The Baseline of Life
Mid-April is usually the time for our annual Q1 quarterly performance review meetings. As my two companies and one nonprofit continue to grow and prosper, the stress level for the teams inevitably rises accordingly. It is therefore customary for me to deliver my “facts of life” talk to remind all teams regarding “the baseline of life.”
Our world is a fallen world, full of injustices, evil, trauma, natural disasters, human failings, killings, and sickness of all kinds. These make up the baseline of our lives. The objective or the goal to live a peaceful and smooth-sailing life is not realistic and to be a perfectionist is even a more ridiculous aspiration. It is all part of the absurdism of life that I have written about before. However, the pop culture myth peddled by self-help gurus appeals to our can-do mentality and the belief that we can control our own destinies. Can we, really?
It is also my observation that most Christians believe that as long as they are faithful and obedient, then life should be good and full of blessings. With that assumption, it is no wonder so many Christians are in need to see a therapist whenever they cannot find a parking space in a parking lot.
Well, I used to believe that nonsense too. #beentheredonethat
Only people who have experienced severe illness or the death of a loved one can truly understand what it means by “life sucks.” That does not mean that we need to succumb to the reality but rather to learn to face the fallen world with peace and joy that come from our identity being replaced by the character and personality of Christ. While we cannot control our external circumstances, we can control and train how we respond to them, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Only people who have experienced severe illness or the death of a loved one can truly understand what it means by “life sucks.” That does not mean that we need to succumb to the reality but rather to learn to face the fallen world with peace and joy that come from our identity being replaced by the character and personality of Christ. While we cannot control our external circumstances, we can control and train how we respond to them, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I told my teams that when we turn on our computers or mobile phones every day, we are bombarded with terrible news, more problems that have occurred at work, increasing disappointments in our lives, etc. For most companies, the management or owners demand perfection or problem-free operations. Employees are crucified whenever they make mistakes. In our companies, we embrace the problems and treat mistakes as another opportunity to learn and improve. If we don’t commit the same mistakes repeatedly, every successful solution to a problem is a chance to experience joy and satisfaction. You see, that’s why we need people to work in businesses. Solving problems is the essence of business. No problem, no need for businesses. And like our companies, the more successful we are, the more problems we will encounter. I can loudly declare that it is, in fact, a sign of a healthy business. Can you see how calming that can be coming from a founder? Having problems is not the problem. Having repeated problems or the inability to solve problems is the problem.
My encouragement is for us to read chapters 21 & 22 of Revelation every day to remind us of the promise of the new heaven, new earth, and the new Jerusalem when our current fallen world will be redeemed and renewed. Jesus Christ engaged with our fallen world with grace and likewise, we should love all our neighbors as ourselves including our enemies, regardless of how broken the circumstances. The law of the spirit will set us free when we face all the trauma and inequities in our daily lives. We should not be anxious and be stressful. We have hope in Jesus Christ that will bring us to the reality of the new Jerusalem. May the Holy Spirit continues to guide us in understanding God’s promise to humanity.