Just Do It!
The “Just Do It” slogan for Nike is probably one of the most famous and well known slogans of any company. It was inspirational yet vague enough that anybody could apply it to whatever it was they were trying to aspire to do. I remember when the slogan came out in the late 1980’s and feeling like, as a kid, if I had a pair of Nikes it could “just do it”. I have shared in a previous blog how growing up I always wanted a pair of Nike shoes and how I could remember when I finally got my first pair. It was 1989 and they were a pair of Nike Air Max Lights. I remember trying on the shoes at the Footlocker and then never putting them back in the box because I was going to wear them home. I felt like I could run faster, jump higher, and play harder. The Nike brand to me was about being the best and I wanted to be the best. As an adult looking back I am amazed how a brand or even a slogan can seemingly change a kid’s whole outlook on life.
You don’t need a pair of Nikes to be the best that you can be, but changing your attitude and outlook on life can have a tremendous impact on how successful you can be. I think we would all like to be successful in life, but success is most often defined in terms of status among our peers or that we have obtained all that we need in life. That sort of success, however is not what I believe we are called to seek as Christians. In Matthew 6, Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount begins to preach on acts of mercy and piety, what we Methodists call means of grace. Jesus suggests to his listeners to shift their attitude towards how they both display those acts and how those acts will impact their lives. The aim for his followers with acts of mercy and grace should be to reveal the nature of God in them and through them. Interestingly, how Jesus defines success is different than what they have come to believe. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus says (and I am paraphrasing) that they should not worry or make their aim towards earthly necessities but seek God’s kingdom first and the necessities will be provided. Wow, that requires a lot of faith!
To be honest, I struggle a lot with this concept of the Christian faith. I am supposed to not worry about feeding myself or my family? I am supposed to not worry about paying the bills that provide for us a place to live? I am just to stop worrying? Yes, but how? The Sermon on the Mount was to be a backdrop for the social ethic of God’s Kingdom that Christians are supposed to be involved in building. Christ’s suggestions for how to live were to be the blueprints for how we can free ourselves from the burdens of this world. If no one stored treasures up for themselves and freely gave to those who had nothing, then who would be poor? If we loved our enemies as much as we loved ourselves, then who would be persecuted? If we put our trust fully in God, then who would be without purpose?
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with how we too can be blessed (happy), but are we willing to follow? Maybe the Nike slogan has the right idea and we need to “just do it”! Join us this Sunday at 8:30 or 10:45 AM as we continue this discussion.
In God’s grip,
Pastor Chuck Church
