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I’m currently reading a book by Michael Lewis called “The Big Short” about the financial collapse and the few people who were smart enough to see it coming. In Chapter 2 he tells the story of an investor named Michael Burry who made billions buying subprime mortgage credit default swaps. This article is not about this book necessarily but more about a statement that Burry made in his interview with Lewis. He describes the moment when his clients found out that he was investing their money by betting against a market that was currently booming. He started getting phone calls and pressure from them urging him to stop even though he had done nothing but make them money. He was growing frustrated by the phone calls because he found himself having to defend an idea.
Inadvertently, he’d opened up a debate with his own investors, which he counted among his least favorite activities. “I hated discussing ideas with investors,” he said. “because I then became a Defender of the Idea, and that influences your thought process.” Once you become and idea’s defender you have a hard time changing your mind about it.
One takeaway from this quote could be that he knew he was right and he stuck to his guns and in the end proved them all wrong, but I want to look at it from the other side. I believe many of us become stuck in our ideas because we spend so much time defending them to others.
As ministers of the gospel we are called to defend certain things non-negotiably, but I believe a big part of following Christ is having the ability to adapt and change when you feel God leading you.
If Abraham were like many of us he would have heard from God to sacrifice his son and never stopped to recognize that God had new direction for him once he got the top of the mountain. Paul and Silas would have continued on their journeys with their original schedule and not been sensitive to God wanting them to go a different direction.
We can fall into a trap of defending what we do and why we do it and close ourselves off to the idea that God might want us to do something different. It doesn’t mean we were wrong it just may mean that God had a plan for a season and he’s moved on to something else now while were still arguing about whether the model that was created 15 years ago is the best way to do church.
Why are we so quick to want to be categorized or lumped into camps. If you find yourself defending the ideas of: Purpose Driven or Pentecostal, Hymns or Worship, Seeker Sensitive or Bible Based, Casual Dress or Professional, you’re probably too late. God’s stopped worrying the Purpose Driven model back in the 70’s when he gave it to Rick Warren. Usually a good indicator for whether or not you are late to the idea is if they’ve had time to package it, sell it, and start a tour for you to hear it.
I’m not naïve enough to believe that when God gives you direction you aren’t going to have nay-sayers who come against you that force you to defend what you are hearing from God, but be careful that in your attempts to defend your ideas, you don’t lock yourself long term into something God intended to be short term.
About the author
Jason is the Teaching Pastor at River City Worship Center in Louisville KY, and owns a web development company Jbirdmedia. He wanted all boys until he had his daughter Sadie and now he wants 4 girls. You can follow him on twitter @jasonisaacs
The movement of God is always forward. We have been made to soar and to embrace our future as God sees it. Forwardleadership is designed to engage leaders who have tomorrow in their hearts. Thank you for visiting.
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