Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Vol 3: 18 Missional Living: Not “OverThinking” – Living in the Leading of the Spirit


In a recent The Economist, I read about how we tend to “overthink” in critical situations.  I do not have the issue with me so I am recollecting what I read and offer some comments that relate to our living missionally.

The article expressed that when we get into tough or critical situations, the difference between succeeding or failing has much to do with our overthinking what we should do.  What often happens – also associated with “performance anxiety,” when we overthink is that we second guess what we might do that we end up falling short or failing. 

I have found this to be true in numerous situations in life.  In taking tests in school, for example – rather than going with my first choice in taking a question at face value, I may tend to overthink what is behind the question and make another choice – only to discover that overthinking led me to making an incorrect choice.

Athletes also are familiar with this as well – when in a tough spot, rather than relying on muscle memory and their training they may overthink what they should do and end up choking. 

This happens with financial analysts as well.  The Economist article cited how people interviewed on the street picked a better portfolio of stocks on average, than brokers who were paid to make investors money on their portfolios. 

However, one important facet in all this is that thinking had taken place before one got into an overthinking situation.  With the example of choosing stocks, the person on the street chose companies that they were familiar with, knew something about – they relied upon what they had come to know about these companies. 

The article did not express that we should not be thinking, but rather in critical times we ought not to second-guess ourselves so often, diverting ourselves from the conclusions and directions our previous thinking has led us to.  So, rather than relying on what we have come to know, we doubt our past conclusions and in the midst of a critical situation, fraught with performance anxiety we find ourselves overthinking and making an inopportune decision – often leading to some form of failure.

What does this have to do with missional living? 

For me it has to do with trusting the leading of the Spirit in situations where we may not have been before, where we may find ourselves uncomfortable. 

In being a people open to participating with God in what God is doing in the world, we will often find ourselves in situations what we have not encountered before – and we are apt to try to think (and perhaps “overthink”) how we ought to respond.  It might be in that moment, rather than relying on the serendipities the Spirit has led us in, the circumstances the Spirit has opened up – and continuing to go with the “flow of the Spirit,” we seek to take control, to give shape to the experience in light of the “anxiety” we are experiencing in wondering what to do, that we begin to overthink and then act accordingly. 

I have found in my own life, that when I have acted in this way – the opportunity ends up being a missed opportunity – especially as I reflect upon it later.

So, if we are not to “overthink” but to rely on the leading of the Spirit – and yield ourselves to that leading, even in the midst of a situation in which we feel we are not in control, how can we prepare ourselves not to overthink?

The clue from The Economist article is that we need to be thinking ahead of time – train and develop muscle memory, spiritual memory – so as not to overthink in a given situation, but to respond in who we are and what we have been doing in being the people of God – to go with the flow of our discipleship and not to second-guess our actions.

For me that entails, being immersed in God’s Story and Vision, being immersed in seeking to notice what and whom God notices, and being immersed in the community of the Spirit,. 

It is in seeking to live our days engaging God’s Story and Vision in Scripture – becoming familiar with the rhythms of God throughout human history, God engaging humanity in our brokenness and our penchant for power and disenfranchising others, and seeing how God engages us, being with us in order to bring life out of death – to realize that this is a narrative that gives us life. 

It is being in dialogue with God through prayer seeking to notice whom and what God is noticing and being touched by the heart of God to have the same kind of heart (compassion) that God has for every human being whom God deeply loves, becoming sensitive to where and how God is active in the world. 

And it is engaging in spiritual conversation with the people of God in the community of God – that we are being formed, shaped and transformed by the Spirit – giving accounts of how God is presently active all around us, making all things new – not just in the future, but acting in this way in the present. 

As we learn to live our life in and by the Spirit in the ordinary times of our days, practicing our Spirit-led living in the ordinary times, that in times when we come face to face with a new or crisis situation – rather than trying something new by overthinking – trust the Spirit to continue leading us in that situation.  Live and do as we have been doing, being open, being led – and then be open to observe how our response in that critical moment is endowed with the leading of the Spirit, rather than it being usurped by our overthinking or second-guessing.

It is true we have a tendency to want to take control when we feel out of control, but in those moments, when we do not know what to do, rather than relying on ourselves, we need to trust our reliance on the Spirit who has been leading and shaping us.  Paul’s statement to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 5:7) speaks to this, when he encourages us “to live by faith, not by sight.” 

I used to wonder how Jesus, when confronted by religious leaders with an either/or situation always seemed to come up with a third way, a third option – Cf. Mark 12: 14-17 – Should we pay or not pay imperial taxes to Caesar?  Jesus’ response: Bring me a coin; whose face is on it?  Caesars was the response – to which Jesus proclaimed:  “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  Jesus immersed in God’s Story and Vision, Jesus immersed in daily communication with God, Jesus immersed in conversation about the life of God with his community of disciples, enabled Jesus to respond in ways that expressed the way of God in such critical moments – he did not need to “overthink.”

The Spirit of God is trustworthy in forming us as a people who are a sign, foretaste, and instrument of God’s present and coming reign as we participate with God in God’s mission.  And so our challenge is to learn to trust the Spirit even when we want to take-back the trust we have given, when we feel we are in a situation we cannot control.

Acting to take control reveals more about our brokenness than our abilities, but acting to act and live under the leading of the Spirit reveals that we are a people learning to move and flow with the Spirit of God, who is continually active in our lives transforming us in the image of Jesus Christ.

May we yield ourselves to the leading of the Spirit every day, so that when we find ourselves in a “non-everyday” moment, we discover that the Spirit is still with us to guide us in responding in the way of Jesus.

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