Eternity in the heart September 27, 2007
Posted by Zack in Iowa , trackbackI’ve been mulling on something someone said to me in a Heartland Innovators interview last week.
Elizabeth and I are traveling slowly all over the country gathering stories of and making connections with leaders who are serving their communities directly—and who are succeeding in unusual ways.
We started this blog about the Christian movement partly because so many of the leaders we’re meeting are Christians who seem to draw incredible power from their faith. They have nearly all explained their successes with three simple words: “It’s all God.”
One of those leaders was describing a particularly impressive, all-volunteer program that operates annually in more than 100 American cities. As he was breaking down how it worked for us, he flipped through an enormous binder full of brilliant training and support materials from the programs’ national headquarters as well as other Christian leadership resource centers.
It was just one more glimpse into the vast Christian infrastructure of leadership development for us in recent weeks.
“This program is just so big. But you’re acting like it’s nothing,” I said.
And he said, “No, I see this as being so, so small. Because I know how many people are not being served.”
I asked, “Why is it that the Christians we’re meeting are so humble about the programs they run, even though some of them are incredibly impressive? In the [secular lefty] movement I come out of, we’d be bragging and sending out press releases and winning awards and all kinds of stuff for these kinds of achievements.”
And he said, “Well, I have seen that among many non-believers—and many Christians who’ve lost their way too. And I have a theory about it.”
“Tell me!” I said.
He explained—and I’m paraphrasing, unfortunately—”God made humans in his image. An so we’re walking around with this huge, God-sized sense of meaning and purpose and importance in us—and a feeling of being entitled to that sense importance.
“In addition, we walk around with all these amazing God-given abilities. It’s amazing what I’ve seen people do. Just amazing. And you’ve seen that too.
“Now, if you know God, then you know where that power comes from. And you know where that feeling of importance and purpose comes from: you know you’re here to do God’s purpose.”
(Earlier he had explained in no uncertain terms that “God’s purpose” is for people to take care of each other.)
“If you think all that power comes from you, then you’re going to get pretty cocky about your successes. And if you think that your purpose belongs only to you, then you’re going to get pretty vicious any time anyone gets in the way of you and the exact way in which you think you’re supposed to be doing good in the world.”
It’s so interesting, because, of course, many Christians throughout history—including very powerful ones—have been incredibly arrogant and have even killed for what they believed was God’s purpose. (So have non-believers.) But this rising movement among Christian born agains and evangelicals today is obsessed with humility—and “giving it all to God” is the way they seem to pull it off and maintain it, even when their heads should be swelling according to their successes.
I grew up thinking that Christians believed that people didn’t matter. I thought that was the basis of their opposition to “secular humanism.” What I never guessed was that Christians may have a greater sense of the importance of humanity because they attach divine importance to it.
Something rings true about what that leader said about non-believers getting carried away with their egos. Once upon a time, the secular left used to see itself in the context of a larger movement and purpose. Back then, individuals could locate themselves as the upholders of an ancient tradition, with a great world-historical purpose that each revolutionary had a duty to complete. They dreamed a collective dream. They knew their successes belonged to past generations, not themselves. And they knew that their sacrifices meant something much bigger than electing someone, passing some law or even temporarily improving the lives of millions of people.
The secular left has lost that sense of having its own “great commission.” It doesn’t even know it ever had one.
That leader quoted a lot of scripture in his conversation with us. I think (but I might be remembering wrong) that he quoted from Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
Comments»
Hey I just came across your blog today and I really enjoy it. I was writing up a post regarding “Colossians Remixed” and in my research I landed here. I’m from Iowa myself and just started my career in youth ministry. I’m looking forward to reading more from you.
P.S. Iowa IS beautiful!