The bottom
Yesterday, I got into a conversation with some friends about Passion 2011 and a couple of talks in particular. They happen to be from people who have influenced me a lot... namely John Piper and Francis Chan.
I hadn't stopped to listen to Piper's talk from Passion this year and had some margin today, so I downloaded it from the All Access site and watched it today. It may. have. been. one. of. the. best. talks. I. have. ever. heard. from. him.
Seriously.
Now, what really got me tuned in was how he introduced this idea of what ranks higher? God's making much of us, and God's (and ours) making much of God? It comes down to joy, what makes us happy?
Have you ever really thought about what, at your core, makes you happy?
What was really cool about this talk is that Piper pulled out a technique that I learned in a Market Research class in MBA school called "needs-value analysis" to explain his point. He didn't use those terms, but that's immediately what my mind went to. It's kind of a silly set of questions, really (to the person being interviewed). It basically starts with a "what do you like about _______" (insert thing you think is cool or makes you happy in the blank), and then you follow up with a bunch of...
Why do you like that?
Why is that important to you?
Why do you feel that's valuable?
(I had to mix it up when I did this because asking "why? why? why?" all the time just sounded really repetitive to me :-) )
... and at the end of this set of questions you eventually get to a "why?" where there's no further follow up question to ask... this is what Market Research people would call a "value" and this value is usually the core emotion that all successful advertising tries to attach to their products. The value is where the needs -or- "this is really cool" questions stop and you can't go further down. You are at the bottom. You are at the core. You are, in fact, at the source.
What really makes you happy?
Here's a highly fictitious set of questions that may happen with a group of guys...
Dude: "I got a date with this really hot girl!"
Questioner: "Why does that make you happy?"
D: "Because I like the way she looks."
Q: "why does that make you happy?"
D: "Because I may be spotted by one of my buddies and they're going to think I'm a stud."
Q: "why does that make you happy?" (see how repetitive this can get ;-) )
D: "Because I know that they respect me."
Q: "why is that important to you?"
D: "Because I have to be respected."
Q: "Why is that important to you?"
D: "If they respect me, I feel important."
Q: "Why does that matter to you?"
D: "I don't feel good about myself unless I feel important."
I could probably go on another couple of layers, but you see how the questions go from circumstance to values, to source...
Eventually you go down to the bottom of our happiness -or of our value(s) in this sense- and you get to two options. God or self. Are we motivated by making much of God and His glory, or are we motivated and driven by propping up our selves and our own individual self-centered worth? I could have chosen any example of questions, but they really all lead down to that question if you think about it... the question is...
Who is my treasure? Is it me.... or is it really God?
This was such a great talk, because Piper did talk about how God values us and treasures us as His prized creation... but all in the end of treasuring God and his glory. If you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, you get this sense of how exalted in the eternal sense that the regenerated Christian is; it's quite mind blowing to tell you the truth.
On the needs/value side, if that makes you happy and I think the writers of the New Testament would agree that it should... why does it make you happy? Especially if you've been going to church for a while, understand the grace given to us because of the cross, and would say that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Does my salvation make me happy because of something it does for me?
Honestly, for me...
I get humbled and so grateful that God in His grace would save me; that I want to revel in His glory and through this blog and through my life showcase how amazing Jesus is. He is worth everything and He is my reason for living. I don't say this lightly, because I know what it's like to "do church" on the other side and do it all for me. I can honestly say that, at least from what I've experienced, there is. no. life. there.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.
It's only when I gave up, gave Jesus my life, and asked Him to be the source. My treasure. My life. That I truly got life. This was the prayer I literally prayed... "Jesus, I want you to rebuild my personality around your love." In other words, please be my life. I can't live it... I'm not going to be my own god anymore.
And from there on, I started to become free.
And it was awesome.
So - to John Piper's talk. Perhaps I will invite some people over to talk through it (and so I can cook for friends). It's a pretty big idea.... but if you think about it, it's likely the most important one we will ever hash out.
That's all (for now :) )
I hadn't stopped to listen to Piper's talk from Passion this year and had some margin today, so I downloaded it from the All Access site and watched it today. It may. have. been. one. of. the. best. talks. I. have. ever. heard. from. him.
Seriously.
Now, what really got me tuned in was how he introduced this idea of what ranks higher? God's making much of us, and God's (and ours) making much of God? It comes down to joy, what makes us happy?
Have you ever really thought about what, at your core, makes you happy?
What was really cool about this talk is that Piper pulled out a technique that I learned in a Market Research class in MBA school called "needs-value analysis" to explain his point. He didn't use those terms, but that's immediately what my mind went to. It's kind of a silly set of questions, really (to the person being interviewed). It basically starts with a "what do you like about _______" (insert thing you think is cool or makes you happy in the blank), and then you follow up with a bunch of...
Why do you like that?
Why is that important to you?
Why do you feel that's valuable?
(I had to mix it up when I did this because asking "why? why? why?" all the time just sounded really repetitive to me :-) )
... and at the end of this set of questions you eventually get to a "why?" where there's no further follow up question to ask... this is what Market Research people would call a "value" and this value is usually the core emotion that all successful advertising tries to attach to their products. The value is where the needs -or- "this is really cool" questions stop and you can't go further down. You are at the bottom. You are at the core. You are, in fact, at the source.
What really makes you happy?
Here's a highly fictitious set of questions that may happen with a group of guys...
Dude: "I got a date with this really hot girl!"
Questioner: "Why does that make you happy?"
D: "Because I like the way she looks."
Q: "why does that make you happy?"
D: "Because I may be spotted by one of my buddies and they're going to think I'm a stud."
Q: "why does that make you happy?" (see how repetitive this can get ;-) )
D: "Because I know that they respect me."
Q: "why is that important to you?"
D: "Because I have to be respected."
Q: "Why is that important to you?"
D: "If they respect me, I feel important."
Q: "Why does that matter to you?"
D: "I don't feel good about myself unless I feel important."
I could probably go on another couple of layers, but you see how the questions go from circumstance to values, to source...
Maybe that may explain why Donald Miller said in his book "A Thousand Miles in the Million Years" that his observation of the point of most advertising is to get you believe that if you buy that product that people would want to have sex with you... this is really there. If you don't believe me, read the book for yourself. Watching some of the advertising at the Super Bowl, it was a little scary how accurate that statement may have been.
But enough of Donald, back to Piper.
Eventually you go down to the bottom of our happiness -or of our value(s) in this sense- and you get to two options. God or self. Are we motivated by making much of God and His glory, or are we motivated and driven by propping up our selves and our own individual self-centered worth? I could have chosen any example of questions, but they really all lead down to that question if you think about it... the question is...
Who is my treasure? Is it me.... or is it really God?
This was such a great talk, because Piper did talk about how God values us and treasures us as His prized creation... but all in the end of treasuring God and his glory. If you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, you get this sense of how exalted in the eternal sense that the regenerated Christian is; it's quite mind blowing to tell you the truth.
On the needs/value side, if that makes you happy and I think the writers of the New Testament would agree that it should... why does it make you happy? Especially if you've been going to church for a while, understand the grace given to us because of the cross, and would say that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Does my salvation make me happy because of something it does for me?
Honestly, for me...
I get humbled and so grateful that God in His grace would save me; that I want to revel in His glory and through this blog and through my life showcase how amazing Jesus is. He is worth everything and He is my reason for living. I don't say this lightly, because I know what it's like to "do church" on the other side and do it all for me. I can honestly say that, at least from what I've experienced, there is. no. life. there.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.
It's only when I gave up, gave Jesus my life, and asked Him to be the source. My treasure. My life. That I truly got life. This was the prayer I literally prayed... "Jesus, I want you to rebuild my personality around your love." In other words, please be my life. I can't live it... I'm not going to be my own god anymore.
And from there on, I started to become free.
And it was awesome.
So - to John Piper's talk. Perhaps I will invite some people over to talk through it (and so I can cook for friends). It's a pretty big idea.... but if you think about it, it's likely the most important one we will ever hash out.
That's all (for now :) )
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