Well here it is. Day 365. I’m so thankful for the fact that I was able to make it all the way through. When I started off writing I was thinking that I would be lucky to make it to day 100 or possibly finish by the time I turned 30. But, I’m finishing it up only one year and four days after I started, and I’m so thankful that I’m at the finish line. There have been people reading this from some of the most random places, and those little words of encouragement and the comments on the individual blogs are what kept me writing on the days I felt like I was done. This project has taught me so much about myself and my “default” mode of laziness and how I can fight that. The discipline I’ve learned in keeping this up for a year will be a lesson that I have to remind myself of constantly. I’m sure there will be another project coming soon, so I’ll keep you posted. So, on to my last blog.
I saved this one for last because I wasn’t ready to write it at the end of last month. Once a month, I’ve written a blog on an attribute of how I’m viewing God at the time. So far, I have eleven (My Planner, Father, Rabbi, Generous Giver Initiator, Creator, Rescue, Savior, Church, Redeemer, and Tension), so this will be my twelfth and final one to wrap it up. There are so many characteristics and attributes of God that we tend to neglect or overlook, and just thinking about these twelve points draws me closer to Him daily. I want people to know Him more, not the cheap representation of Him that the church is, because this side of heaven, we as the church can never give the world a good enough picture of Him (but it doesn’t mean we can’t fight to). That’s my reason for writing this series.
To say that this past year has been a journey or a trek up a mountain might be a fair picture. Over the last year, I’ve come home from the World Race, come home a couple more times from several months in the Philippines, started a couple of different ministries in a foreign country that God laid on my heart, taken a “break” by being a manny (that’s a man nanny) for my little niece, learned how to love and support a girl in a foreign country and then welcome her home, and survived a tornado that ravaged my hometown and then been a part of the local church’s response (just to name a few). It’s been a big year, and most of those have been surprises. If you asked me last year this time for my one year plan, very few, if any, of those things would’ve been on my list, but I’m thankful for everyone of them. Even the tornado has flipped the town of Tuscaloosa upside down and opened the doors for the kingdom of heaven to show up. I guess you can just chalk all of that up to serving a God that can “do immeasurably more than I can ever think of or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
So today, I’m calling God my Sherpa because he has guided me through some of the most treacherous terrain. I have never hiked Everest, or anything really that close, but I have followed a few mountain guides as we attempted to reach a summit. These guides are the most knowledgeable people when it comes to their mountain, but all they really do is guide. They don’t force anything on their followers, they just make sure they don’t die on the way up. I remember one hike I went on where we had three guides with us. One was leading us, one was in the midst of our group, and one was in the back to make sure no one fell behind, but none of them said anything. They just moved, and so did we. We made it to the summit and celebrated, took pictures, and shared stories about the hike that we all already knew because we were all there. Our guides just watched and smiled, still saying little, and then headed back down to lead the next group up. That was their mission; to lead people to the summit.
One of the biggest ways God speaks to me is through word pictures, and this one blew my mind. A lot of people try to explain religion by painting a picture of a mountain. They say all people start at the bottom (Christians, Buddists, Atheists, Islamics, etc.) and are working their way to the summit which is where God is. Most evangelical Christians say this is a horrible picture because there is only one way to God, and none of the other religions can lead to Him. I agree with that, but I still think this picture is a good one. The reason is because there’s no way that any average person can summit Mt. Everest without a Sherpa. They can do all the studying and preparation they want, but you need someone that not only knows what they’re doing, but someone that has been there before. Do you see where I’m headed yet?
I believe that Jesus was fully man AND fully God, but he forfeited his right at being the one true God to come down and live among us (or to start at the base of the mountain). He faced everything we faced, every temptation, lie, betrayal, and frustration. He’s been there before. So the one thing that we have over everyone else starting the climb is that we have a Sherpa. We have someone to lead us up the mountain, dwell in our midst, and follow behind us to make sure we don’t stray too far from the path of safety. You want to know what the coolest thing is? He’ll lead anyone up there. Christianity is closed minded in the sense that there is only one way to heaven, but literally ANYONE can follow him up there. You don’t have to have a certain heritage or skin color, a certain lifestyle or political agenda, or a certain theological stance or doctrinal belief. All you have to do is believe that He knows where He’s going, and then allow Him to lead.
I could make a life for myself. I have the educational background, the drive and initiative, and the confidence to make a dang good living for myself. If I wanted to work my way up the ladder and earn my spot on the top, I could. This doesn’t come from an area of arrogance, but rather confidence in the way God made and gifted me. But the kicker is, that’s not what I want. When I turned my gifts and talents back over to God, I was given a clear calling to forsake it all as loss and give my life to make sure that His is known. First off, don’t be afraid because I don’t believe every Christian is called to sell everything and give it to the poor. Second, I’ll admit that this wasn’t an easy decision for me to make, so if you’re fighting it, you’re not alone. I had a lot ahead of me that was very promising, but seeing what I’m doing now, I’d never go back. Living my life to make someone else’s famous is the greatest calling I could ever ask for.
So, I’ll close with this. Over the year, I’ve shown constant tolerance for others and their personal choices. I could see gays in heaven. I could see murderers in heaven. I could see you in heaven. But there’s only one way any of us are going to get there, and that’s by following Jesus’ lead. I will never judge anyone’s place in heaven because that’s not for me to decide. All I want to do is point them in the right direction and to tell them to follow me because I’m following the only Sherpa that has ever actually started at the bottom of the mountain. When Paul was asked by the early churches about his life and praised for his leadership, one of his famous responses was simply, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) I think I’ll take up that calling too…
