A Slacker for God's Glory

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul puts it bluntly: "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works in me." (Colossians 1:25-29 NASB, italics mine)

Reading that and looking into the mirror of truth, that pretty much makes me a slacker.

As I turn away from the mirror (who likes looking into there?), I let the thoughts march their way from mind to heart: "You really don't tell as many people what Jesus has done for you, do you? You miss plenty of opportunities to gently warn others of the consequences of sin, don't you? You leave the teaching for someone else to do -- besides, you don't want to accept your own wisdom, do you? And labor? You are unemployed (again), penniless (again), soon to be homeless and living in a shelter (again) -- after all, you're striving just to keep your head above water, aren't you?"

Fighting fear, I step back in front of the mirror. Yep, that's me -- a slacker for God's glory.

George MacDonald, a favorite of C.S. Lewis, also took a gaze into the mirror and summed up the position most children of God find themselves in: "His children are not His real, true sons and daughters until they think like Him, feel with Him, judge as He judges, are at home with Him, and without fear before Him because He and they mean the same thing, love the same things, seek the same ends. For this are we created; it is the one end of our being, and includes all other ends whatever." (Unspoken Sermons)

I have no doubt that Christ entered my heart and life on June 21, 2005. I heard His call to come to Him -- and I answered. I am certain that He has been faithful to begin the mighty work of eradicating and destroying decades worth of sinful living at the false altars of drugs, sex, and pride -- and He will finish this good work. I can check off the "good Christian" list of attributes: baptized √, joined a church √, attend Sunday school √, read my Bible √, pray often √, do good works and acts of service √, tithe √, and share my faith with others √.

As I walk away from the mirror (again), I ask myself: "Isn't that enough?" It isn't long before the heart speaks to the head: "Are you seeking genuine companionship with God -- or just living your life as it seems best to you?"

What's a slacker to do?

I'm glad that the biblical term for leader is Lord. I need Christ's authority, leadership, and direction in my life -- the now of my life. "...striving according to His power, which mightily works in me." On my own, left to living my life as it seems best to me, a slacker is the best I can be, falling short as perfectly as one apart from the Lord will.

But, as I step back in front of the mirror one more time (courage in His power), I see a man who is accepted, loved, and forgiven -- by God, for certain, and -- little by little -- by the man in mirror, more and more as I continue on the glorious path of masculine initiation and the search for my authentic, magnificient heart transplanted by God Himself.

John Eldredge pierces the heart of any slacker for God's glory with an invitation/challenge: "What if? What if those deep desires in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the life we were meant to live? God gave us eyes so that we might see; He have us ears that we might hear; He gave us wills that we might choose, and He gave us hearts that we might live. (Wild at Heart. 2001: Thomas Nelson, Inc., p. 18)

See. Hear. Choose. Live.

I don't see much slack in that. For His glory...

For more information on men's work at the local level here in KY, please visit The ManKind Project at http://www.mkpky.org/. For further insight into the work of John Eldredge, please visit http://www.ransomedheart.com/. To keep up-to-date with my journey of masculine initiation and men's work, please subscribe to this site (http://www.hisgraceamazing.blogspot.com/).