As Jeff Griffin pointed out during last weekend’s message, a runner in a race keeps his attention on the finish line.  Doing otherwise could lead to disaster.  In our walk with Christ, it is equally important that we focus our attention on the prize, which is growing closer to Him and becoming more like Him.  Just like a runner, disastrous things can happen when we lose that focus.  It is not surprising that the enemy so often uses the tactic of distraction to oppose us.

It seems that the enemy’s most effective means of distraction in my life are:

1. Unexpected Problems – just when everything seems to be going so well, it seems like the bottom falls out.  The dryer breaks down, the car engine light goes on, the kids get sick, and the dog eats the remote.  I don’t know about you, but my eye are diverted from the prize to the urgency of solving the problems.
2. Attractive Opportunities – sometimes distraction comes packaged as a killer chance to get involved with something or be positioned for some type of impact.  The struggle with such opportunities is that they so often resemble a God-given open door.
3. Heavy Responsibilities – Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Yet, so many of us are so weighed down with the heaviest of responsibilities.  There are so many good things to involve ourselves in and dedicate ourselves to, and we keep adding and adding until we are almost crushed under the load.

Of course, straining past this deception involves the same activity as moving past the enemy’s deception, disconnection, and discouragement.  We really do need to keep our focus solely on Christ.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 3:12-14

Together, let us keep straining toward what is ahead.

Whenever we attempt something that we perceive as difficult or demanding, our success is based largely upon our courage.  Courage is the ability to press through, even when something is hard.  We intuitively understand that difficult endeavors bring a certain degree of risk.  Our personal degree of courage will often determine whether or not we will even attempt something that is tough.

Let’s face it, the journey of walking with Christ is not an easy one.  It is full of perceived risks and we need all the courage we can to embark in earnest upon that journey.  It’s not surprising, then, that one of the enemy’s most effective forms of opposition is discouragement.  To discourage means to cause someone to lose confidence or enthusiasm (another way to say courage).  And it makes a lot of sense that he would use this tactic.  If the enemy can discourage us, we might stop ourselves from walking, without any further intervention needed.

The enemy uses two particular assertions in trying to discourage us:

1. Change is Impossible – on one hand, we feel God prompting us to change certain areas of our life, to grow in particular ways to be more like Him.  But the enemy seems to be lurking around just waiting to remind us that we’ve tried to change that area before and failed miserably.  While we might argue that we’ve made progress, he is quick to point out that we’ve actually made pitifully little real progress.  He’ll remind us of all the time and energy we’ve expended and he’ll soon have us asking what the point is in even trying.  And even if we do try, there is that nagging feeling that we all know how this is really going to turn out (again).
2. Excellence is Impossible – Sometimes we feel God calling us to big things, to make a big impact for Him in some way.  But then there’s the enemy creeping around looking at what we’re doing and forever asking that condemning question, “Couldn’t you have done that better?”  That’s such an unfair question, because the answer is always “Yes!”  No matter how well we accomplished something, we could ALWAYS have done it better.  The question is loaded in the first place.  It makes us pause to take on something new, because if we aren’t excelling now, what is the point of taking on something else at which we won’t excel.

These assertions are so discouraging to us for two particular reasons.  First, the enemy’s argument for each assertion contains some degree of truth.  We have failed to make the kind of progress we desired.  We have not always been as excellent as we would’ve hoped.  The problem is that we make a quick mental leap that if any of the argument is true, the whole assertion must be true.  Second, both of these assertions and the arguments that support them are effective at taking our eyes off God so that we can focus upon ourselves.

The most powerful thing we can do to combat the enemy’s discouragement is to focus all our attention on God.  Answer his assertions with some of your own:  Change is possible with God! Excellence is possible with God! God has all we need for all that He wants, including helping us to be more like Him.

Where do you feel like the enemy is trying to discourage you right now?

Next time:  The last post in this series will about straining past the enemy’s use of distraction.

I’ve always believed that a lonely Christian is a struggling Christian.  We were never meant to do this life by ourselves.  We were made in the image and likeness of God – a God of community. It was that way from the beginning.  Consider Adam.  Here is a guy who has it pretty good – he has a perfect relationship with God (free from sin), has the perfect job (rule over all the earth) and is in the perfect place (the garden – think Hawaii on steroids).  But God looks at Adam and recognizes that there is something wrong, saying, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”  Right from the very beginning, we were designed to need community and fellowship in our life.

So it is not surprising that the enemy would so often oppose us on our journey of spiritual growth by using the tactic of disconnection.  If he can isolate us from the important relationships through which God desires to bless us, we are far more likely to falter.  When the enemy is trying to isolate me, he usually tries to disconnect me from three life-giving relationships:

1. Marriage - As we see in Genesis 2, one of God’s amazing tactics to combat aloneness (his first) was to create marriage and to hand pick a suitable partner for us.  God desires to bless us in countless ways through our spouse (love, respect, support, intimacy, joy – just to name a few), and desires to use us to bless our spouse in return.  If the enemy can disconnect me from Carol, he deprives us both from those awesome blessings.
2. Close Friends – I belong to two small groups and I love and admire those guys.  I also have a handful of guys that I meet with individually for mutual support, encouragement and sharpening.  It’s the whole ‘iron sharpening iron’ thing.  These are all genuine Christian community, where we have the freedom to challenge one another and permission to hold one another accountable.  Rich growth in my life has resulted from these relationships.  If the enemy can disconnect me from them, he deprives me (and those with whom I would’ve met) of such growth.
3. Church Family – We’ve all heard the arguments people use about not needing church to get to God.  That may be true, but I’ve yet to ever meet anyone who doesn’t attend church who is really enjoying God and thriving in their relationship with Him.  Our church family is vital to our walk with God.  My church provides a point of spiritual authority to which I willingly submit.  It also spurs me to grow by focusing my attention and efforts in particular areas – areas I might not necessarily go to on my own.  And it brings together like-minded people who also want to grow.  There is something about having others to help you in the journey that is empowering. The enemy knows that if he can disconnect us from our church family, then we’ll slow on our walk and maybe stop altogether.

Our first defense against a plotting enemy is to understand with clarity that these relationships pose a threat to him.  Because they bring us abundance in our walk with Christ, he will do all he can to disconnect us from them.  So Hebrews 10:25 warns us, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

How do you see the enemy actively trying to disconnect you, and what concrete steps can you take to counteract that?

Next time:  Straining past the enemy’s use of discouragement.

I love it when I hear about a hidden gem, like a book that has really impacted a person, or even a whole organization.  Such is the case with the book The Servant.  Though it has been an international best seller, published in a dozen languages with over 2.75 million copies sold, I had never heard about it.  Until a few weeks ago.

Author James C. Hunter has dished up this allegory in Patrick Lencioni style to teach and inspire the reader with the true essence of leadership.  John Daily, the fictional character whose life is beginning to fall apart, reluctantly attends a week-long leadership retreat at a remote monastery.  The people he meets and the concepts they discuss are transformational for him, and for the reader.  I think this is as important and applicable in the family as it is in the workplace.

Make no mistake about it, the main point of this book is that the true essence of leadership is servant leadership.  It makes that point very well, but it’s more than just warm fuzzies or spiritual mandates.  Servant leadership is also the most effective form of leadership.

Hunter does a great job of comparing power to authority.  He defines power as the ability to force or coerce someone  to do your will, even if they would choose not to, because of your position or might.  He defines authority as the skill of getting people to willingly do your will because of your personal influence.  Every leader faces choices as to when to use power and when to use authority.  Hunter makes a compelling case that although power has its place, authority is almost always preferable as a leadership style. “Power erodes relationships.  You can get a few seasons out of power, even accomplish some things, but over time power can be very damaging to relationships.”

The quest then becomes one of how we can develop greater authority.  If authority is indeed the skill of getting people to willingly do your will because of your personal influence, then building your personal influence is key.  The author lays out a normal progression that leads to greater personal influence and authority.  So, it all goes like this:

• Leadership comes from authority
• Authority comes from service and sacrifice
• Service and sacrifice come from love (the verb rather than the noun)
• Love comes from the will (it is a decision)

There is so much more depth to this, but this gives the guiding framework.

This book is full of great quotes.  One of my favorites is “In the workplace, employees will spend roughly half their waking hours working and living in the environment you create as the leader.”  That is absolutely true.  As leaders, we create the environment in which our people do a whole lot of working and a whole lot of living.

I recommend this as a great read now, at the beginning of 2010.  Enjoy!