Archives: May 2010...

Editorial...

How complete am I?

In the office we’re getting incredibly excited about the upcoming World Cup. Yep, we know the election is a massive deal, but a festival of football featuring some of the best players around the world… you can’t beat that!

One way in which we’ve been showing our excitement has been through the purchase of a Panini sticker album (yes, it’s not sad, it’s retro chic). It’s awesome. A couple of us lads in the office have got way too carried away and now have bought over 100 packs of stickers. It’s nearly completed, but we do have some swaps if anyone is interested…

Each of us involved in this joint endeavour to complete the album is extremely obsessed with the goal: sitting down with the album on the first game of the tournament and flicking through, finding absolutely no gaps in our collection. The Chilean National team shiny? Got. The Algerian’s Abeldkader Ghezzal? Got. The super shiny world cup mascot? Got. No ‘Needs’. Every sticker will be a ‘Got’. Yes a complete album. What a feeling! It’s probably the most important thing ever and our lives will not be complete until we reach that pinnacle!

Ever felt like that about something? Getting ‘her’ to fancy you? Making sure you get all ‘A’ grades? I often think ‘if only I had those jeans, that haircut or was just a bit cooler, then my friends might like me more’. If I’m not careful I’ll just obsess about all these things and try to complete my life with just a whole bunch of stuff… I’m thinking that doesn’t quite sound like the right option.

Jesus said, “Consider the lilies” (Luke 12v27). I don’t often think about flowers too much, but in a couple of statements that seem to be all about flora and fauna Jesus challenges us to widen our perspectives and think less about the immediate and more about the long term. If we consider the lilies (which I’ve taken to of late), we are challenged to find provision, protection and meaning not in the stuff we buy, complete, achieve or think - the stuff that comes and goes-  but in our heavenly Father, who is constant.

The challenge isn’t so much about giving up on this world (or sticker books), but learning to not get obsessive about the things we own, the targets we set ourselves or even what other people think of us. Instead, in seeking God’s kingdom, we begin to live the prayer ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven’ (Matthew 6v10). As we do this, we may well find out some of the stuff God calls us to get obsessive about. Not getting that last shiny sticker card, but serving the poor, the broken the needy; loving those around us; bringing life to all of society; standing up for holiness and justice… the list goes on.

So, this month the challenge is to think about flowers a bit more often. To help you along the way, you might enjoy the rest of the articles we have this month. In Bible Stuff there’s a great  piece on the sort of leader that God looks for that is especially relevant this month as the election will see a change of leader in our country! Aware takes a little look at why we as Christians should vote (with a free MP3 on the issue with Bishop Pete Broadbent), whilst our Value section explores what to do when we’ve received God’s grace, but our lives aren’t changing much! Then we have Craig exploring a bit more of church history (Momentum) and a look at what to do when you get caught out like Gordon Brown and blame someone else for your mistake (Reality).

It’s a packed edition this month, so get involved and even start a discussion on Facebook about an article if you fancy it!

Have a good month

Dan

editor@soulsurvivor.com