"I Think therefore I am ... Lazy"

When Rene Descartes penned the words, "Je pense donc je suis" (translated to English: "I think therefore I am.) in 1637, he was making a philosophical statement. Almost 400 years later, I'd like to try to use his famous line to describe the average American Christian. Here it goes...

"I think therefore I am... lazy."

I'm not trying to be mean. I'm as guilty as the next guy. Just follow me here and see if you might agree.

I think "good ideas" may be the biggest detriment to Christianity in America. I know that's a pretty bold statement, but let me explain my line of reasoning for a second...

As America has moved away from the "blue collar", work with our hands, get dirty to get the job done culture, to a "white collar", work with our heads, work smarter not harder kind of work ethic; we have neglected the potential impact that cultural shift would have on our spiritual lives. What I mean is this, today many Americans will go to work, sit in some meeting and be rewarded (possibly given a raise or promoted) for a really good... IDEA. Not just any idea, but an idea that someone else will actually have to implement and do. An idea in which their hands will never actually get dirty, they will not sweat a drop, and they will receive no other internal gratification other than the bragging rights to the "idea".

I spent the first 8 years of my adult life in sales and sales management. I was an "idea guy". I was pretty good at it. My ability to think of ways to better how we do things allowed my family to earn a nice income for several years. But the truth is, all that brain work made me soft. I thought of things and other people tried them. I never had to commit so much to anything that I'd have to actually think about, and choose to make it happen all on my own. That leads me back to my opening statement. good ideas may be the biggest detriment to Christianity in America.

Dr. Howard Hendrix writes, "Anybody can come up with a grandiose scheme for change. One person may say he wants to reach the world for Christ. Somebody else wants to deeply study each book of the bible over the next five years. Someone else plans to memorize 100 bible verses. Somebody else is going to become a Christ-like spouse. WONDERFUL! When are you going to begin? Because until you answer that, all you have is good intentions."

I believe it's hard to be a Christian in a culture that rewards you for intending to do something. Or even worse, for simply coming up with a good idea that we should all probably be doing to grow in our faith. It didn't work that way for those in the early church. Look at James 1:22 for a minute...

^"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."

It doesn't say, "I've got an idea, let's think about doing what God's word says..." or, "I think we all should intend to do what the bible says." Is it at least possible that the value we have placed on thinking has allowed us to justify good ideas as an end instead of a beginning? The world says, "It's the thought that counts..." But is it really? 

I'm doing my best to let this scripture help shape me. After all Romans 12:2 tells us to "not conform to the ways of the world." and James ends chapter 1 with the phrase "keep yourself from being polluted by the world". I don't want to be about good intentions. I want to be about good work. I don't want to be about ideas, I want to be about action.

God richly blessed me with the chance of a lifetime. I got to move to Cape Girardeau, MO to partner with great people that love God to start Vantage Point Church. The process changed my life. What started out as a good idea, became reality because of a whole lot of action by a whole lot of people.

So what about you? Do you have a "good idea" that you think God has placed on your heart? Have you been intending to do something for him for some time? If so I've got an IDEA for you...

Start doing!