"The Celestial Con Man"

That was the title of a recent article in Leadership Magazine, written by James Walters.  You can read it for yourself, but the summary is basically this. Mr. Walters follows God's leading to go to another state for a specific type of ministry position. When things do not quite work out as planned, he determines that it was a "con" by God in order to teach him specific things and he ultimately moves back home.

Here is my response to that article. One that I sent to the magazine.

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Oh please!  This has to be the tritest explanation for not paying attention that I have seen published by a mainline magazine.

Mr. Walters puts the onus on God for the failure of his move and ministry. He uses the failure of it as a reason to inflate God’s ability to teach him a lesson on dependency. I suspect God is much smarter than that and can do those types of things without moving someone clear across country. Perhaps Mr. Walters should have paid a bit more attention in the first place and inquired in more detail on his potential ministry under the churches leadership.

This type of “blame God” mentality is frequent in modern day faith. We want something so bad that we convince ourselves that God is “leading us” to a new land, a new ministry, a new job. Then when we get there and things do not go according to the blessings we expect, we conclude that God must have been conning us.  Did Mr. Walters stop to think that perhaps God was putting him there for a purpose that, had he stayed long enough to find out, would be a tremendous blessing to all involved? On the other hand, perhaps Mr. Walters was merely conning himself into believing the move was “God’s will”.

I recall a story from a friend of mine. He had run across a fleece jacket that had been hanging in his closet for years. It was something that he had seldom worn and was like new. His intent was to give it to Goodwill. Prior to the holidays they had a friend visiting from an African country. My buddy pulled the jacket out of the closet and asked his friend if we would like it. The man went wild with joy. He told my friend that he had wanted a jacket like that for a “long time”. In excitement, he went on to say, “While I was in the States I had hoped to purchase one but now, God has provided one for me.”  My friend asked him, “How long have you wanted a jacket like this?”  The response stunned him. ”Oh for almost five years I have been asking God for a jacket like this.”

Five years, my goodness, most of us get impatient after 5 minutes if God has not responded!

For all those folks who take pride in quoting 2Pe 3:8,  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Perhaps it is time to learn that this verse may not just apply to the second coming.  God’s timetable is not ours. Never has been, never will be.

We have recently moved to NC from Texas. I keep wondering why God has not allowed us to sell our house in Texas. Do I interpret that to mean God did not want us in NC and we should move back to Texas? I hope not, because I am staying put!   Mr. Walters thought Southeastern Washington was bad (I grew up there) he ought to have God send him to West Texas!

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It strikes me as odd that people's faith is so shallow that they would conjure up such a story. Yet, Mr. Walters is by no means alone.

Now I will admit. Determining God's will can be at least tricky and at best complicated. We all have heard stories of people who said, "God I will go where you want me to go, just don't send me to Africa." And guess what, God apparently sends them to Africa.  Or the people who say, "God I will serve you anyway you want, just don't make me a preacher."  And guess what, God apparently calls  them  to be a preacher. 

It is like we have this "theology" that God does the opposite of what we ask. If that's the case, "God, I will be a good steward of all you have given me, but don't give me a million dollars."

I do not mean to be critical of God's calling, leading, or sending. I simply want to point out how cavalier we can be about it at times.

It is my opinion that if we are committed to our life in Christ, then serving him in a worthy manner can be or may be all that is required. If God lays on our heart a specific ministry in a specific place than following that can be or may be all that is required. If for some reason, when getting there, we cannot adjust or our family cannot adjust and it begins to strain that relationship and we cannot work through it, then go back home. But please, let's not blame God for it.  Like John Mark, another opportunity may present itself.

Father Spirit, I truly believe that most of us committed to our life in Christ desire to be and do what brings glory to you. Give us peace to know that that can be in our own "backyard" as well as some foreign land. Teach me to be content to serve you, first where I am, then deal with what may result from that later.