GO FOR IT!

In this blog I want to deal briefly with a couple of thoughts. Both of these were things that other great leaders challenged me in.

1)The thing that makes you different from everyone else is the thing that makes you powerful.

This reality is equally comforting and challenging.
Comfort: There is no pressure for me to fit in. (What a relief it is to be able to be me.)
Challenge: The culture of carbon copy makes it hard for me to boldly stand out.

One of my favorite verses is in 1 Peter 2:9-10, it tells us that we are chosen, royalty, called out, and peculiar generation. The word peculiar means to be different like two shoes that are completely different. It is those who discover their unique factor, that thing that separates them from everybody else that makes them impacting.Those who insist on being similar to the point of blending into the background are ignored. Here is what one pastor who pastors one of the fastest growing Churches in America in Charlotte, North Carolina recently said.

Juno wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award because it was just like the other movies…it was recognized because it was different. Quirky.

Kurt Cobain didn’t spark an entire musical movement because Nevermind sounded just like all the other albums of the early nineties. His legacy was his uniqueness.

I didn’t marry my wife because she was just like the other girls. I married her precisely because she was an anomaly.

It’s too bad that our educational systems (and more specifically, our Bible colleges and seminaries) are typically focused on mass producing mediocrity rather than custom designing excellence.

As for you: if you ever put your finger on what makes you different-maybe even a little bit strange- you’ve just discovered the reason you were born. And you’re well on your way to greatness.

Society is not attracted to sameness, yet the Church celebrates sameness. They sing the same songs, do the same rituals, and dress alike and then expect everyone to be like them. Cloning didn't start with science it started in the Church. We are not called to conform but transform and you can't transform if you are trying to be like everybody else. This comes with a warning label: If you are different, you will be criticized, frowned upon, and persecuted, but know this, what is different about about reveals a side of God that others have never seen. I am asking God to help me discover and deploy the uniqueness of my life.

2) Making your life count.

* God is challenging me to make my life count for something, I don't want to die never having accomplished something great. The richest place in the world is not Fort Knox, it is the graveyards. There lies unwritten songs, history unfulfilled, stories never told and great exploits never done. I don't want to die with greatness still inside of me. I want to go for it! Take risk, dream big, reach for the impossible, and step out of normality and sameness. Jesus Christ didn't die for me to be average, He died for me to make my life count!

* As I evaluate my life I realize I have played it safe. One of my Mentors challenged years ago with this statement, "If what you have in your hands is enough to accomplish your dream, it is not a God dream". In other words if you can do it without God's supernatural intervention, then you need to evaluate whether your dream is from God or not. I was born to do something great, something never done. One leader challenged me today, to take the limits off, think outside the box, do like Abraham who went out not knowing where he was going. God told him to leave his country, his people, and his father's house and go to the land I will show you. I can imagine Abraham asking God, "Where am I going". God answered I will tell you when you get there.

Most of us want God to show us and then we will go, but God told Abraham go and I will show. Step out in faith, do something that will require God's help, GO and God will SHOW! If you will step out God will rock your world!