Coloring Without Lines

I look back at my life and realize that I learned all that I would ever need to know about people in first grade art class. There seemed to be two groups of kids back then. The first were those who liked safety and security, who always colored inside the lines because that was what they were told to do. They were liked by the teachers because they obeyed well, and were eventually lumped into the 'good kid' category. They went on to be doctors and lawyers and congressmen. Then there was the other group of kids who liked to push the limits, and ended up coloring outside the lines. They were disliked by the teachers because they didn't always do what they were told. They usually got in trouble a lot and eventually went on to chew gum in class and drive too fast and rob banks and become drug addicts. They were put into the 'bad kid' category. I had a client one time who said "I don't want to color outside the box; I want to get rid of the whole box". That's definitely an outside-the-lines kind of person. One group wants to know what the speed limit is so they can stay safely under it. The second group wants to know what the limit is so they can brag about how far over it they drove. Safety people don't take risks. They like to hedge their bets and risk little. It is better to bet on a sure thing and win a little, than bet on the long shot and potentially win big. Risk people only bet on the horse with 60:1 odds. Otherwise betting isn't any fun. Jesus said that if we seek to save our lives, we would lose them, but if we were to lose our lives for his sake, we would find them. That's an interesting contrast in light of both of these groups. I find for some people security is number one, and losing life for anyone sounds pretty stupid. I am no Bible scholar, but as I read that, I wonder if the safety folks need to reach a little farther, to dare to color outside the lines just a little. To make Jesus the Lord of their lives, not their subtle demand for security and safety. I'm not saying to go break the law or do something profoundly dangerous, I am just saying that when security and safety are our number one goals, we smother the living out of our lives. So what would losing our lives for Jesus' sake mean for the outside-the-lines people? At first glance it looks like they are better at not clinging to life than the safety people. They naturally live outside the lines. They don't have to work at risking or taking steps of faith. But for them, the challenge might be to lose their lives in something that doesn't come as easily as pushing the limits. For those folks, following God's leading wherever it might take them - including playing within the parameters - might be the hardest lesson. I wonder when I step back and look at life, if God's intention is for us to lean on Him, regardless of the type of person we are. Leaning on him is going to mean something very different for the safety people and the risk people. But both seem to be called to a level of discomfort that forces them outside themselves and into a dependent relationship on Jesus. Self sufficiency is the real enemy, not which side of the line we color on. The ultimate test for us all might be an honest look at who runs our lives. Do safety and our often unconscious demand for security dictate how we live, or does the call of God? Are we lost in the buzz of living on the edges of life and believing some lie about how in charge of our lives we really are? We can't help how we were made, and which category of first grader we were or are. But each of us has a call to live with someone bigger than ourselves on the throne of our lives.

Little did I know in first grade that so many of my classmates would grow up to be bank robbers. Actually, I think one of them did, but that's beside the point. Those I knew then who colored inside the lines are mostly still coloring inside the lines as grown ups. They have found success by winning small many times. And those who colored outside the lines went on to live outside the lines as adults, and some have won big, and some have lost big. One of those little hoodlums, namely me, went on to some big wins, and some bigger losses. I realize now that winning and losing, big or little, whether we color inside or outside the lines, matters little if our drawing is in the hand of a mighty Creator. Because he can make something beautiful out of our lives, with no lines at all.

© 2007 Mike & Laura Ege, www.OutsideEdgeCoaching.com

About the Author

Mike and Laura Ege are life coaches who challenge people who are tired of shallow, ineffective faith to go beyond the brink of what they've always known and ignite a spiritual journey full of adventure, purpose, and freedom. For more information or to sign up for a free email series '7 Radical Freedoms', go to http://www.OutsideEdgeCoaching.com