The "Ideal" Life

People have told me that I'm an "idealist".  This can mean a number of things but the most common comes in two packages: the first is that as an idealist I dream about things that aren't realistic and I shouldn't waste my time.  The second has more to do with being a visionary, someone who sees the "horizon" of things to come but aren't here just yet.

The world needs idealists because hope and creative imagination is often tied up in the minds and hearts of those who see and live and talk of things that are not yet manifest.  I believe that an idealist doesn't have to be someone who doesn't have any practical concerns--as always, balance is necessary.  In fact, I believe Jesus was an idealist in the best sense of the term.  He lived out something that was, in many ways, not fully realized.  He was a microcosm in human form of the Kingdom he kept talking about.  Wherever he went he did amazing things that often brought about strong reactions from others but he also talked about "things to come".  An idealist indeed.

I love a statement from Mark Driscoll that talks about ideals and values.  In it he describes the difference between the two: ideals are what we want and values are what we do.  This is what Driscoll writes:
"The trick to uncovering people's (churches) values is to assess how they invest their time, energy, money and passion.  What do they love and what do they hate?  What do they talk about?  What do they rally around?  But values can be tricky because they are often little more than ideals, what people merely wish they valued and cared for, what they are committed to in theory, but not in practise.  many vegetarians eat meat, environmentalists don't recycle, employees don't work and Christians don't read their Bibles.  Ideals are what you want; values are what you do.  Ideals become values only if they are lived out."

So for those who call Rock of Ages Church their home, what would you say are her ideals and values?

A great question--but a tough one too.

Here is what I want to want:  Psalm 37:4 "Delight in yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."  I want to want to be delighted in the LORD!  I want to find my life and hope and inspiration in Him.  I know I often don't go to him for these desires and so I ask Him to help me to have the desire to desire him.
Here is what I want to do:  James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says."  I want to hear the direction of God through His word and then put it into action.  It sounds so simple, but it is really a challenge spiritually.  Nevertheless, there it is--plain as day--what you see and hear, do it!

So coming back to ideals and values:  my prayer for myself and for everyone at Rock of Ages is this; "Lord help us to want the things that please you, and what pleases you most is when we simply desire you--to be with you, to spend time with you, to pay attention to you, to allow you opportunity to shape, and teach and train and really, just love on us!  Thank you for that.  But I also pray Lord that as our desires become shaped this would lead us to live out those desires--to do. May our lives reflect both the ideals and the values that you so perfectly model."

I wonder what your life will look like today?

BT