Duct tape is probably one of the greatest inventions made by man. The old proverb goes “If it doesn’t work the first time, just add more!”
Imagine with me you are on the Apollo 13 in space and you have this huge problem. You have too much carbon dioxide (CO2), which is coming from your own exhalations. Without fixing this you are going to die.
You are talking to your teammates from NASA on earth which is comprised of some of the most genius people on earth. They, after much trouble shooting, tell you to just fix this life-threatening problem with duct tape. You then think to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of this before!” You just get so excited about this idea you actually take the time to text your friends, call your mom and post it on social media. Twice. You just found this great solution that will save your life!
The problem? (Besides probably not having service in space.) You never actually put the duct tape on. You got so caught up in this great idea and you didn’t act and fix the problem. It’s not that you didn’t have all the right knowledge you needed or that you weren’t equipped or qualified to do it, you just didn’t apply all those things that would have saved your life.
Luckily, in this real situation the astronauts on the Apollo 13 did apply the duct tape (along with other things) and made it home safely.
This brings up an interesting spiritual application. It is one thing that I have gotten the most out of School of Discipleship so far. Let’s dive into it!
You have to be a doer of the word. If we just know all the right things but it doesn’t change how we live, it’s of no value. Zero. This is one of the most prominent things I’m learning in School of Discipleship.
We can have all this head knowledge and know all the right things about the LORD, but if we don’t apply and practice what we know, we are on the wrong path. The Devil has better theology than all of us and yet is destined for an eternity in hell.
So often I find we will be stoked about missions. We will listen to all these great sermons, podcasts, read these great books and post on Facebook, “Go to all the earth and make disciples!” We love reading all these one-liners about missions and get so excited. The problem? We never leave our couch and make disciples.
So just like the example with the duct tape, we know exactly what we need to do, we know the Holy Spirit is living inside us, yet we don’t do it. It’s not a way of life for us. If anything it’s a special event.
We just went through the book Crazy Love, and one thing the author, Francis Chan, said was that we get so caught up in the Lord’s calling and wanting to do the perfect thing, we end up doing nothing. We don’t pray for hours and days on end to see if it’s the Lord’s calling to watch TV. We just do it. Why is it any different with things that we read in our Bibles? Just do something. After you start doing, then the Lord will reveal more and more what your calling is.
So my encouragement is, be bold and courageous and do what the Lord is calling you to do! Start small and be patient with yourself as you struggle to make change over time.
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