Quick read, Lifelong application

On The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, by Tim Keller

Although self esteem is a buzzword from another era, we all know self hasn’t left center stage. At least I know from my own experience…

I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend one sunny day, when I suddenly caught myself looking into her sunglasses, not at her eyes, but at ME, warped in the rounded reflection.  Did I look good standing there, smiling as she talked?  Or did I have broccoli in my teeth?  

I’ve basked in self-obsession.

Another day, as worship music played during church, my voice joined in the lyrics, but my thoughts overruled with critiques: That leader is so much better than you. Don’t even try. 

I’ve wilted under self-accusation.

And on other occasions, I’ve heard the whisper: Aren’t you so offended by what that person just said to you? You don’t deserve that.  

I’ve retaliated in self-promotion.

Is there a way out from under the tyranny of Me, Myself, and I? It seems like an inescapable dilemma to be plagued by self, and that’s what first drew me to The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. 

Unpacking our sense of self, or ego, Tim Keller uses the analogy of a courtroom, based on 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7. Keller explains, throughout this pamphlet-sized book, that whether we view ourselves too highly or too lowly, neither frees us to have joy. The problem is: “Every single day, we are on trial.  That is the way that everyone’s identity works. And everything we do is providing evidence for the prosecution or evidence for the defense. Some days we feel we are winning the trial and other days we feel we are losing it.  But Paul says that he has found the secret.”   

There are some books that mark pivotal moments in our lives, and we are uniquely changed as a result of what we read. This was one of those books for me.

From Worldview to World News

On Love Thy Body, by Nancy Pearcey

I’ve often felt confused, saddened, and angered, all at once, about the state of our culture’s ethics. From abortion to gender transition to racism, the value of life and sense of self hang in the balance. But to be more than just reactionary and to grow in compassion, I’ve wanted to understand the thinking behind these issues. 

A moral action is not simply an isolated or random decision; a worldview has informed it, shaped it, expected it. Even if someone cannot articulate it, a certain worldview upholds their behavior. Nancy Pearcey writes in Love Thy Body, “Every practice comes with a worldview attached to it - one that many of us might not find true or attractive if we were aware of it.”  

Pearcey explains our current cultural worldview through a two-story building analogy, which she credits to Francis Schaeffer. Each story represents a division in worldview priority: science & facts in one story, vs. morality & values in the other. Throughout the book, she illustrates how this division exists in the popular cultural mindset as person vs. body. A person “has moral and legal standing” and the body is “an expendable biological organism”. From this worldview, actions once seen as immoral can be applauded by society as long as they support science over morality or the person over the body. 

I believe her writing can equip followers of Jesus to have: 

• more informed, compassionate conversations

• confidence that a biblical worldview unites the categories that our culture says are at odds with each other 

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Time: My thoughts about it & a resource for spending it

On Redeeming Your Time, by Jordan Raynor

I have a really hard time in an arcade (I’m sorry if you own one - maybe yours is different!). Call me snobby, but it’s an attack on my senses: the neon lights, the unrelated sounds altogether, the aroma of fries and sweat. Even worse, it’s an attack on my sense of justice: the games that you can never really beat and the ticket exchange. 

The ticket exchange. I may have waited on the fringe of the chaos while my boys were playing, but this is my moment. I willingly emerge from the sidelines to guide, to process, and to help them make the most informed choice. The glass checkout counter invites a long decision-making process, arranging the options from 2-ticket erasers to out-of-reach Xboxes. 

With only so many tickets to redeem, even if they strategically pool their resources, they’ve spent more for pencils, stickers, and slime than I’d ever agree to pay for those things. I have a really hard time in an arcade. 

But in life, how many minutes have I spent like arcade tickets, exchanging them for plastic prizes, as if that’s what time is worth? Time spent culminates into life spent. My spending of time is my spending of life itself, and when I turn in at the end of the day, I want to know that time was well-spent. I only have so much of it.

In Redeeming Your Time, Jordan Raynor examines Jesus’ life and extrapolates practical principles for living out our minutes, hours, and days to their fullest potential.  It’s a book filled with both grace and truth: grace, because a relationship with Christ isn’t about more productive days, and truth, because too often we carelessly waste our days without the thought of Christ.  

He gently and passionately explores topics like organizing commitments, filtering the use of technology, and enjoying our limited capacity. He writes like he’s inviting a friend into something he can’t wait for the friend to experience, not like someone analyzing your time card.  

My biggest take-away from Redeeming Your Time is the step he calls “Practice 3: Schedule deep-work appointments with yourself”. Deep work is a concept about important projects that demand all of your attention over a period of time, and we only have the ability to do a limited amount of deep work each day.  When I’m working on something that matters deeply and needs intense focus, I should schedule that at the time of day when I am my strongest self.  

So when is your energy highest, and what are you pouring it into during that time frame? Please don’t say arcades!