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Every problem youll ever have are in 1 order and
4categoriesPosted on 11 November 2011Eric was your typical high
school senior.He couldnt wait to graduate and go to college.The
most pressing question during his senioryear was, Where are you
going to college?This one question was asked several
differentways:What are you going to do with your life?What do you
want to be after high school?What degree program are you going
into?All three of these questions were essentially thesame. The
real question that was being askedwas, What do you want to be when
you grow up? This was an unfortunate question for Eric.Today, Eric
is 41 years old. He has been married for 17 years, has two
children, and is thinking about acareer change. He has been living
with a mostly undiscernible-to-others low grade discontent for the
pastdecade.Eric is a frustrated man.Hes frustrated with God. Hes
frustrated with himself. Hes frustrated with his wife and children
and hesfrustrated with his career. He has become a couch potato,
who has mostly checked out of life. He does notknow what to do and
is growing more apathetic by the day.Unfortunately for Eric he was
never discipled well. He was mostly groomed and shaped to think
about hiscareer and what he wanted to do as an adult. Therefore, he
went to college, acquired his degree, andlaunched into his dream
job.It never dawned on him or his parents that there were more
important things in Erics future than education.Rather than helping
him with the things that mattered, his parents were
education-centric and put on a full-court press to make sure he
made good grades.He did make great grades. He graduated near the
top of his class in high school. He was pursued by one ofthe best
universities in the land. He graduated in the top 5% of his college
class.It all looked so good. It was so promising. His parents could
not have been happier, or more proud--bigemphasis on the word
proud.The problem with Eric was the big chink in his armor. Though
he was as smart as a whip, he was notequipped for life. Eric was
educated to fail. He had his eye on the wrong thing.
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What
shall we drink? or Whatshall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after
all these things, and your heavenly Father knowsthat you need them
all. Matthew 6:31-32 (ESV)
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His parents did him a major disservice. Though Eric was
intelligent and highly recruited out of college, hewas not equipped
for life, living as a Christian in Gods world.His eight years in
high school and college was spent solving one problem: what he
wanted to be when hegrew up. What he did not know and what no one
ever told him was that the problem he was working onshould have
been the least of his worries.Now he is in a strained marriage and
there is relational dysfunction all around him. He does not know
how tosolve these problems in his life. Yes, hes smart as a whip in
his engineering firm, but he is a failure in hisfamily and hes
about ready to check out.
Problem solving 101Here is what Eric did not know.Every problem
that you will ever have in your life can be summed up in four
categories and resolved in oneorder. Regardless of who you are or
where you live, your problems are no different than anyone elses.We
all may have a unique fingerprint and even want to consider
ourselves different, but the real truth is thatwe are not
different. God made one man and every other man and woman came from
this one man.The truth is that we cant be different where it
matters most or we would need many different solutions for
ourproblems. When it comes to who we really are and what we really
need, we all share in what is common to allof us.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. 1
Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but onewho in every
respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15
(ESV)
We had one Savior and He was able to relate to all of us: one
man relates to every man because all men areessentially the same.
When it comes to our problems, there are only four and we all share
in them. Here arethe four universal problems and the order in which
they must be solved:
1. We have a Theological Problem our problem with God2. We have
a Psychological Problem our problem with ourselves3. We have a
Sociological Problem our problem with others4. We have a Ecological
Problem our problem with the world we live
There are two unalterable laws to remember when working through
these problems:Law #1 All problems in life fit within these four
categories; there are no other categories.Law #2 All four of these
problems must be resolved in the order in which they are
listed.
The problem with Eric is that his whole life was centered around
Problem #4. He started and stayed onProblem #4: What do I want to
be when I grow up? Or, how do I live in Gods world?
Our universal Theological problemThe number one problem of all
time is humanities problem with God. I dont think I have to make a
case forthis: man is fundamentally broken on the inside and until
he solves his problem with God, nothing elsematters.
Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. John
3:7 (ESV)But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added toyou. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
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His only hope is for his relationship with God to be restored.
Until he fixes his relationship with God, he willnever be able to
see life the way life needs to be seen. God gives clarity.You
cannot have a (1) non-existent or (2) broken or (3) cold
relationship with God and expect to be able toengage life properly.
It does not work that way. The biggest problem and the first
problem that any humanmust begin to resolve is his problem with
God.Once you are in right standing with God and are maturing in
your faith, then you are on the right track andready to begin the
process of understanding yourself.
Our universal Psychological problemPsyche-logos or the study of
the soul is the proper definition of the word psychology. A
psychologist is aperson who studies the soul. He brings
observations, corrections, and counsel to soul problems.The
greatest Psychologist who ever lived was Jesus Christ. The most
effective psychologists in the worldtoday are Christians who
understand Gods Word and are able to bring Gods Word to bear on the
souls ofmen.
The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed
into his nostrils thebreath of life, and the man became a living
creature. Genesis 2:7 (ESV)All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,and for
training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
God created the soul.God created the Word for the soul.
Therefore, God becomes absolutely the most objective source for
understanding the problems of man.Imagine this: if you did not have
a right relationship with God, then it would be impossible to
understandyourself correctly because God opposes the proud person
(James 4:6).This is what Eric missed. He was having soul trouble,
relational trouble, and job trouble, and neverconnected it to his
problem with God. He figured if he went to church each Sunday, read
his Bible, and didministry, that he would be okay, God would be
excited about him, and things would go well.
Our universal Sociological problemI spent the first 25 years of
my life thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I worked
several jobs,but could never find my niche in life. It never
occurred to me that my growing discontent was not because ofthe
jobs I had, but because of my non-existent relationship with
God.When God regenerated me, I began a pursuit of Him in earnest.
Though I was not initially aware of what washappening to me, the
thing that became apparent was that the more I began to understand
God, the more Ibegan to understand myself.Studying God through the
mirror of His Word gave me a clear picture of who I really was and
what I neededto change. In short, the more I learned about God, the
more I learned about myself.The effect of this process was that the
more I began to understand myself, the more I began to
understandother people.You cannot understand other people correctly
without first understanding yourself. You cannot understandyourself
correctly without first understanding God. That is the order and
you cannot circumvent it.Eric had an average and stagnant
relationship with God because He was not the most important thing
in hislife. The most profound effect of his stagnant relationship
with God was the impact it had on Erics soul.There were many
pockets of immaturity in his life.
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Weak relationship with God = weak understanding of self
Though he was wonderfully prepared on the job front, he was
awfully prepared to solve his personalproblems, be married, and
lead a family. Notice how Paul taps into this logical progression
when he toldTimothy:
For if someone does not know how to manage his own household,
how will he care for Godschurch? 1 Timothy 3:5 (ESV)
If you read 1 Timothy 3:1-5 you will note that a pastor must:
(1) have many personal issues resolved. (2)Then he must be able to
lead his family well. (3) Lastly, he will be qualified to lead the
churchothers.Notice Pauls progression:
Theological problem resolved: Im growing in my understanding of
God.Psychological problem resolved: Im maturing in
Christ.Sociological problem resolved: Im equipped to lead
others.
Caveat - When I say problem resolved I do not mean that in an
absolute sense, as though you havereached perfection, and there is
nothing else to learn. This would deny progressive sanctification.
What Imean is that we have a grip on who God is, who we are, who
others are, and were steadily maturing on allfronts.
Our universal Ecological problemThis last problem is where Eric
began, stayed, and eventually failed. It is usually where most
people keeptheir focus. What do you do? is one of the most common
questions one man will ask another man.It is highly unusual for a
man to ask another man, Talk to me about your relationship with
God: what are youlearning and how are you growing? Unfortunately,
its more about what we do because that is what we craveand how we
want to be stroked.How about these questions, which are far more
important than what you do:
1. What is God doing in your life?2. How are you maturing in
Christ?3. What are you learning about your wife and give me some
practical tips on serving her?
I call this last problem an ecological problem for alliteration
sake, though I am stretching the word ecology.Its not about hugging
mother earth or saving trees. What I mean by the word is more about
how we aresupposed to live in Gods world, for His glory.Here are
some sample questions:
How will your career glorify God?Where will you live?What will
you wear?
and a host of other questions that surround living in Gods
world.Again, this last question typically gets the bulk of our
attention. From cradle to grave, this is where mostpeople spend
most of their time. This is what Eric did until he came to the
place as a 41-year old man wherehe was totally disillusioned.
The main thingMy counsel to him was to forget about what he
wanted to be when he grew up and begin to unravel the
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mystery of God through a heart-felt pursuit of Him. I further
told him that the more he understood God andrelated to Him
correctly, the more he would understand himself.And the more he
understood himself, the more he would be able to speak into his
wifes life by serving her,maturing her, and being what God has
called him to be for her (Ephesians 5:25-32).Once he got the
solutions to these three problems headed in the right direction,
this last problem would notbe so daunting. It would be less of a
burden and what he should be doing with his life would more than
likelybe self-evident.A right view of God will give a right view of
self, which will give a right view of others, which will lead you
towhat you are supposed to be doing with your life.I do wonder
sometimes about how many people have spent most of their lives
trying to resolve problem four,only to be disillusioned, because
they negated the priorities of the first three.
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Every problem youll ever have are in 1 order and 4
categoriesPosted on 11 November 2011Problem solving 101Our
universal Theological problemOur universal Psychological problemOur
universal Sociological problemOur universal Ecological problemThe
main thing
