Me, Myself, and I

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The Christian life is all about being other-oriented. Jesus put it this way: we’re to love others as much as we love ourselves.

That’s a tough one, simply because we come into the world all set to put ourselves first. If we aren’t sure of that, all we have to do is look at young children. Their behavior shouts, “Me first!”

Take two-year-old Emerald, for example.

EmeraldOnce in a while she’ll crawl up on my couch just to gaze at herself in the mirror behind it, the only mirror she can reach. She’ll talk to her reflection, make faces, tip her head back and forth, and jump up and down, all while intently watching her mirror image. And she smiles long smiles at herself as if to say, “You, Emerald, are my very favorite!”

This natural egocentricity is something we try hard to diminish in our children as we raise them. As soon as they can understand, we insist they say please and thank you, even when they aren’t feeling it, just to force them to focus on someone else. As we continue to train them, resistance to “me last” is common.

Truth be told, though, all of us have one foot in that camp. To put others ahead of ourselves we have to make a conscious decision, since even in adulthood it doesn’t come naturally.

Jesus was a faithful example of putting the needs of others ahead of his own. Following him through the Gospels, we see he was often hungry, tired, burned out from ministry, and stretched thin by nonstop commitments. He was so busy doing for others that he rarely did anything for himself.

Yet he never lost sight of his overarching purpose: to bring salvation to people like us. Without him and his willingness to put us ahead of himself, we would have been left to save ourselves, a setup for disaster. We could talk to our mirrors around the clock and never come up with a way to cleanse ourselves from sin.

If Jesus had refused to put others ahead of himself, we would be in a fix for which there was no repair. Instead he set self-interest aside and focused on us, enduring the cross.

Morning mirrorAs I look into a mirror at the beginning of each day, maybe I should talk to my reflection and say, “Subdue your me-first attitude today, just like Jesus did for you. And then do something for someone else as a thank you gift to him.”

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

High Above

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Flying home toward Chicago is always a special treat, especially if the plane is routed over Lake Michigan on its way to O’Hare Airport. Night time is especially dramatic with the city looking like an endless sea of twinkling lights.

SkyscrapersLoop skyscrapers resemble Lego buildings, except that their silhouettes are all wonderfully familiar. Banking over them in an airplane is better entertainment than flying around Disneyland’s Matterhorn.

Being so far above all the action on the street gives the sensation of being removed from regular life, even though everyone on the plane is still part of it. I often think about God’s perspective from his heavenly throne room, and the Bible tells us exactly what that is. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool’.”

He also says, “God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! All the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.”

In these word pictures God is trying to teach us that he is larger than life, and we are minuscule by comparison. But it’s not necessarily physical size he’s referring to. Instead he’s describing his superiority, power, and sovereignty.

Flying over Chicago, I marveled that I could see the entire city all at one time, but God can see all the cities, villages, and rural areas at once. Not only that, he can observe each person, each face, while I can’t even see one through my plane window. He knows each name and is able to see what each is doing. That even includes those hidden from view in the subway or in the deep sub-basements of Chicago’s skyscrapers.

Chicago

But there’s more. Scripture says God can also look inside each person from his high throne room, right into their minds. He can see their thoughts. This sounds intimidating until we learn of his intentions:

“No one can measure the depths of [the Lord’s] understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless… Don’t be afraid, for [he is] with you. Don’t be discouraged, for [he is] your God… [He is] the Lord, your Redeemer.”

Though God is far above us, he wants to be intimately near to us, close enough to “hold us up with his righteous right hand.” He wants to “…feed his flock like a shepherd.” He wants to “…carry the lambs in his arms.”  And those are just a few of the wonderful reasons why he’s watching us so carefully.

The LoopHe is very great, and I am exceedingly small. But because of his loving care, that’s just fine by me.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Scriptures from: Isaiah 40, 41, 66 and Luke 5

Less is much more.

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Whenever I visit the homes of my grandchildren, I encourage each mom to line up projects for when my extra pair of hands might help facilitate. Last week while I was in Florida, Linnea was ready with her list. As she worked her way through it, I got to play with my grands.

Autumn with toysOne job that’s impossible to do with children around is to organize their toys, which means tossing out broken ones and those with missing parts. Since new toys come in with each birthday and Christmas, Linnea also looks forward to gathering bunches of still-nice toys for Good Will.

As she was getting ready to tackle the project this time, we reached under each bed, behind closet doors, and in every dark corner where we found stray cars, plastic princesses, and building blocks. When she finally went to work, the living room floor was piled high with colorful playthings, along with a variety of plastic bins with lids.

By the end of the day, the toy stash had been forced into submission and most of it put away for only occasional use. And the children would never miss all that had been removed.

MicahEvery so often it’s a good idea to do the same thing with our spiritual lives. Taking inventory of where we stand with the Lord motivates us to trim away anything that gets between us and him. We can also rearrange our priorities so the main thing becomes the main thing again.

Once in a while we have to look in those hidden places of our thinking for the clutter we’ve allowed to accumulate there, just as we had to hunt in all the hidden places for toys. Without making a close inspection now and then, our lives can become disheveled.

But we often shy away from this introspective process because it can be painful. Just like children resist parting with broken toys, we have trouble letting go of certain things too, like bad habits we’ve become comfortable with. Rather than route them out, it’s easier to make excuses for them much like children try to justify keeping bits and pieces of incomplete toys.

But once we’ve done the hard work of taking stock and putting our internal houses back in order, gains will always outweigh losses. That’s because the process has made room for the Lord to give us “new” and “better.”

In orderAs for my grandchildren, playing with a manageable amount of toys (all of which work right and are complete) makes play time less frustrating and lots more fun.

Less turns out to be much, much more.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)