When I worked at a large corporation, the catch phrase was, “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.” It was the phrase that anyone moving swiftly up the corporate ladder had invisibly tattooed on their forehead. It was the cultural norm that this way of doing business was the only way to really get any work done; at least the kind of work that gets you noticed and looked at for potential promotion.
I can remember multiple times that my leader would advise me to ask forgiveness rather than permission. It was like a loop hole in working with integrity; a way around never ending red tape and stamps of approval; the ultimate short cut to getting things done. I’ll admit, there have been times that asking for forgiveness rather than permission has ended up to be a good thing. But if taking a short cut becomes the only way I operate, I wonder how much I’m missing out on? How many opportunities for greatness are skipped over by my constant desire to get to the point quickly?
As I was thinking about short-cuts in general, I got to thinking where else in my life I may be shortchanging my potential.
For example, I struggle with my weight. But if I’m being totally honest, I don’t always eat right – I’m a terrible snacker and stress eater – and I don’t consistently get enough exercise. I’ve been known to watch what I eat and go to the gym religiously for two or three whole days and then get frustrated and give up when the scale doesn’t move fast enough. Basically I’m only putting a fraction of my focus on getting healthy while the rest of the time I’m eating whatever I want and continuing to sit on my couch rather than going to the gym. I’m not going to be very successful if my focus is so far out of balance.
Can you imagine how much healthier I’d be if those equations were reversed? I’d be on the cover of People magazine showcasing the grandma that looks like a 20 year old!
To take it a bit deeper, as a Christian I know that God has forgiven my sins and loves me even when I mess up. But that doesn’t give me the green light to keep sinning because I know I can ask God to forgive me afterwards. He would totally do it, by the way, it just doesn’t make it right.
Or what about the thinking that if I give God one day, every week, then I have the right to live the way I want the rest of the week. That’s like taking 86% of my life for me and leaving the remaining 14% for God. Here’s a question, if I only spend 14% of my time on something, will I really ever be that good at it? I’m living on the surface and never scratching any further to receive all that God has for me.
If I reversed that and gave God 86% of my time, can you imagine all that I could accomplish for Him and spreading the good news of His saving love? I’d be bigger than Billy Graham or Rick Warren!
Realistically, I don’t believe God has called me to lead huge stadiums of people to Him. But He has called me to study His word to learn everything I can about Him. He has called me to focus on keeping my eyes open for people I can help and be kind to. He has called me to live my life dedicated to Him more than only 14% of the time!
I can miss the whole point of why God created me and placed me in the world the way He did if I never dig deeper and seek to understand what God has for me to do and experience versus doing my own thing, knowing He’ll forgive me later.
If I’m living for myself rather than for God, its like I’m trying to take a short-cut through life. Following Jesus is hard work. It takes guts and tenacity. Being a Jesus follower isn’t popular. The world calls me judgmental when I am obedient to God’s word. I can’t coast through life as a Christian; not if I’m really doing the work God has called me to do. Being a Jesus follower means being fearless in this world because my ultimate destination is Heaven, not the upscale neighborhood or fancy schools or cars the world says I need to scramble for.
So what about you? Are you living life just on the surface? Are you taking the short-cut rather than doing the hard work of following Jesus? What is it in your life that needs to shift so your focus is more than just 14% on God? Are you ready? Let’s do this together!
There are no shortcuts to true excellence. – Angela Duckworth
