The Bottom Line
I find myself rehashing my motivation to be here quite often, usually in the face of small everyday inconveniences, but sometimes when I'm wondering if my kids' long-term health will be affected, or wanting them to know their grandparents instead of just pictures of them. I don't want to overstate the sacrifices we make to be here, but they are real, as are the sacrifices of kingdom work everywhere. Engaging for the most basic, deeply true reasons will not only allow me to live healthily, avoid bitterness, and lead my kids in living joyfully, but also push me to engage fully in the work the Father has before me instead of just trying to minimize the discomfort of life.
You eat because you are hungry, because food is tasty, to have energy, to stay alive. All these things are good reasons to eat; all are true. And yet the closer your motivations are to the most basic purposes of eating, the better the outcome of your eating will be. So, what is the most basic motivation behind kingdom work?
I've been loving Corinthians this year, and recently found myself fixated on the first book, chapter 9, where a worker is describing his motivation. First he makes the case that it would be fitting, if he chose, to earn a living by his work - but he doesn't. There is a more basic motivation driving him.
Twice in a row near the end of the chapter he develops his reasoning. He makes himself a slave to all men, becoming all things to all men, so that he can win more. This is a key motivation - the rightful reward of the work is in seeing lives changed and prisoners freed!
But there is even a deeper, more basic motivation in play. He goes on to say that he does all these things for the sake of the wonderful story itself, so that he can be a partaker in it. He trains like he wants not just to get on the field, but to win the game. Why? So that, after doing the work of preparing others, he himself won't be disqualified.
That's it in a nutshell. Just to be a partaker in the story I am telling; not to be disqualified and miss out. It's not fear; it's desire. It's the kind of story you can never be content just to tell; you have to live it. It is not the story of mediocrity or of getting by. It is the story of life from death, of beauty from decay, told by those who have seen both sides. If I don't live it, I deny its truth. The story calls me, and drives me - back to the One who is able to make me qualified, the One of whom the Son said that to do his work is food and drink, the fuel of the abundant life.
You eat because you are hungry, because food is tasty, to have energy, to stay alive. All these things are good reasons to eat; all are true. And yet the closer your motivations are to the most basic purposes of eating, the better the outcome of your eating will be. So, what is the most basic motivation behind kingdom work?
I've been loving Corinthians this year, and recently found myself fixated on the first book, chapter 9, where a worker is describing his motivation. First he makes the case that it would be fitting, if he chose, to earn a living by his work - but he doesn't. There is a more basic motivation driving him.
Twice in a row near the end of the chapter he develops his reasoning. He makes himself a slave to all men, becoming all things to all men, so that he can win more. This is a key motivation - the rightful reward of the work is in seeing lives changed and prisoners freed! But there is even a deeper, more basic motivation in play. He goes on to say that he does all these things for the sake of the wonderful story itself, so that he can be a partaker in it. He trains like he wants not just to get on the field, but to win the game. Why? So that, after doing the work of preparing others, he himself won't be disqualified.
That's it in a nutshell. Just to be a partaker in the story I am telling; not to be disqualified and miss out. It's not fear; it's desire. It's the kind of story you can never be content just to tell; you have to live it. It is not the story of mediocrity or of getting by. It is the story of life from death, of beauty from decay, told by those who have seen both sides. If I don't live it, I deny its truth. The story calls me, and drives me - back to the One who is able to make me qualified, the One of whom the Son said that to do his work is food and drink, the fuel of the abundant life.
Interesting. I'm still thinking about the idea that the most basic motivations lead to the best outcomes, if that's a fair restatement. I'm not sure that's been my experience. It seems that higher, more abstracted motivations can lead to better outcomes while encompassing the basic outcomes too: eating for pleasure sustains life, and much more. With that said, I won't argue with your motivation of partaking in the story. Perhaps that IS the higher motivation, the one rooted in joy rather than survival.
ReplyDeleteHey, Bro, I really liked your comment. I guess I was thinking of eating only for pleasure without knowledge of the more basic reasons, e.g. I remember being pregnant and really craving Cheez-its, and having to train myself to recognize that it was not a "true" craving for something my body needed. In that vein, I was wanting to compare laboring because it is the only life I really think is worth living with working for results or recognition. But I see your point, and it's interesting to think about... By basic, I think I mean the thing that you can't go on without, and that in the absence of everything else still makes the endeavor a success.
ReplyDelete