Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.
“What do you want?” He inquired.
She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”“We can,” the brothers answered.
“You will indeed drink My cup,”Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:2–28)
I’ve written before about the call of the ocean and how we are enamoured with the idea of some huge quest or calling that will give our lives purpose and meaning. NT Wright has done some interesting scholarship around this and how it is very much a modern construct that your religion gives you a life purpose. When I first became a Christian, it was all about “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren and we did the worksheets and became obsessed with purpose and creating an overlay of meaning to the drudgery of our everyday lives.
We want to walk on the water like Peter in the Hillsong mega-hit “Oceans” and be led into some great future that lifts us out of the groans of exile.
I’ve just finished reading the sequel to “Courage to be Disliked” called “The Courage to Like Yourself” (Kishimi).It’s very Greek in its thinking and centres on Adlerian psychology. While it’s not Christian (and I think many of the views expressed are very humanist), it does make you think about your behaviours and why you are motivated to do the things you do.
The book talks a lot about “special-ness” and how we need to stand out and be rewarded through affirmation and external validation. For example, if you are a Pastor, you might be attracted to having a position and being recognised in the community and having your ideas communicated in a church. A Pastor is seen as being more “special” than an ordinary Joe Bloggs “sheep” or pew sitter. Now we know the Bible teaches us that we are children of God and made in the image of God but still we have parents that dream of their son becoming a Pastor or an Evangelist and having some role in the kingdom. We see this in the Mother’s Request scripture above. Why? Because it’s a special role. It has privilege and status and stand-out-ness that we humans are attracted to. It gives the individual purpose and meaning.
“The Courage to like Yourself” has a great chapter on “nothing days” and how we spend our nothing days when nothing much is happening and there are no valleys or mountain tops just—nothing. Now I think every day is important and God-appointed but I take his point–the boring drudgery will get you more than the Damascus Road experiences. A lot of people seek Revival meetings and spiritual experience because they find it difficult to walk out the everyday rhythms of simply walking with God. They’re simply bored.
I’ve spent a lot of time with God trying to get Him to zap me with some great blueprint of purpose and a quest that will give me an interesting life like the patriarchs but am I just trying to be special? Am I OK with an ordinary life peeling the potatoes and walking my dog and chopping my firewood and reading a book or two? Am I OK with being a sheep and drinking eight glasses of water a day and going about my business?
It’s something that I’ve been thinking about and checking myself on. Am I doing something to be externally validated or because it’s pleasing to God? Who am I trying to get affirmation or credit or praise from? Am I living for Jesus or other people?
That’s a lot of questions and I’ve enjoyed thinking about it and I thought I’d share it with you.
“…and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,” 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Lighthouse Keeper 
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