Be Unreasonable

Be Unreasonable

The Famous Playwriter, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him…the unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself…All progress therefore depends on the unreasonable man” (Mrs Warren’s Profession, 1893).

It’s about time that some of us rejected ‘reasonable’ mediocrity in our lives and pushed towards something new, innovative, exciting, and transforming – in other words, decide to start changing the world. Before this idea sounds to grandiose – let me clarify what it takes to ‘change the world’: Diligence/Faithfulness. Great things are accomplished by individuals who are diligent/faithful in little things.

One such ‘little thing’ that I would like to touch on: diligence/faithfulness to love. We have a tendency to overcomplicate things and consequently the gospel is no different. There are thousands of books dealing with a plethora of theological, philosophical, metaphysical, psychological, and physiological sides of spirituality – they’re important, but many times miss the entire gospel message: love. Plain and simple: love. The greatest influence and power is love. We have all been changed or transformed at one time or another by love. By the way, God IS love. Every commandment in the entire bible is fulfilled by love - love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

A good friend of mine once told me his personal responsibility as a practicing Jew: To make his life and world a place that God would want to visit. What or where does God want to visit? A place inundated by whole, perfect, complete love, since He IS love.

Back to George Bernard Shaw – let’s be unreasonable: Many would have you adapt to the current conditions (i.e. uncertainty, fear, powerlessness) worldwide and domestically… but wouldn’t you rather be the one who leads the way? This article may have seemed to be built on a stereotypical superficial theme (i.e. you can change the world) but if you are diligent/faithful in showing and practicing love in every aspect of your life – you will be amazed at the long-term positive changes.

No man, women, or child is an island – our actions do affect others. So the choices are plain: Either let conditions continue to dictate your life… you’d be in the majority if you stick with this choice, or; choose to influence and change your conditions and subsequently change a life, society, and world. Be diligent and faithful in love. Be unreasonable.

Kevin Mills
Executive Pastor – Prairie Community Church

Don't Let Your Enemies Count Their Chickens Before Their Hatched!

I love this story – 1 Kings 20:1-30 – Benhadad the king of Syria sent a message to the king of Israel and said this, “Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children.” In other words, “Hand it all over – game over – I’m calling the shots.” Ahab the king of Israel calls in the elders and asks their advice. Finally King Ahab makes this retort to Benhadad, “Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.” There are a lot of dynamics going on in this chapter but I want to just focus on King Ahab’s reply to Benhadad: “Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.” What is he actually saying? King Ahab is saying “just because someone makes threats (i.e. straps on his armor) – this isn’t synonymous with winning the victory (i.e. taking his armor off).” Wow!

Now for the practical application – how is your enemy threatening you? Is it a person, institution, thought, emotional issue, physiological issue, or spiritual issue? What are these things/people telling you? Is a co-worker or employer telling you that you’ll never succeed at climbing the corporate ladder? Have teachers, aunts, uncles, parents, cousins, or other authority figures expressed doubt in your personal abilities? Have emotional and/or physical scars from past or present abuse hindered you from feeling like a “normal human being?” Have these scars lied to you and told you that you’ll never be the person that you wanted or dreamed of because of these ghosts of your past? This list can continue on indefinitely – hopefully by this time you can connect the dots yourself to the people or things that are threatening you – and furthermore, declaring a victory against you that doesn’t have to be guaranteed.

It’s not a surprise that the “devil” is referred to biblically as the “accuser of the brethren.” Constantly trying to devalue us within our own minds and lives – this is the psychological warfare the devil revels in – and how many times do we listen attentively! A person once expressed their frustration with how every time they tried getting their life “straightened out” all hell would break loose. I told them I was extremely encouraged by this! Since when, does an enemy fight against something (or someone) who is not a threat! Only dead fish go with the flow – but for those trying to get somewhere, the adversity of the current will bombard them every step of the way.

To summarize, don’t allow these “threats” from various people, thoughts, experiences, traumas, etc. tell you that you’ve been conquered – when the fact is that victory is still in your hands. King Ahab went on to be victorious against the onslaught of Benhadad. Why? Because Ahab refused to listen to the intimidation and threats of an enemy and rather trusted in God’s word. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Fight on!

Kevin Mills