“Goal Attained”

I came back this weekend after a short retreat with a leadership team we put together to encourage and empower men to become the leaders we are created to be. I remember telling the guys that this is the first time that I had ever written down plans and some goals in my entire life. I have been in sales and owned my own retail business for about the last thirty years, but never set out a plan and managed to do, just average.

I have known about this for many years but never set a plan in front of me and now it’s time to catch up. I’m 54 and way, way behind.  You have probably heard the saying, “If we don’t aim at a target, we’ll hit it every time”. Or the more popular, “None of us plan to fail, but if we don’t have a plan, we will fail”. Nobody wants to be a failure, but in reality, I have failed in this area.

I am an avid golfer and have spent countless hours practicing, so I have a low handicap to show for it. I have used the principles that I am going to share with you to become a better golfer and more importantly, to deepen my faith in Jesus.  Although our golf game doesn’t put food on the table, the principles can carry over to any part of life.

This month we have watched the NFL team’s battle through the playoffs to eventually two teams that will represent the best of them at the 47^th Superbowl. Every team had a goal to get to the biggest show in sports. Every team had a game plan, but only two teams will play for one spot. I have listened to all of the talk radio shows this week leading up to that big moment and every coach, player and owner interviewed have all said the same thing when asked about their season, “It was our goal to get to the Superbowl”. The players and coaches that were not in the game were asked the same question and they gave the same answer.

I also listened to Tiger after his win on Monday at Torre Pines. He gave the same kind of answer. His goals were to get back to number one and that he still had work to do to get there. As I began reflecting on this weekend’s retreat, I realized something this morning while I was at the gym working out. I have some problems with high blood pressure and in order to stay away from the medication required to lower the problem, I need to stick to a routine diet and cardio is a must. But I have another issue going on. I have a hip that will need to be replaced and back issue so I can’t jog anymore so I have been cycling to ease the pressure on my body parts. But it has been so cold or raining that I began to use the stair machine a few weeks ago.

If you ever ran stairs you know how tough that can be. Now, there is something about these machines, three steps come out a time while you walk up them, so you have to pay attention. But what had me thinking this morning is when I finished. The machine will not operate until you feed it some information, like weight, type of work out, level of ability and time. I have never used these machines until a few weeks ago because of the weather. I have been working out with weights since 1978, so I thought, “I don’t need these things.” But this machine gives me the same work out as if I were running stairs but I don’t have to go to find stairs and I can watch ESPN while I workout.

As I said earlier, I had not been using the machines until a few weeks ago and when I would put the data in the machine I would always put some crazy time in like 1 hour and of course I didn’t plan on using the machine that long I just put it in and would stop when I felt like it. But this morning was different. I said I was going to go for fifteen minutes and put it at a level that would be some work. As I was running these stairs I was reminded of a verse that we read this weekend with the guys that is found in Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” It has taken a lot of people to tell me this over the years in order for my thick skull to finally take it in. I must plan.

Now the great thing about being inside on a machine is that I can be fairly comfortable from the cold and watch ESPN. While I was listening to a sermon on my phone I had forgotten about the time and the machine stopped. At first I thought there was a problem with the machine but as I noticed the lights began flashing in red telling me, “GOAL ATTAINED…GOAL ATTAINED…GOAL ATTAINED”

Seeing those words set a thought pattern in me. I have goals to attain and so do you. We are responsible to our community to reach those goals that were set up in advance for us to attain. Just look at Ephesians 2:10. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” It doesn’t say anything about goals, but it should be our goal to meet these deeds.

So friends, if you are not a goal setter, become one. Get with a friend or person that lives these principles and have them help you set your goals. We are responsible for our journey not only to ourselves, but most importantly to our families and community!

When tragedy strikes

Have you ever wondered why we let things go until something bad happens… then it has to be repaired. I’ve noticed this worse with men. When men are sick or have some kind of bump or soreness, we think it will go away or heal itself. Sometimes we would rather go through the pain of weeks than take the time to see a physician.

My father in law walked around with his knees so bad for over two years that he could hardly walk, much less play golf. After one night out at dinner, we had to help him to the car. He is from the old school. His favorite saying is, “It’ll get better once it stops hurtin’ ”.

Now that I am getting older I have plenty of aches and pains that continue and seem to be getting worse as I continue to lift weights to try and stay in some type of shape. I guess after 35 years of weight training and 15 years of racing motocross, it has taken its toll.

Two weeks ago I noticed something on the bridge of my nose. I have had treatment on that area of my nose a few times for pre-cancer. Basically, I have not taken care of my skin while in the sun. While looking at that area, I noticed there seemed to be an indentation in that area. I thought, “Wow, this is what I have to look forward to as I age…this sucks!” Unfortunately, as we age, things change. Body parts expand, hair grows where it never did before and falls out where at one time, may have been our trade mark!

This morning while I was reading, I noticed my reading glasses were sitting comfortably in those dents in my nose. Last year the little rubber pads wore off of them and I didn’t want to replace them because I thought, “hey, they still work”, and besides I am kind of a miser when it comes to that kind of stuff. So I texted my wife and let her in on my discovery. She texted me back, “dork…go buy some new ones!”

While I thought about it, something else really hit me. The tragedy we saw this past week. It happened twice within a few weeks in Oregon, where one of my best friends is the pastor of the church that put together a special service just for the people at the mall. Then I thought about Connecticut, and all of those little ones that will miss Christmas with their families and families that will be forever changed because of the acts of a few obviously confused boys with evil in their hearts.

I have looked at the faces of those little ones and the teacher who hid them in the closet. It reminded me of the Columbine tragedy and remembering some of the words and face of Rachel Scott. I remember going to a function with our youth group just a few months after the scene in Columbine and listening to her father Darrell Scott give the story of how it all unfolded. It has brought back many memories of what we have seen in the last decade of what boys, kids, people are capable of when we don’t see what really is going on in the hearts and minds of humanity.

There are many questions going through the minds of Americans right now. Most will be unanswered and left like the folks that just do not tend to their sores and the dents I ignored on my nose. For me it’s an easy solution, just get some new glasses. But for those who lost their child, it will not come easy.

Some people want more gun control. Some people want revenge and for most of us, we are not sure what to do? There are no easy answers here, but I know there is a solution to future assurances’

. My mentor would come by the business that I ran for him once a week to visit and check up on what may need attention. He is a very detailed person and nothing ever slipped by his eyes or ears for that matter. He noticed something that needed attention that I had forgotten about and brought it to my forefront. He began by saying an old phrase that is a familiar one. He mentioned it to me by saying, “Greg, you know those cracks in the building that people walk by everyday and after a while you continue to walk by them and don’t notice them anymore, until it’s too late and you have to replace the whole wall…that’s what is going to happen unless you take care of this problem right now”.

Friends, our nations problem, is a heart problem! You may be thinking, what…what are you talking about? Our children are being influenced today by evil input. We may not really see it that way, but it is reality. A quick example is with my own son. He’s 13 and like most boys his age, he can be influenced very easy. He wanted an x-box two years ago for Christmas. The problem was, I already knew the influence it could have on his mind and worse, his heart. I bought it for him with a reluctant mind but did it anyway to please my boy.

After two years of him playing the games, I finally took it away from him, for good. During this period we would have to take it from him a few times because of his lack of respect to us as parents and the violence it created in him. We would literally argue about things every day. He didn’t want to play outside with friends, unless they came over to play x-box. He was not considering other sports which he had excelled at on a regular basis. We noticed it also caused a downward spiral in his self image.

Now, I am not saying this will happen to every kid, but it is fact that it is a huge issue nationwide. I am also not saying x-box is to blame just like I will say that guns are not the blame. We will have to change the way we bring up or kids and monitor their behaviors by instilling in them positive moral values which will not be taught in our school systems, government or even churches.

It will take us to change. Our future leaders look at us and model what we do not what we say. Life lessons are caught way more than they are taught.  Today’s youth are barraged with more sex messages from media and music than we could ever imagine. The messages we send to our youth are what we are seeing acted out in real life, and it ain’t pretty. Youth see more violence than my stepfather saw in Vietnam and he came back a decorated Marine with three purple hearts.

So what can we do to change these tragedies? I refer to what Jesus would say to us, and He said this to group of religious leaders of His time, Luke 6:45 “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

First off, what are you storing in your heart? What we store up in our hearts, reflects what our children will store up in their hearts. If we are not teaching and modeling what our kids are to become, somebody will. Whether it is media, friends, teachers or games, that data is storing up in our kids hearts and it has to come out. Our inner beings are like a sponge. The sponge doesn’t care if it soaks up toilet water, paint, soda, alcohol or pure water, it will soak up whatever it is exposed to. When the sponge is squeezed, whatever was in the sponge comes out. Who are you when the pressures of life or any situation come around? You will be exactly like the sponge, when you’re squeezed, whatever you have been putting in your heart, the stuff will come out!

Our future leaders, our children have been exposed to what our media is allowing to be seen and it is going into the hearts of our children and they are being squeezed. So we are seeing what is coming out! This problem will not go away until we do something about our hearts and the hearts of our children. They are not cracks we can walk by daily and forget about. Our future society depends on the repairs needed today!

Decisions

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers” Plato

What a frustrating Sunday for us 49er fans this weekend. They start a quarterback that is there to stretch the field, and yet they played conservative. Not to take anything away from the Rams defense at all, I thought they played an outstanding game. It all comes down to decisions. Coach Harbaugh decided to start Colin Kapernick three weeks ago to install a much needed deep threat to part of the offense. But, where was it yesterday? The decision to pass seven yards when you need 15 plus yards on third down and run Gore up the middle on a 2^nd and 20 against seven men in the box is not good decision making.

There are plenty of other added failures and mistakes, but it almost always comes down to the leadership making decisions. You may have heard the cliché, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”.

I was also interested in watching Tigers tournament that is played every year at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks California, where there are many decisions being made at every hole by every player. I’m a golf fanatic. I enjoy all of the intricacies of the swing as well as the mental aspect. Decisions are a part of sports as well as our everyday walk. I started our blog with a with a video of Rickie Fowler because he needed to make a decision that may not seem that big to most viewers, but it took practice, planning and the execution to get the result he received. He needed to access the position where and how far to drive the ball to the wedge shot he pulled.

Why am I talking about these types of decisions? I like to relate golf and sports in general to our decisions we make in everyday life. In sports we practice in order to execute on game day. We practice certain plays or shots over and over during practice, so when the time comes, your decisions become part of the habit you have built into your game so it becomes just what you do, you make the play or the shot.

So today, I would like to ask you, what are you doing to build correct decision making into your life? I have learned that when you are under pressure and it’s time to make those crucial decisions, your true identity comes forth. Many times we make decisions because we are scared, angry, want revenge, hurt and the many other reasons we seem to get ourselves into. The guys on tour make shots because of the decision they made to work on their game. Coaches make decisions because of certain circumstances or the many other feelings, mentioned above.

As I watched my favorite team Sunday make decisions I was not happy about, I turned to watch Rickie Fowler make the shot on number 12 and the result was a proper decision flowed by excellent execution. It reminded me of many different stories in the bible of men who made bad choices and others who had made wise decisions. The decisions that stood out for me in this segment were found in Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, this is the way; walk in it."

So, are you listening to that voice when needed, or you’re not sure? Or worse, are you just avoiding that voice and turning your back on it, because it’s not what you want to hear at this particular time in your life? Many of us make decisions based on what we know and the worst part is most of us may be afraid to know.

Just two thoughts I would like to leave you with today. First, when we make decisions, it not only affects us, but our decisions have an impact on others. Yes, every decision you and I make has some kind of an effect on other people. Second and more importantly, when you make decisions who are you listening to? Our decisions always come from some kind of influence…always!

The 49er’s made a decision on what they were influenced by. Rickie Fowler made a decision on what he was influenced by. Who and what are you influenced by?

Pratice for Fun!

There is something about golf that I believe is different than any other sport. It's kind of a love hate relationship. So yesterday I talked my 13 year old son into hitting balls. He had two options since football is over, either go back to Karate or play golf. Knowing that he doesn't have any interest in Karate anymore, I knew he would say golf, but with much animosity because he decided earlier it wasn’t cool to play the game. But I knew something about golf that he doesn’t know. Once you have been bitten by the “golf bug”, it’s very difficult to get over. I think I understand what an addict goes through!

Two years ago he had went through a few months of loving it and wanting different clubs and some of the cool apparel we all seem to enjoy. I know once I was bitten by this mysterious bug, I was hooked and haven’t even entertained the thought of quitting. But as 13 year old boys do, they constantly have different passions and go through changes.

Yesterday was an awakening for my boy. You see, he is a perfectionist. If he hits a few bad balls, he gets frustrated and wants to quit. So I had him start off hitting short 40 yard shots to a particular area to get his confidence going and by the time he began hitting his longer irons, he was hitting the ball well, so well I could tell he was enjoying his swing. You may have been there, just enjoying the feel of a good balanced swing and the ball going in the spot intended.

He is a sporadic golfer. By that I mean, he will play or hit balls maybe every four months or so or maybe longer. So for him to hit balls well yesterday was a plus, not only for him, but for me. You see, he doesn’t like me telling him how to swing, grip or anything, especially when he is not hitting well. So I began encouraging him to hit those short shots, not as a start but to see if he could hit the squirrel in this one spot. I tried to make it fun.

After he had hit about 40 or so balls, I asked him, “OK Bryce, you ready to go home?”

He looked at me with a confused look as I smiled at him as he said, “But…I don’t want to go, this is awesome”.

So I began my little talk with him. I said, “Bryce there is nothing like a great feeling shot is there?”

He smiled and said, “No dad, you’re right, this is the best…I think I want to practice so I can get good.”

Most of us understand what I am talking about. There is nothing like a great swing followed by a great shot. I have learned that is what gets us coming back. I am hoping that it will keep my son coming back. He has huge potential, but lacks work ethic.

But one thing is for certain, when you are driven by a feeling or more importantly an experience that is the catalyst that ignites the fire that will drive you to succeed. Success on the course is driven by your desire on the range. If I can get my son to enjoy the practice sessions, the rest will take care of itself. I remember Tiger saying on an interview with the Golf Channel that his favorite thing to do is his practice time.

So our tip for the day; Practice brings enjoyment to the game. I know a lot of golfers that hate practice. Every once in a while you will meet a person that can play well without practicing. But for most of us, practice is the only way to get better. So, the key to practice is to learn to enjoy it. Make up games on the range to have fun. If you have a friend that will practice with you, that’s even better. Play games against each other, so it doesn’t get boring. So next time you practice, enjoy the things you don’t usually think of, change things up and watch your scores drop.

“Add value to others” John Maxwell

Last Wednesday my boy’s middle school football team had their awards banquet. With all 93 players on hand for some grub, some social time with their buddies and of course the awards. After the awards were handed out and the program came to an end, my wife and I began socializing with the parents and the players were having a good time talking with the cheerleaders.

After only a few minutes of socializing my boy came to me with a hurt and disgusted look on his face, and said, “can we go now”, I knew something had upset him, so I asked him what was the problem, but he wouldn’t say, so I said, “hang out with your friends, your mom and I are talking with some of the parents”. We had become friends with many of them over the years of youth football. But he persisted with what looked like tears that he was holding back. After a few more minutes we began walking out to our cars as we congratulated some of the boys who received the awards. The boy who received the MVP award was one of my boy’s friends since youth baseball where his father and I coached together.

My boy did not want to ride with me home, so he hopped in is mothers car without saying goodbye to me. I asked him why, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. So, I walked to my car wondering what was going on, what did I do to hurt my boy? I thought maybe he was a little jealous of me giving the other boys their accolades. So as we all arrived to our home he walked over to me and buried his head in my chest with a big hug. I asked him what was going on at the event and he stood back and looked at me with tears in his eyes and holding back is apparent broken heart.

I asked him to tell me what was going on. He looked at me and said, “I didn’t achieve anything, I didn’t get an award”.

I said, “did you expect to get one”?

My boy, “Of course, I’m better than so and so”

So, I began the talk. I mentioned to him the boys that received their award were constantly working hard in practice as well as the games. They were always in a play whether it was defense or offense, they worked very hard and they were noticed by their peers and the boys voted for them. So my boy felt a little betrayed that they didn’t vote him in for one of the awards.

Have you ever been passed over for some kind of recognition? Remember what that may have felt like at 13 years old? Sometimes we want the recognition without the extra effort that rewards are followed by. Like my boy, he wanted the reward without the effort. He is a good player, but doesn’t give the effort that warrants the kudos that comes with the work ethic. He played this year with the talent he had last season thinking that was enough. Unfortunately, he had to learn the hard way. In football, your position is always up for grabs. Other players that work hard can take your spot even when you are a better athlete.

It happened with my high school daughter this season during water polo. There are a few players that were better than her talent wise, but she worked hard and took their spot on the team as a starter. This is just one example of what people can and will do when they work hard. We see it in business as well as sports.

In the book of Mathew chapter 25 verse 14-26, we find Jesus in another discussion about a description of Heaven. This story is told many times to listeners of our times about our talents and how we are given gifts to serve others and most importantly, our master. But the disturbing part of the story is found in verse 26 where Jesus says, “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!” Now, I can understand lazy, but Jesus calls the man who did nothing wicked! I don’t know about you, but it sounds harsh and wicked is a very strong word and the meaning is that you are active in evil acts. Wow! This meaning is not only disturbing but downright scary. But I realized it’s the truth and we need to understand this verse and do something about it.

 So what do we do to change that mindset? How do we motivate someone to move away from procrastination or fear of failing or another emotion that keeps us from moving our future forward? I believe for most of us it is finding something that brings life to us, something we love so much that we ignore all of the negative emotions that keep us from moving forward. You love it so much that no matter the roadblocks you continue on your quest.

So if you are in that familiar area of not moving forward in your career, relationship or spiritual growth it’s time to renew your thinking. It’s time to rethink your future until you find what makes you feel alive! Find your future, learn from your past and begin your journey that you were meant to live. Get with someone you can trust and begin the process of change and progress. All it can do is make you better and you will add value to others!

Prepare...

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital” Joe Paterno

Can you believe Tiger missed that three footer to win the tournament, I could’ve made that” “Did you see Tony Romo miss that pass, I could’ve made that pass” How many of us have been in front of our sets on Sunday yelling at it then saying, “how could you screw that up, I could have done that”. With all of the pressure to perform on Sunday, even the best professionals make mistakes that cost them or their team. As I watched some of these athletes perform this weekend, I realized something that I have been trying to get my little guy to understand. Preparation is “The key” component to success in any area of life, whether it’s golf, football or any sport for that matter along with careers and the most important, relationships.

About twelve years ago, I was bombarded with messages and signs about preparing. Every time I would turn on any talk radio, I would hear some radio personality or coach talk about preparation. No matter whether it was a sport or a career or a relationship message, it was on preparation. I heard it so much, at first it got a little creepy. I began to think that something was going to happen to someone in my family and all of the weird thoughts that come along with input from outside voices.

So I went to my friend who is a pastor. I didn’t want people to think I was a freak, So, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to scare my wife, so I kept it on the Q.T. until I could figure out this unknown. I told him what I thought was going on and he had a little different take on it. He knew me very well, since we were golfing buddies and had been on many mission trips together, he knew me better than just about any other person. I trusted his counsel. Since he knew me well, he also knew my weaknesses and my strengths.

As I told him about the experience, he thought about it for a few minutes, and told me that I should head back to school to get some kind of degree in ministry. I told him how much I hated school and that I was too old and all the other excuses that I could muster up. Twelve years later, I am very happy I went to seminary. I learned more than I thought I already knew, which wasn’t very much. I learned that the more I learned, the more I learned that I was far, far short of knowing very much or anything at all!

But what it did for me was cause me to become a constant learner. In fact, I am always reading some kind of book or curriculum to educate me further on spiritual formation and other facts in theological doctrine, and of course the golf swing! Learning has become my new challenge in life. But more importantly, it has set me up for my next task in my ministry career.

With all of my past experience in sales, business owner, retail, youth ministry and ministry to men, it has prepared me for what I am beginning now. I never thought of it until the last job interview I went on a few months ago. As I was preparing to go on the interview, I told the guys on our leadership team at church what I was getting ready to do and they all said, “Wow Greg, that’s the perfect job for you”. Even the pastors and other people that I was connected with in the community told me the same thing. I imagine you have heard that expression towards others or hopefully yourself.

As this conversation started of us thinking that we could, “complete a particular pass”, or a “putt to win a tournament”, we need to think of something that some of us forget to realize, we couldn’t do it. If you think about these athletes, they are first of all, separated from most of us by their extraordinary ability and second and most significantly important, they are prepared. They have been preparing for that moment of greatness since they were little. They have spent countless hours practicing and training for that one moment that seems to separate them from us!


I didn’t realize twelve years ago that I would be preparing myself to step into a role that will help create a new culture that will effect generations of families and ultimately our communities. Many of us wonder why we are not the “person” that God is using. It is almost always because we are not prepared for the task. Could you imagine getting off your lazy boy and putting on Peyton Manning’s uniform and stepping on to the field trying to direct traffic like Peyton? You would be peeing in your pants! You couldn’t do it. Now if you put in the years and preparation that Peyton has put in, maybe, but you’re not Peyton and you are not probably made to be a quarterback.

But, you are made to do something and you are called to prepare and do the best with whatever task you are made to do. As I begin my new journey in ministry, I was concerned that I could lose focus and not continue the learning that has prepared me for this season of life. But, I have an edge on it. I have been at it for so long that it has become a habit that I just can’t seem to turn off. So I am challenged to raise my level of learning and continue on my quest to change our culture of men. Big challenge I know, but I have been walking this road for a long time and beginning to see a little flicker of light toward the end of the tunnel.

I would like to leave you with a piece of wisdom that I have learned from that helped me prepare for this journey. It is found in 2 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Transition?

What’s going on with golf right now? I mean, I understand that it is the end of the season, but there is not a lot of it going on. I have read that the players were concerned that the season was too long and they are looking at working on a different schedule.  I know a lot of people that think that they should suck it up and continue to play because of all of the money the players make. I am sure the PGATour can work something out for the players that can keep the advertisers happy and the viewership up.

It won’t bother me. I’ll still keep an interest in what the players are up to on tour. Even with the NFL in mid-season, I still want some golf and in California, we can play golf year around.

Then we have the World Series with the San Francisco Giants sweeping the Detroit Tigers. Incredible win for the Giants. I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I do enjoy the playoffs and of course the World Series. I enjoy the stories of how some of the men were traded or drafted to the different teams and how some of the men were living before their life in professional sports.

With all of the sporting events taking place and school, with work and well, life, how do we find time to reflect and spend time with our most important relationship we should have…our relationship with the Jesus!

Don’t get me wrong, I really can say that I enjoy sports just as much as the next person. But, sometimes it can get me off track of what I am really here to do. I am learning that it is OK to like sports and excel in them. I finally figured that out after researching this verse that is found in 1Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 

Paul is teaching the Corinthian church that are struggling with some of the things they are doing, “Religious” or “Traditional”, which we have learned over time can bog us down from being more productive in our spiritual and everyday life which we are more inclined to pay attention to.

In the book of Mark 7 verses 1-13 Jesus is having a discussion with some of the teachers and high priests of His time. The teachers were angry with Jesus about His disciples not washing their hands properly and other silly little matters that have nothing to do with our relationship with Jesus except for men to follow man made rules.

Jesus tells them this in verse 8, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” Now some of us enjoy tradition and some of us don’t really care. My point to this story is not so much about traditions as it is about our habits that may have been formed out of traditions. A lot of times these traditions become the normal part of our culture. You know some of them, taking your hat off at the table or during the national anthem. Or if you’re really religious, making a sign of the cross before you enter particular areas, or large number of other religious motions we do. There are literally millions of them!

So what do we do? So, if we take another look at the verse above, 1 Cor 10:31 and look at a few words. Let’s take the word “whatever”. I don’t think Paul is trying to be the proverbial “Valley Girl” “Whatever” approach! I can look at what he is saying in context with what the rest of the verse and story says, and how Jesus reacts to this issue. It’s almost like a Nike add, “do it all for the glory of God”

I worked as a Men’s Ministry Director at a church in 2006-2008. This particular church was going through a major transition. The pastor of 33 years had suddenly passed and the church was in a tailspin of egos and “Tradition”. When I was asked to be a interim director, I walked in to, what I used to call a “Ferrari” that was wrecked and needed to be repaired from the frame to the paint job. This was a premier Ministry that most of the main players had walked away from disgruntled and bitter.

While I was there, we went through five pastors. I’ll never forget one of the pastors when he came on board for our first staff meeting. He said something that I have never forgotten and use to this day. He knew the problem we were in and was there to get us back on track. This church had been around for over fifty years, so change was not what the parishioners were interested in hearing. They wanted to go back to the “way it was.” What they didn’t understand, was there needed to be change. The traditions were robbing some of the other believers of an experience that would not be allowed to happen as long as it stayed the same.

So, as the meeting was in session, our new pastor began leadership training. Something the staff had never experienced before. After prayer and a few announcements, he made this statement, “People are against what people don’t understand”. Now, I know that isn’t that profound until you really understand the gravity involved in establishments that hold on to tradition. It becomes part of who we are, it can become a habit then to a lifestyle. Just go to any third world country and try to feel comfortable. If you have ever been into most parts of Mexico, you can’t even throw toilet paper into the toilet when you’re finished doing business. I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about. I’m against doing that, but I got used to it.

What I am saying is this, If you are doing life because you are used to doing something because that is the way it has always been done and someone might want to show you a better way, don’t get upset, try something new, it might be a better way. I think Jesus was telling us to do something different to get out of the mundane routines of life to get our focus on Him. So we could get out of our comfort zone and get uncomfortable in life in order to get comfortable in trusting in Him.

 This way, you and I can be comfortable in doing what we are called to do and to do it to the best of our abilities and give glory to Him through our efforts. There is nothing better than a happy worker, not worried about someone looking over his shoulder. That person knows who his real boss is and if he pleases Him, that is the highest pleasure! Ephesians 5:10 “Find out what pleases the Lord”