Paradigm Shift (Part I)

God has really been rocking my world over the last year or two.  The message I have to share today and tomorrow was one of those huge foundation shifters.  It came from a video we watched at church which came from the book Truefaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch.  
My 3rd son is using it for NCFCA competition this year.  

This is his script.     

God couldn’t help us until we trusted him with who we really were.  It painted our world in colors we hardly knew existed.  But something happened to many of us in the intervening years.  We lost confidence that his delight of us and new life in us would be strong enough for a growth that would glorify God and fix our junk.  We gradually bought the slick sales pitch that told us we would need to find something more, something others seemed to have that we could never quite get our hands around.  Something magical and mystical that we would receive if we tried hard enough.

And so the day comes when I am forced to choose.  Arriving at a pivotal place on my journey with God, I stand before two roads diverging in the woods - a tall pole with signs pointing in two different directions.  The marker leading to the left simply says Pleasing God.  The one leading to the right reads Trusting God.  It’s hard to choose one over the other, because Pleasing God and Trusting God are both admirable, but I can have only one primary motive.  There is no third road and it becomes obvious that I will not be able to jump back and forth between the paths.  I must choose one.  Only one.

To Please or to Trust?  The Trusting God path just seems, too, well, passive.  I choose the path marked Pleasing God.  I want a fully alive experience with God.  I am determined to please God. 

I come to a door with a sign that reads Striving to Be All God Wants Me to Be.  As I enter this enormous room, a hostess with a beautiful smile greets me, “Welcome to the Room of Good Intentions.” 

Oh yes.  I like the ring of this name.  “Well, thanks.  I think I’ve found my home.  How are you?”

The hostess pauses for a moment and answers, “Fine.  Just fine.  And you?”  The entire room gets suddenly quiet, awaiting my answer.  “Well, thanks for asking.  I’m kind of struggling with some things right now, some areas that don’t seem to be in keeping with who I know I’m supposed to be.  I’m not really sure I’m doing well on a lot of – “ The hostess cuts me off, putting her finger to her lips and handing me a mask.  I’m not quite sure what to do.  I don’t really want to put it on, but others in the room are smiling and motioning for me to do so.  I want so much to be accepted here that I slowly put it on.

And now everything feels different.  Less self-revelation would be a smart game plan.  No one in this room wants to hear about my struggles, pain, or doubt.  I better give the appearance of sufficiency.  “Actually, I’m fine.  I’m doing just fine.  Thanks.”  Satisfied, everyone in the room turns back to their conversations. 

The Room of Good Intentions is best summarized by an enormous banner on the back wall that reads, Working on My Sin to Achieve an Intimate Relationship with God.  Sounds a lot like, “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.”  Yep.  I’m in the right place.  The people here have sincerity, perseverance, courage, diligence, full-hearted fervency, a desire to please God, and a sold-out determination to pursue excellence.  Yes, this is the place I’ve been looking for. 

Oh, I’m going to make Him so happy.  One day soon, we will be close.  I just know it! 

But the more time I spend in the Room of Good Intentions, the more disappointment I feel.  Despite all my striving, all my efforts, I keep sinning! 

“Sell out, care more, get on fire, buck up, shape up, tighten up.”  "Work a little harder."  "Do a little more." "Achieve godliness through striving."

As the weeks turn into months, I can’t help noticing that many people in this room sound a bit cynical and look pretty tired.  Many have spent their entire lives serving God, yet they are broken, defeated, lonely, and full of despair.  And if I catch them when they think no one is looking, I see incredible pain on their faces.  Quite a few seem superficial – guarded.  After awhile I realize that my thinking has begun shifting too.  The stifling atmosphere in the room and the tightness of my mask make it hard for me to breathe.  I am so tired of pretending and keeping up appearances.

I'm going to check out that other path back at the crossroads.  I've given this room everything I've got, and something's not working for me.

To be continued ... Paradigm Shift (Part II)