Preserve

So, I have this constant drive to stand out from everybody else. You can read it in my writing, you can see it in the way I study the Bible, you can see it in the way I work. 

I don't like common sense answers.

I don't like going with the flow of current mainstream thought. 

And, I don't like settling.

And these can all be used for good, to contribute to the world and do my part in making it a better place for the people around me. However, a lot of the time, my motives are misdirected. 

And there's a couple reasons for this. This first is, I despise the idea of authority. Anytime someone brings us ideas like submitting to authority, or respecting authority, or anything else along those lines, I feel this need to push back. And let me turn it over for a second to defend this point.

If you think about it, we call certain people authority figures, because they're supposed to represent something right? Judges represent the preservation of law. Police represent the preservation of safety. Pastors represent the preservation of spiritual health. Bosses represent the preservation of business growth. 

Yet, we know that all these different authority figures aren't any better than we are. We know everyone has their issues. We know everyone does bad things, whether they're in secret or public. So, it's really hard to "submit" to authority with this knowledge. It's really difficult to step aside, surrender my thoughts on any given issue, and give a wholesale green light to whatever an authority figure sees as the right way to go.

The other reason my motives in standing out from the rest is, the concept that we are unique is woven into the fabric of the American religious/social system. As Americans, we're told over and over that we're part of the greatest country in the world, that we're a sovereign nation, that we're a "Christian nation."

As Christians, we're told that we have the "only way to God." And, I'm sure that Muslims are told the same thing, along with Jews and every other religion that finds a home in this country. 

And add to that the litany of advertising ads and political jargon that screams at us through every media source we encounter, and the same concept is hammered over and over again. 

 So, when I pair my dislike for authority with this concept of being part of a culture that's "better" than all the rest, my tendency to stand out from the crowd, to not settle for the status quo, and to "be the best I can be" is very misdirected. 

Why?

Because the desire to do great things, to be a great contributor to the great world we live in, isn't necessarily driven so much by sacred ambition as it is isolated judgmentalism. 

In other words, sacred ambition says, Do great things and be a great person so others can have a better life.

And isolated judgmentalism says, Do great things and be a great person because you are set apart from everyone else.

For years and years, I was convinced that the Bible was about how Christians are set apart from everyone else. The word "holy" was (and is) used so much that it became apparent that I must have this special inside scoop to God that no one else has. Even the Bible itself was (and is) called the Word of God, as if anyone who owned a Bible owned a slice of the God pie. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say, If you don't have a Bible, how can you know God? And let me tell you, that certainly affects how I go about contributing to the world. 

While all of us are unique, we're not overly unique to the point that we're on a higher level than anyone else. The best way I can state this is, we're equally unique. 

I like the picture that Paul paints about the body. I believe that when he talks about the body, it's easy to imagine he's only speaking to Christians. But, if I just expand my thinking a little bit, the picture works for humanity. 

Paul basically says that we all have unique functions, but they're not so unique because they accommodate other unique functions. In other words, every function is unique in what it does, but it's a small part of a great whole. And the great whole is a fully functioning body. 

So, how do I, as a not-so-unique being living in this not-so-unique world live in the way of sacred ambition and not isolated judgmentalism?

Come to understand and respect my own flaws. Why? Because those are what keep my pride in check as I wake up and go out into the world that I share with everyone else. When I'm humbled by the realization of my own flaws, I'm able to see that everyone else is trying to figure this thing called life out just like I am. 

It changes the way I see people. They're no longer different than me. They're no longer the fuel I use to drive my ambition, but they're sacred. They're God's children. In fact, they're benefactors of my ambitions. 

More importantly, I'm no longer different than anybody else. I no longer have this engrained mindset that I'm set apart, called out, or branded with this concept that I have the insider information that no one else does. And I can rest in that. I can start seeing that God isn't just in me, but in everybody. My worldview begins expanding to the point where I can see past the prejudices of my own religion, and see that God communicates through other religions as well. 

I can start seeing myself as one little part of the great whole of humanity.