What does Satisfaction look like?

Even if you don't know it - you're looking for something. You're seeking something out. Everything you do, in fact, is really in pursuit of this thing. You're joined in this pursuit by pretty much everyone that's ever lived. A search for that elusive thing called Satisfaction.

Take a minute to consider this sentence and fill in the blank: I would be completely satisfied if ____________.

What did you think of? If you were feeling really holy today you probably put down something like "world hunger was ended." If you were honest, you probably put down something like "I had my house on the beach and a million dollars in the bank." Whatever you put down, there probably still exists within it a fundamental misunderstanding of satisfaction that keeps us from ever really attaining it.

We are incredibly task and goal oriented people. We make a list of tasks or we set a goal and then we go about the steps necessary to achieve it. But when we start to talk about the purpose or goal of our life, this kind of understanding is detrimental to true satisfaction for two reasons.

First, what do you do in the meantime while you're achieving your goal? Some people are so focused on some future achievement that everyday in between just simply gets in the way. They resent everyday that is not the day they achieve their goal. They're so focused on the future that they never appreciate the present. This "in between time" is definitely not satisfying. Think about it for a second, I'll bet you know someone who lives in the future - do they seem very satisfied?

Secondly, what do you do after you achieve your goal? What are you supposed to do once the achievement is past? This might sound silly but I think a lot of people presume that they will meet their goal and then stop, basking in the glow of that achievement for the rest of their lives. If our achievement is behind us, then we start living in the past. We take today for granted and risk getting really lazy because we've ran out of things to achieve. This "after the fact" time is definitely not satisfying either. I'll bet you know someone like this also, who lives perpetually in some past moment - aside from being kinda pathetic, do they seem very satisfied?

So, if Satisfaction is a destination that I'm either heading toward or already gotten to, it makes today thoroughly unsatisfying either way. We need to stop thinking about Satisfaction as a destination we get to but, rather a direction we're heading.

I bring up this topic not only for our personal reflection but to spark conversation in our Core Community. I wonder if, in the midst of such a fantastic community, we fall victim to the latter condition and start thinking we've "made it" as a community. Surely, we've accomplished many of our goals to grow deep relationships, to live life together, and to encouage each other toward God. But are we done now? Do we just maintain for the rest of our lives? I don't know about you but I'm way too young to be "done", and so is our community.

A helpful reflection is to think of Core today not as a finished product but a fantastic start. As open and accepting as we've been to the people that have entered our community - we should look for and anticipate the next person to join our community with the fervency we did the first. We should actively invite others and make new people feel welcome and accepted. When we get together to do something, we shouldn't take for granted the new members of our community that need to explicitly hear how welcome they are to be with us.

Core should also be a shared experience. A space where everyone feels some ownership of the community and looks for places to apply their gifts. Surely we shouldn't want to go to the same place at the same time and listen to the same person talk about the same things. No, we welcome the kind of diversity that comes from many people providing and acting on new ideas for our gathering times and activities. In a way, everybody is a leader in Core. None of us should shy away from throwing our gifts in the mix. To the extent that people withhold the gifts God gave them, the community is all the poorer.

We should also be reminded that Core is not solely a community that gathers on Thursday night but a community that is sent everyday into the city to reflect God. We do that best through our relationships so our community should always look for opportunities to be out in the city interacting with each other and others. All of us should look for opportunities to be (1) social with people outside our community (2) civicly engaged in the issues facing our city and (3) serving those that are in need. On that last point, service is not a "one size fits all" activity. Some people will enjoy working with kids as an act of service. Others will enjoy interacting with adults or working with their hands to build a house. It doesn't matter how you serve but we are called to serve. Let 2007 be the year you figure out a way to serve that is natural for your giftings and personality.

Not what we were yesterday and not what we will be tomorrow - today is what matters. And everyday that our Core Community is a welcoming, serving, shared community is a day we can be satisfied with the direction we're heading.