Youth, time, skill, money, position- some folks live to emphasize, preserve, celebrate and strive for these. They become the goal. The idea is that if we could only get more time, money or a higher position or better skill, we might be happier and have more purpose in life. Truth be told, these are tools for something else. They were never made to be the focus. There is higher purpose than these. They are means to an end, not an end. They are wonderful tools and terrible ends. They provide us access to do something else if we will allow them to. As such, we use what is available to live according to and strive toward our purpose. When we do that, these tools are wonderful blessings. When we forget this, they are terrible distractions. They can become distractions similar to the box on Christmas day. We’ve seen children on Christmas day that make us laugh when they play with the box more than the gift itself. Worse yet, we become enamored with the tools and feel like life is lost when we no longer have access to them.
We have likely all seen young, beautiful, rich and talented people who are miserable. The problem with this is not so much their misery. It is our culture- even us- who might be amazed at their misery, saying, “Why are they unhappy? If anyone should be content, it should be them.” Or, “they have everything going for them. It surprises me to see them struggle.” The problem is with the society that almost uniformly sees these tools as more than tools. It is to see these as intrinsic joy makers. It is not the people who possess the tools and under utilize them that should cause us alarm. It is the society that places too much intrinsic value in these tools.
What do we do with our youth and energy and time and money? How do we use our skill? How do we leverage our personality? What is the “big thing” we are pursuing? What does everything contribute to? If it is to increase our capacity and ability to love God and love others more deeply, we are in a very good place. If it is for something lesser, it is to waste perfectly good tools.
What prompts this blog was my conversation with Tim more than 2 years ago. Tim is quite successful in just about any definition of the word. He is a joy-filled Christian. He has a great marriage. He has wonderful adult children. He developed a company that truly benefits the world. He is rich. He has time on his hands since he has transferred his business to his children and faithful business partners. He uses his time and resource generously for others. He has a house in the midwest, a spacious place where he winters in the south and a vacation condo in Maui.
Marlene and I stayed in his summer guest house which is adjacent to his spacious summer home. He gave me the keys to his Jeep that had fewer than 100 miles on it. He said, “Use whatever you want. Treat this place like it is yours.” And, it became clear that he meant it. And, for the few days we were there, we did. It was clear that he had less stress than most people whom I meet regardless of their life circumstance. It was clear to me that all the stuff he had was not at all important to him. It did not at all define him. In conversation, he did not spend one minute talking about his successes, his wealth, his experiences and his profound education background (impressive education and achievements). In fact, anything that was exposed regarding these, was only exposed through my almost embarrassing interrogation methods. Instead, he wanted to talk about missions overseas. He lit up in talking about God and His grace. He humbly spoke with a tenor of thankfulness that bled through every conversation. He was excited about ways that he was discovering to better serve God and others. He admired people who were doing the right things with their lives and even more so those who were doing much with little. It was clear that his heroes were not conventional heroes.
We went for a walk together and I mention how refreshing his attitude was and how inspiring his joy was. I told him that his focus was liberating and purpose-filled. I mentioned that many people I know who have this kind of wealth, experience, skill, opportunity and time on their hands are not as joyful or as focused on the right things as he is. His response has stayed with me for two years now. He said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Everything I have is simply a tool to do something bigger. When the tools become the focus, they become worse than worthless. They become dangerous. A tool is made for something else. When we become fascinated with the tools themselves, we will use them. But, our use of them will not be good. It will be used for purposes that they were not created for.” He nailed it. And, as a result, he is one of the most joy-filled, impactful and purpose driven and loving people I have had the privilege of meeting. Thanks Tim.
We all have tools. What are yours? What are you doing with them?