By Jim Nichols

I am interested in efficiency, as, perhaps, you are. It serves us well as functioning Americans at least if we have the resources. We are taught early in life at home and school to consider the options, make a plan, and conduct the plan. We were taught to be goal oriented. Admittedly, there were some more artistic (in the broadest sense) who rebelled and refused to adopt that pattern, but they were outside the norm.

Efficiency in meeting goals is a helpful way of dealing with modern culture. The value of competition has been drummed into us to such an extent that even the simplest parts of life (such as driving a car or learning a task) become a challenge in which we strive to be the winner. Corporate competition is one of the primary drivers of the American economy and, indeed, of the world.

A capitalistic and competitive worldview, for all its benefits, can warp otherwise logical people into something that they may not want to become. It can happen to you and me.

Starting from a quid pro quo, reward and punishment, and justice as retribution point or premise can shape fundamental relationships. We get trapped into “I deserve” and “You owe me” lifestyles that Jesus never seemed to adopt at all. Our spiritual teacher seems much more interested in gifts than payment for services. Criticize him for being idealistic and unrealistic, but he was still God’s Son. We need to deal with the contrast between what he taught and what we have been taught and adopted. 

So, we are faced with a problem. God’s desire for us is to partake in a gift economy but the world we live in is much different from that. As frequently happens, we are caught in a tension that we will not be able to resolve. This should really be no surprise. When you think about it, every aspect of our lives presents a paradox of some sort. Can you think of any aspect of your life that is running exactly the way you wish? Goals are perfectly clear. Problems are solvable. Desires completely satisfied. I cannot.

Joan Chittister suggests that one approach would be for us to develop a sense of “enoughness.” The plan would be to get better at being happy that I have enough money, attention, and comfort already; I do not need to strive for more when I already have enough. Otherwise, happiness is always out of reach. That is clearly God’s desire for us also. What more can we ask for than to be called adopted children of God?

Two of my other favorite writers/thinkers are Kate Bowler and Brian McClaren. Bowler relates her response to those who ask how she got up the courage to write her first book. Paraphrasing her, she says that she decided she did not have to be great; she just wanted to write something that she believed was important and might be helpful to people. She facetiously says she “lowered her standard down, way down.” She continued that she was willing to accept the possibility of mediocrity. That sounds almost un-American, does it not? 

McClaren notes that if our premise is that our purpose is to pack our lives brim full of achievements, accolades, and possessions, we will have little time for the true pleasures of human life, let alone seeking God’s will.

On the other hand, if our premise is that we are each created by God as individuals overly blessed, we can now live lives in those blessings and seek mutual care for one another. The peaceable kingdom does not rely on our achievements and possessions, but on opportunities for cooperation, reconciliation, and virtue.

Kurt Vonnegut relates a conversation he had as a teenager. Asked what he liked about school, he hesitantly said he was in theater, choir, art, and played the violin and piano. “But” he added, “I’m not any good at any of them.” “Nonsense,” said the questioner. “Being good at things is not the point of doing them. You are learning wonderful skills that make you an interesting person.”

We see once again the importance of beginning with a correct premise. It is a challenge God has given us.