Archive for the ‘Narcissist?’ Category

1 Corinthians 13:11

The Church in Corinth was as gifted as she was wild.  She was Paul’s “wild child” and he desperately wanted her to grow up.  So, he wrote her a love poem.  But unlike many romantic poems, Paul’s was dripping with parental sarcasm.  His basic message was, “You’re gifted, but immature!”

Spiritually gifted immaturity may seem counterintuitive.  Surely God would not give big gifts to little children—or, would He?  

On my 9^th birthday, my dad gave me what every 9 year old boy needs—a BB gun!  Any gun (BB or otherwise) is a big responsibility, so dad gave me 3 rules:

1. Don’t shoot your eye out!  (Can you guess my favorite Christmas movie?)
2. Don’t shoot your little brother!!
3. Always shoot away from our house!!!

I spent my entire birthday afternoon shooting everything my father’s laws would allow.  As the sun dipped below the horizon and the shade of evening set in, I pumped up my air rifle and selected one final target.  By the time the rifle was at maximum air compression, a cardboard box on our backyard picnic table had caught my eye.  With gun pressed firmly to shoulder, I carefully set the sights and slowly squeezed the trigger.  A nanosecond before the BB flew from my “blue steel beauty” my father’s words rang through my head, “Always shoot away from our house!”  But it was too late.  The BB hit the target center mass and barely tapped the brakes before crashing into our back patio sliding glass door.  Safety glass crackling like thin ice summoned my father from his La-Z-Boy to my life-sized kaleidoscope. 

I lost the BB gun for a while but learned a person can be gifted and immature at the same time.  Gifts don’t make us mature—love does. 

Looking back over my last few years in ministry have left me wondering if I learned or am learning “the BB Gun Lesson“.  Perhaps Prodigal Pastors and Corinthians have this much in common—they shoot toward the house!

Jesus keeps giving me this one question maturity test:  “What’s more important to the Father—what you can do or who you can love?”  I know the right answer, but live like a 9 year old with a new BB gun.