FollowBy Brian Sharpe
The first weekend of this month was our annual men’s retreat. We have been doing this version of our men’s retreat for the past 12 years, and it is one of my favorite event to participate with. I believe this year’s men’s retreat was one of the best we’ve had.
The reason I believe this year was one of the best is because of how I was challenged. I always love seeing the guys talk, laugh, and play games together. I always love hearing a room full of guys singing praises to our Maker. I usually enjoy the speakers. This year I learned from and was challenged by each of the sessions, especially the first, when Mike Verdonk spoke against passivity. He talked about how, for guys, passivity comes naturally because it is a product of the Fall. Adam modeled it and we all learned it.
I came from the retreat and was really challenged by the areas of passivity I saw in my life. The first morning I was back home we had to get the older kids up for school. My wife is great about getting up with them. No one in our house is a morning person (except for maybe Joel), so mornings can be stressful. Well, that Monday seemed to be a particularly stressful morning. I laid in bed and was listening to the morning unfold when suddenly I realized—I could help the situation. This was a good idea, in theory, until I started to act on my plan. The problem was I should have engaged a lot sooner, and it would have helped everyone involved, even myself. I waited too long and my stress level and the rest of the stress level in the house was too high. I reacted poorly and had a mess to clean up. This all started because of my selfish reaction to the morning. It really stinks (and is nice) when you get challenged and have to act on what you were challenged on. I needed to apologize to my wife and my kids, and I also realized I have to be more engaged in the mornings.
How often do we hear a message and think “this is something I needed to hear” and do nothing with the information given? James 1:22-23 tell us to not be just a hearer of the Word, but an effectual doer. We live in a country where we are able to hear as many messages as we want each day from as many different speaks as we like. We are not lacking on teaching; where we can lack is in the execution of what God is teaching us through these individuals and messages. I don’t know how many times I have gone to the men’s retreat, church, or any other event and heard a great message and have done nothing with the information that was given, that I had needed to hear and implement in my life. I need to be an effectual doer!
One practice that helps me is, when we are done hearing a message, we ask “What is one takeaway I want to implement?” See, I think we sometimes get bogged down with all the changes we want to make, then we don’t make any of them because we can get overwhelmed. This practice of taking away one thing is helpful because then I can focus my time and energy on one area verses many. At this point I am focused on asking the question, “Where am I passive when I should be engaged?” This is a result of what God is doing in me based on what I learned at the men’s retreat. If you were to ask yourself the question, “What is one thing God is teaching me?” what would you say?
Whenever we hear a message we need to ask “What is one thing God is trying to teach me?” We need to seek to be effectual doers, not just hears. God is always working in us; the question is, “Are we willing to act on what He is teaching us to do?”
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