Yo!
Hey!
We will have to have a cold-water vibe; it is way too hot in the Bosch for coffee…
Fine with me.
Cool.
In the new Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) notices that Alice has lost her “muchness”. He says: “You used to be much more… ‘muchier.’ You’ve lost your ‘muchness’.” Meaning that she has lost herself, her adventurous spirit, what makes her, her. Fortunately for Alice, she finds her true self again through her adventures in Underland (Wonderland). With her “muchness” back, Alice defeats the Jabberwocky (a dragon owned by the Queen of Hearts).
So many people lose their “muchness”, become callous to life, or give up passions because they were emotionally hurt or didn’t get the support they needed. I believe God has placed certain passions in each of us. The more we use them, the “muchier” we become.
So instead of macho men, we are searching for “muchier” men…
Totally! How do we become more ourselves instead of what the world, family, friends, or Hollywood want?
My status on Facebook this week: “today remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.” I guess one of the dangers of being a Christ follower is that you can become a sheep and just follow, look and sound like everyone else which I don’t think is, or ever was, God’s intention. That’s just in the church, plus you have the conformity of the world, family and friends thing going… a huge life dilemma.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
I agree with you, there is a lot of pressure to conform to others, the society you are in and so on. The problem is that if everyone keeps conforming to what others want, then we can very easily give up really important parts of who we are, not very cool. Let’s talk about how we can lose ourselves, and then also how we can hold on to being as “muchy” as we can.
Well we live in Stellenbosch, which is a varsity town, and so a lot of it is glaringly obvious – new year beginning, lots of new first years, the older guys try to break them into the varsity(same uniform, same activities, the one res has to walk around with a wooden horse like a broom handle horse for the first week or so), res and town culture (drinking, partying, sex)… At the start of the year it is really easy to follow the trend and so everyone pretty much falls in; having gone from a big person in matric to the bottom of the heap in varsity, really wanting to fit in (the key).
In that instance it is obvious to see the force of conformity, but not always as easy to resist… If we are not careful, we fall into those traps of sex, drinking, getting involved in gossip, etc and then only later realise how trapped or “unmuchy” we feel.
I think one of the biggest keys to living wrong – or enticements into that trap – is this whole thing of “what do/will people think of me?” and I think that is one of the keys here – we all have this innate desire to feel significant, be loved, accepted, and needed. How we respond to that, and fill it, will determine how great our life is.
It’s important to look at that point – so in Stellenbosch with the first years, is drinking the issue? If it were, we would need to discuss that, but I think the far greater issue is fitting in, and if to fit in meant not drinking, then no one would…
What about subtle ways of losing yourself… For example, maybe you are part of a worship team, but being in that team is not right for you, it makes you too stressed with all the other activities that you have, which leaves you with too many things to do, too little time for life, and no time for God…
I think the examples you are giving are about pleasing people and about a struggle to say no (which is linked to fitting in and not wanting to disappoint). The answer to these things begins with the question of your identity. As a Christ follower, we should be able to find our identity in God – knowing who I am because this is who God says I am instead of those people around me – I call it living in front of an audience of One.
Nice – audience of One. The place to start then is, who is determining who you are? Who do you submit to? Popular culture? Res “friends” (not all of them are really friends…), a controlling father or God who knows you pretty well?
One key is reading the Bible and seeing what God says about you – read passages in Corinthians where it talks about how the church is the body of Christ but it is made up of different parts. If we were all eyes where would the hands be and so on… So we need to realise that we are all different parts but that each part is significant. If everyone in the church was a pastor who would make coffee and we seriously need coffee makers…
Heck yes… and Rooibos tea makers…
What has helped me is to ask, how do I act wherever I am, and is it bringing glory to me, others or God.
[To Vibers: Provebs would also be a good book to read through, some awesome practical life tips…]
It is definitely about understanding who you are in God – also just the basics of John 3.16 “for God so loved” and the fact that God died to save you – that helps create a positive identity when we truly get it – the story of the prodigal son is another one where the son was loved unconditionally by the father and his negative actions did not lose his fathers love for him – when he returned the love was still there and it flooded over him – that is how God sees you.
Our whole lives should be spent as the church and so in a sense, in the “BEingness” of church. If we could get over the myth that church meets on a Sunday we’d be getting somewhere. Once we understand that we are living, breathing, active members of the church (in the meeting on a Sunday and in the world the rest of the week) then it will also influence how we live, speak and act.
What is also key is the knowledge that God has given us different gifts, which in my experience, generally fall in line with our passions. So some people are great surfers and other people are great at being creative. My wife’s sister for example can take a pile of rubbish and create beautiful designs, which is great when you are planning a wedding – she was incredible and I would never have been able to produce what she did. She was needed there for that moment in that area.
Some people have the gift of hospitality. We have a couple in our church who invite different families and students to their house for meals and conversation. It is not a specifically Christian meeting or anything, but they are demonstrating their “muchness” by living out their gifting in a way that encourages, builds up others and helps create community…
Some have the gift of compassion and so they spot the person at the edge of the crowd, too scared to come into the group. They see the person lying in the street in need of help, food or just a friendly word (my beautiful wife is great at that). They spring into action where I would probably see the need and cross over to the other side of the road because I feel paralyzed by my inability to do something. However, another key is learning from the strengths of others. So by watching Val in action these last two years, hopefully I will become a lot more useful in those situations.
What are your gifts, areas and when are your moments? Also, who can you learn from?
A mentor, as stated in other vibes, can really help you narrow down what is making you feel alive and what isn’t. God wants us to feel alive. Many of the desires in us – surfing, poetry, drama, designing, etc are from Him and the more you focus on Christ, the more alive you feel and the more your desires and passions begin to show, making you feel more like you.
Exactly.
Then just to end off… What are the dangers of ignoring one’s “muchness”? The living dead???
Yeah, I think if you ignore the “muchness” of who you are and who you were created to be then you will live a mediocre life, which is dead living. If you take the parable of the talents into account you may even be in trouble later… if you don’t use the little you’ve been given you may have it all taken away from you, whereas if you use the little you’ve been given and are faithful with that God is likely to give you more – I have seen that demonstrated in my life again and again – started speaking to an audience of ten and one day I was standing in front of a crowd of 1000…
It’s a love relationship with God and so you want to do whatever you can to bring joy to Him and living out who He has created you to be is a big part of that. So it’s not a legalistic religious thing of earning His love so much as it is a thing of responding to the love He has piled on you already. He has loved me so much that I want to respond by, as I love to say, sucking the marrow out of life – living to the full (John 10:10). Jesus did not come so we could exist or survive, He came so that we would thrive (and what that means in the kingdom of God is helping others reach their potential to thrive!) and live to the full.
Definitely.
Conclusion: live “muchly”
Thanks for the vibe dude. T’was great… Have a frabjous day!
Live “muchly” in all His “muchness” that He has planted in you! Seek first His kingdom…
The new word is toe-yoda! As in cool – so have a toe-yoda day – spread the word – gonna be big!!!
Bye.