Digging Deep

As kids in Sunday school, so many of us sang a song about the wise man and the foolish man. The former building his house upon the rock, and the later building his house upon the sand.

Was this any of you? Do the actions for the song almost come as muscle reflex even now as the tune plays in your head?

The song draws its basis off of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27. This morning I was reading in the gospel of Luke, chapter six. As I was reading, verses 46-49, the song came up in my head. This is Luke’s account of the same parable. But, for the first time, the lines of the song didn’t fit with what Jesus was saying here. Here in Luke there is an action of the “wise man” that is added in.

In verse 48, the text says: “he is like a man building a house, who DUG DEEP and laid a foundation on the rock” (NASB, emphasis my own).

“Dug Deep” there is no action for that in the song! Rains coming down, floods coming up, but no a shovel digging into the ground action. Does this mean that there is work involved in finding the rock? That we need to dig deep before we build? What does that look like in our life? Does this mean that a “foolish man” is one building on the same plot of land, but who has not dug through the sand to get to the rock?

There are lots of deep implications and questions that come from these two little words (pun intended). Implications for us personally, the church, ministries that we are apart of, etc. This makes the issue so much more that just picking a spot of land and setting up a house, even if it APPEARS to be solid rock (wow, think about that one before you pick out a church).

Dig in so that you can weather the rains coming down and the floods coming up.

How are you digging down, before you build up?

Motivation?…a question for evey situation!

So here is God calling me on something. In the last week, I have been talked to by two of my teammates on my affirmation of people, or lack there of. And then there is Tim Keller’s second morning talk at Campus Crusade’s CSU ’09, which God spoke some questions to me about.

This is not an easy blog to think through and write out, but I have the desire to write while things are still fresh in my mind, and heck, I am joyful to share that God is working and convicting. Amen to that…

The question: “what is my motivation?” is one that I am seeing I will need to continue to look at, work on, trust God with, etc. With my teammates, both asked the question “Why is it that, after someone says something, [I] am so quick to share another story or say something else that does not affirm what the person says?” It’s true, I know I do this, its something I have thought about and don’t care for. But, this has really made me think about, what is my motivation for anything that comes from my mouth? With family, friends, teammates, or how about people I share the gospel with (oh, now there is a big one!…and did Keller hit a heart string in his CSU talk).

Keller spoke from Luke 10, with the idea that this chapter describes our: mission, message, motivation, and method, as Christ followers. Jesus sends out the 72, then they come back. What is it that they say: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name” (verse 17, NASB). If you emphasize the word “us” Jesus response takes on new meaning (at least for me). Jesus says in verse 19-20 “Behold, I have given you authority…over all powers of the enemy…(19). Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (emphisis added). Pertaining to motivation, Keller talks about how we make it about US, and while this was in reference to sharing the gospel, I had to listen and apply it across the board in my life.

What is my motivation in saying: “Here is MY story…”, “This is what I think…”, “Guess what happened to ME…”, and so many others. Is my desire to look at me, or is the desire to care about people? This applies, I believe, because in the next part of Luke 10 Jesus talks about the Good Samaritan, and being a good neighbor. When someone shares their story with me. Am I being a good neighbor? If motivation is a driving force behind being a good neighbor, in that split-second between their story and my response (whatever it will be), I need to ask WHAT IS MY MOTIVATION HERE???

I know that I will have to work on this tons in the days, weeks, lifetime ahead. And I know there are some people that are already doing much better than I am at this. But, what if we asked about our motivation a little more? What if we thought about it, and decided (as Jesus tells us to), to rejoice that our “names are recorded in heaven, as opposed to responding about US?

***Thank you to those of you in my life who have been bold enough in my life to trust the Lord and lovingly discuss this with me.