A Note from Hixon Frank
An Open Letter to men…
I was speaking at a Christian men’s event and told the guys, “You can tell a lot about a man based on the questions he asks himself!”
Puzzled looks shot back at me as if to say, “Questions I ask myself? I don’t ask myself questions!”
Reading the room, I quickly continued…
“When facing a decision, your thoughts default to a series of questions that will determine the trajectory of your life. For example, you may ask yourself…
- “What’s in it for me?”
- “How will this make me look?”
- “What will others say about me?”
- “Can I get away with it?”
- “What if I get caught?”
Though the actual words may never come out of your mouth, these questions will invade your mind and fester in your soul.”
These questions are natural and no matter how closely they walk with the Lord, all men struggle with them. These questions drive self-advancement, self-aggrandizement, self-absorption, and narcissism! Sometimes I “baptize” these questions in Christian jargon just enough to ward off Holy Spirit led conviction and remain numb to my own selfish ambitions. Maybe you have, too! But the core question remains, “what’s in it for me?”
Perhaps we have become so consumed with our “personal vision” rather than “kingdom vision,” that we have, as Francis Schaeffer warns, “reduced our faith to the pursuit of personal peace and affluence.”
But we are not worldly men, right? This part of the article, to be honest, is more confessional than instructional. I have not always “sought first the kingdom of God.” The same questions I am railing against have, at times, occupied themselves quite comfortably in my mind.
Consider…
Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”
Then consider a new set of questions…
What if men rose-up and began asking questions that matter for eternity?
- What if, instead of “What’s in it for me?” we asked, “What glorifies God most?”
- Not “How will this make me look?” but, “How will this reflect on God?”
- Not “Can I get away with it?” but, “Does this bring glory to God?”
- Not “How can I benefit?” but, “How can I bless others?” (Remember, not everything that God places in your hands is for you.)
To do more than occasionally “dabble” in these questions takes, in my estimation, at least two things…
- The willingness to be brutally aware of what is in our hearts…. This is tough because, as we all know … “The heart is more deceitful than anything else,and incurable—who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. So when your heart protests, keep digging. When you want to make excuses, justify, convince, and persuade don’t stop! Freedom is right around the corner.
- Have your own “Popeye” moment! Once you have brutally examined your heart, you will likely see some things that will be distasteful to you moving forward. Soon after, you will have your “Popeye moment” … you will tire of living for yourself … planning for yourself … excusing yourself. I call it your “Popeye moment” because it is the point you get to when “That’s all you can stands, ya can’t stands no more!” (If you know, you know) 😉
Men, let’s ask better questions together!
You are loved and have been prayed for,
Hixon