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..."
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
"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?" |
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
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