Well, I had every intention of writing similar posts for the other 37 major things that I learned this summer, but honestly it’s just not going to happen. My personal time for this has dwindled as of today (more explanation later), so I will just give a brief overview of some of the many things that I learned this summer and am currently working on putting into practice. Paul exhorts the church at Philipi with these words to close his letter:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is pure, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” - Philippians 4:8-9
It is not just enough to be aware of some truth or recognize something in your life that should be different; God desires obedience and repentance, not recognition and intellectual assent. Here is the short list of areas of obedience that I need to work on:
Motives for reading the Bible – I was challenged this summer to read the Bible to understand who God is and who He says that I am – not just for wisdom or knowledge or to impress. As with most things, in God’s eyes this is a heart issue. Does my heart care about what men think or what God thinks? (John 12:42-43)
Giving my life away – I think just about every Bible Study, message, or conversation focused around giving my life up completely for Him and His renown. God spoke to us through His word about taking up our cross daily, selling all our possessions and giving to the poor, dying daily to our desires and living for the gospel, suffering with joy for His praise, and giving our lives away for Him. Am I carrying the cross everyday as a reminder to me of who I once was, what Jesus did for me, and what my response should be to Him?
Faithfulness regardless of circumstances – NO MATTER WHAT – Our staff Bible study this summer focused on the book of 1 Peter. The theme that we focused on (and what Peter focused on) was suffering well in the wake of persecution. Peter wrote to remind his audience of who they are and to encourage them to be that and suffer well. Am I choosing to follow Jesus NO MATTER WHAT?
Stacking wood, not starting fires – It was somewhat frustrating at times not seeing many results in my cabins, not seeing life change in kids, or not having kids getting it. Matt Chandler used an illustration about how he and his wife are making disciples of their children. He said, “We can’t start the fire of salvation, only God can do that. All we can do is bring kindling around the center-post of their soul, and then stack more wood and more wood (in the form of Scripture, teachings, church, community, love, and prayer) and pray that one day God would light the bonfire of salvation in their hearts.” This was my attitude this summer; I cannot force salvation on anyone; I cannot bring life change; only God can save and change lives. All we are called to do is to share and live the gospel out in front of others and trust the results to God. Do I trust results to God?
Like I said, those are only a few areas that I became aware of in my own life where obedience and repentance is needed.
This morning I started a new little routine in my life. I am calling it – “Wake up at 5 so I can drive over an hour in the dark to New Mexico to make it to a seven o’clock safety meeting at the Dollarhide Field Office.” Mostly I’m doing this because it’s my job for the next 6 months, but also because I really love eating Cinnamon Apple Instant Oatmeal as I drive and listen to an old British man read Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis to me. It is quite thrilling. Feel free to tag along some time.
For the next 6 months, I am doing my Petroleum Engineer Field Training. This mostly consists of me hanging out with 50-year-old men and 50-year-old pumpin’ units in the wide-open spaces that are West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. I am mostly excited about the opportunity to learn and be exposed to field operations, but the downside of driving about 3 hours a day looms in my mind. The field guys are very enjoyable to be around, because they are real and raw. Most of them also don’t give a rip about Jesus, which will be a cool place for me to be in. I despised the Christian bubble that I was so entangled in at A&M (I know that there’s good in it too…) because I had very few non-Christian friends. I am thankful for a chance to be found somewhere else at this point in my life.
I’m not looking at this so much as an opportunity to win some ‘converts’ (as if I can do that by saying the right words or living the right way), but more as a testing grounds for my faith. I want to act and be the same I would be in any other situation. I want to learn to walk with God no matter where I find myself. I do want them to come to Jesus, so I am not going to shy away from declaring how God has saved me and how great He is just because they could care less. I know that I have been placed near Jal, New Mexico for a reason. Now that reason could be any number of things, but I’m not going to waste time wondering what that is or how it is going to turn out. For now, I’m just going to keep eating my oatmeal and praying that one day I can understand some C. S. Lewis books like every other young radical.
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