Flat spaces
collect objects quickly, far more quickly than the time it takes to removes
those same objects. My desk is an example. Multiple piles hide the glass top.
Every piece of paper, book, and file has its place. Unfortunately their places
overlap the places of numerous other papers, books, and files. It is an
accumulation of information and plans going back several months, even years. My
desk screams for evaluation.
Yes, I envy
those people whose lives and workplaces exemplify orderliness and control. I
can only laugh so much at the old adage, “A neat desk is the result of a sick
mind.” Then I wish I could see my workplace orderly just once!
Nothing is
stopping me except a decision. I simply have to decide I will handle that piece
of paper once. I will put away the book once it is finished or until I decide
it is worth reading. I will return the file to its proper location when I am
finished instead of placing it on top of the nearest stack. It only takes a
decision.
We all know
such decisions can be difficult to make. Habits, hopes, and good intentions
make that decision a hard one to reach. Sticking with the decision is harder
still. Yet it is the only way to bring order out of the chaos that rules so
many lives.
Is this
something new? Is it restricted to the workplace? Does it only deal with
material objects? No on all counts. The need to evaluate what is happening in
our lives is ever present. What we need is the decision.
The mess on
the desk is easy to see. The mess in our lives may be a little harder to
identify. Yet we are called to evaluate that as well. We must see the flat
spaces we have allowed to accumulate wasteful and harmful habits. We must
identify the areas in our lives that have been stained so long with the
corruption of the world we no longer notice what has colored our lives.
With another
year about to begin, now is a great time to be honest, do that close evaluation
of our lives, and decide what baggage we are carrying that needs to disappear
with the old year.
Jesus used
this parable to encourage his disciples to make the decision:
Mat 13:52 So he replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of
the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who
takes new and old things out of his storage room."
When we become a follower of Jesus, we still bring a lot of baggage
with us. We may be new creatures, but the old habits are still there, and the
new way of thinking will take a lifetime to settle into full control.
Evaluation for the individual starts with a decision about the
relationship we have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do our thoughts
honor the One who died for us? Do our words reflect his nature now living
within us? Do our actions show his full control of our lives? Evaluation means
looking at all the stuff in our lives and deciding what does and does not fit
into the life of a follower of Christ.
The same goes for a local congregation. New ideas become ministries.
Ministries become traditions. Traditions become roadblocks to the new ideas
which must develop to face the changing culture around us. A congregation must
go through the process of evaluation on a regular basis. It must be honest in
its evaluation of what is old and still of value, what is new and just a fad,
and what is timeless and must remain an important part of the investment of the
congregation.
As we move into a new year, we cannot be afraid to make tough
decisions. Things change whether we want them to or not. We must be ready to keep
or to throw out. We just need to do it under the leadership of God.
