God does not have a plan for your life

I recently wrote this article for Christian Standard magazine, and I’m already getting lots of feedback on both sides of the issue. Click the link below to read the entire article on the CS site.

“God’s plan for your life isn’t a map you see all at once, but a scroll unrolled a little at a time, requiring faith,” Rick Warren recently tweeted.

“God will accelerate his plan for your life as you put your trust in him. God is giving you victory sooner than you think,” says Joel Osteen.

Less prominent Christians champion the theology as well. In responding to a new believer’s question about his career, a contributor to Bible-Knowledge.com writes, “God will now be the one to fully guide you into whatever jobs he will want you to have. . . . The choice is no longer yours! In the meantime, God will make sure you have enough money and support coming in to keep you afloat until this next job comes through.”

It is comforting to believe God has mapped out our future. It is exciting to think he’s bringing me victory. And I would love for God to make sure I have enough money while I passively wait for it to happen.

But unlike pastors Warren and Osteen, Mr. Bible-Knowledge, and many Christians I know, I don’t believe God has created a plan for my life—or for yours.


Problems with “The Plan”
–We take verses out of context

Jeremiah 29:11 is a cherished verse, frequently used for encouragement in graduation cards, post-breakup pep talks and, yes, job searches. (Well-meaning believers have recited it to me in all three contexts.) Along with The Bachelorette and people who refuse to vaccinate their children, its yanked-out-of-context use is one of the biggest pet peeves of my life.

Somehow we forget the grim reality surrounding this verse: amidst oracles of doom and judgment against Judah, Jeremiah says these words to comfort the people (as a group) with promises of eventual restoration and return from exile.

This is a bit different from claiming it as a guarantee of a fulfilling job, wonderful spouse, or ministry “call.”

Click here to read more, including why I find this theology harmful, why it lets American Christians feel special, and and what I do believe about God’s plan.

on the block

OOOOOOH the irony.

My friend Jeff recently invited me to contribute to a synchroblog (a bunch of people blogging on the same topic) about how to break through creative blocks. And I couldn’t think of a thing to write.

Experiencing writer’s block while working on a post about writer’s block is thirteen kinds of ridiculous, but I know why it’s happening; when I scrolled through the list of Christian “names” who had already written, I was intimidated to submit my little post into the fray. Suddenly it seemed necessary to not only contribute something to the discussion, but to do so with wit AND originality AND humor AND insight AND spiritual depth.

A tall order. Before working on this I’d been sitting in my hotel room in Mobile, Alabama eating peanut butter cookies. That seemed much easier than trying to compete with these other voices.


And that, of course, is the reason I’m stuck. When I write to compete instead of contribute, readers never get my best work. When I try to impress people, I miss the chance to impact them.

“If you want to write, you can,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes. “You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.”

That circle may be thousands of blog readers or a handful of Twitter followers. Resist the temptation to compare circle sizes; instead, consider what yours needs. What concerns them? Enrages them? Confuses them? What are they talking about, struggling with, laughing at? What stories are they living?

The usual suspects will always collaborate to block our creativity, whether it’s writing a blog post, a church enewsletter, or a book. But I’m learning (thanks, Jeff!) that one of the best ways for me to spark a new thought is to stop managing my “image” and start serving my readers. Considering my community is not only easier than trying to be the next super-blogger, it’s also a lot more fun.


What circles of influence do you have? What do those communities need from you this week?

a list for friday–songs I’m embarrassed to admit I like

“The Only One ” — Lionel Richie

Most of Glee, Season 1

“Papa Don’t Preach” — Madonna (and, um, the Glee version of it)

“Morning Train” — Sheena Easton

“Mmmmbop” — Hanson




Almost anything by Rascal Flatts

“Raise Your Glass” — Pink

“Weekend in New England” — Barry Manilow

“Karma Chameleon” — Boy George

“I Want It That Way” — Backstreet Boys

“This is the Night” — Clay Aiken

“Hey Santa” — Wilson Phillips  (I know…….)

That Beyonce one


What song are you embarrassed to like?

80/20

This weekend I told my family I spend 90% of my time doing things I don’t want to do.

(On further consideration I revised my estimate to a more generous 80%.)

So: about 80% of my life is comprised of housework, laundry, grocery shopping, preparing meals, packing, unpacking, exercising, filing, paying bills, balancing my checkbook, cranking out copy, staying on top of emails, sitting in airports, researching, attending meetings, managing websites, mowing my yard, running errands, and meeting other assorted deadlines.

That leaves 20% for what I want to do: work on writing projects I care about (like this blog), read good books, watch good movies, work in my garden and my flowerbeds, start projects in my house I may not finish, travel for fun, and spend time with people I care about.


Perhaps this is just another sign I try to do too much. I really like being a freelancer but it’s demoralizing to start the day knowing it’s not possible to finish everything. I’d probably categorize more of my paid work as “things I want to do” if I wasn’t constantly fighting the clock to fit it all in.

Or perhaps this is just what it means to be an adult. Am I thinking about this incorrectly? Is it wrong to want a 60/40 split?

What percentage of your time do you spend doing things you really don’t want to do?

a list for friday–unexplainable keywords people have used to find my blog

David Beckham’s feet

was Jennifer Taylor ever on Seinfeld?  

undercover boss Amway

wallpaper dancing Macarena

Pirates of the Caribbean eye makeup

people worshiping eggs

pictures of pancreatitis

I wasted my twenties on the wrong man

warning nude beach

write down the number of people are involved in the whole process of getting a loaf of bread

Дэвид Бэкхем  (There are a LOT of Beckham fans out there.)

what you win them with…..

……is what you win them to.


Church tries pina coladas and kabobs to lure new members

Ocoee’s Elevation Christian Church is attempting to attract the unchurched by giving its Sunday services in June a Jamaican flavor with island music, food, grass skirts and Hawiian shirts.

“YaMakingMePraise” Sundays start with the 11 a.m. service June 5 at the church at 485 W. Silver Star Road, Ocoee.

Elevation Christian Church Pastor Gabriel Padilla said he’s trying something diffferent to appeal to those who don’t normally attend church or think that worship services must be boring.

“The scenery is set, the atmosphere is real, come join us at Elevation Christian Church where the Piña Coladas are cold and the kabobs are on the grill,” says the church flier. “Make sure to wear your Hawaiian and Tropical outfits to make an impression, having you with us will be our pleasure. Don’t eat a big breakfast leave room for our delicious Piña Coladas and Kabobs!”




Three Thoughts:

1. This weekend a friend and I were talking about marriage and how the church needs to better equip couples to make this commitment. Even young couples raised in the church don’t always understand their loving feelings will fade or that serving each other can revive them and the importance of gutting it out in the meantime.

Similarly, we do people a disservice by implying Christianity is about being entertained. Our feelings for the covenant we’ve made with God will also fade, and we are called to serve him anyway, and it’s not about how fun it is.

I’m not trying to be depressing. We really really want people to get married and we really really want them to become Christians because we believe both are really really good. But part of the reason they’re good is they require sacrifice and growth and effort. Some more truth in advertising would be helpful.

2. Either the brochure writers at Elevation or this blogger or both need an editor. Spelling, grammar—good grief. Elevation, spend a little less on pineapple and a little more on proofreading next time.

3. “YaMakingMePraise” is just stupid.

a list for friday—subjects I never want to hear anything else about

this hat

the 2012 presidential election (sigh)

your cell phone plan

Arnold Schwarzenegger

what anyone “really has a passion for”

how much you love Target

how much better _____ is than Starbucks

 

Facebook privacy settings

the details of any church building project or capital campaign

Viagra

how much better Saturday Night Live used to be

prayer in schools

Obama’s birth certificate

your crazy night at the bar

Harold Camping


What are you tired of hearing about?

gray matters

I’m still catching up from my trip, so last week I finally read the Time magazine from May 9 with a cover story about the FBI’s progress (or lack of) in the last ten years. In addition to an overview of director Mueller’s operating style, the agency’s old-school culture, and the ways its agents are learning to work together, the article describes Mueller’s almost-resignation in 2004.

“At issue was a highly classified surveillance program, called Stellar Wind, that President Bush approved after 9/11. For the first time since Congress forbade the practice in 1978, the National Security Agency was spying on domestic communications traffic without a warrant. In the second week of March 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Justice Department ruled that Stellar Wind was illegal. The next day, Ashcroft fell gravely ill with acute pancreatitis. Bush sent two top aides to George Washington University Hospital, where the Attorney General lay in critical condition. White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and chief of staff Andrew Card Jr. asked the semiconscious Ashcroft to sign a document reversing the Justice Department’s ruling. Mueller arrived at the hospital just after Card and Gonzales retreated in defeat. His notes described Ashcroft as ‘feeble, barely articulate.’”

Bush then reauthorized Stellar Wind despite the Justice Department’s decision, and Mueller tells the president he will quit before carrying out this order. “Bush pulled back from the brink,” the story ends, “submitting to the Justice Department’s legal ruling.”


This anecdote wasn’t the point of the article; it was included as a comment on Mueller’s character, not the former president’s lack of it. But it left me wondering: why do we ignore the bad things our favorite political party does and trumpet the errors of the other party?

Many of my Facebook friends lean Republican, so I routinely see rants against Obama. Even this weekend there were angry comments because he golfed on Memorial Day after visiting Arlington, as if everyone else in the country spent the entire day leaving flowers on graves instead of grilling hamburgers and watching people in Indianapolis drive too fast.

I see unquestioning approval of Dubya. I see adoration of Palin and her book. Never, ever have any of my conservative friends ever commented on anything positive or helpful Obama has done.

I’m not the president’s PR committee, but I think it’s telling. If Obama’s administration tried to illegally spy on American citizens, trick a sick public official into reversing a ruling on the constitutionality of it and then ignore his decision, that’s all I’d read on Facebook for a week (and rightly so). Strangely, none of my friends have linked to the May 9 issue of Time.


Both presidents have major faults. They’ve both made decisions to disagree with. What I don’t understand is why we can’t be honest about that.

Bush banned partial-birth abortion, signed legislation to protect our forests and lakes, and changed the Medicare program to benefit seniors. He also lied about weapons of mass destruction, mishandled Hurricane Katrina and doubled the national debt. Obama has continued raising the deficit, he gambled considerable political capital and time on the health care reform issue, and he’s undercut Israel’s position with Palestine more than once. He also got us out of Iraq, expanded laws against hate crimes, and made a gutsy call that led to bin Laden’s capture.

Black and white positions are always more comfortable because they are both easy to understand and efficient to argue. (“The Bible says it, I believe it, and that’s that.”) Trouble is, the black and white perspective is almost always incomplete. Few issues are clear-cut. Few arguments can be blamed on just one participant. And few politicians are all bad or all good.


I’m sorry to my fundamentalist friends, religious, political or otherwise. I’m sorry to everyone who scores an off-the-chart “J” on the Myers Briggs. I’m sorry to those impatient with nuance. I’m sorry to both the reds and the blues who don’t want to think. But it is intellectually dishonest and just plain lazy to vilify one party and venerate the other.