IT'S OKAY TO BE NAIVE

Earlier this summer I was in the process of getting ready for vacation when I realized I needed new swimming trunks. I appreciate the convenience of shopping via the Internet so I did a Google search. Much to my shock and surprise my search took me to a particular type of clothing for men that I didn’t even know existed. (Note to self: I have to be more careful what words I use when I’m doing a Google search!) I’m refraining from giving too many details that will make more sense in a few minutes. I told Anita what happened and, of course, she laughed at me.

I haven’t led an entirely sheltered life, but compared to many, I probably function with some degree of ignorance or innocence. I guess I’m thinking about all this today because yesterday I was telling the story about a couple of friends (young adult males) who thought it would be fun to take a trip to Vegas. Were they ever in for a shock when walking down the sidewalks on the Strip people would hand them flyers advertising all types of debauchery.

There’s a verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that’s been on my radar for many years. In 6:12 Paul writes, “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” (NIV) This verse is more relevant than ever in our ever-expanding world of media and technology. Most of us have access to more information than we’re able to consume in several lifetimes. “More information” is not just a reference to the quantity of information, but the variety of information that is available to us 24/7/365. This verse is a strong Word to every follower of Jesus Christ to place a filter on WHAT WE SEE and WHAT WE SAY. A similar encouragement comes from Paul in Romans 16:19: “…I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” (NIV) The word, innocent, in the original language of the New Testament (Greek) is Akeraios (ak-er’-ah-yos) and it means: “unmixed, pure as in wines or metals; of the mind, without a mixture of evil, free from guile, innocent, simple.” (Source: Strong’s Concordance)

Somewhere along the way in our culture it’s become a bad thing to be innocent. The naïve are mocked and made the punch line of jokes. There’s a certain pressure, whether you’re a student in school or hanging with your fellow employees, to have an awareness of all that’s happening in the world. It’s awkward to be with your friends and to be totally clueless when they’re talking about something. Keep in mind those who are “innocent about what is evil” are in a much, much better place. The innocent are in a place of freedom. Their minds are free of the burden and bondage of sin. There is power in purity! (I want to address this freedom and power in my next blog post)

I had a friend share with me about how when he was in the military and wasn’t fully devoted to Jesus Christ, he’d hang out with the guys and watch porn movies. This wasn’t an isolated thing but a big part of their free time activities. My friend said that the impact of the images he burned into his memory was something he had to deal with every day of his life. When he shared this with me he had been out of the military for about 10 years and it was still a daily battle. He could no longer claim to be innocent of evil. Friend, there’s a huge burden that comes with knowledge. More than ever before, as followers of Jesus Christ we have to be determined and diligent to preserve our innocence by guarding what we see and what we say.

TO BE CONTINUED 

WHEN THE PAINFUL BECOMES POSITIVE

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit one of the places where my family lived. Sweet Home, Oregon was and still is small town USA. We lived there for three years and it was there I attended grades 7-9. As I drove through the area memories surged from my sub-conscious. I’ve been through the area several times since we moved away but this time, having an opportunity to attend a service at the Assembly of God church my dad pastored, was different. As I drove by the schools, restaurants, athletic fields, and grocery stores, it became very clear to me how much my 1100 days (give or take a few) in Sweet Home shaped my life.

I’ve known for a long time how significant the early teen years are upon personal development and my experience this weekend supports this idea. With that in mind, I want to share one of the specific memories from this weekend. As I mentioned earlier my dad was the pastor of the Assembly of God church. The church owned a home adjacent to building, which is where our family lived. The junior high was only three blocks away, so I walked to and from school. In the seventh grade I was average height, which meant that there were lots of girls taller than me and the eighth grade boys were definitely taller. (I think I feel a country song coming on, “It’s not easy being short in the seventh grade.”) Something happened early in the school year, which continued for the entire year. One day in September, as I was walking home, an eighth grade boy started following me. I can’t remember his name, so for the sake of the story I’ll just call him “The Jerk,” because that’s what he was. The Jerk started talking to me and taunting me. He figured out that my dad was the pastor of church, because we lived next door, and so he would say things like: “Hey, preacher boy!” and a lot worse. Simply put, I hated it. I had just enough of a temper I would normally have reacted, but The Jerk was quite a bit bigger than me, so I endured the bullying. This happened most days, and as I already mentioned, continued for the whole school year.

After my freshman year our family moved from Sweet Home, but as I continued in high school and grew taller and stronger, I thought about what I do if I lived near The Jerk. There’d no doubt I harbored some serious revenge fantasies. I wouldn’t have been intimidated by his bullying and I doubt that I would have been able to walk away if he started taunting me again.

There is a point to this story, one I realized this weekend. As long as I can remember I’ve had a tendency to root for the underdog. When I see someone suffering some type of injustice and especially someone who is being bullied by another person, I want to immediately come to their defense. My experience with The Jerk, clear back in the seventh grade, has a lot to do with this type of reaction. As weird as it may sound I am thankful the Lord put The Jerk in my life to help me develop more compassion.

Have you had painful experiences in your life that have positively shaped you and contributed to the person you’ve become?  If you’ve experienced bullying, or maybe you’re a student and still experiencing verbally abusive behavior, I want to say to you, “I’m so sorry.” Always remember, “Hurt people hurt people.” The Jerk, in your life, is messed up in their mind. Don’t stoop to their level by reacting and responding to what they say to you and about you. Jesus can and will make you stronger than your enemies. I encourage you to read the prayer in Psalm 25, with a specific focus on verse 20: “Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.” My hope for you is that you will see the painful become positive in your life today!

Note: If you’ve experienced the verbally abusive behavior of a bully (as a student or even as an adult) and would like to share your story with me, email me at: markbryanrobinson@gmail.com. It will be my privilege to pray for you.

DO YOU NEED A MONDAY MAKEOVER?

Yesterday morning my wife had to tell me my alarm radio was playing I was sleeping so hard when it went off. That’s what I get for sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday. It seems like a lot of people aren’t big fans of Mondays. For most people, given over 80% of Americans work Monday through Friday, the alarm on Monday morning means it’s time to get out of bed and get to work. I did a quick Google search and it triggered my memory about all the songs that have been written about Mondays. I think it’s possible more songs have been written about Monday than any other day of the week.

Steve Azur, in his song “I Don’t Have To Be Me ‘til Monday,” expresses the attitude I’m guessing a lot of people have about Mondays: “I can do what I wanna do, be who I wanna be; I got no one to answer to, soon as I turn the key.” The chorus follows with “I don’t have to be me ‘til Monday; Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I ain’t gonna face reality.” This is the basic thought that weekends are freedom and weekdays are owned by work. It’s a pretty depressing perspective if you think about it too long.

After Eve and Adam sinned God pronounced curses upon women and men. One of these curses is found in Genesis 3:17, and is specifically directed towards men: “All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it (meaning the ground).” (NLT) When people are dominated by the curse of sin Mondays are a struggle (along with every work day). For those who choose to follow Christ, he redeems our Mondays (along with every other day) and gives us the ability to rise above the curse to live in the Father’s favor.

If you’re a Christ follower and Monday is the beginning of your workweek, I have several thoughts for you:

One, express thanks to God for giving you a job and a way to provide for your financial needs;

Two, if you sometimes struggle to have a good attitude about your work start asking God to show you his greater purpose. It’s no accident you work where you do. All day long you are coming into contact with people, other employees and customers. You’ve never locked eyes with someone who isn’t deeply loved by God. And this God of love desires to draw all of us into a more meaningful life. God has you in your current place of employment because He has a mission for you.

Work is more than a way for you to make money. I will continue this thought in my next post…

GET STARTED!!!

One of the lines I use occasionally, specifically when attempting to be funny is a crack about starting a new diet tomorrow. When you think about it any comment about delaying a change in our life is not funny because it’s too close to reality. Most of us have perfected the ability to delay decisions, even ones that are very important to us.

I have a new practice I’ve wanted to establish in my life for quite a while (and, no, it’s not a diet though I could lose a few pounds). It’s actually a new practice that will ultimately lead toward the accomplishment of one of my major life goals. I know I can make the necessary commitment to establish this new practice because there was a six-year period in my life where I dedicated myself to long-distance running and completed two marathons, along with multiple other shorter races. The level of dedication required to train 30 to 50 miles per week was greater than anything I had done in my life up to that point. Early in my training for my first marathon, I made a job change that required me to work an average of 75 hours per week. Even with my heavy workload I was able to maintain my training because I had already established myself in the daily training schedule.

Even though I know I can make the commitment to this change, it’s still not any easier to get started. There always seems to be a convenient, rational reason to delay getting starting in this new practice. Tomorrow always seems to be a better choice than today. What I’ve realized, and you probably have your own story, is that when we delay decisions this way, tomorrow never comes.

When I have a significant goal in my life one of the ways my brain works is to create a plan to achieve the goal. The plan seems to most often start with a sprint. I’ll explain what I mean with this example: Let’s say I need to lose 25 pounds. I’ll come up with a plan to start exercising four times a week and significantly changing my diet (i.e. cutting out sugar and bread). I may do okay for a few weeks in working my plan, but then something happens and I miss a day of exercising or I blow the diet big time. This lapse is often enough to derail my plan to lose 25 pounds. This may be way too philosophical but what if I set out to lose the first two pounds rather than the whole 25 pounds? I say this because I’ve done enough dieting in my life to know getting started is the hardest part. To state the obvious, no one can lose 25 pounds in one week.

My earlier reference to training for a marathon is helpful, at this point. Several weeks from running in my first marathon the schedule I was following required me to run 22 miles. Yes, that’s one run in one day, not the total over a week. There’s no way in the first few months of my new commitment to running I could have ever imagined going 22 miles, which for me was about three hours of non-stop running. When the time came for this long run, I was able to do it relatively easily. In case you’re wondering, I can’t imagine running 22 miles today.

In all of my rambling in today’s blog, here’s the main point: GET STARTED! I appreciate having an intense plan to accomplish a major goal, but most of us need to simply get moving towards our desired goal.  Get moving, and set short-term goals that represent progress and celebrate when you achieve those goals. It’s like the ancient question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time!