 unsexy, unfilmed, hard, thankless years. That is what it takes to be an Olympian though. You either make that sacrifice or forget Olympic dreams. They say it takes 10,000 hours to become the greatest at something. Sports, programming, finance, etc. 4 years, 6 days a week for 8 hours a day = 9,984 hours. That is what a gold medal costs. Oh and by the way there is no guarantee that you will get a gold just because you put in this time. That is just the minimum requirement. Still want to sign on?

I don't think I would have the patience to watch 4 years of training on TV, much less go through it! The thing is I want to be Stephen Colbert not the speed skating athletes. Stephen Colbert got funding for the Olympic speed skating team, was named as an Assistant Team Psychologist. As I understand it if you are on the team in any capacity you get a medal. Maybe I'm wrong but bear with me for sake of example. I want to do that! I just want to give a bit of cash and be amazing! I want to have things easy and still get something you have to work for. I don't want to put 10,000 hours into one thing and then still have to compete to win a prize, with no guarantees. Ouch!

This feeling also echos into my Christian life. People think you are really dedicated if you go to church on Sunday's and a mid week bible study. Take me for example. I became a Christian around 6 years old. Lets assume that I got a 1 hour service and a 3 hour midweek study in consistently since I was 6. (Now obviously there are times where I got more or less Bible, but stick with me.) That is 5,408 hours. Hey I am halfway to being an expert! If we assume that I put in 1 hour of personal study that ups it to 6,760. Thing is I probably haven't been that consistent or dedicated. It isn't like every Sunday I woke up chomping at the bit to go to Church. It isn't like I paid perfect attention at every Bible study I've been at. When you get right down to it people think I know a lot about the Bible, but if you compare it in human terms to Olympic athlete dedication I am pretty pathetic. I have been consistent in how I live life, but it isn't a pretty picture. It isn't Olympic in any area of life. Not even in dedication to God.

Paul in the Bible actually compares the Christian life to the Olympics. In 1 Cor 9:24-27 he sets forth that his Christian walk has been like an Olympic training session. That is how life is. The grueling daily workouts. The unsexy sweat and training for long periods of time, with no cheering crowd, no camera, and unsatisfied coaches. I am realizing the Christian life is like blue chip stock, Olympic training and farming. It is very daily, very mundane, very unsexy. Thing is it is very worth it. The Olympians and their prizes of today will fade, God's prize will not.

This isn't to paint a picture of works salvation. Please understand I believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, because we are helpless sinners with no hope of salvation outside of Him. He is the one who loves us eternally and gives us the power to do anything. What I am saying is if you are a Christian, "What are you doing with the time God has given you?" "What am I doing with the time God has given me?" I get amazing love, grace and forgiveness from God, does it motivate me as much as the hope of Olympic gold, or do I take it for granted? I want my heart to be right and I don't think it is right now. I am motivated by flashy, sexy, easy, and cool. I need to be motivated by God's love.

How about you?

Thoughts on caring

Haiti...

It is a place I think I had heard of half a dozen times before an earthquake hit.
Not really big on my list. Maybe like Bermuda it is some place tropical I might visit one day, but definitely not on the radar. Now I can't turn on a TV, get on the internet, or pick up a newspaper without seeing, hearing, or reading about this country. I have some thoughts that have been fermenting for about a week, so here goes.

I find myself struggling to care. I didn't care two weeks ago when many people were starving and in poverty in Haiti, why should I now? Does it take a huge death toll and a crazy natural disaster to get me to care? What about everyone else? Are we all so calloused? It is not that helping isn't right and good (it is!) I just wonder if I am hopping on the band wagon because caring about Haiti is "cool" right now, and if I admit I don't care than I am an uncaring, unloving person. Two weeks ago if I said I didn't care about Haiti I probably would have had people agree with me that they didn't either. Now I feel like I am "forced" to care just because something bad happened. Good political cartoon that echos this thought.click here

I don't want to get scammed. How do I know that my "fill in dollar amount here" is going to be used properly? I would rather not support thieves, and it takes time and energy to find an organization that isn't going to abuse the funds I give them. Sometimes I am lazy and don't want to do the background checking I should before giving and don't want to get scammed, so I just don't give and rationalize it by calling it "being responsible".

I see a pattern in life that bothers me and I was happy to see something different in an e-mail from my church...

"But, I felt that our best hope was prayer and so thank you for interceding." Mark Driscoll.

Now that is faith in God. Not money, not our efforts, but prayer being our best hope. Wow. How can I serve the God this guy serves and not the God Pat Robertson serves? (see below)

Back to that pattern I see...something bad happens in the world, we feel emotionally moved even though we are safe comfortable and happy, we are asked to give money because we are American and rich, we give it under pressure with a side dish of guilt thrown in, our consciences are soothed and we remain calloused, cold, isolated people who can't talk to the guy next to us who can't eat. Now don't get me wrong everything people are doing for Haiti is great they really need it right now, I just wonder about my heart and how my motivations work. I wonder if other people's motivations work that way too. Often I give out of pressure and not because I care. I am looking at my life pretty carefully right now and I wonder what my life says I care about. Wallets and hearts are attached and I just want mine to reflect Christ, as if my wallet is the wallet of Christ. Working my job as if Christ works there. Did people see Jesus working in a hospital laboratory today? Because really I am not in Haiti I am in Seattle. I can't touch or feed a Haitian person at all today, but I can touch and help people in Seattle. Am I doing what I can where I can, or am I just being selfish? It is harder to care where you live because you have to give more and have more to lose. I find that scary sometimes...here's $20 for the Haitians now stop bugging me conscience. And we call that "caring". Ouch.

I really need God to help me love others. I really need God to help me care where I am at because right now I am doing a pretty poor job of reflecting his love.

Pat Robertson is wrong!
Top 8 Biblical reasons Pat is out to lunch
1. Jesus said He came to "Seek and save the lost" Luke 19:10
2. God always warns people using prophets about direct punishment before the hammer comes down. Usually to give people time to repent and turn to Him. God seems to be loving in this way. See the books of Jonah, Jeremiah, Isiah, Amos, etc.
3. Assumes that some sins (obviously that we Americans are not committing!) are worse than others and we can know exactly how God judges them. I mean it isn't like American's are sex obsessed, greedy, selfish, idol worshipers, right?! Also assumes God judges sin here and now instead of "being patient" 2 Peter 3:9
4. Pat Robertson is a false prophet because of his predictions (click here) and should not be listened to. Deuteronomy 18:22
5. Jesus's response to natural disaster (Luke 13:1-5) was not condemn people, but to remind people that we all die and to urge men to repent of sin and be reconciled to God. It is a message of hope since this world is broken and will never be perfect.
6. Pat never read the book of Job. Job a righteous man get everything stripped from him even though he really didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him. Pat sounds more like Job's friends who assumed that there was something wrong with Job to have experienced the calamity that he did. (They were wrong by the way.)
7. God is not a direct, cause = effect, God. His ways are higher than ours and sometimes...we don't know why things happen. Holy crap we aren't God?! Surprise!
8. Pat's God is unjust. If God only punishes sin once (Him being just) and there were Christians in Haiti, then according to Pat God has just punished them twice. Once when He punished Christ for the sins of the world, and then when He caused the earthquake. Pat's God has just punished someone twice for sin, is that just? I doubt it.