LIE: I cannot create anything unless I have an ideal plan

Lie: I cannot create anything unless I have an ideal plan.

Truth: Ideal solutions do not exist. We participate in God’s act of new creation when we plant the seeds of words, deeds and of our own lives.

Well over ninety percent of our waking (and sleeping) lives are now lived in interior, engineered environments. The walls, ceilings, floors, windows, car interiors, appliances, furnishings and systems that surround us represent years, decades, centuries even, of designed perfection. But it was not always so.

Being constantly surrounded by this designed perfection obviously has its benefits, but it also has its down-sides. One of those down sides is the feeding of this lie: I cannot create anything unless I have the ideal plan. So let me describe what I’m talking about:

Let’s say you’d like to plant a garden. You’ve seen the lush, verdant gardens on websites and TV shows and read about the benefits of organic foods. So what do you do? First, you go to the public library to check out Gardening for Dummies and read it (or more likely skim it, looking primarily at the professional photography); you go online to find heirloom seeds; you realize you have no shovel, or for that matter, any gardening tools at all except for a Walmart hand trowel; you plot your garden on engineering grid paper and agonize over whether to plant your beans in rows or hills, next to the corn or peppers; you do some more web surfing and discover such topics as soil pH, frost zones, and organic fertilizers. By this time, it’s mid-July and it’s now too late to plant.

What I’m describing has been called the paralysis of analysis. It would have been better to fill a few old pots with some dirt and dropped in some seed.

Now extrapolate that same ‘paralysis of analysis’ to any number of desired initiatives: learning, health, travel, law, construction, art, writing, and you have a powerful force of reversal, of sedentary purpose, of desultory waste. This obviously is one of the marks of our age, especially of the generations that have grown up with the Internet, who walk about, neck bent and fixed on their smart phones. Let’s look closer at this epidemic of ‘laziness,’ but then also look at God’s solution.

So what are the drivers that move this paralysis? There are at least three:

• Virtualization
• Expertology
• Interiorization

1  Virtualization. Look no further than the engineering marvel you have in hand – the smartphone or smart device. Through that window we can see:

• visions of global events: weather systems, ‘news,’ GPS/RPS location data, real-time communications with full audio and video.
• practically any knowledge – historical, technical, practical, medical, and more.
• practically any form of entertainment on TV, the Internet, games, gambling, music.

We have god-like powers to see anything we desire, at anytime. But the engineering perfection of our physical environments are so 1990s! We now have virtual environments or augmented/virtual/real environments in which to project ourselves, increasingly idealized spaces able to confuse our brains as to what is real.

This growing virtualization/idealization makes us reject the ‘dirty’ real world in favor of the unreal. This, perhaps more than any other reason causes us to become dysfunctional – only able to imagine the projects that we would otherwise do.

2  Expertology. The past 200 years’ industrialization has so fragmented the world, so exploded the world of knowledge, that today, we know more and more about less and less. Specialization rules the major domains – finance, healthcare, politics, computers, construction, law, you name it. It’s to the point that the ‘average’ person feels insecure and intimidated by the ‘talking heads’ on TV. Yes, do-it-yourself democratization has mainstreamed (in large part via YouTube) for simpler things: knitting, upholstery, simple interior household projects, but again, is it people actually doing those projects or is it simply people vicariously imagining themselves doing projects: ‘ . . . one day . . someday’

Either way, self-credentialed experts tell us what we should do and how to do it. Then hearing the expert roll on eloquently, facilely about his expertise, we easily get mesmerized by the techno-babble. Our eyes glaze over as we imagine the ideal world we could one day create.

3  Interiorization. We spend ninety percent of our time either inside our homes, other interior spaces or our vehicle. We go from house to garage to heated-seat car, then thirty seconds in the out-of-doors parking lot (parking as close as possible to our destination to minimize our exposure), then into the commercial building. Then it reverses. In covered malls or downtown convention spaces, we may spend days within the hotel-convention complex, all the while constantly being assaulted by slick signage, packaging and marketing.

A recent report from The Washington Times:

About 25 percent of Americans hardly ever venture outside, unaware or unconcerned about breathing only stale indoor air, a report says.

In an age when nearly everything can be found (and delivered) online — including food, entertainment and relationships — it’s hardly surprising to discover an “indoor generation.”

“We are increasingly turning into a generation of indoor people where the only time we get daylight and fresh air midweek is on the commute to work or school,” Peter Foldbjerg, the head of daylight energy and indoor climate at Velux, a window manufacturing company, said in a statement.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, a nine-hour workday is the average for American wage-earners. When they return home on a typical day, 85 percent of women and 67 percent of men spend time doing work around the house.

Leisure time has become synonymous with television viewing, according to the federal data. Many Americans spend nearly three hours a day in front of the tube, and teenagers spend more than half of their leisure time with screens. . . .

For Americans, one-quarter said they spend 21 to 24 hours inside daily, 20 percent said they spend 19 to 20 hours inside and 21 percent say they spend 15 to 18 hours inside. [emphasis added][1]

We’ve made our homes luxuriously comfortable with cushioned, ergonomic furniture, laden with warmth and convenience features. The average home in the US has 2.3 TVs,[2] and “90% of U.S. households contain at least one of these devices (smartphone, desktop/laptop computer, tablet or streaming media device), with the typical (median) American household containing five of them.”[3]

But now why would this prevent us from doing anything practical? Isn’t it obvious? We’ve ensconced ourselves in lush comfort and convenience so that we become soft ourselves. The envelopment of our bodies in comfort effectively binds us to our interior spaces, only leaving us the smallest windows of time to do tedious and necessary tasks outdoors.

How then do we break this cycle? How can we overcome the inertia of our own tedium? We do it by planting and watering seeds; by refusing to believe that it’s all up to us. Our task is actually much simpler than we think – it’s participating with God in what he’s already doing. We must never forget that God does most of the work. Yes, we still work hard, but his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Working from a mind that’s free and joyful is much different than working from a mind conflicted and full of fear, anger or guilt. We simply do what we should do and trust him for the results.

So to break this interiorization-virtualization-expertology doldrums, we must plant seeds in the real world – outside of our comfort zone.

We break the cycle of ‘laziness’:

A  By planting seeds of words

God created the heavens and the earth with his words.

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. — Genesis 1:3

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power . . — Hebrews 1:1–3a

We must not underestimate the power of words infused by the Spirit of God. And we can speak words in his Name that can break curses, cast vision, encourage the distressed, heal the broken, all by simply opening our mouths and uttering those ephemeral little sounds.

Specifically we can speak words:

in prayer – Speak aloud, not to hear yourself, but because prayer is completed by the utterance of words, not by thinking or reverie. Yes, God can and does hear ‘thought prayers,’ but it’s better for our own soul if we speak the words aloud. Speaking in complete, or near-complete, sentences clarifies what would otherwise remain a muddle.

in meditation – ‘bless the Lord, O my soul . . . why are you cast down O my soul’ In meditation we speak to ourselves, and despite what some may say, it is not a sign of mental illness, but may actually help prevent it.

in conversation – it did not take long for Jesus to listen before he understood the deep underlying heart issue of a man or woman. Then he spoke just a few words that changed their lives forever. God can empower us to do the same in his Name.

in blessing – Most fathers and mothers hold great hopes for their children, but few know how to release those thoughts of love into words of blessing. We would do well to recover this ancient practice. Too often our children starve for words of affirmation and love spoken directly to them, too often most of what they hear are critical or even hurtful words. God will use the healing and forgiveness and understanding that will flow from it.

in song – ‘speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs . . . ’ When words are put to song, they transcend the mind and go directly to the soul, engaging our whole being. Truly God gave us a beautiful gift when he gave us the music of song.

in prophecy – Prophecies are words spoken for ‘edification, exhortation and comfort’ (I Corinthians 14:3). It is inspired speech that may or may not begin with the words, ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ It may happen as we converse or bless or pray or sing and sometimes we don’t even know it’s happening. It may be planned or unplanned; it may or may not have a future/predictive element, but will always be enlightening. However it happens it’s a beautiful expression of God’s voice.

in teaching – Teaching brings understanding – those unexpected ‘a-ha’ moments when our confusion suddenly dissipates and we see something we haven’t seen before. And it’s not just to understand, but to be free to do his will with a free and generous heart.

in writing – We use words not only verbally, but compose them in writing, which takes many forms: letter, article, poem, song, blog post, book, etc. In writing we can express things that transcend time and space. When King David composed what we now know as Psalm Twenty-Three, he probably never could have imagined its impact. But in doing so he captured a truth about our God that has spoken deeply across time, culture and language.

B  By planting seeds of deeds

You say, ‘Ah, but words are cheap,’ and yes they can be if they are disingenuous or manipulative or empty or self-serving. That’s why the writer of Ecclesiastes said:

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words. — Ecclesiastes 5:1–3

Glibness is vanity; it will not be by our many words that we will manage our lives or the lives of others. If someone is ‘all talk,’ and though they may ‘talk a good game,’ and are charming and articulate and apparently sincere, but lack the deeds, the lifestyle to back up those words, it’s all vanity.

But words, though they may be few, accompanied by caring deeds, form a powerful life.

These two things characterized the life of Jesus – he taught and he served.

As we follow Christ then, let us not ‘love in word only, but in deed and in truth’ (I John 3:18).

We love then:

by giving – ‘For God so loved that he gave . . .’ We can give in many ways, yet, financially/materially, but also of our time and talents. Feeling compassion for the man, woman or child who is in front of us.

by serving –  ‘The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.’  In serving we give of our time and talents and ultimately of ourselves.

Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. — I Thessalonians 2:6–8 [Emphasis mine]

True serving is often unseen and unappreciated, dirty, misunderstood, unscheduled, unrewarded, unreciprocated, unaccounted for. Consequently, many end up not serving. The only way to sustain a serving lifestyle is to recognize that it is the Lord who sees who will not fail to reward you.

And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. — Matthew 10:42

by healing –  Jesus spent much of his ministry healing hurting people because so many people presented with this need. Jesus discerned the source of many of those people’s illnesses as demonic, and the only way to heal them was to banish the demons that had somehow infected them.

Jesus commissions us to heal by the only name that is Lord over every named illness or demon. We listen to the hurting and in his name – as his representatives – touch them with his compassion. God enables some to do this more effectively, even miraculously, by spiritual gifts of healings (I Corinthians 12).

by hospitality – The deed of hospitality means to kindly and joyfully care for the stranger, often in our own home. It means welcoming, feeding, boarding the traveler, the foreigner, the migrant, the weak and the vulnerable – the one who has no way to pay you – at our own expense.

Do we become vulnerable in the process? Yes we do, and therefore we must depend all the more on the Lord as our Protector and Provider.

C  By planting the seed of our own life and death

When our lives carry an integrity, when both our words and deeds agree on the Lordship of Christ, when our lives overcome the relentless fragmenting forces of society and truly demonstrate the wholeness possible only in Christ, then and only then, will our example touch others. Then those around us will witness the truth and be drawn into the fellowship of Christ Jesus the Lord. So it is:

by example – In the final analysis, it’s the totality of our lives that speak the most loudly. As we move about, in whatever we’re doing, we carry his presence and his Spirit with us.

by our availability – Our life is not our own; we do not belong to ourselves. The truth is we belong to our God and he is Lord over us. Perhaps the simplest expression of this is to be simply available to our loved ones and also to complete strangers. To illustrate the extent to which we are called to be available, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan:

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” — Luke 10:25–37

So no matter the cultural differences, no matter the inconvenience, if we come face to face with our fellow human being in need, we must stop to discern what, if anything, we should do. We cannot presume to dismiss it out of hand or ‘pass by on the other side.’ We should actually presume that there likely will be something for us to do. But don’t take this as a hard and fast rule; yes, times will come when we cannot and even should not do anything. But it’s really about the heart and the desire to show compassion and the love of God. We will be presented with many needs, small and large.

by our faithfulness – At times all of us wonder whether a loved one will leave us or somehow reject us. This is perhaps the greatest dread that we can have. We all long to be loved faithfully over the long haul. We want to grow old with our wife or our husband, our son or our daughter, our father or our mother, or our friends in Christ.

Most of us have felt the betrayal of church splits or people leaving the church or our community. It’s perhaps the most emotionally draining event in the life of a church body. Sometimes we may have good reason to leave or to separate, but the fact remains that separations require good and valid reasons; otherwise, we become unfaithful.

Now back to the original lie: I cannot create anything unless I have an ideal plan.

In God’s economy, it’s the relatively small things – the seeds of words integrated with deeds, the apparently insignificant things – that show whether we’re really trusting in God’s work. We have too much imbibed the lie that we are either too capable or incapable, that the task is too hard or that we need to be too perfect; that too many obstacles lie in the way. But in doing that we forget that no obstacle could block God. He is not unaware of them; he simply and effortlessly transcends them. And when we join with him, planting our seeds, God’s work gets done.

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. — I Corinthians 3:5–7

Only the Master Gardener can plan, orchestrate and call each of us to participate together – to plant, to water, to weed, to harvest – in his masterful plan.

See also: Lie: I can never do enough.

See also the introduction to this section: Lies attacking the good life.

[1] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/15/quarter-americans-spend-all-day-inside/

[2] https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30132#

[3] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/25/a-third-of-americans-live-in-a-household-with-three-or-more-smartphones/