I think this was another story that I got from here, but it's getting hard to remember where I've found the various stories I tell. I was talking with some good friends of mine earlier tonight, and we decided that I've been telling stories like the ones on this blog every week for almost three years. And that's a lot of stories.
Obviously, all those stories aren't here. Not yet, anyway. But Lord willing, I'd like to get them all archived eventually. Anyway, one story at a time. Here we go:
There was this old guy that had a cabin out in the woods. He had a reputation as a hermit who kept to himself, more or less. He was also reputed to be very spiritual, however, and many people considered him an excellent example of a good Christian man.
Occasionally, people would make the trek through the woods to the old man's cabin seeking spiritual advice. The man---who could usually be found sitting on a large rock near the brook that ran past his cabin---always seemed to know a Bible verse that was applicable to the situation at hand and never turned anyone away that came seeking his advice or his prayers.
One day, a young woman decided that she would seek out the man in hopes of finding out his "secret." She had always admired the man's spirituality and desperately wanted to have it for herself. He must have some kind of secret, she thought to herself. There has to be some kind of trick to become a man of God like that, and I'm going to find out what it is.
Just like everyone else that came to the man for advice, she made the trek through the woods and found the man sitting on a large rock by the stream. He had his old, well-worn Bible opened to one of the Psalms and was quietly humming an old hymn, and seemed completely impervious to the woman's presence.
"Hey there!" She shouted. "How's it going today?" The old man turned around and looked at the young woman that had started making her way towards the stream. He smiled and replied, "My day has been lovely, thank you. And how about yours? What can I help you with today, miss?"
"I'd like to know your secret," the woman said simply. The old man gave her a confused look. "My . . . secret?" He replied. "I'm not sure I know what you mean." Slightly impatient, the woman said, "You know, your secret. How you got to be all spiritual and godly and stuff. How'd you do it? What's your trick? What's your secret?"
Realizing that a hands-on demonstration would be the only way to get through to this young woman, the man decided to play along. "Oh! My secret. I know what you mean. If you come with me, I'll show you my secret." The man took off his shoes, rolled up the legs of his pants, and told the young woman to do the same.
He walked out into the middle of the stream and motioned for the woman to follow. When both were standing in the water, the old man said, "Are you really sure you want to know my secret?" Excitedly, the woman said, "Yes, yes! I'm sure! I'd really like to know!"
The man grabbed the woman by the neck and forced her head under the water. The woman began kicking and flapping her arms in a desperate attempt to free herself of the man's grasp, but it didn't work. The man held her head under the water for a little while longer, then brought the woman up for air.
He dragged the woman back onto the shore and sat patiently as she caught her breath. "What were you doing out there!??!" The woman gasped. "Were you trying to kill me? Are you some kind of sicko or something?"
"Let me ask you a question," the man said. "When you were under the water, what was it that you wanted the most?" The young woman shot the old man a nasty look. "What do you think I wanted most, you old coot? I wanted air!"
"When you want God as much as you wanted air," the man said, "You'll know my secret."
* * * * *
A few weeks ago, I watched the big Olympic hockey game between the United States and Canada. The gold medal game. The big one. The game that all the sportscasters were hailing as massively epic, the game of the century.
I watched the game almost completely from start to finish, and it was epic. Both teams played hard, and the U.S. team was able to tie the score at 2-2 in the final seconds of the game after trailing by a point for most of the game. The game went into a sudden death-style overtime, during which the Canadian team was able to score a winning goal.
After that, pandemonium erupted. All the Canadian players started tackling each other to congratulate themselves on their gold medal win, and all the Canadian fans were screaming and waving flags.
The American team, on the other hand, didn't do much at all. They weren't like, "YEAH! We got silver medals, guys! That's almost as good as gold, right?" As a matter of fact, they were dejected. Sad. Upset. They didn't smile. They didn't cheer. They didn't get excited, even though winning an Olympic silver medal is no small feat.
Just looking at the players' faces, it's hard to tell that they just won silver medals. They look more like they lost every single game they played and finished dead last. They wanted to win so badly that to them, anything less than gold was just not acceptable.
So what if they won silver? Silver wasn't good enough. Second place wasn't good enough. They wanted gold, and they were disappointed when they didn't get it.
As Christians, I think we often get into the habit of settling for silver, bronze, or worse. Instead of putting our hearts and souls into being the Christians that God wants us to be, we're happy to settle for second place. Instead of striving to grow closer to God every day, we grow complacent and stagnate.
I think one of the main reasons that this is such a big problem for Christians is that oftentimes, we're not putting Christ first. Human nature dictates that a person's top priorities are going to get the most attention.
If your top priority in life is school, then you strive to do well in school and you're disappointed when you get anything less than an A. If video games are your top priority in life, then anything less than a high score just isn't good enough.
Clearly, the order of our priorities has a lot to do with how much effort we put into pursuing them. So if God isn't in the top spot, He's not getting the bulk of our attention and effort---something else is.
And that "something else" is an idol, whether you think of it that way or not.
Jesus knew that it would be hard for people to make following Him their top priority. The concerns and worries of this world---both legitimate and otherwise---constantly fight for our attention, and this wasn't lost on Jesus. Check out what He had to say about this:
"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Matthew 6:31-34 (ESV)
Verse 33 (the beginning of the second paragraph) is a favorite of mine. Notice how Jesus tells us to "seek first the kingdom of God." Not "seek when you have time." Not "seek second." Seek first. First, as in before everything else. First, as in second to none.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus' followers had genuine concerns about food, shelter, and clothing. Today, we have many of the same concerns. Especially in this economy, jobs are an uncertain commodity. Will I have a job next week? Will I be able to make rent? Can I afford to go out for lunch today?
These concerns aren't lost on Jesus, and His command to seek first comes with a promise: " . . . and all these things will be added to you." If we surrender all of our cares and concerns to God and put Him first in our lives, He'll take care of the rest. If we give Him the spot that rightfully belongs to Him, everything else will fall in place.
Be honest with yourself for a moment. It it's not following Jesus, what's your top priority in life right now? How much effort do you expend on chasing after that priority? How much progress have you made?
Now, imagine where you'd be in your relationship with Christ if following Him was your top priority instead. What if you longed for fellowship with God like a drowning person longs for air? Don't settle for silver---go for the gold and be the best Christian you can be!
"Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win."
1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT)
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