Determination

One of my best friends, Mike Fabian, who is a pastor outside of Detroit, told me a story about the summer before his junior year in college. Mike was on camp teams that summer for Great Lakes Christian College. Camp teams go from church camp to church camp all summer long, representing the college. He was also planning on playing soccer again in the fall. Before the summer started out, the coach warned the team that the first practice in the fall would be a two-mile run and everyone would need to finish the run in under twelve minutes if they wanted to play. My friend Mike had never even ran a six minute mile in his life. Let alone two six minute miles in a row. Even in tiptop shape, his legs, because he has cerebral palsy, just won't let him do it.

So Mike approached the coach after the announcement, and the coach told Mike, "You have to want it." Mike replied, "No matter how much I want it, my legs just won't let me have it." The coach repeated, "You have to want it."

Fearing failure and not being able to play on the soccer team that he loved, Mike set some goals for himself over the summer. He was determined to achieve what he thought was an impossible goal and woke up early every morning before camp to run. On the weekends, he ran the actual two-mile course he would have to run in the fall. He ran and ran and ran all summer long. He even timed myself. He wanted it. But he still could not run the two miles fast enough.

The first day of practice came. The day of the run. Coach gathered the team together and said, "Hopefully, you guys have been training all summer for this. Here you go. You got to want it." Mike was going to give it his all. He wanted to be on the soccer team and would run his heart out. He ran as hard as he could for two miles and even sprinted the last quarter mile. He wanted it.

As he came around the final turn, his teammates were clapping. They were cheering. Coach was encouraging, "Want it! Want it, Fabian!" Mike ran harder and harder.  As he finished, his time was called out - and remember, he had to run it in under twelve minutes. "14:23."

Under fifteen minutes for two miles is Mike's personal best to this day, but it wasn't under the twelve minutes that it needed to be for Mike to make the team. He was really disappointed. He put his hands on his dropped head, breathed heavily in his slumped chest, and walked away. And then threw up. He really wanted it. And he didn't achieve his goal.

Coach blew the whistle and called the team in. He said. "This season - if we are going to succeed, you gotta want it." Then he continued and said something that Mike will never forget. "You have to want it like Fabian wants it. No one ran harder than he did." Mike was second to last that morning, but coach used him as an example of someone who wanted it because, despite his limitation, he gave it his all. He was determined. He prepared. He worked hard. He left everything he had on that run. He wanted it. He made the team!

Determination doesn't mean you will succeed. Mike showed determination, yet he failed. Determination means that you will try your hardest. It means that you will work toward it even if you can't accomplish it.

We need to introduce a little crazy determination back into our faith.

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, ShaneClaiborne has moved into the inner city of Philadelphia and lives among the poor.  Also determined to live out the life of Jesus, other lesser known, yet just as faithful, brothers and sisters in Jesus live with him.

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. stood up against racism in our nation.  Also determined to live out the life of Jesus, many others marched with him.

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, Milton Bates, a pattern maker at General Motors, after seeing disaster strike Bangladesh in 1972, started International Disaster Emergency Service, which has been helping around the States and around the world when disasters strike. 

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, Mother Theresa moved to Calcutta to help the poor.

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, Millard Fuller, in 1976, started Habitat for Humanity and since then, Habitat, with the help of many other determined volunteers, has built over 400,000 homes.

Determined to live out the life of Jesus, a group of people from this area started a place to help kids in need. This place we know as the WoodburnChristian Children's Home. Since it started forty-one years ago, hundreds of lives have been made better because of the determination of a few who decided they were going to live out the life of Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

Try Faith Out

Have you ever wondered why everything seems to go bad all at once?

Or do you ever wonder why bad things always seem to happen to you?

What if circumstances going bad weren’t actually a bad thing?

That seems difficult to grasp because “bad things” are bad. Hence their name. Likewise, good things are usually viewed as good. Also, hence their name. But what if the good keeps us from better? What if the bad is given to prompt us to change? What if being in a bad situation can be better than being in a good one?

The writer of Hebrews wrote, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” [Heb 12:5-7 (ESV)].

Ten years ago, a leadership book was written that challenged my thinking. Jim Collins wrote Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. It is an examination of great companies and what made those companies great. Now that might sound boring, but I always read things with kingdom goggles on. When reading about great companies, I was thinking about great people. What makes those great people around me great?

The premise of the book is that being good is the biggest obstacle to being great. Things are fine. We are able to make ends meet. We don’t worry about our next meal. Our children are doing well in school. All of those things that are good prevent us from changing because we are scared of messing things up. In the process of being afraid to change, we miss the greatness in store for us.

People usually do not experience greatness by accident. It is something that people have to strive and work hard for. And greatness, when we see it, appears easy. What we don’t see is all of the hours of hard work behind the scenes that made that greatness possible. We don’t see all of the good risked in order for greatness to be achieved.

So what does this have to do with us?

Chances are things are good in our lives. Because they are good, we don’t want to make the changes necessary to strive for greatness. Steve Jobs, in his commencement address at Stanford in 2005, stated, “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.” He lost his good and went out to go after great. And I am thankful he did. After being fired from Apple, he went on to make Pixar. Without Pixar I would not be blessed with great movies like Finding Nemo, Cars, or Toy Story.

The good can hold us down. The good can keep us from trying new things. The good can keep us from going after what we really need to go after. The good is comfortable. The good is alluring. The good slowly suffocates and destroys. The bad can be better than the good.

If you’re down on your luck and things seem to be going bad, you are doing better than someone who just has it good because you are in a position to change. Whether you take advantage of that position or not is really what will decide whether you are living in the midst of God’s blessings tomorrow or once again wondering why you are down on your luck.

The choice is yours. Will you choose to remain down on your luck or just good enough, or will you choose to be a person of faith and pursue the dreams laid on your heart?

If things are bad, you have nothing to lose. You might as well try faith out. Things going bad should be viewed as discipline from the Lord to guide us onto the more perfect path. It’s time for change.

If things are good, it will be much more difficult to risk it all. I hope we all have the strength to pursue the great even when the comfortableness of the good ensnares us.

Imagine. There. On the other side of faith. Right there is the future you were destined for. Will you surrender your life to Jesus and go after it? Or will you remain good? Comfortable? The choice is yours.