It is fun and I enjoy it, but all the while I am learning not to be "that guy." You know, the guy that no one ever wants to be. The one you avoid, you love him... but at a distance. There are four guys I see that we sometimes can become, in one extreme or another.
1. Mr. got nothing to prove
This guy normally goes through life, just taking the blows. He figures he has nothing to prove, consequently he ends up proving nothing. He will do a little here and there if it suits him but in the end it really would not matter if he was there or not.
As a Christian I believe I do have something to prove. Not to the point that I am a pain to be around, but in that as a Christian i should strive to be the best at everything I do. I believe God has called us to excellence not mediocrity, therefore my actions stem from my love for God. 1 Peter 4:11
2. Mr. got to prove everything
There is another type of "that guy" you may find him in the corridors after church trying to tell the pastor how great his sermon would have been if he would have only incorporated the correlation between VISA credit cards and the mark of the beast. Or you may find him at a local drinking establishment gently explaining (at the top of his voice through a megaphone he stole/borrowed from his local youth pastor) how everyone within a 1/4 mile radius is going to hell.
Of course, we do have something to prove; we do want to be the light in the darkness. Sometimes, however, we Christians make something out of nothing. Not all of us do it, but seriously if you have ever seen the videos on youtube of Joel Osteen played backwards (that's right it's not your mommas backwards-masking anymore) you would see what I mean. There is too much wrong in the world for me to spend time being the guy who is afraid to buy the new Kirk Cameron movie because of what some well meaning paranoid schizophrenic saw in the flames of the house. (don't look for that one I just made it up)
3. Funny guy
Now we all know I'm funny, but sometimes I overdo it. Well if you were to ask my lovely wife, I overdo it a lot. I know I go to far, and I am learning to put it on hold when needed. Like Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time for everything. So make sure you laugh a little but don't make the mistake I have made, don't be "that guy."
4. Mr. Super-spiritual
You know him. You love him; maybe you are him. The one you go to for spiritual advice, but you make sure you have repented before so he doesn't read your mail. You know, the one who walks in and the room just feels lighter. He is spiritual, and this is not at all who I am talking about.
I'm talking about that guy who you dare not talk about angels around, or who if you mention the weather will tell you how it is in direct correlation to the spiritual climate of the nation. Then he will tell you how he was driving to bible study this week and the devil caused him to get a flat tire. (Never-mind that his tires are 10 years old and have never even been rotated.) You may find him hanging out with some guy who is still trying to prove that the backward-mask of the new U2 is thanking all the preachers by name who mention the band in their sermons. Mr. Super Spiritual will usually be found moving from church to church because that last one was just not "deep" enough for him.
So at the end of all this I know there are the good sides of these qualities, and I am seeing more and more that the guy God wants me to be is more clearly mapped out for us in the Gospels. So instead of trying to not be each of these guys I should really focus on being the person God created me to be. In the end it can all be summed up in love. Love God, Love people, if this is my foundation all the rest falls in rather nicely.
What about you? Have you ever been "that guy"? Maybe you are him or her now. Did I miss one? What guy would you add to the list?
No comments:
Post a Comment