“Besides, do you think God put you on this earth to worry about how to keep people…happy? Do your best, speak your mind, and stop worrying about things before they happen.”
– Diane Bauer, Dick Bauer’s fictional wife in “Getting Naked: A Business Fable…” by Patrick Lencioni
Patrick Lencioni makes a huge difference for me.
Everyone of his books is a) worth buying and reading and b) easy to read and apply.
Important word that one. Apply.
Think of all the things we’ve learned in life so far. In fact, just think of the cool, powerful, impactful things we’ve learned.
And then ask, “Why don’t we apply them more often, more regularly or more passionately?”
Pleasing others feels good for a minute or two. But when we do our best, speak our mind and stop worrying, well, the difference making comes more often, and lands closer to home.
Mick Kirisits says
Welcome back!!
Michael Lee says
Steve,
I wanted to share this with you. After reading your post, it reminded me of this post that I had received. Essentially, unless we’re coasting toward Christ, we’ll end up towards self and worrying about all of the trivial things that don’t matter…
Keep pressing on my brother…
The Danger of Coasting
I don’t know how much I’ve driven in the twenty years since I got my license, but I do know it’s a lot, what with all those drives down to the South to visit my family. Here is one thing that has never varied across the hundreds of thousands of miles: When I take my foot off the pedal, the car does not speed up. It doesn’t even maintain the same speed. Instead, from the very moment I take my foot off the accelerator, the car begins to slow. Allowing the car to coast is inviting the car to stop. It may take some time, but left on its own, it will stop eventually. It is inevitable.
I’ve been thinking about this lately because I see in my own life a tendency to coast—to coast in my relationships, to coast in my pursuit of godliness, to coast in my pursuit of God himself. And here are some things I’ve observed:
I do not coast toward godliness, but selfishness.
I do not coast toward self-control, but rashness.
I do not coast toward a love for others, but agitation.
I do not coast toward patience, but irritability.
I do not coast toward purity, but lust.
I do not coast toward self-denial, but self-obsession.
I do not coast toward the gospel, but self-sufficiency.
In short, I do not coast toward Christ, but toward self. When I stop caring, when I stop expending effort, when I allow myself to coast, I inevitably coast away from God and godliness. And this is exactly why I am so deeply dependent upon those ordinary means of grace, those oh-so-ordinary ways of growing in godliness—Scripture and prayer, preaching and fellowship, worship and sacrament. The moment those sweet means no longer appeal is the moment I begin to slow.
Steve Heston says
Intense and thought provoking, Michael. Coasting? Not so much, if we’re hoping to make a difference. Thanks for making one today, and most every day, might I add…