Monday Memo

by Steve May

Warren Wiersbe said, “A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned.”

Do you know what the difference is? It’s not the fire, or the heat or the duration. It’s the attitude you bring into it. When you look back on life’s unpleasant events, you can choose to see what you learned from the ordeal, or you can choose to just see it as a bad experience.

In every trial, every problem, every difficult situation, God is seeking to teach us something new, he’s seeking to take us to a higher place. Maybe it’s a chance to exercise a bolder faith, maybe it’s a chance to identify bad behavior that we must abandon, maybe it’s an opportunity to practice perseverance.  The lesson is always there in difficult situations; we can choose to be purified and made holy, or we can just allow ourselves to become burned and bitter.

Daniel wrote, “Many will be purified, cleansed and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.” (Daniel 12:10)

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Godfather. One of my favorite sitcoms from the old days is Barney Miller. The common denominator in these two is Abe Vigoda. Abe Vigoda has been playing an old man longer than he’s actually been one; he was only in his early 50′s when he played the soon-to-retire Sergeant Fish.

In 1982, People Magazine reported that he was dead. In 1987 a news reporter referred to him as “the late Abe Vigoda.” Vigoda took the false reports in stride. It has become a running joke, and Abe often takes part in it on shows such as Conan OBrian and David Letterman. There’s even a website, AbeVigoda.com, that lists his current status as dead or alive.

In spite of the fact that many people think he’s passed on, Abe Vigoda just keeps going. He’s 88 now, and he’s still working.

When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem, there were many who said that Nehemiah was the wrong leader and that his ambitious project was doomed from the start, but Nehemiah kept working.

Paul’s critics misrepresented his doctrine and celebrated his incarceration, and yet Paul kept on preaching, kept on writing letters, kept on serving churches.

From time to time there might be one or two who are ready to pronounce you, or your ideas, or your ministry, dead on arrival. There’s only one way to prove them wrong. Take it in stride. Keep showing up. Keep plugging away. When you get knocked down, get back up. It’s not what anyone says that matters, or even what they think that matters. It only matters what you do.

We need to remember the words of Paul: Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

Former IBM president Thomas Watson once said, “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” As true as these words are in the corporate world, they are even more so for the life of the ministry. Your job makes sense only when your heart is fully engaged. Otherwise you’ll eventually decide that the sacrifices, the long hours, the undeserved criticism, the low-pay, and all the other fringe benefits that come with your calling just aren’t worth it.

How do you put your heart in your work? By remembering that the result of our good work isn’t just a bigger crowd on Sunday or a well-organized church picnic or a well-deserved raise in pay. The result of our good work is changed lives that reap the benefits of eternity.

For this reason we need to remember the words of Paul…

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand.

It only makes sense that he says next …

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2)

There is a close connection to what we think about and what we feel, a close connection to what we think about and what we want. Focus on the eternal results of your work, not the temporary frustrations. This will help you set your heart and your mind on things above.