“Do or do not…there is no try.” Yoda

“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” William James

“I really write my very best papers the night before they are due.” Thestudentyoudonotwanttobe

Right now, you have before you something you should have accomplished already.  You should have…

–returned that phone call.

–answered that email.

–refused to spend time on email because of more pressing matters.

–gotten off facebook and done your chores.

–paid that bill.

–finished that project.

–faced that challenge.

–washed those dishes. Or clothes. Or both.

–talked to that person.

Look in the background. See that person waving his hand? That would be me.

I am guilty.

I get a lot done, more than most I would say. But I start too many things and fail to finish well.

I have kept a spiritual journal most of my adult life. Wrong. I have kept a host of journals, many of which I have lost.  I do not think I ever finished writing in a single one. I always ended up getting another.

As an author, finishing books is hard. I am trying to finish a simple 12,000 word ebook just now. Starting was easy. Finishing, not so much.

Why do we fail to finish? Many reasons exist I assume, but I think one is primary.

Fear.

Fear of failure, because our culture has taught us to be safe, to do your job, to seek comfort, and that failure means you are in fact a failure. However, no great success has ever happened without repeated failures (think Edison, Moses, Lincoln, etc).

Fear of ridicule, because we have been conditioned to become pansies who really do not know how to handle it when people do not seem to like what we just did. We would rather fit in and not be remarkable, even for things that matter, than risk ridicule.

Fear is actually a good thing when well placed. The opposite of courage is not fear—any good soldier who has been in combat will tell you there is a place for proper fear. The opposite of courage is conformity, the desire to fit in, to be average, to adopt the evolutionary theory in our practice that survival is all that matters, so don’t try anything valiant or remarkable, because it just might…

It just might fail.

I am so guilty of this. But I have tried to overcome it. I am thankful for mentors, people who believed in me in spite of my imperfections.

I write this while sitting at Southwest Baptist University where I am speaking at a camp. The first time I heard of SBU I was finishing my PhD (i.e. a long time ago now). I met a professor there named Jack Stanton. Jack exemplified what I wanted to be when I reached my graying years, a man on fire for Jesus.  He taught evangelism at SBU. When we spent time together I had just begun ministry fulltime and wanted to change the whole world in a weekend. He gave me wisdom, not only from his victories, but also from his mistakes.

Jack told me he had started on many occasions to write a book only to fail to complete it. He eventually did some writing. But he told me, “Young man, if you start a book, finish it. Publish it. It will never be as good as you would like, but finish it. I did not, and I regret that greatly.”

I have never forgotten that conversation. Fear of finishing is the wrong kind of fear. Fear of God is the right kind of fear.

So I have written more books in the last ten years than I thought I would in three lifetimes. And, I am writing ebooks and blogs and all kinds of things. Some no doubt really stink (like this one, probably).  But while I still struggle with completing tasks, and often in the past blamed it on my hyper-activitiy and ADDishness (made that word up), I realize I do not finish things typically for one reason. I am afraid of failure.

I did not want to write this article because inside me a part of me is afraid my admitting I might fail might cause some to think of me as a failure. Sheesh. Enough of that.

But I am changing. I am completing things like never before—physically, for instance. I am making changes in my schedule and in life I should have already done. I am doing it.

Student, enough with your piddling. You came to earn a degree and to become a man or woman of God. Stop fearing life after graduation. Finish.

Young believer, go ahead and take that friend to lunch to share Christ with her. Step out. Fight the tug you feel to do nothing.

Sir, look the fierce glaze of comfort and selfishness in the face and take charge of your life. Do something that matters, something eternal. Fulfill your dream to the glory of God.

Our culture screams at us to be average. For over a century we have been taught to do our job, to fit in, to understand norms, etc. The church is the worst at this. Dress the part, do your job, DON’T GET CRAZY.

What has God planted in your heart that screams His glory?  Why do you hesitate?  What dream has almost died because fear lurks at the doorway of your mind?

Yoda had it right. Do or do not…there is no try. Stop trying. Do.

After all, Jesus Christ has already done all that was necessary for us to have a right standing with God. We did nothing to earn that. So now we have freedom to do, and to do well, and to do to completion, for the glory of God.

Dallas Willard said it clearly: “‎”While it is true that apart from Christ we can do nothing, it is also true that if we do nothing it will be apart from Christ.”

Today, think of one thing you have intended to finish and yet have not. Don’t blink, do not hesitate.

Finish it.

And smile.

Job well done.