In addition to his music and artistic abilities, the late John Lennon of Beatles fame was also known for his pithy observations - one of the more notable being, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."
While by no means supportive of Lennon's New Age proclivities, it is not difficult to find a certain application here to Christian faith and principle. Do we not sometimes miss the fullness of divine purpose and "life" in consequence of secondary quests and aspirations?
As believers, the issue is not always one of misplaced priority in terms of recognized Deity or espoused faith, however. Misdirection based on personal ambition and self-determination - even when religious or "spiritual" in nature - likewise fails of the desired ends. Somewhat analogous to the American game of football, our role as players on the field does not lie in calling the plays. Nor, even were we to take matters into our own hands, is it the coach's responsibility to affirm our decisions and see that they succeed. The game plan is his responsibility; executing his directives is our assignment. (Might this explain something regarding the sometimes ineffectiveness of our religious programming and methodologies?)
The futility of self-determination in relation to divine cause was recently brought home again when, in conversation with another pastor, he shared concerning an attempted expansion of ministry and its rather inglorious failure in his earlier years of service. Reflecting on past personal experience, we assured him he was not alone. Such seems at times a "101" course in the school of practical learning. Most pastors have, at one time or another, been enrolled.
Indeed, "getting ahead of God" and/or pursuing spiritual tangents would at times seem an affliction endemic to much of the believing community. We rather suspect that had many of us been present when Jesus gave notice of the Jerusalem Temple's ultimate destruction, more than a few would have been there the next morning with crowbars and sledge hammers.
Within this context, one need only consider Moses' premature "deliverance ministry" and subsequent years on the backside of the desert, or Abraham's ill advised "self-ordination" into parenthood, the consequences of which are yet with us. Again, we are not alone.
But we can learn.
Burl Ratzsch
