This week we are going to do a three part series that I’m calling “A Cover Up, a Party and a Calling.” We take different approaches to life, and each of these affects our ability to pursue our calling.
The first approach is what I call the Cover Up. This is the view that life is a rule book and we need to follow the rules, or at least appear that we are following the rules. We want to be a good person. We want to get a good grade for our life. So, it’s all about the rules. From a Christian perspective, this becomes all about being acceptable to God and winning His approval.
The Cover Up
There are several problems with this pursuit. The first and biggest is that we take on a critical spirit. Let me explain.
We are unable to completely follow all the rules. We have messed up, horribly, and we will mess up again. So this way of life becomes a game of Cover Up. It’s embarrassing to say the least. We’re all about the rules that we aren’t following so well. Some would call this hypocritical.
Our response is to hide, misdirect, and outright lie. We cover it up. We misdirect by focusing on others and how they aren’t doing it right. This keeps attention on other people so we don’t have to reveal or deal with our own shortcomings. This is the source of that critical spirit that we take on.
The second problem is that we become passive. If we are thinking critically of others all the time, what must they be thinking of us? If we took a risk and attempted something new, how much worse will they think of us if we do it wrong or fail at it?
The Problem
The reason that living a Cover Up hinders our calling is two fold:
1. We are focusing on others in a way that tears down rather than builds up
2. We take ourselves out of the game by living passively and avoiding risk.
The Solution
The solution is to put the rules in their right perspective. The rules are meant for protection and provision. They aren’t meant to give us a score card for our life.
For the Christian folks, I’ve seen the rules approach to God taken a lot, but I don’t believe it’s biblical. I hardly think Jesus came all the way down to earth to die on a cross just to keep us in line. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to restore our relationship with Him, and now we can take our focus off of the rules and back onto Jesus and His calling on our life. The rules, of course, don’t go away, but we don’t need to focus all our energy on avoiding sin.
In my own life, I find that I fall into the Cover Up way of living often. I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t need to earn approval from others or God. I don’t need approval from others because I already have God’s approval. It’s easy to get caught up Cover Up, and when it does, it hinders my ability to pursue my calling.
