One of the most difficult things for me about turning 25 was realizing all the unmet expectations I had. Yet as I’ve learned over the past few weeks and years leading up to this birthday, God is still at work in the mundane, seemingly trivial matters of life as I strive to daily become more like Christ.
As I talk to many 20 something’s about where we are in life, there seems to always be a bit of restlessness and discontentment, and that happiness is ever eluding us, like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Even my leaving minneapolis for my “dream job” had a certain amount of discontentment as I was leaving so a many good friends for the wild, Wild West.
There’s a certain allure that comes from being in your 20s with your “whole life ahead of you” (as some people in the church have commented to me). Yet there’s also a great deal of loneliness as most 20 something’s have a very transient lifestyle, and many of us are always looking for something new to do and try and experience, whether that’s a new country, new church, or new bar on the other side of town. We all have great dreams and ambitions to be a world changer and are convinced that we could fix so many problems, if only we were in charge! I look at people like Francis Chan and David Platt who get to travel the world spreading the Gospel. And Mark Driscoll who planted one of the most successful churches in America, and then I look in the mirror and ask what about me?
Can I be next?
Can I write the next New York Times best seller?
Can I preach to thousands of people?
Can I record the next big album?
Yet as I sit here wallowing in self pity, I’m reminded that it’s not about me. I need the daily reminder to die to myself. I need to remember that I’m representing Christ to the world where I live. My sphere of influence may not be as big as the people I look up to, but I still have the people at church that I see every week. How can I, as John the Baptist said, decrease so that Christ can increase?
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story of a man who went on a journey, entrusting to each of his servants a certain number of talents. When the man returns from his journey, those who grew their talents were rewarded, while the one who hid his talents was cast out into darkness.
I can’t, and I shouldn’t try, to be the next Francis Chan, David Platt, or Mark Driscoll. I should try to be the best example of Christ that I can be, ever decreasing so that Christ may increase in me and through me.