You Are More Than What You Do

// June 30th, 2009 // Family Life

tiredI’m on vacation.  It’s odd to me that we don’t ever realize how much we needed something until we have it (or lose it).  Having nothing to do but rest and play for a week, I’m realizing that one of the things that rest (sabbath) does is it keeps our work in perspective.

Let me explain.  I’m a pastor.  It’s who I am, but it’s also what I do.  This also means that there isn’t a clear line drawn between what I do, who I am, and my relationship with God.  They are all happening at the same time, most of the time.  That’s a great blessing, but it can also get a little weird at times.

It becomes easy to begin thinking that what I do (and how well I do it), and my relationship with God are the same.  That’s not good.  My approval rating with God begins to rise and fall based on how well I preached, counseled, or led this week.

But, I’m sitting here looking at the beach and not doing any ministry outside of loving my family.  And you know what?  I think that Jesus loves me the same.

I think one of the reasons that God ordained the need for rest from the moment of creation is, in part, to remind us that we are more than what we do. We are objects of mercy.  Objects of His relentless love.

When we forget that, we forget ourselves.

One Response so far to “You Are More Than What You Do”. Gravatars are enabled.

  1. Greg in Mexico says:
    July 22, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    If I may quote from one of my favorite movies: "You are not your *freaking* khakis." (slightly edited heehee)

    In my book of the moment, "Tribes," Seth Godin talks abt being on vacation in Jamaica and early one morning he was in the hotel lobby on his laptop letting his family sleep in when some other tourists walked in and commented to one another, "Isn't that sad! That guy comes here on vacation and he's stuck checking his email. He can't even enjoy his two weeks off." Seth writes:

    I think the real question – the one they probably wouldn't want to answer – was "Isn't it sad that we have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do fifty weeks a year?" It took me a long time to figure out why I was so happy to be checking my email there. It had to do with passion. Other than sleeping, there was nothing I'd rather have been doing in that moment – because I'm lucky enough to have a job where I get to make change happen. <end quote>

    I like his perspective – and add that we need rest even from our passions.

    Reply

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