A churchplanter’s missional influence in the lives of those “least likely to go to church”.

Presence over Performance

September 16th, 2008 Posted in Faith, Bible, Culture

Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I am finishing a book titled Lone Survivor written by Marcus Luttrell about him being the only survivor of the worst attack on U.S. special forces in

Afghanistan.  Luttrell writes concerning that specific attack but he includes great detail concerning the training he went through to become a NAVY SEAL specifically the third week of SEAL training called “HELL WEEK”.  The mission of NAVY SEALs is to operate in unconventional warfare conducting small unit, high impact missions and spefically now are engaged in active pursuit of elusive, dangerous and high-priority terrorist targets has them operating in remote, mountainous regions of Afghanistan, and in cities torn by factional violence, such as Baghdad, Iraq.

 In light of their mission, the most famous and worst week of their training, called HELL WEEK, takes them to their physical, mental and emotional limits for the purpose of seeing what they can endure with the least amount of recuperation.  Only 25% of those that enter this week complete the week.  It is 5 ½ days of continuous training with only 4 hours of sleep total over the 5 ½ days.  It is constant drills, pushups, situps and running in and through sand and water while their teams carries either a telephone pole or a small boat.   

In contrast to the preparation of the Navy SEALS for their mission, God’s preparation for us to complete the mission He has given us it the antithesis of their preparation.  For us to complete the mission God has given us, we must pull back away from pushing our lives to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual limits.  God lays down some principles in His word that directs us away from pushing our lives to the limits so we can have the consistent, serial recuperation necessary to be effective in what He has for us in this life. 

Jesus encourages us to focus on Presence over Performance!

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  1. One Response to “Presence over Performance”

  2. By Mark on Oct 2, 2008

    There is another amazing book that you must read called “House to House: A soldier’s memoir” by SSG David Bellavia. This man struggles with his faith during war…and it is an emotional journey. I highly suggest you read it.

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