Joel Young Blog.com

There are A LOT of things that I’m NOT good at (and I know it), and over the years one of the things that I’ve worked hard to get better at is seeing potential in others. Most of our lives we are told to seek the potential in ourselves, but rarely are we encouraged to help others in doing the same thing. And yet, I believe that one of the greatest abilities a leader can have is the ability to see the potential in others and possess the courage and tenacity to help them develop that potential into something great.

Without a healthy support system of talented and committed people surrounding and supporting them even the most capable leaders will fail. I’ve spent a lot of time studying great leaders and how they are able to do the things they do, and I believe I’ve found one common denominator between all great leaders. They all have great men and women who vigorously work alongside their vision and passion. I used to think that these leaders were just lucky to have found these people, but what I’ve recently realized is that these types of people don’t just fall into your lap. They are developed.

A great leader will seeking the potential in those around them and search for ways to draw that potential to the top and harness it for the good of the organization/movement they lead. A good leader will desire to empower those who are around them, and while this is often difficult it is always worth while.

Are you seeing the potential in others?

For the last couple months I have been trying to process why in modern times we have done so much to emphasize the separation between our worship lives and our “real” lives. It’s as though we truly believe that in some way we can contain our worship to a small segment of our existence. Not only is this absurd (at best), but it’s a vicious lie perpetrated by Satan himself.

Paul urges the church in Rome, in light of God’s mercy, to offer their bodies to Him as a spiritual act of worship. He tells the church in Corinth that their bodies are Temples in which the Spirit of God dwells. So, why do we think we can segment what portions of our lives are meant for God’s honor and worship and what portions don’t have to? The simple answer is PRIDE. We’ve created our own system that glorifies our desires and not God.

Work is worship. If you claim Christ as your savior, then anything you put your hand to bears his name. Not only does your life bear his name, but the work of your lifetime bears his name. Your Monday-through-Friday-nine-to-five-life is the same as your Sunday-worship-service-at-church-life. If you understand this fully there will be no difference between how you worship and honor God at work/home and at a church service. But for most of us, there is a vast difference. There is a line.

Join me in praying for that line to disappear from our lives this week.

My brief glance in the wisdom of a two year old is going to lead me to several places this week. But the beginning of this windy road has to be approaching and answering the question of, “How much do I really need?” Broad, yes I know, but applicable to all areas of life. If you haven’t read part 1 of this series of posts, you may want to back up and read it first so you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Realizing first that we all approach the question of, “How much is enough,” every day of our lives will no doubt help us in our efforts to live beyond the things that we posses. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about balancing a budget or deciding for or against that third plate at the buffet we have to figure up how much we really need hundreds of times every week. But for most of us, it’s not a , “Let me stop and really think about this,” decision because our mind has been made up long before we are approach the dilemma.

If you’re saving for a vacation, you won’t indulge in impulsive splurge purchases. If you’re on a diet, you will (or will try to) stay away from fatty foods with little nutritional value. Why? Because your mind has already been made up and you’re headed in a clearly defined direction.

When it comes to our most valuable resources and determining how much is enough for us, and how much is available to bless others with, it starts with a decision. For some of us the answer to that question will be hard to see because our definition of necessity will shift as we mature, but for others it will seem very clear and easy to discern. The question then is, are we willing to act on it?

Will we search for ways to utilize the over-abundance of resources we have at our disposal, or will we live in that over-abundance. I’m not trying to curse anyone because of what they have, but rather hoping that we’ll all see the abundance in our lives and search for ways to leverage that for God’s purposes. Living a life of generosity and Christ-like sacrifice doesn’t just happen by accident. It is the result of a conscious decision to accept God’s provision and live in confidence of that.

There has been a lot of adjustment in the Young household since the birth of Cooper, but no one has felt that more than our oldest son Reed. He’s been the only kid in the house for over two years now, and even though he obviously adores his new little brother Jenna, my wife, and I have been very intentional about soaking up our individual time with him. So, the other night Reed and I took a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese’s. Just the two of us. We spent hours playing every game in the joint, and he had an absolute blast. The only disappointment was that they no longer had a ball pit. I was really looking forward to that.

We weren’t really counting the tickets we won as we played. We just enjoyed playing the games, but at the end I figured it would be cool to get a little something with our tickets. Reed handed the clerk his tickets and asked for, “Two suckers please.” Taken back by his politeness and confident swagger the clerk handed him three suckers as a bonus and we went on our way.

When we got in the car I asked Reed what he thought of the suckers he had won with the tickets and his response was, “There’s three! One for Mommy, Daddy, and Reed.” He didn’t leave out his new brother, but quickly reminded me that, “Not one for Cooper. Babies don’t need suckers.” Guess he was right about that.

As we drove home I started thinking about how drastically different my two year old is from the the two year old I was. If someone would have given me three suckers, they would have ALL been mine. But my son’s first reaction was to spread the wealth. He knew that he only needed one sucker and was excited that he could give the other two away.

This week I want to unpack this idea as it applies to our lives, our attitudes, and the church. Whether we realize it or not, we all live lives of abundance. What makes some of us different is how we view and what we do with the other two suckers.

Most of you who read my blog on a regular basis have probably noticed a distinct lull as of late, and for good reason. My family has had a lot of life changing things happen and at the top of the list is the birth of this little guy. Cooper, our second son, was born this week. He is as happy and healthy as he could possibly be and his addition to our family is nothing short of “lifechanglingly-awesome”. Thanks to all of you who prayed for his arrival and helped us out both before and after. Our family is truly appreciative.

Starting this week I’ll be back in a regular blogging schedule. I feel that I yet again have a renewed spirit and fresh perspective on life that can only come through such a life altering occurrence. My children have truly been “Game Changers” in my life and I hope you’ll come along for the ride as I explore the other side of the rabbit hole that fathering two boys will be.

I don’t know why, but my life has felt “forced” lately. I’m not really sure what I even mean by that, but if you have ever been in that place where nothing feels natural, even normal things aren’t easy, and you seem to be living in an extended period of “water-treading” then you know what I mean. Part of my feelings have been created by the natural process of life, and the fact that my wife is 9 months pregnant and could give birth any day now, but part of it is the way I have been forcefully plowing through my life in recent weeks.

If you’re like me, when you want something to happen you usually try to make it happen in a very forceful way. My desire to control my life has lead to a desire to control the outcome of my life, and if you’re a fellow “Type-A” personality then you can probably relate. The problem is, I’m not supposed to have my hands on the wheel. That stuff is supposed to be surrendered to Christ, and I need to be allowing His purposes happen through me.

This week at Horizon I issued a pretty steep challenge to our church. I commissioned everyone who is a part of our church to physically record the names of three people in their life that they are going to share the vision/mission of Horizon with over the next week. Then, hold ourselves accountable to the people they have committed to reach out to in this way. The hope is not that these people will be converted or inspired by force, but that through our actions we will open up a door and allow God to speak into their life through our church.

It’s very easy to view the advancement of the gospel as something that we need to force. To see it as something that will only happen if we say the right things and have the right answers. But really, all we have to do is show up and LET God make it happen through our simple actions. If we live in his purposes, then we will live in his power. Never forget that.

This Sunday as I was preparing myself to preach I arrived at Horizon’s worship facility quite early. I ran over my sermon notes, prayed, and in tried to find some time to just be quiet. As I often do, I found myself staring out the huge wall of windows in the front of our building. As I peered through the glass I couldn’t help but wonder about my point of view at that moment. I was seeing the world through the lens of the church. I thought about the people who were driving by and wondered what their relationship to Christ was like (or if it even existed at all). I thought about the priorities in their lives, the things that occupied their time, and though people were speeding by in their cars I sincerely wanted to walk through the doors right into the road and have that conversation with someone to see what there life was really about.

What I came to realize through this short episode of people watching is that is that I view the world through the eyes of the church all the time, but I don’t often get to view the church through the eyes of the world. Maybe that’s because I’m too close to it or have a biased opinion since I’m a life-long church boy, but whatever the reason viewing the church through the world’s eyes is not my natural perspective.

I imagine people drive by our church building and formulate opinions about us and the way we do things (much like I did from the inside). For better or worse they form an opinion of Christ and/or his church based on their natural perspective, and their lives are a result of that perspective.

What I’ve realized is that change only comes when we are able to shift our perspective. The church will never become what the world needs it to be unless we make it a point to look upon our work from the outside from time to time. And, no one will turn their heart and life over to Christ and if they aren’t first able to change their perspective on what really matters.

I don’t have a super spiritual challenge to go along with this other than to pose this question. How do we do that? How do we change our perspective on changing the world’s perspective? How do we get real about what we’re doing? What will stop us from becoming narrow-minded, ineffective churches?

I don’t have all the answers, but I know we need them now more than ever.

One of the most puzzling things I have ever witnessed in my life is our nation’s relationship with Lent. I didn’t grow up in this tradition so I feel that I view it with outsiders eyes every time it rolls around. So, every year as thousands of people give up something for Lent I sit back and marvel at the broad spectrum of motivations. Some use this as a time of focus and prepare for the upcoming celebration of Christ’ resurrection, as it was intended, but others who don’t claim Christ as their Savior or really celebrate in his resurrections at all still give up something. And while this may seem like just another case of “monkey see, monkey do,” I truly believe that this type motivation is more than just a desire to fit in with the crowd.

You see, I think that we all have a deep desire to get rid of things in our life that don’t work or that hold us back from our true potential. That doesn’t mean that we’re any good at it, but I would say that the overwhelming majority of us at least have the desire to make our lives about the few things that actually matter. So, even people who could care less about what Lent represents see a value in participating.

Though there are exceptions, most people give up things for Lent that are relatively meaningless.

“I’m going to stop drinking soda…I’m not going to check facebook…I’m not going to eat any fast food…I’m going to give up television…and so on…”

Here’s how I feel. If you can willingly give up something for Lent, and find that it significantly improves your life/focus, isn’t it worth giving up all together? Even if we leave the spiritual implications out the conversation for a second, doesn’t that just make good sense? I sure think it does.

On the other side of the coin there is a FAR greater potential for impact in our spiritual lives. If giving up something for a short period of time allows you to better focus on Christ, why would you not remove that road block permanently?

I’m not saying that I’m better than you because I don’t give up something for Lent, but what I’ve realized is that there is no sense in giving up something that just doesn’t work for a short period of time. If I really want to set my sights on the goals God has for my life I need to give those things up permanently…cut out the fluff…trim the fat…(and any other analogy you can think of)…because all that matters is what matters, and all that matters in my life is serving the purposes of the God that I will spend eternity with.

So, what matters in your life? Whose purposes are you serving? What do you need to cut out of your life permanently?

As I have been preparing for this week’s sermon on the temptation of Jesus from Matthew 4 I have had to flip my thinking on a lot of things. It is very easy for us to look at the scenario in Matthew 4 and focus on only Jesus’ reactions, but miss the motives and methods of Satan. Furthermore, It’s easy for temptations to become so common and casual in our lives that we never realize what they truly are.

Simply put, temptations are the devil’s way of challenging God’s place in our life and our devotion to him. Even though it doesn’t often take much to challenge our devotion, when we start thinking about temptations in this light we should become more aware of what is really at work. Look at it this way.

Tonight I’m taking my wife out to dinner. What if in the process of our night out together, a smooth-talking, bad-intentioned, slime-ball of a man approached my wife and tried to pick her up? How would I react? Well, my guess is that this dude would be picking something up, but it would be his teeth off the ground after I introduced them to my fist, and not my wife! I hope I would be able to handle it in a more appropriate manner, but my initial reaction would be severe and over the top. Why? Because it would be extremely offensive for someone to challenge my wife’s devotion to me, or the importance she holds in my life. When we’re out together it’s obvious that we’re “together”. Not to mention she’s currently eight months pregnant! So, I would take GREAT offense at someone challenging the validity and stability of our relationship.

Now, with that being said I had to ask myself this question. How do I react to Satan, who daily challenges much more than just my devotion to my wife, but my devotion to my God, my Lord, and my Savior? How often do I even get upset enough to want to knock his teeth out? Let alone take any kind of action to distance my life from him? I mean, if you’re not a physically violent person and someone hit on your wife AT THE VERY LEAST you would walk away from the person. Yet, so many of us allow Satan to live in our lives when he is challenging and standing against what should be the most important relationship in our life.

Maybe it’s time our reaction to Satan and his temptations became proportionate to the offense he creates in our lives.

This morning I was reading Romans 5 and the words leaped off the page as I read them.

Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

According to Paul, there is a cycle to suffering. When we suffer it isn’t for nothing. It is a cycle that will lead to character and eventually hope, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Something I have to continually train myself to do is to view suffering from the perspective of what it will become. In Christ, suffering is never what it seems to be in the moment. Rather, it is maturity, character, encouragement, life, and hope that has yet to blossom. But the question remains: will you be able to give it the time to grow into that?

Give your suffering some perspective and time, and, in Christ, it will turn into something much more valuable.