The message here is pretty simple: God doesn't like it when we squander our time and the gifts he has given us. This is tricky because the disease of the modern era is having too much to do. Our lives are rushed, stuffed like never before with options and demands.
Too often, though, we confuse being busy with being productive and doing well. Sometimes the things we're busy with--things which occupy our time and energy--are the equivalent of the un-inventive, unproductive servant's talent burial. Instead of being an avenue to good and the Kingdom of God they become a buffer between us and meaningful progress.
Reflecting upon all this in practical terms I came up with a couple of lists detailing things to embrace and things to beware of when deciding how to occupy your time. You can read the first after the "Read More" jump. The second will come tomorrow.
Pastor Dave’s List of Things that Almost Always Waste Your Time and Talents
Unnecessary Worry--Some worry is necessary. When you run into that necessary kind you'll know, as you won't be able to help it. If your worry is optional, let it go and do something that matters...or just do something.
Listening to Gossip or Ill News--The age of technological communication has made us all into Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched. Bad news runs 24 hours a day on TV. Juicy rumors run rampant in our communities. What good has hearing or repeating those things ever done besides make people think the next generation is going to heck in a handbasket? Bah! Wrong. They're fine. Our wagging tongues and un-critical ears are the problem! Other people's misfortunes are not meant for our entertainment, nor for salacious gossip. Needing those things to feel important is a sure sign of a life in need of something truly meaningful to occupy it.
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| Theological Tip for the Day: Don't end up looking like this! |
Annoyance over Trivialities--The world has enough problems to solve without adding a hundred little ones to them every day. Let it go and get angry about--and move to change--something important!
Holding Grudges and/or waiting for other people to pay before you forgive them--Life is too short, as they say. This is another form of ceding your God-given power to someone else. That's particularly confusing when you're mad at that someone, presumably because they weren't exercising their power very well in the first place. Have it out with them and move on or just forgive. Think of all the time you'll save in a day not stewing!
Cynicism/Fatalism/Pessimism--All three are ways of saying the world is ending up bad. God promises our destiny is goodness. Since he's God, he wins all arguments. That means we better start seeing the good in our future and living by it.
Finding fault or blame--This is our instinctive response when something bad happens. Remember the Columbine school shootings? What's the first thing people did? "It's the parents' fault!" Did that change anything, lessening the tragedy, or did it just allow us to wash our hands of it? Even when bad things happen and even when blame is obvious our job as people of faith is to help make it better, not to stand apart and point fingers. Fault doesn't matter nearly as much as healing.
Avoiding failure (or accepting failure) in order to keep yourself safe--Falling short in a good cause is not failure, just success deferred. Succeeding in a predictable task which keeps you from stretching for something new can be a failure in itself. Me trying to cook a new dish and blowing it is not as big of a failure as me unconsciously grabbing a Twinkie and munching it while I drive. That's true even when the Twinkie tastes better than my botched cooking job. Accepting the mundane just because it's safe is a waste of time. Fail gloriously and learn from it! That's how you get better. Succeeding timidly doesn't give you that benefit.
Going after more money than you can enjoy or embracing materialism--There's nothing wrong with having some nice things or enjoying the modern life. If you love those courtside seats or moon over being able to watch movies on your big screen TV, do it! But make sure you're enjoying it. At a certain point money and material things just become ways to keep score in a game that we shouldn't be playing. Just having a bigger number in a bank account won't make you happy or fulfilled or even any safer in hard times. Think of the buffet. The first dish is great! You enjoy it, so eat it! By the second plate things are starting to wind down. If you're choking down a fourth and fifth full plate you've probably lost the point and your good senses both. You're not having fun anymore, just eating to eat. Don't let the bank become your buffet. Enjoy what you eat and let the rest go.
Defining good as “good for you” and then shouting down anyone who disagrees--This is distressingly common nowadays. Crucifixion wasn't really good for Jesus, you know. He did it for others. And the only people shouting during the process were the people who put him on that cross in the first place! Taking a self-centered worldview and then defending it with raised voices doesn't make you good or right. You don't convince anyone who doesn't already agree with you, meaning you end up among a group of self-centered, loud people. Who wants that circle of friends?
Drawing boundaries around your group of friends and family and never letting anyone else in--This is another protection measure that doesn't work. Getting insular is the same as getting stale. Nobody likes staleness. Besides, you're not going to like who your kids bring into the family anyway so you might as well open the circle now and get used to it! You'll all have way more fun.
Judging others--You could have been welcoming them, talking with them, learning about them, or playing Parcheesi. All of those would have been better choices.
Making excuses and living by “almosts”--All of us "almost" did a lot of things. We'd all be rich if we had kept our childhood baseball cards and toys in mint condition. We'd all win the lottery if we could match just three more numbers. We'd all get that book published if we would just find the time to write it. Woulda, shoulda, and coulda all equal "didn't" and that's where the story ends on 99% of this stuff. If you're going to do something, do it. If not, that's probably fine too. But don't let "almost" and "someday" become the cradle in which your life-long inertia gets nursed, lest you waste your time talking about thing that never happened instead of doing the things that should happen.
Living as if the whole world would fall apart without you--This is a convenient way to keep busy doing a whole host of things that don't really matter as much as you think. Even when you succeed you're not helping as much as creating dependence. It becomes another phony way of feeling important instead of embracing the true importance God has for you. The world will probably get along without you and at least 90% of your million-and-two self-imposed tasks. Find the six that make a real difference and do those well instead. Encourage others to do the same. Between all of you you'll probably cover the world's needs just fine.
Thinking you’re smarter than others…or better…or purer--Probably not. And keep in mind that nowadays we probably have the video tape to prove it.
Grasping for love instead of giving love--No matter how you define "love" you can only find it by giving it away. Be generous, be kind, be patient, be self-aware, be strong when you have to and you'll probably find your gifts coming back to you. Try to force that return, however, and you'll probably miss (and mistrust) real love when it finds you.
Confusing winning with succeeding--Playing games is fun. Sports are games. Business is a kind of game. Relationships have elements of game play (in both the good and bad senses). In all of these things if you focus only on the destination--and a single one at that--you're missing the point. The journey matters. The process matters. Getting to an end is a nice bonus...and in most cases your signal to start again. Success is always found in moving rather than stopping even if that stopping place is labeled "winner".
Confusing worldly success with being happy and at peace--No matter what the field, what the goal, or what the apparent reward anytime you make your happiness and peace dependent on anything save your relationship with God you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Everything external is also temporary. Everything temporary fades. Happiness and peace are supposed to endure. Don't base them on things that will one day fail you.
Obsessing over perfection, including feeling bad because you’re not someone else--Magazines, television, commercials...everything seems set up to convince you that you're not good enough. This argument gets "proved" by flashing people in front of your eyes who appear to have it all: money, looks, glamour, a great life. Look in their eyes. I'm not sure they're having much more fun than you are. Recently I read a quote from a Wall Street broker in response to the "Occupy" protests going on in our country. He said, "A weak man sees my fancy car and wants to take it from me. A real man sees my fancy car and wants to work as hard as I do so he can get one." Not only is he awfully self-absorbed, he's also wrong on both counts. Some of us wouldn't take your fancy car, or the life that goes with it, for the world. Nor would you take ours. Being great with who you are is both a discipline of and test of faith. Practice it.
Having to prove you’re cool by putting other people down--This is a classic waste of time. You don't prove anyone is uncool except you.
Trusting in anything more than you trust in God--Again, everything outside of God is temporary. That means the thing you rely upon is going to change, if not crumble. It's going to become a source of fear rather than a foundation of reliability. Trust in that which endures and you won't have to sweat it.
Spending time on things that don’t make the world better--A famous quote from the poker world says, "If you can't identify the sucker at the table within the first thirty minutes, it's you." This is a warning to be aware of your surroundings or risk losing your stack. The same holds true of our actions. If you can't identify who this helping, how it is making the world better, you risk losing your stack of time, energy, and many of life's opportunities while pursuing futility.
Spending Time on things that won’t ultimately matter--The same principle applies here. Anything that doesn’t build a stronger relationship between you and God and/or a loving relationship between you and your neighbor needs to be examined. If you're not doing one of those two things then your actions also go into that dreaded "temporary" category we just talked about. Invest in things that will last in people's memories and lives! (Note that even the most ordinary things in life can achieve new meaning when shared. Dinner made...eh. Dinner made and shared with a neighbor as a surprise...wonderful!)
Every moment you spend doubting that you’re beautiful, an amazing creature of God’s own creation--Don't believe in anyone who tells you different, even if that someone is you! Trust the gifts God gave you. Trust that God's grace washes away your shortcomings and makes you as beautiful as you've ever imagined, a child of the Heavenly Father tasked with creating life and joy just as he does. Then go and do it!
Tomorrow's list: A slightly less serious look at things that are almost never a waste of time!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
P.S. That e-mail address works now! Thanks for the help, Patrick! Go ahead and e-mail me if you want to talk further, have questions, or especially if you have ideas for the blog!
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