echoes of redemption

Earlier this week I had a friend who was working on a survey of people around him that did not smoke.

The survey was for a class he is taking, and I say that because I think it’s important that you know I don’t have friends who superfluously survey those around them. Anyway, he had to find something about himself that was different than the people he was surveying.

He smokes a lot, I have only smoked experimentally, and even that was back when I was in high school.

After completing his questions, I wanted to attach a little caveat about my views on smoking. Here is what I said:

One more thought – as a follower of Jesus, I’m generally careful with anything that can become an addiction. This is one of the reasons I gave up espresso during lent. It had progressed from an enjoyable, every once in a while drink, to an every day need. And that’s not healthy. So for me, I don’t see anything socially or Biblically wrong with smoking. But when I see someone addicted to anything, I hurt for them because I believe that God created us to live free from all addictions.

I guess you could say it’s the thing behind the thing. I grew up in churches where smoking was bad… just ’cause. Of course the people telling me smoking was bad were addicted to coffee, sugar, overeating, sarcasm and a host of other things. But smoking was bad.

Maybe it goes into the story Jesus told about taking the log out of your own eye before you worry about the speck in another person’s eye. Maybe it ties in to not judging. But people who smoke socially or enjoy a cigar every now and then aren’t mine to judge. And as far as I can tell the espresso addiction I struggled with for two years was just as bad, if not worse.

Addiction to cigarettes hurts your lungs. Addiction to caffeine (espresso, soda, energy drinks) hurts your bones. Addiction to technology hurts your relationships. Addiction is addiction. It’s all bad, it’s all destructive.

So maybe what we need is grace.

Every day when you drive there are businesses and billboards clamoring for your time, attention and (ultimately) money.

It’s not hard to meet an entrepreneur  or MLM person who wants your dedication.

Hospitals, universities and churches all need your volunteerism and financial support.

Then there are causes: water, human trafficking and shoes – all of which need your voice to spread the word and commitment to make a difference.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget cookies, popcorn and candy bars sold by little kids whose clubs need a few extra bucks.

Nothing above is (in and of itself) bad.

But the world wont prioritize itself for you. And if you spend your life serving the voice that clamors loudest you will never experience the freedom of dedicating yourself to what God created you to do.

So plan wisely. Figure out what your heart was created to do – and pour your time, money and energy into those things.

Then the clamor isn’t overpowering.

And you can dedicate your life to what really matters.

It’s easy to talk about balance. Equality. Treating others better than yourself.

But when we come in contact with someone that balances us, it’s easier to be polarized than balanced.

Take politics.

The beauty of the American system is the balance two parties collaborating together brings. They balance each other out.

Somehow the political landscape was turned into a story of winning an losing. And things get dirty quick. People who are both fighting for good (in different ways) get cast as evil, and the mudslinging starts.

Or theology.

There is a lot to a God as big as the one who created the heavens and earth. He’s multifaceted. But a lot of theological camps back themselves into a sliver of beliefs and dismiss anyone who doesn’t agree with every nuance of their system.

The beauty and texture of God is lost in myopathy and unity is destroyed for the sake of being correct in a fabricated argument.

We’ve lost positive intent.

The foundational assumption that the other person is a human, struggling to understand and do what is right.

That when it comes to how their country is run, they want what’s best for themselves and their family.

That when it comes to what they believe about God, they want to understand and follow Him and that their beliefs are still being shaped.

That we are all in this together.

Positive intent demands humility. It demands that I think of others as better than myself. That I die to always having to be right.

It’s a resurrected way of living in a world that is dying in an inability to embrace diversity.