LG July 2 2010, July 11 2010 - Camp bring back part 2

Vision and a cause

Following from the previous posting, Jim also shared about vision and cause at the camp which I thought was quite intriguing. Here is how he described the difference between the two:

• No one dies for vision but would die for a cause. 
• Vision has options while cause usually leaves us with none.
• Vision can be ignored but cause must not be.
• As we start living for a cause, our options start disappearing.
• Cause will always live on while visions will perish when we die.

To paraphrase what Jim was saying, a cause is bigger than any of our personal dreams and ambitions, which he defines as our vision. An example of a cause is the abolishment of the slave trade that William Wilberforce had devoted his life to accomplish. While he played a pivotal role in bringing about government reforms in this area in most of the British Empire in 1833, the fight to eradicate slavery in other parts of the world still continues today e.g the trafficking of sex workers from third world countries and battles with child slavery just to name a few.

A cause will always be there no matter where we are but when we are a part of it, there's nothing stopping us. As Jim quoted "A cause will become glue for the entire life." So what cause will you live for? Is there something you feel passionate about? Something that's happening in the world that's upsetting you? Perhaps when we tap into these small voices in our hearts, we can start to identify the cause that we were meant to live for.

But before we stress ourselves out with world issues and seeing how we can be a part of it, let's look at what the bible says. As detailed in the greatest commandment in Matt 22:37-40: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'. This is the first and greatest commandment. 'And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.' While we may not be able to bring about significant changes the way Wilberforce did in our lifetime, from this passage, Jesus is telling us to change "our world" which we can all do. This is our oikos which means household in ancient greek or our sphere of influence in more contemporary terms. If all of us make loving our neighbour as our cause and making the most of what God has entrusted to us, wouldn't the world be a better place? =)

So what's stopping us?

When asked this question in LG, a few good points were made. The responses include distractions from everyday life as well as complacency which stems from being too comfortable with the status quo. But when we delve a little deeper, these are actually the outworking of the greatest enemy called self. Jim warned that the greatest enemy for us to live for a cause is self.

People who struggle with this condition display the following traits:

• They are self conscious.
• They are self confident.
• They always seek the approval of others - also known as the approval addiction.
• They envy others.
• They put others down when others are ahead of them.
• They are insecure.
• They put their own agenda before others.

Please don't use this as a judging list to test if others are living selfish lives. This is not the intention. What we should do is use this list to observe our own lives to see if there's anything we can change so we can reach our potential for God. To overcome self, we need to see beyond self. We need to take self out of the equation i.e. quit asking the question "what's in it for me?".

Our perfect example

Jesus ministered in freedom. He ministered in true self. He didn't see the need to prove anything to anybody nor the need to conform to the ways of society in order to please others. Jesus knew His identity even before He began His ministry - before He accomplished great deeds for God! (Matt 3:17) As we observe the passage in Matthew 4:3 Satan challenged Jesus's identity by asking Him to turn stones into bread in order to prove that He is the Son of God. While Jesus had the power to perform such a mircacle, He chose to live on the word of God (the bread of life) where His true identity comes from and not by the approval of others from His actions. He refused to create a false self image that met the expectation of others. This was also the case in His interactions with the pharisees where He fought for justice even if it meant risking death.

This truth is very liberating for us. Even though we may not have done significant things for God thus far, we can be assured of God's loving acceptance and validation as he calls us His sons and daughters! It's about being who we are in are in Christ and not about what we do! God is pleased just the way we are and He is in a good mood! When our identity is firmly grounded on this truth, we can minister out of freedom, out of true self and a sense of security. All of a sudden, what others think of our actions that lead to positive change in society no longer becomes an issue because our heavenly father is pleased with us!

Dying of self not only gives us the motivation to live out a God given cause but I believe it also gives us the right motive to serve, which is just as important, if not more important. If we minister out of a selfish agenda to gain the applause of others or out of fear because we are afraid of how others might perceive us if we don't serve or out of our natural abilities alone where we limit God's supernatural influence over our work, perhaps it's time for a health check. We ought to minister out of God's unconditional love for us. As it states in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I gain nothing".

Sorry this has taken longer than expected...more to follow!