“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’”
I have a heart for the ideal, but usually act as a pragmatist. I embody a tension between romanticism and realism. Sometimes both suffer, but often they cross pollinate and create something beautiful. As a young seminarian I had a deeply felt pull to follow St. Francis, give away all my possessions, leave seminary, and live poor with the poor. My spiritual director wisely affirmed the desire, but took several months with me to unpack and explore that desire. Love, justice, and simplicity were there at the heart, but self-aggrandizement, radical independence, and fear of commitment to my vocation and the church were also there. I discovered that there are many ways to live a life that doesn’t make sense unless God and his love are real. My promises of obedience, simplicity of life, and celibacy were just as radical and were at the same time, perhaps, more concrete and more pragmatic. The beauty of holiness is that it embodies both the ideal (“Be perfect just as your Heavenly Father is perfect”) and the pragmatic and concrete (“Love your neighbor as yourself”). Neither, without the other, is complete. Both are necessary.
The rich man in today’s parable is a pragmatist unhinged from idealism. There’s nothing to balance or challenge his self interest. What to do? Obviously, tear down my too small barns and build bigger ones to hold the fruits of my labors: expand my capacity to accumulate more for myself. Security, independence, and comfort will be assured all the days of my life. As we hear, regrettably for him, that was his last day. It reminds me of the saying I first heard unironically three decades ago, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” There’s no idealism there, either. Most of us aren’t pure pragmatists like the rich man, thanks be to God. We don’t seek solely our own self interest. Love is important to us. Yet, complacency tends to seep in. My common tactics to hold idealism at bay include The Delay, The Status Quo, and The Justification. The Delay: once I achieve a certain goal, then I’ll be in a position to do more. The Status Quo: I have made good decisions and I’m doing all I can. The Justification: I have already done so much that I don’t need to do more. In any area, “more” may be a quantity (e.g., spending more time in prayer), a change (e.g., praying differently), or depth (e.g., being authentic or transparent in prayer). More is a term for growth. The pragmatic needs the ideal to grow. The ideal needs the pragmatic to implement. Both are necessary.
One of the fruits of my trip to Kenya has already been to shake up my complacency. More time will be needed to reflect upon, deepen my understanding of, and discern God’s direction from this experience, but idealism has already been awakened for me in the areas of prayer, hospitality, community, sacrifice, service, and mission. In each area, somehow, I experienced the ideal more concretely. Specifically, God is calling me to grow in these areas of my own life. I am trying to parry with The Delay, The Status Quo, and The Justification, but God is skilled at piercing my heart and pricking my conscience. God and I will wrestle for a while, but I am sure something beautiful will emerge. Something that wouldn’t make sense unless God and his love are real. What shall I do? Something that matters to God.
Important Note: regrettably, scammers are becoming more savvy and specific. Within the past two years, especially, they have begun to target the relationship between pastor and church members by creating fake email and cell numbers in my name and contacting you seeking your help, which turns into a form of financial scam, most often through gift cards. I will never contact you seeking your help in this way. If you receive emails or texts claiming to be from me, please report them. If I ever do reach out to you legitimately, it will only be from my email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or my cell (502-558-8350), and will never be to solicit any form of immediate financial assistance. The scammers have yet to hack my email or contact list, however, we will continue to be vigilant and seek best practices for the security of digital information. Thanks.