Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-30-15: "The Cure For the Fear of Being Average"

I recently happened upon a quote by Taylor Swift (who you all of course know from the hit "Blank Space" song), who said:
"I am intimidated by the fear of being average."
Maybe in the right context, those words were meant to describe a different sentiment, but repeated so often as a mantra, by her fans and non-fans alike, it struck me as a pretentious, typically "celebrity" thing to say.

I'd rather be an average nobody than live in fear of being like the Grammy-less commoners. I'd rather be the humdrum guy the commercials warn you about (the ones that tell you by not buying their product, you're somehow succumbing to the blah and the boring) - that is, the guy who stays home on the weekends. At least, I'd much prefer to be the average guy if my only other choice is living in the dread of not being able to post pictures on Instagram every Saturday of some new, exotic place I've been, some trip that I feel somehow makes me free inside, or that I'm liberated from the dregs of life by posing next to the world's largest hand-carved statue of Stevie Wonder in some adventurous place like Saginaw, Michigan. Nothing against Stevie or Saginaw.
The reality of life is that the average mechanic who raises an average family in average Iowa has done an amazing thing, even if he's never been canoeing or read Atlas Shrugged. My mother managed an average Dairy Queen for thirty-plus years in average Seminole, Texas; she never made it to the cover of Rolling Stone. But she was the greatest mother I could have asked for.

There are people who, by being themselves, stand out. They're quirky, they're colorful, they're characters. And, there are people who, by being themselves, blend in very easily with the average crowd. But there are also those who, in an idolatrous mindset, are so fearful of the thought of being considered "normal" or "average," that they go out of their way to stand out. It's the wrong kind of attention to desire, because that person is not being who they really are; they're stuck in a one-person show with quite an uncomfortable mask, and addicted to any applause they get. Even sadder, there are so many people like this, it makes them more normal than they think.

But every one of these people - the stand-outs, the average, the fake - are never forgotten before our Father in heaven. And even the most average among us is precious in His sight - He gave His Son for all of us.

If you are in Christ, and you want to be different, you already are: you accept Christ in a world that has rejected Him as God. You're different because you're holy, not through any holiness of your own, but by Christ's holiness. God exhorts the Israelites several times, and repeats through the apostle Peter, "Be holy, for I am holy." To be holy is to be set apart. The apostle Paul urges believers not to be "conformed to this world." The ways of this world are, among many other things, self-absorbed and self-serving. If you dread being complacent, lackadaisical, and average, abide in your Lord and be set apart from this world. Do the mighty works He's called us to do, spread the gorgeous truth of His Gospel, and minister to those in need. Only don't do so to be different, but because Christ gave Himself for us and saved us; do so because you long to see others believe and come to know this joy and grace.

And if those things, the Great Commission, the Gospel, the name of Jesus, makes you average and obscure, unknown and common in the eyes of the self-soothing world, you're in good company - our Lord also humbled Himself and was mired in obscurity as a carpenter for much of His walk on Earth as a Man, far from palaces and praise, spat upon and mocked. If our peace and joy is in Him, we won't be stricken with fear at the thought of being average in the world's eyes, nor will we seek our identity in fleeting things, our liberalisms and conservatisms, our feminisms and masculinisms, our nationalisms and humanisms.
Christ's Holy Spirit writes, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:3-8).
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess

"He must increase, but I must decrease." -John 3:30
"And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." -Matthew 23:12

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-23-15: "My Lunch With the Nerds: Thoughts on Pride"

Nerds have certainly come a long way. Back in my day (the 80s and 90s), they were ostracized and shunned from the community. And now, they rule the world. People even strive to be like nerds, and call themselves nerds even if they're not. It's a huge shot in the arm for a people who were once held up by the cool guys like me, as examples of what not to be. The schism was deep:
"Detached and subdivided in the mass production zone,
nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
Subdivisions in the high school halls,
in the shopping malls -
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions in the basement bars,
in the backs of cars -
Be cool or be cast out..."

"What are we having?"

Only now, it's cool to be a nerd. I have several friends who are nerds, and I don't have to hang my head when I say it - even if I can't really identify with the struggle (says the man who wears clothes from the 1870s, and just quoted Rush, the nerdiest band of all time). Recently, I had lunch with a few of my nerd friends (who are also my brothers in Christ). They began debating some nerd topic; probably Star Wars related. Years ago, I'd have beaten them all up and made their girlfriends hold my jacket and hat (though years ago, they wouldn't have had girlfriends). But, times have progressed, and more importantly, so has the Holy Spirit's work on my hard, hard heart.
Anyway, the longer I listened to the nerds debate their topic, I saw that it was becoming more and more heated and impassioned. Their talk turned a bit ugly. Points on which movie will ultimately have left fans more disappointed, The Phantom Menace or The Force Awakens, became thinly veiled personal attacks.

The strife in their conversation led me to realize something: the reason we get upset when someone insults us, or something we love, is, deep down, due to idolatry and pride.
If our all is truly focused in Christ, we know that it's a very meaningless thing if Boba Fett's death in the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi was as humiliating and hilarious as some depict it (it was), or if it was a noble end to the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter. Our identity is not in our entertainment preferences, our intellectual stimulation or lack thereof, and not even in our own dignity. If, as disciples of Christ, we find ourselves in a rage when insulted personally, our minds have strayed a bit off-center. Jesus tells us to expect ridicule for our beliefs, and to turn the other cheek - how can we allow ourselves to be enraged by attacks on things far less important than the belief in Jesus as Lord?
Or, what about when we're called out for our own sins? Is it not pride and self-righteousness that make us angry when a brother or sister, hopefully in a "spirit of gentleness," admonishes us?

This identity in Christ not only applies to our relationships with others, but to our walks in this imperfect world. Anyone who desires to follow Christ must seek their identity only in Him. If I claim Christ is my all, it's nothing short of idolatry to claim my "identity" as a Greek, Jew, Creek, Sioux, nationalist, pacifist, patriot, environmentalist, feminist, conservative, progressive, liberal, criminal, radical, fanatical: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
Oswald Chambers once said, "Discouragement is disillusioned self-love." I wouldn't have known that if a friend hadn't sent me a message asking what I thought of that quote. I suppose it's true: if we fully embraced that our identity is in Christ, that our strength, purpose, and hope is in Him, and that He will never leave a good work incomplete, we wouldn't be so quick to be bitterly discouraged. We're discouraged because we want to do better for our sakes, not for the sake of the Gospel and the glory of God. We're frustrated because it's not going the way we want it, on our terms.

This is certainly not to say, however, that any outpouring of emotion that stems from negative things is somehow bad. Good gosh, I'm not Martin Luther, you know. A Christian, or anyone with a heart, can't help but feel agony and pins of despair in their guts when they hear that Islamic State militants have beheaded an 82-year-old archaeologist in Palmyra, that abortion is legal, praised, and encouraged, or that many witnesses in countries around the world are tortured, imprisoned, and killed for teaching the Gospel. But there is a difference between godly sorrow and godly anger, and petty, prideful, selfish rage - fury that amounts to nothing.

Not only must our identity be found in Jesus, but our value. At our church community group, a sister in Christ recently shared something she heard; to paraphrase, "a car, for example, is often valued by how much was paid for it, and who owns it. God paid the ultimate price for us, and we belong to Him. That should tell us our value." If we stay deeply rooted in this truth of identity and value, it can only follow that disagreements, insults, disappointments, struggles, and all other buffetings of this fallen world will only be met with forgiveness, love, perseverance, longsuffering, patience, and the reassurance of peace in our all, the Lord Jesus Christ.
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess
"For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there." -James 3:16

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-16-15: "You're a Wonderful Piece of Work, You Smelly Moron!"

I saw a spider in the bathroom last night, so I went to a hotel. From the dresser drawer of my hotel room, I picked up the Gideons' Bible, open at page one, and noticed it reads, "He rested from all His work which God had created and made." I know what other Christians mean when they say "I'm a work in progress." They're saying, "I still struggle, I still stumble, but Christ's grace overwhelms my sin and gives me strength." (In other words, they describe a Christian.) And while I understand what they mean when they say "I'm a work in progress," I would suggest that we are actually completed works.

The author of Hebrews touches deeper on God resting from "all His work" on the seventh day, which He sanctified, alluding that this not only refers to Creation, but to all of God's work - including a plan for salvation: the sacrifice of His own Son on the cross to atone for all of our sins, including all of our self-righteous works which we mistake for true righteousness, His resurrection from the dead, to resurrect all of us dead in sin to life in Christ, and dare I say He rested from every work He has done for you and me as individuals. The work of helping me overcome my habit of dealing three-card monte at retirement homes, and the work of giving me wonderful things to say to proclaim His name. It's the same for you and every one of the works our Lord has done for you, both great and small.
You're a completed work - you're not there yet, but God is. And He's has already seen you completed. Remember the apostle Paul's words: "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-9-15: "What a Load of Behemoth Crap"

When I was a teenage girl, life was sure hard. The other girls made fun of me because of my thick facial stubble, and because I was a dude. But what made it most confusing and frustrating were promises from people claiming God, but not Scripture - people, maybe well-meaning, who promised romance for everyone. They'd post things like, "When someone lets you down, don't worry - God is saying, 'I'm saving this one for someone special.'"
When I grew up and became a man, I learned that this was a load of Behemoth crap, and that romance is not a Biblical promise. Even if you don't believe in the word of God, you must admit that the notion of "someone for everyone" is unrealistic mathematically, statistically, circumstantially, and environmentally. But for those of us who do believe, we must not only consider those things, but also, nowhere in the Bible does God promise a husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, for all believers. Our soul mate is Jesus - I found out the hard way that a true soul mate will give His body and blood as a ransom for your sins, rather than run you over with their Dodge Durango because they've had a few too many Jack Daniels Cactus Kickers. There's nothing wrong with wanting to find someone, or even looking - but we often make it an idol and place it before Jesus.
The "someone" on this earth that Jesus is saving all of us for, single or otherwise, is the wandering friend or stranger who has not heard the Gospel, the aching belly that hungers, the lonely soul that needs an ear to listen.
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
-Psalm 18:2
"For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'"
-Isaiah 41:13

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-2-15: "A Walk-On Role in God's Big Picture"

When the power went out during an electrical storm, with no lights to see our Hungry Hungry Hippos tournament, some friends and I resorted to playing a spirited game of Which Historical Figure Would You Most Like To Punch in the Face?. The usual answers arose: Josef Stalin, Hirohito, John Wilkes Booth, Caligula, Jimmy Fallon, etc. But one friend's answer - Adam and Eve - made me think. My friend reasoned he'd backhand them both for messing up humankind by their disobedience to God. But I was hesitant about that answer.
Adam and Eve didn't need a bash in the face to remind them they'd erred; they were banished from a paradise as decay and death entered the world. But that wasn't my only reason for not punching Adam and Eve in the face. Of course, if sin had never entered the world by their actions, we'd never know death, illness, injustice, grief, loss. But - and maybe I'm just too accustomed to a world that sucks - how boring would the history of life on this planet be?
This may stem partly from the fact that the only world any of us knows is a hard world, but, what triumph would we know? What victory? How would we shed tears of joy in gripping God's hand to overcome an addiction? How would we see the beauty of any choice to do right, a choice great or small? And above all, we wouldn't know the greatest story ever told of good versus evil - the agonizing, beautiful, harrowing, joyous true story of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice upon the cross, His triumphant defeat of death and sin.
I don't like the way the world is, but I consider it more than just a silver lining that we all have walk-on parts in that epic story.
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess

"Then Job answered the LORD and said:
"I know that You can do everything,
and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.'
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.""
-Job 42:1-6