Choosing to Cheat : Review
Book: Choosing to Cheat by Andy Stanley
I admit it, when Andy Stanley speaks I listen. It made perfect sense that one of the early purchases for my Kindle would be one of his writings. Choosing to Cheat offers a practical argument aimed at those who have workaholic tendencies. Andy addresses the tension felt between the drive for success in the workplace and the significance of healthy relationships at home and finding the balance point. "Work is about doing. Family is about being." We are created for both.
The underlying message is about priorities and addressing the gap between that can exist between what we say (family first) and what we do (time doing work). The title of his book comes from the premise that something has to give, and what gives is cheated. For workaholics, it is the family that is cheated. Family measures "love" by time. Too much time at work results in a family that feels unloved.
Church Attendance
Dear Pastor,
You often stress attendance at worship as being very important for a Christian, but I think a person has a right to miss now and then. I think every person ought to be excused for the following reasons and the number of times indicated:
- Christmas (Sunday before or after)--1
- New Year's (Party lasted too long)--1
- Easter (Get away for the holidays)--1
- July 4 (National holiday)--1
- Labor Day (Need to get away)--1
- Memorial Day (Visit hometown)--1
- School closing (Kids need a break)--1
- School opens (One last fling)--1
- Family reunions (Mine and wife's)--2
- Sleep late (Saturday night activities)--4
- Deaths in family--4
- Anniversary (Second honeymoon)--1
- Sickness (One for each family member)--5
- Business trips (A must)--3
- Vacation (3 weeks)--3
- Bad weather (Ice, snow, rain, clouds)--6
- Ball games--5
- Unexpected company (Can't walk out)--5
- Time changes (Spring ahead; fall back)--2
- Special on TV (Super Bowl, etc.)--3
Pastor, that leaves only two Sundays per year. So, you can count on us to be in church on the fourth Sunday in February and the third Sunday in August unless providentially hindered.
Sincerely,
Faithful Member
How the way I got saved can be a problem!
Years ago I was invited to tour the headquarters of Little Caesars pizza in downtown Detroit. As we were being shown the corporate facilities I was truly impressed. At one point we sat down with one of the executives and were given “the talk.” We were told the story of how Little Caesars began and how Mr. Ilitch (owner of Little Caesars and a couple of the Detroit sports teams) believed that there are 1001 ways to sell pizza. Now think about that, 1001 ways to sell pizza! How many can you name? The point is that there are many more ways to sell pizza than any of the current pizza companies have come up with.
I recently heard someone quote Craig Groeschel, Sr. Pastor of Lifechurch.tv, “If we are going to reach people that no one is reaching, we must use methods that no one is using.” I’ve been thinking…
One of the big outreach obstacles in the life of a church is the path that those who are already convinced took to get into the local church body. For example, those that came to a faith decision at a city wide crusade will tend to believe that that is how God wants everyone to come to faith. For those that came to faith on the street when someone walked up and shared God’s love with them, they will expect that street evangelism is the anointed means to the end. For those that accepted Christ in the living room of a believing neighbor, neighborhood relationships will be the way to share their faith. For those that came forward at the end of a Sunday service in response to an altar call, they believe that is the way outreach is supposed to take place.
We need to embrace the concept that Mr. Ilitch ‘preaches’ to the Little Caesars employees and keep thinking outside the box, searching for new ways to share the same unchanging message of God’s love. We can’t become so focused on the method, that we miss the opportunities to help others discover God and experience his power in life-changing ways.
Think Generations Ahead
On July 1, 1898, the United Kingdom began a 99 year lease of what is now known as Hong Kong from China. The lease expired on June 30, 1997. For decades the families living in Hong Kong were very well aware of the end date of the lease. Some families began putting money aside many decades before 1997. There were individuals who began putting money aside, not for their own departure from Hong Kong, not for their children's departure from Hong Kong, not even for their grandchildren's departure, but for their great-grandchildren's departure! They began saving for people whose parents hadn't even been born yet!
That is thinking generations ahead! That is thinking beyond themselves.
When God established His covenant with Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 15 he tells Abram through a dream that his descendants were going to be enslaved for 400 years but then they would come out of the slavery and experience God's blessing.
I may have forgotten some things about when the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians, and I've not gone back and reread the entire account before Moses led them out of Egypt. I do remember the Israelites complaining about being slaves. I do not remember ever reading about the Israelites ever comforting each other and saying, 'Just 321 years to go and our descendants will be free and experience God's blessing!' I could be wrong.
I once heard someone say that the Church is the only organization that exists for those who are not in it. Once they get in, it no longer is about them, it remains about those who are not yet in.
The question I've been wrestling with lately, Am I living with my own end in mind, or am I living with the end in mind of people I've not yet met? Am I investing in someone else's future, someone I don't yet know, or am I trying to make the world about me, my comfort, my preferences?
It is my prayer that I can live a life that is so farsighted that I make decisions that will positively impact people generations ahead.
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