Holy Vandals and Heavenly Subversion

 

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

—Steve Jobs

This weekend, I've been on retreat in Yelm, WA with the Murdock Trust - the organization that provides the funding for my current Editorial Residency at Leadership Journal.

For those of you unfamiliar with the trust, it's a foundation dedicated to spending the money of M. J. Murdock (inventor of the oscilloscope), for the common good of the citizens of the Pacific NW. Their pockets are deep, their generosity is legendary, and you would be surprised at the many many wonderful things they support in our region.
I can almost guarantee that if you're a citizen of Cascadia, then you owe these guys a thank you note for something.

The retreat has been a very positive experience. Aside from some kayaking and pesto covered prawn skewers, I've enjoyed interacting with Steve Garber of the Washington Institute.

Garber is a key contemporary thinker on the intersection between faith and vocation, and the radical application of "common grace for the common good." He's very interested in helping people make deep dents in the universe, and he has a powerful reason for doing so ... a reason that I wholeheartedly share.

Really, it all comes down to that little triplet in the prayer of Jesus:

"Your kingdom come, 

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven."

Why Do We Dent Things?

There are many reasons that people desire to make dents, to work and sweat to influence their world for good. But all those reasons share a common motivation. People make dents because in the end, they believe it means something, it shifts something, it heals, binds, soothes, builds, breaks something that isn't as it ought to be. 

You do not need to be a Christian - or a person of faith at all - to make dents. In fact, I dare say that most people who make dents are not followers of Jesus at all. But of one thing I am convinced - that no one has a reason so heart-pumpingly-compelling for making those dents, as the one who prays these words sincerely:

"Your kingdom come, 

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven."

In making dents, we bring the kingdom of God a little closer, whether we believe in it or not.
In making dents, you and I join in the sacred calling to bring heaven on earth - shifting our world even if minutely, in the direction of wholeness, of shalom, of the profound peace and well being of all creatures.

Holy Vandals, Heavenly Subversion

I don't care who you are or what you do. Your work, your vocation, your occupation can be something sacred, something utterly profound, a scarring sharp dent in the universe.
But I encourage you to ask yourself why you swing the hammer.

I'm not saying that you need to come to my conclusions - that dents help us peel back the onion layered brokenness around us to see the work of God barely beneath the surface. But I'll tell you that I love my conclusions. They compel me. I want to be a holy vandal for the rest of my life. I want to make dents everywhere to bring that kingdom a little closer.

As I work in that, hurt in that, and watch you do the same, I experience the subversive in-breaking of heaven into the blood and howl of our broken world.

The kingdom is coming. It is already among us, but not yet fully here.

So grab a hammer, a pen, a shovel, a brush, an iPad, a towel, a bottle, a broom, or a microscope.

Think about your motivation well. It's important.
And go make some dents.

 (photo credit)