Want To, Have To, or Get To?

What I should be looking like soon under my skin!

I mentioned in the previous post that I'm visiting the gym these days. It's good, really, I almost enjoy it some days, but it definitely is a discipline to get there. And there's nothing like the gym to remind me - again - that I'm a midlife survivor.

My fitness schedule is somewhat erratic, which suits me fine, and satisfies my people-watching curiosity. Late at night tends to be the middle-aged working folks, and the young unemployed. Afternoons are mixed, and the mid-mornings bring out the middle-aged and "mature" set to work out. (I have yet to try the 5am workout, but I'm told many do.)

I've decided there are essentially three types of people, who happen to fall into general age categories. The under-35 crowd seem to be there by desire. Most of them already look pretty fit, and are there because they want to be. My set is there, I think, out of obligation. We have this sense we know it will be good for us, and besides, we're paying the fee, so we'd better use it! It could also be that a spouse said, "I'll go if you go."

And then, there's the "doctor-says-I'll-die-if-I-don't-get-fit"/post-heart-operation crowd. I'm most impressed with these folks. They are there for survival. Yes, it's for their own benefit, but also for others; not to show off to others, but to stay alive for them. That said, I've never seen them break a sweat.

I'm reading this great book right now called, The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller. In a section on God's grace he refers to "the threat of grace". That is, if we properly understand and receive grace, we recognize we have no rights to our own selves, because none of our own efforts saved us, not even being a "good, moral Christian". It's only by God's gift of grace.

I've done a few good deeds in my life, and hope to do more. And the Bible promises reward for that. But not salvation. It's not like going to the gym. If I work out consistently and persistently, I'll be rewarded by a healthier (still middle-aged) body. My health is "saved" by my "works". I work out to get healthy, not because I am healthy.

But under grace, my deeds are in response to grace, not to acquire it. It's not because I want to or because I have to, but because I get to. I'm "not my own", as the Apostle Paul said, for I have been "purchased at a high price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I'm saved so I can do God's good works - works he's even prepared for me (Ephesians 2:10) - not because I do them.

I go to the gym out of both obligation and compulsion, because that's what middle-aged guys do. In some ways, my spiritual life sounds like that too, but only if I misunderstand grace. Yet because there's no way for me to impress God, I can relax in the confidence of knowing I'm still very flawed, and yet very loved, and completely accepted by grace.

Trust me - I'm surprisingly slow in grasping this. But when I do, the motivation for pleasing God is no longer "have to" or even "want to", but completely "get to".

What's your motivation?

moh-men-tuhm

Momentum. Life's great when you have it, and frustrating when you don't.



Players on my hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, are thinking a lot about momentum this week, I'm sure. After rising to a three-game lead over Chicago in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, they badly lost games four and five. Yes, they still lead the series 3-2, but every fan knows Chicago has a better chance of winning right now because of the undeniable energy of their momentum, acquired by scoring an unheard-of 12 goals in two games! (Don't get me wrong, I still believe!)


I have friends who are changing their lives, recovering from addictions and habits that have burdened their lives and relationships. Momentum is important for them too. There's something much more motivating about 30 or 60 days clean and sober than two or three.


Or how about heading to the gym? For the first time in my life, I have a gym membership, and momentum is crucial there too. From the simple act of getting out the door and down the road, to the physics of moving weights or a rowing machine, momentum makes all the difference. And if/when momentum is lost, it is not easy to get it back again. Did I mention we were on vacation this past week? Just a few days away, but today was my first day back to the gym in a week. Darn momentum.


Writing, yard work, housework, reading, riding a bike, home improvement projects - virtually everything we accomplish we do so with momentum behind us. Why do we have half-finished books on our nightstands? Or why do photo album scrapbooks remain unfinished? For some reason we lost that intangible currency called momentum.


What about spiritual momentum? It's transformational, yet easily lost. It's why I encourage people to maintain a daily habit of reading the Bible, and need to myself. I find that when I'm making time daily for a devotional life, it's relatively easy. But skip a day or two, and the lost momentum grinds it into a week or two. 


Psalm 1 illustrates the contrast of a person pressing on in their spiritual life, versus the one losing momentum. The psalmist writes,
  "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked 
   or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
   but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.
   That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
   and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3, NIV, emph. mine).

It's quite a picture. As one loses his delight in God's words, he slows first to a walk, then proceeds to a standstill, and finally takes a seat with "mockers", those who make light of righteous living. Instead having something to offer, like a productive tree, this person finds himself lost in the culture of apathy.

The challenge is keeping the momentum going. I'm learning it doesn't happen alone. Going to the gym with my son today helped me get moving. And I learn there that momentum is gained and maintained by keeping my workout achievable, and rejecting distraction.


The Canucks face the Blackhawks in game 6 tomorrow. Everyone wants to know how they will stop not just Chicago's shots, but their momentum, and then rebuild it it for themselves. It's "just hockey" I know, but I've been reminded again of the immeasurable value of momentum.

Who Are You, Really?

I'm ten days away from leaving my current job, so this is no time to be insecure. My identity is not the same as what I do for a living or what I earn or how I look. I don't need some external accomplishments to affirm my social credentials. I'm deeper than that.

But it's not always easy.

Yesterday, for example, in line at our favorite local take-out (can you guess what it is?), I bumped into an acquaintance, someone I've briefly chatted with a few times, but whom I really don't know. As often happens, the "What do you do for a living?" question came up, and I was definitely beaten in the "manliest occupation" category.

The guy is a former navy diver, certified for underwater demolition and welding, and works a high-responsibility job related to those skills. Talk about uber-masculine! At that point, it's pretty hard to make "I'm an associate pastor" sound impressive. Using the biblical metaphor and saying "I'm a shepherd of God's people" probably wouldn't have helped the situation.

What I do is important, possibly the most important occupation, because I'm offering spiritual direction for people's eternal future. No, I don't have massive biceps and I can't make complex engineering calculations, as impressive and admirable as those qualities are.

But even my current occupation is not who I am. And that's a relief. Because as I shift occupations, I can still honor my calling of offering spiritual direction to those who will receive it. I can still offer soul-care, and point those I encounter to things of eternal and spiritual significance.

In earlier times, people were often identified by their father, and even their father's trade. Smith, Shoemaker and Miller are surnames pointing to a family's occupational heritage. I am my Heavenly Father's son, a child of the living God, and I find my identity and occupation in that.

And that's enough.

What's your identity?