You ARE more than what you DO

Thoughts on rest, rebellion and our identity

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

You ARE a person. You ARE NOT a position.

If you’re a pastor, leader, or some other person in a position of organizational influence, I need you to remember this.

You live in a world that wants to commodify you.

They want to reduce you down to the sum total of the services you provide for them. While convenient for them, it’s soul-emptying for you. Today, remember you are a person, not a position. You’re a regular person with hobbies, goals, interests, likes, and dislikes. (Not to mention people you like and dislike as well, and that’s okay!)

You are not a superhero, and your personhood is not some secret-identity. You HAVE a calling….but you ARE a child of God. God’s provided you a life with both burdens and blessings. Things to do, AND things to enjoy! So go and enjoy today! Do one or all of the following:

• Take the day off.

• Read a (FICTION) book.

• Go to a movie by yourself in the middle of the afternoon.

• Buy a plant and then spend time on YouTube and Google learning how to take care of it.

• Buy the pair of sneakers you wanted as a kid, but couldn’t afford back then. And then…

Come home and thank God for it all. For the good things He’s provided and for the ability to have (even in the midst of these chaotic days) to enjoy them. For the opportunity to just rest. Rest is most fundamentally a form of rebellion. It resists the notion that we are the ones responsible for keeping the world spinning.

After you rest (then and only then) get back to the work you have to do at some point. Always being reminded of this…

You HAVE a calling FROM GOD.

You ARE a child OF GOD.

The latter is way more important than the former.

How are you going to rest today?