A Quick Thought on Death and My Tombstone

So, a big surprise for all 2 of my readers: I am going to die one day.  I know…I was shocked too.  But since there are no exceptions, I used my logic to get to the conclusion above.  Anyway, I sometimes think about my funeral (what will be said about me), about my legacy, mostly about opening my eyes to Jesus’ face.

On a slight tangent, Vintage Jesus, a book written by Mark Driscoll (highly recommended), is dedicated in the following manner: “This book is dedicated to anyone who takes Jesus seriously, but not themselves.”  I love that.  And so my goal, is that truthfully, by the end of my life, my tombstone will read the following:

“He took Jesus seriously, but not himself.  Haha.”

I would love for that to be my eternal message, to take Jesus as seriously as possible, but always have an extra dose of levity about myself.  And what isn’t ridiculous about me?  I have just over two decades of life under my belt, and I am already well on my way to male-pattern baldness, I have had grey hairs (semi-prevalent, not just one or two) for a long time.  And I walk/run in the most ridiculous manner possible.

To anyone who reads this blog: Please, take Jesus seriously.  And laugh often at yourself.  Because you are ridiculous.

C.J. Mahaney talks about how to keep ourselves humble in his book, aptly called Humility (also highly recommended).  In it he has a list, excerpts of which are below:

1. Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ.

12. Play golf as much as possible.

13. Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself.

So please, let us take Jesus and all that he has done for us with the utmost seriousness.  And laugh at yourself all the time.  Because we are all really goofy, and some people are simply too uptight or religious to realize it.

Niches as Idols

I was going to do a introduction post, but that is simply a waste of time.

I realized this weekend how things that we have decided to focus in on have the ability of becoming idols for us.  For instance: I really like theology.  I read a lot of nonfiction books without any pictures in them, I own tons of resources, I podcast like crazy.  But to what end?  I sometimes use theology to create this illusion of self-importance (“Since I know what _____ means in the greek, I am clearly worth more than you are.”)  I never realized how horrendously I was sinning against others in this respect until it happened to me.  My good friends have a different niche, and I simply don’t understand anything that they say when they start talking about it.  So I don’t feel “up with it.”  I was mentally criticizing them on our way down from the mountains, when all of a sudden it was like God tapped me on the shoulder, as if to remind me, “you aren’t any better.  In fact, you are worse, because you are making knowledge of Me into an idol, which makes you the worst kind of Pharisee.”  For the rest of the day, I began realizing how ridiculous I sound sometimes.  I don’t just do it with theology.  If I see some pricing deal at the supermarket, I will drop some large econ word (Economics is my field of study), as if to point out that I know the underlying theory behind coupons (like it was that hard anyway).

I even noticed it when my friends and I were playing billiards.  I considered myself a pretty darn good pool player;  10 losses later, and I was angry.  I was getting the tar beaten out of me.  When they gave me pointers, half of me wanted to use the pool cue to break their faces.  I realized later that night that it was because pool had become a niche for me, something I thought I could measure up against others at.  Here is the problem with that whole concept: eventually, you look to Jesus, and you realize you can’t measure up in any respect.  You have good works?  He saved the world.  You have good morals? He followed through on those.  You have influence? He is sovereign over all of human history.  He is better than us, infinitely so.

And so last night, I took my niches to God.  And laid them at His feet.  Because I have been sinning, making my niches into little idols that cheer for me when I use a big related word.  Instead of pithy worship from idols that can’t talk, instead we should pursue those words God pronounces to his beloved, “well done, good and faithful servant.”  And that is what I strive to be: a theodoulos, a slave of God.  So welcome to my blog.  Hopefully this is the beginning of something big.