Life's Not A Competition

The first time I got up close and personal with Hillsong United was last year when I was invited to attend a press conference they were holding in Johannesburg, South Africa. I went, but I was very skeptical, from the outside all I'd seen of Hillsong United was flashing lights, big shows and loud music. I was very suprised at the press conference when I found myself responding to them as people. Glimpsing a little bit of the heart behind Hillsong United I realised that they're really not about flashing lights, big shows and loud music. I realised that day Hillsong United were really about God and spreading his love.


Last night, I was invited to watch The I Heart Revolution, "We're all in this together" documentary and once again I went dragging my feet. I thought I'd have to sit through 10 - 12 music videos by the band so I went thinking of an exit strategy. I didn't need it in the end. The film isn't about the music, it's about the stories that every person has to tell and whether each one of us wants to become involved in another's stories or remain in a world where we are number one.


The first thing that gripped me about the film was that they weren't talking about themselves but about God, about love, about being the church. I liked that, it resonated with me, it's what I'm trying to do. And it challenged me. It challenged me to take living love up a notch. It challenged me to open my eyes and my heart a fresh to the people around me and it made me think how I often look at the world upside down. One of the lines in the film that had the most impact me was something along the lines of, "We may be part of the human race BUT it's not a competition."


How different would the world look if we realised that all things should be equal. That if one person wins all the others all lose. It made me think about how Jesus said, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last..." It made me wonder when did we begin to think a new car or a house or the latest brand name clothing, food, technology would help us win the human race? And how different would the world look if we were happy to come in second, happy to share everything we had because having it didn't somehow help us "win".


Somewhere towards the end of the film I started to wonder if I shouldn't play the I-heart Revolution doccie every morning when I wake up to remind me who I am (loved by God) and how I should live (loving others). I wondered if I suffer from some kind of spiritual amnesia like that girl in 50 First Dates who has be reminded about the love that found her and the mess that she can leave behind by watching a video of her life every morning.

After the movie, I went home and prayed God would tattoo love onto my heart so I can never forget that love that he has shown us. Perhaps the Bible says it best: God is Love. Love is God. Puts a whole new slant on that well known scripture in 1 Corinthians 13: 4- 8 doesn't it..."God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails." (NIV Paraphrase) Does that sound like the God you know? Does it sound like the God you are revealing to the world?


For me, The I Heart Revolution, put me in awe again of the love God has for us, his love which can never be measured but only demonstrated, his love which we often toss away in honour of living the "right" way. And the movie made me want to find more practical ways of showing God's love to the people around me. I'm only one person but I can love.

I've decided to start in the work place where I spend most of my day. I asked God what loving people in the office looks like. He replied 1 Corinthians 13:4 - 8: "In the office love is patient, kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. In the office love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. In the office love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And love never fails."


I realised love looks the same everywhere. It looks like God. It looks like a man dying on a cross. It looks like a mother holding the hand of a child as they cross the street. It looks like a kid who wasn't being picked on standing up to the school yard bully. Love looks like a meal to starving person. It looks like a kind word in the office. Love looks like me.


If you want more information on the I-heart revolution go to: i-heart.org