The Decade of Experimentation

[Kelsey Linduff]

The Decade of Experimentation
by Mark Batterson

Not sure why I'm sharing this. But here goes. Hope it inspires someone who is trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. That includes me by the way!

In 1952, Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts in equatorial Africa. But let share his back story. He woke up on a summer morning in 1896 and said, "While outside the birds sang I came to the conclusion that until I was thirty I could consider myself justified in devoting myself to scholarship and the arts, but after that I would devote myself directly to serving humanity."

What a fascinating perspective on his twenties! He felt justified in devoting them to scholarship and the arts. Here's my thought: what if we viewed our twenties as a decade of experimentation? That concept comes from serving a congregation that is 67% single twenty-somethings so I know how stressed out twenty-somethings can get over their career path. I think twenty-somethings feel way too much pressure to find the perfect career yesterday and advance as far up the ladder as fast as possible. Can I push back a little? What if you approached opportunities as experiments? What if you tried your hand at different things. Don't worry about your career path! Focus on your spiritual path. Build a resume of spirit-led adventures that may or may not further your career or education. But they will further the kingdom of God.

Now fast-forward eight years. Albert Schweitzer said, “One morning in the autumn of 1904, I found on my writing table in the seminary one of the green-covered magazines in which the Paris Missionary Society reported its activities. A Miss Scherdlin used to pass them on to me. Without paying much attention, I leafed through the magazine that had been put on my table the night before. As I was about to turn to my studies I noticed an article with the headline, "The Needs of the Congo Mission." Schweitzer said, "I finished my article and quietly began my work. My search was over."

Can I share some good news with those of you who haven't found your God-ordained passion or big hairy audacious goal or one God idea or life mission? Here it is: God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go. So that takes the pressure off of us. By the way, that singular thought is really the heart of Wild Goose Chase.

Part of the reason I love that story about Albert Schweitzer so much is because I discovered the parachurch ministry we came to DC to direct via a magazine ad, not unlike Schweitzer. That ad led to a phone call. A phone call led to a trip. And a trip led to a move. And that move put us in a position to pastor National Community Church.

One final thought. It is Albert Schweitzer who once observed: "The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives."