Hope

No Place Like It

Sometimes a phrase becomes so commonplace that it ceases to lose its meaning. We find this with niceties like saying “Bless you” after someone sneezes. Or we find it it repetitious practices that, once sacred, have become meaningless habits, such as the ritualized practice of saying grace before a holiday meal is for many families. We use words like awesome, amazing, and wonderful as terms for describing our day or the surf conditions, and we are left inept to describe the majesty of God.

What works in the positive, can also work in the negative too. Recently I was reminded of this when a friend described a job situation as a “living hell.” Sure it was a colorful description, but it wasn’t an accurate one. First of all, hell, by definition is full of death because it is the only place that is removed from God’s presence. Therefore signifying that life and hell could co-habitate is a nonsequitar (Some may argue that they have been taught that wherever your final destination you experience for eternity, but using Scriptural definitions, we cann’t rightly call permanent expulsion from God’s presence “life.”) Secondly, as bad as conditions can be on Earth, and I know that they can be very, very bad, we still ultimately live under God’s watchful eye. In hell, this protection, this covering of grace that ensures the rising of the sun at the beginning of every day, is no longer a part of our existence. Therefore, regardless of how bad a job may be it surely doesn’t equate with this destitution.

What mostly concerned me though, is that the person was a believer. So not only do they get to experience God’s grace as it pertains to His sustaining force on their life (let’s call this a general grace), but they get to experience His personal grace that came as a result of their trust and faith in Him and allows for personal communion with their Savior. Regardless of how bad their job was, they had the Ever-Powerful Creator to turn to and lead upon. How can it be a living hell when God is always beside them (Hebrews 13:5)?

The theme has this blog has been, and will continue to be, to focus on the better things ahead, the things of heaven, and I think this is rightly so because when our focus is on these things, we understand Earth in the right perspective. However, just as we are to take heaven seriously, so should we take its alternative. And may doing so increase our commitment and our urgency sharing our future home with others (John 14:2).

*A closing thought – while I believe that heaven is grander and that hell is worse than anything we can experience on this Earth, I by no means intend to make light of the genuine pain, heartache, and destitution that can occur at our current place of resident. For those who feel like God has abandoned them, please do not despair. His love for you is so much He sacrificed everything for you.

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Growth

Divesting Diligently


Perhaps because of the recent economic contraction, we are all more familiar with the idea of divesting. In business terms, it’s when a company sells off a business unit or product line because its become unprofitable. (Any of my marketing students who read this will recognize that these are the “dogs” in Boston Consulting Group’s SBU Matrix.) In more recent times, divesting has perhaps taken on a more personal level as people have sold off or given away personal assets that were no longer financially possible. They did this as a point of necessity, just as organizations do with unprofitable units.

While it is beneficial to make give up those things that are having a negative impact on our financial outlook, its also sometimes beneficial to make a practice of divesture, even when situations don’t mandate it. I started this practice several years ago when, one Christmas, I realized that my accumulation of stuff was outpacing my desire for it. I decided that to combat this phenomenon I would make an annual commitment to give away those things that I was not using, that were replicated with other things, or that could be of benefit to someone else. It became a little crusade of mine that I would somehow stay at net neutrality when it came to the things I owned. So if I bought a shirt, I gave another one away. If I read a book, and no longer needed it, it was shared with a friend who may enjoy it. My implementation of it hasn’t been perfect, but the concept has been freeing.

While I think this practice is a good one, I also think its incomplete. That is because I gave away for my benefit, to accomplish something I wanted, while I should have been giving for the benefit of others. I should be diligently divesting not so that I may gain my desire aim, but to help others gain what they need. Divesting is then no longer for the good of the giver, but of the givee.

The concept is not a new one. Maxey Jarman, the founder of Genesco & of Jarman shoes stores, and who once had controlling ownership in Tiffany & Co, was famous for giving substantial portions of his wealth away. When faced with economic downturn, he was asked by his protege, Fred Smith, whether he regretted his generosity. In response Jarman said, “The only thing I lost is that what I have kept.” (qtd. by Stevens, Ronnie. 2009, May 3). And Jarman was on to something. When we diligently divest what we own no longer consumes us. Instead, we are consumed by what we may give away, and this is a much better, and less demanding, controlling interest.

*The title for this blog was inspired by Ronnie Steven’s sermon titled on Acts 2:42-47 on May 3, 2009. If you have never listened to one of Pastor Ronnie’s sermons, I highly recomend it. His gift of exposition is one of God’s hidden treasures.

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