Yesterday I watched a movie from 2013 I
thought I had seen before. I remembered it was great and there is a sequel
coming out soon. Now I am not so sure I had ever seen it before yesterday. It
could just be that my 53-year-old brain erased it to make room for other
things, like the hundreds of passwords necessary to survive in 21st century.
At any rate, I thought it was a fun, entertaining movie with a great message
worth sharing. The message was this; Tomorrow does not have to be like
yesterday, it can be so much more.
This stone-age family, the Croods, followed
their husband and father, Grug, voiced by Nicholas Cage, in his rules for
survival, believing there is no safer place than their cave. Grug’s mantra was
“never not be afraid.” New things posed a threat to their very
existence, except in the curious mind of Eep, the somewhat rebellious teenage
daughter (Emma Stone). As the story unfolds, Grug learns through a series of
life experiences, failures, adventures, and a young man named Guy (Ryan
Reynolds), that any hope for freedom will come by learning from the past,
living out a new calling and a new future that is bigger than his fear.
In the Bible, the Book of Acts, chapter 7,
verses 20 -37, the author Luke retells part of the Old Testament story of Moses.
In a time where life-expectancy was a whole different economy of time than now,
Moses lived to be 120 years of age. In the span of his life, we see that the
way we start is not the way we have to finish. We see that with God, there
is nothing wasted!
Have you ever thought “I’ve just wasted that
day, or weekend, or season of my life?” Have you ever thought, like I have that
“I have wasted my entire life?” All I must do is look at my 3 kids to know that
there are at least 3 ways that I did not waste my life. But like you, I
sometimes lose perspective and do not realize that God has such a different
idea about my life.
Moses was born in a troubled time, a time when
firstborn sons were to be killed and he was the first-born. Scripture tells us
that Moses was no “ordinary child (Acts 7:20 NIV). Friends, the reality is that
you were no “ordinary child.” Neither was I. Neither was anyone. You see, in
God’s economy, nothing is “ordinary;” nothing is wasted. In fact, humans are
the only species that produces waste; which divides waste and recyclables. You
can look beyond humans and notice in all the rest of nature that nothing is
wasted. Forests clear and regenerate themselves. Dead animals become food for
other animals and insects thus providing life by their very death. The oceans, full
of aquatic life, do not also become a vast sewer. What you and I consider waste
may actually be fertilizer.
Moses’ Hebrew mother felt it safer for him to
be placed outside, in a basket in the Nile River, surrounded by Crocodiles and
other predators, than to be raised by her in her home. He was eventually found
by the daughter of the very Egyptian Pharaoh who enacted the edict demanding
the killing of babies. As he grew, being raised and educated as an Egyptian in
the house of Pharaoh, he discovered he really had no identity; he wasn’t
Egyptian, yet he wasn’t Hebrew either. Moses was an outsider.
Do you feel like you are an outsider, that you
do not fit, that your struggles and failures exclude you from a free and full
existence? God’s perspective is so much different than ours. You see, since
with God nothing is wasted, our wounds, our scars, our failures, and
disappointments all shape us into who God needs us to be. Maybe you are an
outsider because other outsiders are who need you the most!
Ever since I identified a calling to live my
life for God’s work, I thought my calling was specific to helping other
Christians know, understand, and relate to God by facilitating their worship of
Him. Yet my entire career, apart from a few breathtaking seasons, I have also
felt like an outsider. As I said earlier, there were even times when I felt
like I had wasted my life. I carried hidden wounds, secret scars, colossal
failures, overwhelming disappointment, oh, and fear that rivaled Grug Crood’s
desire to stay in the cave. I have lived the life of never not being
afraid.
When Moses was a third of the way through his
life (40 years old), something happened that changed his life. The Hebrew
people were enslaved by the Egyptians and had been for many years. In defense
of an Israelite being mistreated by an Egyptian, Moses killed that Egyptian. He
thought that this was God’s way of using him to rescue “his people,” though an
outsider he was. But word had spread, not of Moses’ heroic act of rescue, but
of his lawless act of murder and for 40 years he fled to yet another land,
again being an outsider, living aimlessly, likely feeling like his life had
been wasted.
It was another 40 years after that when Moses
encountered a bush on fire in the middle of the desert, a hotspot in his
disappointing life, that God reached to Moses and called him to something new
and specific. In verse 36 we see that “He (Moses) led them out of
Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red
Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.” It was Moses who initiated the
eventual freedom of an entire nation of outsiders, the children of Israel, the
very ancestry line of the ultimate rescuer, hero-redeemer, Jesus Christ.
These people whom Moses led out of Egyptian
captivity were a stubborn people. These outsiders wondered in the wilderness
for 40 years, ironically the same amount of time Moses had just spent exiled as
an outsider. However, in this final third of his life, Moses walks in God’s
calling as a leader, a rescuer, right where God wants him to be. It is not
counted against him that he floated in the Nile as a 3-month-old. It is not
counted against him that he was raised in the home of a perpetrator of
genocide. It is not counted against him that he was a murderer. It is not
counted against him that he felt like an outsider and that his life had been
wasted. Believe me, when you have had a life similar to Moses’ life, the
negative press is overwhelming. The things people say and do to you are unbelievable.
“Who made you ruler and judge?” “I’m not sure if you’re truly a child of God.”
“I can’t eat in the same restaurant as you. I’m leaving.” “Oh, you’re in this aisle
of the grocery store. I’m going to go to another aisle.” “I wanted to talk to
you but I’m not allowed to.” “You’re not welcome at this wedding.” The list
goes on and on. Outsider…? Can you begin to see how one might think their life
was wasted? If you are only listening to those who oppose you, you are not
learning anything. But if you are only listening to the people who agree with
you, you are not learning anything either.
I was pleased to discover that at least one
other person, other than my wife and my mom, read my most recent post, “Christians
Can Be Democrats and Still Be Respected.” It was the most political piece I
have ever written, yet it was wrapped in my beliefs about faith. The reader
pointed out that I may be looking to the government and political ideology to
meet the needs of families rather than looking to the Church to be the Church
and care for the widows, the orphans, the marginalized in our society,
including the poor. The reader questioned whether my points would be better served
aiming them at the Church rather than the government. I had to admit that
indeed, I had failed to include the Church in my thinking regarding the issues
I addressed in that post. Since chewing on the reader’s response, I have had
some interesting conversations, complex thoughts and ideas, and will continue
to formulate and digest the topic, likely to be discussed in a future blog. I
appreciated the interaction and “As iron sharpens iron” so does listening to
people with differing opinions than you. We could all do more thinking about
walking in the other one’s shoes. If we only listen to those who agree with us,
I believe we stunt our own growth.
We now see with Moses and should recognize
within us, that God sends us to “school,” the school of hard knocks, the school
of life, in order for us to make a difference in the world. The tuition has
cost us nothing and yet has cost us everything. Moses had plans. He had an idea
of what his life was supposed to be. He knew there was no one to blame and it
was out of his control when he went into a self-prescribed exile for 40 years.
His life was unmanageable.
But God…the 2 greatest words a story could
ever include. But God…stepped in after 40 years to call Moses to do amazing
things. But God…said, “leave your past in the past and let Me create a new
future for you.” Friends, do not settle for less. Maybe all that “waste” of the
past was the exact “fertilizer” that is needed for your growth and maybe even
the growth of an entire nation.
Michael Chandler is a professional mixed martial
artist who has been fighting for over 10 years. Michael was a former
three-time Bellator MMA lightweight champion with a 22 – 5 record before going
into his UFC debut last night. Chandler, 34, defeated number 6 ranked Dan
Hooker with a first-round TKO that surprised the UFC world. Michael recognizes
that “the fight” is not only about his skill as a mixed martial artist, but
that all of us are fighting every day for our families, for our friends, and
for our faith. He strives to carry himself as a man of God and an example of
strength and discipline as he uses his platform to reach people for Christ.
Last night was my 2nd exposure
to UFC and mixed martial arts. Unlike the boxing of Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson
that I can recall, MMA includes a mixture of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and
jiu-jitsu. There’s grappling and submissions, the ground game, and the standup
game. There are knockouts and there are decisions, just like boxing. Oh, and did
I tell you their gloves are quite thin, and 3 to 5 round bouts usually involve
blood from one or both competitors? I had enjoyed my introduction to the sport
with my son a few years ago, and my daughter’s boyfriend, Caleb, invited me to
this social-distancing event, complete with hot wings and ribeye and unlimited
Diet Coke. This is where I learned about Michael Chandler, who was not fighting
in the main fight of the night but was one of the earlier fights on the card.
He is now becoming Caleb and my favorite fighter. I do not have many to choose
from.
As a high school athlete, Chandler went to the state
championships every year. Every year he fell short. In his senior year, he thought
his wrestling career was going to be shattered because he was not a state
champion. Then came college. “You’re just thrown into the fire in college
wrestling, and college wrestling has very much made me the man I am today.” Chandler
described that part of his career as being stuck in a pressure cooker of a
situation where it is dog eat dog, and it’s may the best man win. The
competitors were all state champions and Chandler felt he was a failure. He
worked very hard, and he was not that talented. He did not have those
accolades. He did not have those gold medals. He did not have those state
championship rings. He did not have those pictures of him on the podium, and he
wasn’t the big man on campus. He felt like an outsider; a waste.
To tell you that I am surprised to learn that
a committed Christ-follower would also be an MMA fighter is an understatement.
I know that George Foreman calls himself a Christian. Even Mike Tyson claimed
Christ at one time. But this sport is even more violent than boxing. Chandler
relates to my surprise and is often asked, “How are you a Christian and you’re
going to beat people up?” Chandler states, “If I can reach people by doing what
I do — even though what I do might not be the way that you look at a Christian
or the way that you think a Christian man should act or the kind of activities
that a Christian man should engage in — who are you to look at that and say,
‘I’m doing something wrong’ when thousands and hundreds of thousands of people
are being impacted…I was being called in this direction to be able to be put on a platform
to reach people.” God wants to use
each of us “unordinary” people to make a difference in the world. We all have
ways God wants to use us. In Chandler’s case, it was some young person acting
on God’s calling in their life that impacted Chandler’s life and opened his
eyes to Christ. “Like most of us who go to church, we got invited by a
friend… somebody that we trusted… someone that we knew or that we liked.” Now
Chandler is acting on God’s calling in his life and making an impact on others.
“I can’t tell you how many messages I get, how many people come up to me, face
to face, how many people I meet that say, ‘Man, I love the way you carry
yourself. I love that you are a warrior and a fighter, but you are also a man
of faith, and you’re also a devoted husband and devoted father.’”
So often God uses people other than “Sunday
School perfect” people. Chandler considered himself an outsider, at least in
the sport that was his passion. He had the choice to be part of the Crood
family and let fear, doubt, and thoughts of a wasted life rule his survival or
step into God’s calling and experience freedom like never before. Through that
freedom and the “school of hard knocks,” Chandler is now on the rise on an
international stage. The sport of mixed martial arts has grown tenfold in the
last 10 years. It is the fastest-growing sport in the world. It’s on big
networks like Fox and Fox
Sports 1, and they’re still
doing million pay-per-view buys.
Chandler says, “So if I can be a husband and
a father and a Christian man and have a platform to be able to reach people,
and then also take that platform and use it inside of a cage in front of
millions of people and see how the ups and downs and the wins and losses and
the pain and the anguish and the triumph of this crazy MMA career can reach
people…[it’s] and opportunity.” That is what I am talking about. No life is
wasted. Ups, downs, wins, losses, pain, anguish, and triumph, these are not
wasted. They are exactly what God uses in you and me to reach other outsiders
like myself.
So ask yourself, are you Grug Crood and are
you never not afraid? Are you really
just an outsider whose future has no chance of redemption? Or are you Michael
Chandler, or even Moses, who has a heroic story yet to be written because
nothing in your life is wasted?
By the way, I will be watching more UFC fights
and soon I will talk about how those fighters leave nothing for the next fight
and neither should we. I want to again direct you to Mosaic.org and Erwin
McManus. His messages are located there. Just click “watch.” They are now
streaming so you can watch them at any time. Today’s message provided fodder
for my thoughts.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
