July 11 2019 – Click here to listen
I had a long conversation with a good friend of mine the other night and he made some statements that were borderline whacko to me. At one point he said: If you’re smart – you’re stupid!
Huh?
Basically, my understanding of what he means by that is that God made you smart and if you acknowledge it you are stupid. I retorted that seems odd to me and is an oxymoron because if you were smart surely you would know that you were smart, otherwise you wouldn’t be very smart. I continued that a beautiful woman knows she is beautiful she has been told that since she was a child and can look in the mirror. A gifted athlete earning millions per year as a professional surely knows they are talented. A talented musician can listen to the music they create and know that it is good. Likewise, a world class artist can look at the renderings they create and know it is outstanding, and a successful businessperson can look at their income statement and know they are a good manager.
My buddy then made the statement that we don’t create anything. Everything is created by God and we are irrelevant. I readily conceded that God gave us our gifts, but we must utilize them in order to achieve anything significant. Alas he would have no part of it, again stating that we are irrelevant.
This went on for quite some time and my conclusion is that he is convinced that we are akin to mere robots and all that we do is preprogrammed and free will is not really free will. I think the point he is trying to make is that we should be humble and not try to take credit for anything accomplished in our lives on a personal level. Being humble is necessary as a Christian but carrying it to this extreme viewpoint is not beneficial. If God is the one who creates a painting why bother to pick up a brush? If you are an athlete, why work out with weights and train so hard? God will make you successful if He so desires. Ugh . . .
The Apostle Paul tells us to run the race of life as though to win. 1 Corinthians 9:24 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. We might be incredibly gifted and talented and have all of the ability in the world but instead of using those gifts to accomplish great things, lay on the couch and eat potato chips or in an alleyway drinking cheap wine. It is free will that makes us get off the couch.
My favorite verse Phil. 4:13 states I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.It does not say Christ will do all things for me. It states “I”can do . . . Nor does the verse contextually mean all things. – If I want to be the head of a drug trafficking cartel He certainly will not bless that. It is all things within His will for our lives.
My friend is very mixed up in my humble opinion. It takes hard work, tenaciousness, perseverance, and tremendous effort to succeed in life, but we all have God-given talents enough to fulfill our purpose in life. Find your purpose and run the race as though to win the prize. Stay humble and give God His rightful credit, but you can be happy in knowing that you served Him well and no one should call you stupid for doing so, least of all God!
2 Tim 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day . . .