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I used to think kindergarten was pronounced kindee-garden.

I used to think all tall people played basketball.

I used to think girls got pregnant if you kissed them.

I used to think drinking a Diet Coke with a super-sized Big Mac meal would help you lose weight.

I used to think my ability to do good and be good is what gave me a place in God’s family.

I could keep going…

Because there are a lot of stupid things I used to think.

Apparently, I’m not the only one.

There’s a website dedicated to sharing the stupid things we used to think: http://www.iusedtobestupid.com/

In a recent submission, someone shared, “When I was little I thought ‘Dead End’ signs meant if you went down that road you would die. We got lost one time and I screamed for my mother and father to turn around on another road because I wasn’t ready to die.”

I bet you have some things you could share too…

You’ve had some pretty stupid thoughts, right?

Here’s the good news: God has blessed us with the ability to change, learn, grow—to be renewed.

What a blessing that is!

“Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind.” —Ephesians 4.23 (AMP)

It’s easy to laugh about the stupid things we USED TO THINK.

The truth is, we’re SILL THINKING some stupid things (and that’s not as easy to laugh about).

As we continue to be renewed, we will have new “I USED TO THINK” things to share on the http://www.iusedtobestupid.com/ website.

We’re still changing, learning, growing, and being renewed…

And that’s a blessing!

PS
I’d love to hear some of the stupid things you used to think.
Share some of yours in the comment section below!

I read something the other day from graphic designer Jonathan Lawrence…

He said, “Remember, you’re not here because you’re like everyone else. You’re here because you’re you.”

I love it. Uniqueness and Unity are not opposite qualities.

It’s not one at the expense of the other.

It’s not one or the other.

Quoting Jonathan Lawrence again, “When you’re part of a team, you can’t worry about what part you play. Just play. The best idea wins, no matter where it comes from. And it’s your job, as a member of that team, to help execute that idea to THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITIES.”

This reminds me of some phrases out of Ephesians chapter 4 in the Message Bible…

“You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction.”

“Stay together—both outwardly and inwardly.”

“But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same.”

“Each of us is given his own gift.”

You are here because you’re you.

And we need YOU…

The real you—the you who is uniquely graced and gifted by God.

(picture below is a print by Jonathan Lawrence)

When I was in elementary school, I noticed how some of the middle school kids were getting braces.

For whatever reason, the ones I noticed all seemed to be cool, popular kids.

I wanted to be like them…

So I wanted braces too.

I bent a paperclip and fashioned it into a homemade retainer.

Funny, huh?

Sometimes we try so hard to fit in, be popular, and look like a cool kid.

We copy and emulate. We want to blend in and we do our best to not stand out.

Ephesians chapter 4 has this big section of verses about unity. It says things like…

“You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction.”

“Stay together—both outwardly and inwardly.”

“You have one faith, one God.”

Then it says something fascinating…

“But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same.”

“Each of us is given his own gift.”

This is big. And I don’t think people understand it.

Being unified and being unique are not opposites.

It’s not one or the other… unique OR unified.

It’s not one at the expense of the other…

Not unity AT THE EXPENSE OF uniqueness, or uniqueness AT THE EXPENSE OF unity.

It’s unique AND unified. That’s what God has for us.

We’re working together—serving the same God, on the same mission.

We’re on the same page.

We’re one.

AND we’re uniquely gifted, graced, and empowered by God.

We’re not copying and emulating.

We aren’t afraid to stand out.

We are unified and unique.

I just got back from a vacation in Iceland.

Sound weird? I think it probably does… but we loved it.

One of my favorite pictures from our trip is of the Hallgrímskirkja.

Huh? The what?

Yeah, Icelandic words are difficult (and that one is actually pretty small and easy compared to others).

Anyway, the Hallgrímskirkja is a church.

It’s the most iconic, recognizable building in Reykjavík—the capital city of Iceland.

And it’s one of those places “you just have to visit” when you’re there.

The architecture is unique. The building definitely stands out in the city—it captures your attention.

For about $4.00 you can take the elevator up to the 20th floor of its tower and enjoy the incredible views of downtown Reykjavík.

What I’ve just described to you… that’s what this church, the Hallgrímskirkja, is known for.

Look it up on Wikipedia. There’s no discussion about ministry or outreach or children or young people.

When you’re in Iceland and you hear people describe the Hallgrímskirkja, you get the sense that its $4.00 elevator to a scenic view is what it’s all about.

Paul the Apostle, writing to the Ephesians, said, “I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” (Ephesians 4.1 NLT)

Somehow, I doubt the Hallgrímskirkja’s calling or purpose was really to provide an elevator service for scenic views.

But the church is still there. It exists. It’s open for business. And money comes in every day.

People know about it—not for its calling or purpose—but for something else.

This can happen in our lives too.

We can be present. Existing. Functioning. Taking in money.

People might even know about us—not for our calling or purpose—but for something else.

This is why Paul begged…

“Lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”

It’s about more than being present, existing, functioning, and taking in money.

It’s about purpose and calling—God’s design and plan for our lives.

Don’t be like the Hallgrímskirkja and its elevator.

Live for something more.

You are blessed with purpose!

Lead a life worthy of your calling—for you have been called by God.

When I was 16, I was the proud owner of a 1980 Mustang.

I should clarify—that’s the really ugly Mustang, not a cool one. It was a faded yellow color, with plenty of scrapes, dents, and marks. Basically, it looked like a bruised banana…

But it was my first car and I was happy to have wheels.

I took my girlfriend (Shari Overby) on a date to Armando’s Pizza in Renton.

On the way back to her house, the Mustang’s stick shift froze between second and third gear—right in the middle of an intersection. The car was stuck in neutral and I couldn’t do anything about it.

Other cars started honking at me. I was stressed and embarrassed.

I didn’t know what to do, but I had to do something…

So I got out of the car, asked Shari to sit in the driver’s seat and steer—while I pushed the car.

There was another problem—we could only go uphill and there was no place to pull off the road. On one side, there was a big curb and a sidewalk, and the other side had a rounded curb with an island or a median.

Shari asked where I wanted her to steer car.

I didn’t have time to think. I just answered, “Up on the median.”

Then I pushed.

I pushed the car uphill, trying to get as much speed as possible so the momentum would keep the car going when it hit the rounded curb.

To my surprise, the front tires made it onto the median!

I kept pushing. Soon, the whole car was off the road and sitting on that island.

Shari was impressed. I was impressed.

Honestly, I didn’t think I was strong enough to do it.

Back then, I weighed 132lbs and was as tall as I am now (I was skinny).

So, I discovered something that day: I’m stronger than I thought.

The Apostle Paul prayed for us (the church) saying,
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit.” (Ephesians 3.16 NLT)

He concluded this prayer with,
“All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3.20 NLT)

I think we tend to underestimate our strength and capacity to handle the challenges in front of us.

We often feel as if we’re not strong enough.

I want you to know something today…

YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK.

You can handle the challenge.

You’ll make it through.

God is giving you strength on the inside.

He can do more than we could ever imagine—and He’s working in us and through us.

Because of Him, you’re stronger than you think.

If you’re on a sports team, it matters…

Your teammates either count it against you or to your credit.

They feel like you either deserve to be on the team, or you deserve to go.

Concerning themselves, they believe they worked hard to get there and earned their place on the team.

They tell stories about you—like, “He’s only on the team because his dad is friends with the coach.”

They constantly compare. They keep score. They tally the stats. They keep track.

If you’re on a sports team, it matters how you got there…

And it matters how you perform if you’re gonna stay there.

In God’s Kingdom and God’s House it’s different.

“This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building.” (Ephesians 2.19 MSG)

Did you catch that?

YOU BELONG HERE.

You belong in God’s family, in God’s house.

You are part of what He is building and doing, regardless of your past.

He’s using us all—IRRESPECTIVE OF HOW WE GOT HERE.

I love that.

Your past isn’t the defining issue…

And quite frankly, your performance isn’t the defining issue.

It doesn’t matter how you got here.

You’re here now.

And you belong.

I grew up watching Sesame Street.

One of the reoccurring learning segments on the show was “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others.”

Remember it? The song went…

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Three of these things belong together
Three of these things are kind of the same
Can you guess which one of these doesn’t belong here?
Now it’s time to play our game.

The point of the lesson was to help kids identify the differences between shapes.

Unfortunately, many of us go through life singing that song about ourselves—feeling like we are the one not like the others…

The one that doesn’t belong.

In God’s Kingdom—in the church, we need to unlearn this Sesame Street lesson.

In God’s Kingdom—in the church, the lesson is: YOU BELONG.

You belong. You fit. You’re wanted and needed.

You have a place, by design, in God’s house.

In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul describes how Jesus tore down the wall separating the insiders from the outsiders.

“Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.” (Ephesians 2.15 MSG)

It’s no longer “one thing is not like the other.”

It’s now “YOU BELONG.”

“This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building.” (Ephesians 2.19 MSG)

Did you catch that?

YOU BELONG HERE.

You belong in God’s family, in God’s house.

You are part of what He is building and doing, regardless of your past.

One of these things is not like the others?

Not in God’s house…

You belong, we belong.

Who would you give a second chance?

How about Chris Brown? Mel Gibson? Casey Anthony? Mike Tyson? Monica Lewinsky?

There is an organization called POTSC (People of the Second Chance)…

They are a community of second chancers committed to unleashing radical grace everyday—in every moment, for everyone. POTSC are advocates for mercy over judgment.

In 2011, they ran a campaign called “Never Beyond.” They made limited edition prints (posters) representing well-known historical, current, and fictional characters who have harmed society. The campaign engaged people with the question, “Who Would You Give A Second Chance?”

These posters draw on themes of forgiveness, grace, and what a pathway to a second chance looks like. Their point: we’re never beyond a second chance.

Do you remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal?

Of course you do. It’s what you think of when you hear her name.

Did you know she recently got a master’s degree in social psychology?

Did you know that she has also been a fashion designer—owning and operating a handbag company?

At the start of 2000, Monica began appearing in commercials for Jenny Craig. It was a $1 million endorsement deal. Despite her desire to return to a more private life, she took the deal—needing the money to pay off legal fees. The choice of Lewinsky as a role model ended up being controversial for Jenny Craig, and a number of its franchises switched to an older advertising campaign. The company stopped running the Lewinsky ads by February and paid her only $300,000 for her involvement.

I read that in 2005, she sold her handbag company and moved to London because “she could not escape the spotlight in the U.S., making both her professional and personal life difficult.”

Even though the scandal happened 15 years ago, it was impossible for Monica to get a second chance or a fresh start—not in this country anyway…

But that’s not how God’s Kingdom works.

With God, it’s A FRESH START FOR EVERYBODY (Ephesians 2.15 MSG).

What a blessing! We get a second chance, a fresh start, a new beginning.

This is Good News.

It’s Good News we receive—gladly.

It’s also Good News we must give—generously.

What am I saying?

I’m saying we need to give others (famous, infamous, and unknown) a second chance.

“No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards.” (2 Corinthians 5.16 GNT)

With God, it’s a fresh start for everybody—even Monica Lewinsky.

That’s how He rolls—and now that’s how we roll too.

There’s a corner store in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn that I’ve gone to many times.

It’s a typical corner store. Maybe you know the type…

It has everything.

They sell milk and bread, laundry detergent and bicycle padlocks. They carry snacks and cigarettes, pre-paid cell phones and subway passes. If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the store, they have it behind the counter.

Serious. It has everything.

Imagine a child going into this store and selecting some candy…

He walks up to the front counter and asks, “Can I get this Kit Kat Bar?”

The cashier says, “How much money do you have?”

“Thirty-five cents” the boy replies.

“I’m sorry, those are seventy-five cents. Why don’t you look around and find something else that’s cheaper.”

OK, stop. Let’s talk…

This little exchange is how most of us understand faith.

We want something. We hope we have enough faith for it. We fast and we pray. We make the right confessions. We memorize all the Bible promises.

And when we don’t get what we want, we assume we’ve brought a seventy-five cent candy bar to the cashier with only thirty-five cents of faith in our pocket.

There’s a problem with this picture of faith…

It’s all about us—what we have, what we bring, what we can afford, what we’ve earned—and it’s not about God.

This is unfortunately how most Christians view their faith. It’s an earnings-based, self-help, “pick yourself up by your bootstraps,” “do these things and you’ll be blessed” approach to life.

The truth is, you don’t even need God in this approach.

Let me offer another view:

“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus… All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing!” (Ephesians 2.7-9 MSG)

I wanna say that a little louder: WE DON’T PLAY THE MAJOR ROLE.

Going back to the story of the child wanting a Kit Kat bar, let’s change up the details of the story a bit…

The child is the son of the store owner.

He may not even realize it yet, but everything he has is the result of what his Father owns and provides for him.

He goes up to his dad and says, “Can I get this Kit Kat bar?”

Now, the Father may smile and say, “Yes!”

Another possibility—He might smile, but say, “Not now son.”

Confession time: I don’t always get what I think I need—or what I want or ask for. I don’t always know the reason(s) either. I do know that my Heavenly Father is good, and every good thing I have comes from him.

Jesus, while talking about faith and asking God for things, used the example of children coming to their parents (not customers coming into a corner store with money in their pockets).

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7.9-11 NLT)

So, for a quick review:

• We don’t play the major role.

• God isn’t some cosmic corner store shopkeeper.

• He is our good Heavenly Father. Every good thing we have comes from Him.

• Even when He smiles and says, “Not now son,” He is still good and He is still our provider.

• It’s not about us—it’s not about seventy-five cent faith -vs- thirty-five cent faith. It’s about knowing who He is and who we are in relationship to Him.

I’d be one of the first to admit… the church is far from perfect.

It’s easy to make lists of church flaws, problems, flops, embarrassments, and disasters.

Unfortunately, we often get so focused on the ugly that we lose sight of the beauty.

The church is a beautiful body—scars and all.

“God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ…” (Ephesians 1.22, 23 NLT)

Did you catch that?

The church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ.

Yes, the church is marked with the scars of our failures…

And it is filled with Christ.

It is His body.

It is a beautiful body—scars and all.

Jesus spent time with his disciples after he rose from the grave.

He was fully alive, had conquered death, hell, and the grave… and he still had the scars in his hands and his side.

Our beautiful Savior—scars and all.

Those scars serve as a reminder that Jesus suffered for us and he is victorious.

Those scars serve as a reminder that with God, anything is possible.

Those scars serve to as a reminder that God is OK with our scars.

I know the church isn’t perfect.

You know it, and God knows too.

It’s actually kinda hard to say this, but I know it’s true…

God sees us (the church) as the beautiful body of Christ—scars and all.

I think God wants us to see what he sees.

I believe He wants to remind us, “Don’t get so focused on the ugly that you lose sight of the beauty.”

The church is a beautiful body—scars and all.