Nothin’
A few days ago I was sitting around at the PC (as usual) with a movie playing on another system as background noise. The movie of choice was "Office Space". Office Space (Rated R) is about a mid to late twenty-something named Peter Gibbons who’s burned out with his job at Initech (Yeah..burned out at 26?).
Peter’s problem as he sees it, is that his job is a routine of tedious tasks, he’s micro-managed by multiple layers of management, and aside from his friends Michael (Bolton) & Samir; he’s surrounded by a host of quirky co-workers that he would probably categorize (Proverbs 16:18) as corporate sheep. To top it off, he detests his boss Bill Lumbergh (Romans 13:1). Peter basically has become disillusioned with how his life has turned out to this point. His expectations and dreams are not on track. He wakes up every morning and trudges into the office with his funky attitude (Ephesians 4:22-24).
As I said Office Space was really just on as background noise however, I picked up on a piece of dialog from the movie that spoke to me and prompted this post. The scene…
Peter’s back at his apartment and is visited by his neighbor Lawrence. (Diedrech Bader: Rex Kwan Do of Napolean Dynamite and Oswald Harvey Lee of The Drew Carey Show) in their conversation, Peter daydreams about getting out of his rut. Thinking out loud, he asks Lawrence:
Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
Lawrence: I’ll tell you what I’d do, man: (I’ll let you figure this part out)
Peter Gibbons: That’s it? If you had a million dollars, you’d (I’ll let you figure this part out)?
Lawrence: D*** straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; ’cause ****** dig dudes with money.
Peter Gibbons: Well, not all ******.
Lawrence: Well, the type of …. like me do.
Peter Gibbons: Good point.
Lawrence: Well, what about you now? what would you do?
Peter Gibbons: Besides …""?
Lawrence: Well, yeah.
Peter Gibbons: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter Gibbons: I would relax… I would sit on my (butt) all day… I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well, you don’t need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he’s broke, don’t do (squat).
There’s some truths to that last line uttered by Lawrence. Not all of us have such a simple want as Pete, should we instantly come into financial riches. More likely we would go on a cruise, travel, help someone less fortunate, invest, put away for our kid’s college fund. The list is endless and depends on who you are and to some extent how you’re life experiences have molded your thought process towards money. The thing that is sought, at least in Peter’s eyes is some type of happiness to achieve through his equation of having a specific sum of money.
Contentment is of course an obvious Biblical principle that comes to mind, there is however another perspective regarding Lawrence’s statement: "Well, you don’t need a million dollars to do nothing, man. …" We sometimes take on this same mentality in our walk with Christ, coming in the form of thoughts such as:
- "Oh Lord, if you would bless me with (insert "magic pill"), I could then focus more on you because I wouldn’t have (insert name of your "burdens") to deal with."
- "Oh Lord, if we just had more attendees, we could spread the word mo betta’ for you".
- "Oh Lord, if our building was as big as the 1st Assembly of United Holy Rollers, we could do great works for the building of your kingdom."
At my church there at the end of service is a hymn of invitation for folks to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, the hymn is by Charlotte Elliot and is titled: "Just As I Am, Without One Plea". I think the title kind of sums up how our attitudes need to be with Christ. We just need to let Jesus work the kinks out of our hearts as they are, and not try to take back His atonement for our sins by using excuses to cover our shortcomings, weaknesses, or fears.
Just as I Am, Without One Plea
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee Whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.Just as I am Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Grace and peace be with you.