God Doesn’t Want Actors

​Do we tell people what to do or do we tell them who they are?
 
I remember when I finished college and went to work for my Dad and I bought this old truck from him that he had driven for years. I can still here my Dad telling me that I need to check the oil and check the air in my tires. My dad would tell me this every time I would pull away from the office. I remember thinking, I’m an adult and my Dad doesn’t have to tell me every time to do these things. I didn’t like being told what to do. I mean I’m an adult! Even though I knew my Dad was correct, I was not going to do it.
 
Why? Wouldn’t I do it. Well most of the time people don’t want to be told what to do. Think about you at work. You have a boss come in your office and tell you what to do. How does that make you feel? I know for me it doesn’t sit well.  I know you, “The Boss” has done this for a while but thanks I’ve got this.
 
My Dad and “The boss” weren’t meaning any harm at all. My dad was telling me because he knew I wouldn’t remember. The Boss is not doing it to be hateful, he/she is doing it because they want to see you succeed, because most of the time they have been there done that and learned from their mistakes. However, we don’t look at it that way, we still look at it as being told what to do. Because some of us have been told what to do our whole life. Some of us have been told what sports to play when we were young. What college and degree we should get, what career to go into, and what person we should date. None of this advice was given to us to do harm, but it still didn’t sit well us.
 
As a Christian, I have been told my whole life of what God wants me to or not to do. We have been told what not to drink or what movies not to watch. When and where we should have quite time with God. If you really think about is this Faith or compliance? When you start to look at through the lenses of compliance then you’re just being an actor. God doesn’t want actors he wants you, not someone you’re not.
 
God a had great fix for this, instead of telling people what they want, we need to tell who they are. If you have kids, you know this works. When they are small they believe they can be anything. Why? Because we tell them who they are, and they believe it. Look at these stories in the Bible. God told Noah he was a sailor and he became one, He told Moses he was a leader and he came one, He told Sarah she was a mother and she became one, He told Peter he was a preacher and he led a Church.
 
We need love people the way God loved people, let God’s Spirt do the talking when it comes to telling people what they want. We are called to love people and let’s start there before we tell someone what they want.