Performance Based Faith

 

In our society, today there is a great deal of momentum around the concept of performance based evaluations. On the job, incentive pay rewards the employee for increasing their productivity. In education, some states reward teachers with "merit pay" based on the performance of their students on state mandated assessments. In our homes parents reward their sons and daughters for completing chores, making exceptional grades, and at times the reward is just a recognition of the child's positive behavior. The idea here is the harder I work, the more I do, the more I can potentially be rewarded for my efforts. This mentality may have benefits in the right arena, but when we start transferring this mentality to our walk of faith it starts turning sideways.

I'm not sure if Performance Based Faith is a real term or not, yet surprisingly when I Googled the phrase Performance Based Faith a plethora of options filtered through on my screen. So I started prowling around the different articles and sure enough the notion of improving one's position with God is in many people's minds a reflection of how much time is spent on "doing" things for God. The more time I spend at my church serving on committees the more relational equity I am acquiring with God. Or the more I go out and give of my time in the community, the better the investment will provide a positive yield with God. The more I do good, the more I give above my tenth, and the more I stretch myself thin doing, and doing, and doing obviously result in a positive response from our Creator, right?

Well.... let me just say, if we are walking with God, if we truly have a relationship with God, then absolutely we are called to serve in all of the areas listed above. We are called to serve, but the issue at hand isn't the service we provide, it is more about the intention behind the service that can get us out of line with our true faith and trust in God. "For we walk by faith not by sight" II Corinthians 5:7 is the battle cry that Paul, a true servant of God, proclaimed as he mentored the church in Corinth. We are to serve for sure, but at the end of the day if that service is solely an effort to display our faith to man or even to God then it is highly possible we may be missing the target. 

We serve God because of our faith, not the reverse. We trust in God so we are able to place our trust in Him and we understand that it is God who is in us that allows us to serve others. God in us allows us to do what we do and for that we need to give credit where credit is due. My service to God has nothing to do with me accomplishing anything. Instead, the service I provide to others is a direct result of what God has done for me and in me and what He is now allowing me to do for Him. In other words, my performance isn't mine, it is more of God working in me and through me allowing me to carry out the purpose for which I was created. What I do is directly correlated to what God has chosen to do in me and through me. 

What then are we charged with doing in our walk of faith you ask? "Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up" James 4:10. Don't get caught up in the "Look what I've done" mentality that can easily ensnare us as we begin a walk with God. It isn't about what we do, but it is all about what God can and will do through us if we allow Him to and humbly thank God for allowing us to be His chosen vessel. "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world" I John 4:4 comes to mind here. Without God receiving all the glory, it starts to become more about me and what I have accomplished for God, when in reality it is all about God and what He has chosen to do in this His willing vessel. Without God I am like an empty, clay jar sitting on the shelf, worthless. Once I allow God to fill me and pour me out as His Holy Spirit guides, then I can truly serve God. As that service ends and I move to the next step in my walk of faith I am constantly giving all the credit to God and basking in the knowledge that I was found worthy to be used! 

Thank you, God, for choosing us to do your work here on earth! We can do nothing without you, but with you all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26). As we live, love, work, and grow in you, may our prayer be that our performance is not an effort to "show" our faith, but instead may our faith in you be a direct driving force behind all we do for you and you do through us! Amen

Your Servant, 

Coach Carter 

Would, Could, Should

 

Today's Flat Tire Thought is for me. Call it my personal testimony I suppose, or just my acknowledgement of the fact that there is a God, He rules all things, and His Son died on a cross for me. I know that God reigns supreme and I know that He gives me each morning that I rise and each day that I live. I know that I don't deserve the love God has shown to me and shows me each day, but He loves me in spite of me. The bottom line is this, through all of my failures, my long list of shortcomings, promises broken, and gifts unappreciated God still loves me. Nobody would love me, nobody could love me, nobody should love me like God does, but He does. 

When I think of all the broken promises that I have made, all the times that I have said "Lord if you will just take care of this problem or that situation I'll be your man." only to move on with life after God has intervened and carried me through the adversity of that moment. So many times I have prayed and made promises to Him, but then as the days unfold, those promises are not kept and I have to keep coming back asking for forgiveness and mercy that I certainly do not deserve. Who would love a person like that? A person that continuously asks for answers and solutions, but then when asked to just love others in that same manner, turns around and expects something in return for that kind of love? Who would love me like that? God does. 

Nobody could love me like God does. Look at the world we live in today, the divorce rate is basically every other marriage fails. Why is that? Broken trust, failed promises, lost love, or broken dreams, all top the list of reasons why, so if a man and a woman can fall out of love and are able to get a divorce so easily when the going gets a little tough, then how could I imagine that God could love me when I break my promise to him many times before I even walk out of the door of my house?  I say I love God, but do I show Him that I love Him through my interactions with those I encounter throughout each day? Do I even show God that I love Him with my words and even more so with my actions? I cannot imagine how God could love me when He looks at me each day and sees the worst of me as I take another day that He has given me to live and not do all I could do to serve Him with that gift. How could anyone love me with so many shortcomings and failures? God could and He does. 

Should God love me like He does? When I turn my back on God and do want I want to do instead of what I know I should do, should God so easily forgive me and call me His own? Should God love me when I see the needs of others and then tend to my own personal needs first and then give what's left over to those in need? Should God forgive my sins, the very sins that I just asked forgiveness for yesterday? Should the God that gave His only Son to die for my sins love me when I go back on my word and go about my life like He doesn't know what I am doing? God shouldn't love me, because I am not worthy of His love, but guess what, God still loves me. 

Nobody would, nobody could, and nobody should love me like God does, but He does. Not only does God love me like that, God loves each of us just like that. God knows our failures, He knows our thoughts, and He knows what our intentions are way before we carry them out in our actions. He forgives us, He asks for nothing in return, and He walks beside us through the storms of life even if we steer our boats right into the path of the winds and torrents of the sea. Nobody would, could, or should, but God does. It is that simple, I am not alone, my God is with me and He loves me in spite of myself. He loves you too. I won't try to go it alone, God loves me like no one would, in a way that no one could, and at a time when probably no one should! Thank you God for loving me and thank you for loving all of us the way you do!

“O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His mercy endures forever!” Psalm 118:29

 Coach Carter

Contentment or Comparison

I recently listened to a series by Pastors Chip and Ryan Ingram on the topic of relational intelligence in which one of the sermons was on the idea of "being happy". The premise of the message was that the mindset of "happiness" or contentment doesn't come with the completion of a checklist of goals or items attained, but more from a sense of a life well lived. I'd like to spend just a few minutes today discussing how to be "happy" and how to get to that place of contentment. 

If you ask most parents they will tell you that what they want most in life for their children is for them to be happy. Happy at Christmas, happy on their birthday, happy, happy every day of their lives. Nothing wrong with that at all, I pray regularly for my children's health and happiness in life. If you surveyed a group of adults and asked the same about their life goals, being happy would probably rank at the top of the list. There again nothing out of line there. The trouble with this whole idea of "being happy" is what we perceive as the route to reach that happiness and the components of what we believe will actually "make" us happy. The title of today's FTM is "Contentment or Comparison" because in our society today we are fixated on evaluating our level of happiness in relationship to the lives of others we know or see on television, social media, or any of a numerous other marketing platforms we are bombarded with each day. The question you must ask yourself at the end of the day is this; am I happy because of what I have or am I happy because I have what I need? 

If what you have or want to have is what is going to make you happy, please be forewarned, you will never be happy. There is always going to be the next thing, the newer model, the better choice that you will always be seeking. Is it alright to want better for your family and self? Yes, but if your happiness is dependent on having or attaining then that is where the alignment gets out of whack. The American Dream as it has been termed is to have a family, a home, a secure career, and all the amenities that you want to make life easier and more comfortable. That is what will make you happy right? If that is the case why is the divorce rate almost 50% in our country? If having a home, a car, a boat, a supersized smart TV, or whatever it is that you are pursuing will make you happy, why is it that home foreclosures, loan defaults, and broken down "toys" are a constant and familiar spectacle? I don't believe it is the "thing" that we believe will make us happy, no it is actually the attainment level of getting and being like our neighbor that we believe will make us "happy". Unfortunately, that route to happiness just won't work and any degree of "happiness" you might feel if you are caught up in comparing your life to the life of others you see in life will be fleeting at best and will always be coupled with the next euphoric goal to attain as your driving force towards "happiness".

The Apostle Paul speaks about being happy in Philippians 4:11-12 as he explains, "... I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Paul was happy with his life. Could he have been more comfortable with a better, faster mule and a bigger, better tent? Of course. Would Paul all of a sudden have been happier if he received those gifts? Based on his proclamation above I just don't think that would have mattered in his pursuit of "happiness". I believe Paul is telling us that regardless of what you have or what you don't have, you must be able to be content in that current state of being. This is the true pathway to being happy and being content in life.

Man is driven to compete, I am a competitive person that's why I have coached over 30 years of my adult life. In our drive to compete we often get caught up in comparing ourselves to others. We actually begin to covet what they have and begin to dwell on how we can get what they have so that we can be more content in what we have. That is a cycle that only goes around in a circle. Once your life gets stuck on that track you will never reach contentment, only the need to get the next newest model or the bigger, better version of the one you have now. That is not the recipe for happiness and actually will only lead to emptiness and an unfulfilled life. But there is a path to happiness that is readily available and easily attained. 

If I'm hungry I can choose to complain about my current status, or I can reflect on the fact that as a country we throw away more food daily than most countries touch in a week or month or even a year. If I am unhappy because my neighbor just bought a brand new forty something foot tricked out RV and I only have a thirty-five foot tricked out later model RV then I only have to stop and think about how fortunate I am to even have a home with a real roof, windows, and doors on it, and that I have cool air in the summer and I have warm heat in the winter to keep my family warm and then all of a sudden what model of RV I have moves out of my mind and the thankfulness for the more basic things I do have takes center stage in my mind. Hamburger or filet? Ford or Ferrari? You can't buy happiness, you have to be content in what and where you are right now in life before you can ever be happy in life with all the bells and whistles attached. 

Today, check yourself, are you in search of the next thing on your list that is going to "make you happy"? Do you think frequently that if you could just get that new job, new house, new husband, or new wife you would instantly be happy? Well that won't happen, the only route to try contentment in this world is to be content with the world you are living in at this current moment. A life well lived will tell you that it isn't the things in your life that make you happy, it is the memories that are made spending quality time with family, friends, and our Creator in Heaven. Be content with who you are and where you are right now today and then you can be content and happy wherever you may be and whatever you find yourself doing in this life you have been given to live!

Be Happy!

Coach Carter

Self-Check: Moving Forward or Laying Down

 

This week's FTM is going to basically be a self-evaluation of sorts. I had a revelation this week that every now and then we need to stop and do a little internal check just to make sure we are moving, and that our moves are moving us in the right direction.

If there were an imaginary line graph with "Moving Forward" posted on one end of the spectrum and "Laying Down" on the other end of the line where would you say you are relative to any or all of the following areas of life: work, marriage, family, and faith? I guess before you could chart that on our graph you'd need an idea of what the markers are and the varying divisions along the spectrum of the graph. Wait no longer here are the points I have created. 

Moving Forward- "Life is good." I may get knocked down, but I definitely am getting back up again. I understand that life is filled with adversities, yet I also realize that what doesn't kill me only makes me smarter and stronger. I take adversity and use it to make me a better, more patient, emphatic, and wiser person. Then I use my experiences to help others with their own issues and concerns because that is what this life I have been given is supposed to be about, helping others more than pleasing myself. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Standing Still - "Life is good, I guess." My marriage, my job, my faith in God, and my walk with Him are all in place and I'm living out each day the way I should be living it. I'm doing everything right that I am supposed to be doing aren't I? Problems come and I deal with them, but it really isn't fair that when I do everything I'm supposed to be doing, it seems like I still end up getting the short end of the stick and those that don't try seem to end up doing better than I'm coming out of this thing. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

 

Sitting Down - "My life is so messed up." Things going on in my marriage, on the job, day in and day out, and at my church are just wearing me out. I need a break, I'm the only one that does anything around here, and I believe if everyone would just pick it up a bit, my life would probably be a little better and a whole lot easier for sure! Why is it that I am the only one around here that seems to be doing anything about anything? Life just isn't fair, I am tired. "Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them." Isaiah 30:20

 

Laying Down - "You know what, I quit!" It really doesn't matter what I do anymore, things are going to be just what they are going to be. Nobody cares anyway. It really wouldn't matter if I was here or if I suddenly wasn't. When I get up; if I do get up today, what is going to be different from yesterday? Nothing, my guess. Life sucks and mine is like a Roomba Plus. "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." II Corinthians 4:8-10

 Of course, as is with any graph your "life measure" could be anywhere on the spectrum and more than likely falls somewhere between one point or the next. The question for you now is did you really self-reflect? Did you really stop and think about am I moving forward with this life God gave me to live, or do I think I'm moving because I'm going through the motions each day? I get up, kiss the kids good-bye, tell my husband/wife that I'll see them later, then off to work or school I go, and there I do my job, I get things done, leave work, run crazy getting things done on my list, all before I come home eat dinner, watch some TV, spend some time on social media, take a shower, and head to bed. Then I get up and do it all over again, waiting on the weekend to get here not a moment too soon! Guess what that's not moving forward, that is getting grabbed by the current and washed downstream headed for the falls. 

The thing to consider as you move down the line away from really moving forward to the laying down side of things is that life becomes more about "me" and how "my" life is being impacted negatively by all the things going on in "my" life. Notice the emphasis on "me"? You see the more you place the emphasis of how life is treating you only the more the ups and downs of this life cause you to feel like somebody is out to get "me" and "my" life isn't what I deserve. 

For those that can truly reflect and find themselves on the moving forward end of things life's experiences are happening just like they are for those on the other end of the spectrum, but the difference is you look at everything that is happening in your life and you realize that at the end of the day you have a pretty good life, as convoluted as it may be, and if you stay the course, if you give your matters to an omnipotent God, He will work them out just as they should and literally, not necessarily for "my" benefit, but always for those I live with, work with, and love!

Trust me you can't just see where you are, you have to stop and take a minute to do an inventory of your mindset, your approach, your goings in and your goings out, your perspective, and to a great deal your ability to see how what is going on in your life, is not near as important as what is happening in your life due to the things that are going on around you and your world. I've said it numerous times, but it is well worth stating over and over again, your life isn't about you, it is all about how God can use you to impact as many lives as He wants you to impact today and every day going forward.
"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24

 Take a minute, heck take 30 minutes, and sit down, breathe in, and hold it. Exhale. Now reflect on your life using the scale above. If you like where you are great, if not then may I pray for you, that you will make the necessary moves to get to where you need to be. I pray that if you don't feel like you can do this on your own you are most certainly correct you can't, but you understand that God can. I pray that as you place yourself on that line graph, you will gravitate towards the "Moving Forward" and that your light will so shine that others will be impacted just by your mere presence in the room! Amen

Coach Carter