Lately I’ve been realizing how task-driven the world is--
How task driven I am
Everything is about doing something
Accomplishment is the only scale of value left for humanity
We remember people based on what they did not who they were
Actions do not flow from character, actions now stand-alone
Everyone feels the need to get the best grade and to get
into the best program and to leave some kind of stamp on civilization by doing
something great
Or maybe that’s just me
My value seems to be inextricably tied
up in how much I have done
What acceptance letters have come through my mailbox
Who I have in my address book
Maybe how smart I am
But all smart is these days is the potential to achieve
Every possible chance I get I attempt to “succeed” more
In the hope that this achievement will be the one that
knocks me up a peg
Gets me a little more respect
Or standing
Or maybe even salvation?
Or maybe just build my resume so in the future I can
accomplish more
Everything is a means to an end
The cycle never stops
And this structure of overcommitted attempts at achievement
has lead me to a point
Where I glorify busy with everything I have
If my iCal isn’t booked wall to wall then I’m doing
something wrong
Because if I’m busy than I’m needed
If I’m busy than the system can’t run without me
I am important
I am powerful
I am glorified
Achievement brings glory to me
Achievement is a physical reminder to everyone around me of
how much better I am
And how much harder I worked
And how much more gifted God made me
So everyone is just living their lives attempting to out-do everyone around them
Competition is constant whether we realize it or not
And anyone who was doing something because they were passion
about it is probably already lost in the rat race
If not they will be soon
We treat GPAs and promotions like the works that are going
to earn us a place in heaven
But Jesus,
He wasn’t like that.
Jesus didn’t care about tasks, Jesus cared about people
He cared about them, not what they did
He cared about their hearts
And in twelve verses at the start of Matthew five Jesus turned
every presupposition of success on its head
There is no blessing for the prosperous, successful, respected
person
But there is a blessing for the meek
When He met the woman at the well He didn’t say
“so, uh, can you show me your resume?”
and He didn’t ask Lazarus about his GPA
and He didn’t want to see Nicodemus’s letter of
recommendation
Jesus hung out with fishermen
“unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13)
They didn’t climb any ladder or fill out a single
application
Jesus picked them because of who they were not what they did
Jesus didn’t run on a time schedule
He never said,
“OK, y’all are saved and healed got to run to Galilee now”
Jesus dwelled with people
He wept with people
Jesus didn’t try to people please
He threw around tables and got kicked out of temples
But Jesus did care about people’s actions
Just not in the way we do
He didn’t demand his disciples prove themselves
He begged that they remained in Him
When they asked about the greatest commandment He told them
To love the Lord with everything and to love their neighbors
like themselves
He cared that they were rooted in love
Not what gold star they got
Actions rooted in the character of salvation were the only
actions that counted
The only ambition Jesus cared about was ambition grounded in
the Gospel
And seeking after Him
Every action, moment and accomplishment
Getting to the top didn’t matter unless you were advancing
the Kingdom every step of the way
So this is me sitting down and saying
I will not be defined by what I achieve
I will not make the respect of those around me my idol
I will not glorify busy
I will not feel the burden of proving myself
I will not treat what this world values like my only hope at
salvation
And man, it’s going to be hard
But I am something so much more than the programs I’m in and
the people I know
I am more than what I do
My identity is in Christ
So today I’m taking the first step into not letting it be in
anything else.