Here's the thing...

This is the thing I hate the most...

When someone is right and I am wrong. By this I don't mean that someone knows a piece of trivia or practical information that I don't. By this I don't mean the reward of gloating that a person receives at the expense of me. It isn't as simple as bragging rights and it has nothing to do with who is right but more to do with how I am wrong.

This all started a month ago when I decided I watched too much tv and that I should probably replace my viewing with a sermon or something relevant to the real world. For that reason I got into podcasts. At the time one of my professors was particularly into Andy Stanley and recommended his podcast on leadership. So I, of course, jumped right in. I got the leadership podcasts and the weekly sunday services Andy Stanley does at North Point Ministries.

Its at this point that my desires, my wants, my greed, my obvious flaws tell me that that was a big mistake. And I, with my most conflicted self, want to claim it was a mistake. It wasn't a mistake because it lead me to somewhere bad. It was a mistake because it led me where I didn't want to go. I have a rythm to my life. I have a normalcy in my day to day life. It seems that even the things that I have to seek forgiveness for have a place in the normals of my day. And it shames me to confess that I was ok with that. Once more I was ok with that.

And so I desperately needed to hear what Andy Stanley was saying to his congregation. He asked the simplest question and opened a door into my life that I don't think will be easily closed. He says that when it comes to making decisions in our lives we often ask the wrong questions. We ask "How far can I go without getting caught?" "What is legal?" "How can I live for Jesus and still get the most from the experiences of life?" "How much can I do without feeling the negative effects of it on my life?" "How close can I get to the edge without falling off?" "How close can I get to sin without actually sinning?" And this approach is flawed. It is asking the wrong question.

Based on Ephesians 5:15-17 Andy Stanley suggests a new question: What is the wise thing for me to do? In the light of my past, and in light of what I want from my future what is the wise thing for me to do?

How can I ignore that question? How can I not look at my life and ask it? I'm not happy with this question one bit because it forces me out of my comforts, my simple pleasures and it really forces me to choose. And it is taking me where I don't want to go.

So you know what? Andy Stanley is right and I am wrong. He doesn't win a prize, he isn't better than me, and he gains nothing from being right. I, however, gain something. Although at my heart of hearts I may have known I was wrong, I can no longer escape it.

I am wrong. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Happy New Year...

Patman the unwise

PS this is a poor summary. Go to your podcast search engine, find North Point Ministries and listen to "The Best Question Ever" to get the real thing.