Start with yes

It is generally considered an extreme negative to be dubbed a ‘yes man.’

Nobody likes a suck up, well actually those opposite the lip end of it do. Finding a willing participant in any area of life is becoming increasingly rare.

Over the last twenty years there has been a monumental shift in the way that people in general behave towards social interaction. Be that in a work environment or with regards to community situations. From clubs to guilds, societies to churches, commitment is at an extremely low ebb.

Integrity was a a character trait that we used to have drummed into us, it was a thing to be proud of, it was the feature of a gentleman. Sadly it is counted as nothing in our day. Arrangements and promises can be discarded without too much thought, just not turning up is absolutely fine. Obviously these comments are sweeping in their generalisation, but there is a growing trend towards this way of thinking.

Jim Carey made a movie called Yes Man a number of years ago with the basic premise that he would say yes to everything that came his way. Clearly it went fairly chaotic or there would have been no story. I don’t really know what set me off on this thought this morning but last night my daughter was asking what radical things we had done in response to our faith.

This list would be fairly long.

I have been very fortunate to have married a woman who shares my outlook on life, we are not clones obviously and she has been a great balance to me on many occasions but as far as the general direction in which we travel, it is the same.

A word that is bandied about as hugely negative in our day is radical, this has successfully undergone a reverse makeover thanks to the actions of certain individuals and the over use of it in the media. Politicians love to throw it around when some atrocity or another has swept over the nations in a wave of disgust. Pin it on to the back of any person and we quickly dismiss them as just another quack to reject.

We need to stop for a moment and re-engage our brains.

Think back through the history of our species, who do you remember?

Do you know who grew up two doors down from Abraham Lincoln as a child? Do you know who sat two seats behind Hitler in school? Do you know or care who was the first girl that your dad was obsessed with? No, of course not, she isn’t your mother.

The point is that at a certain place, in a certain moment those people were radical.

They stepped out from the crowd and acted upon a feeling or assurance that this course was the correct one.

You can hate the radicalised person who randomly destroys lives, you are justified in that feeling because of the abhorrent nature of their actions. But if you pull on a shirt with Che Guevara printed on the front, remember that he did the same whilst believing his actions to be justified.

It is my hope that we can again return to a time where individuals get a bit of fire in their belly about something. Not this false offense about everything, but a real, genuine conviction to live out what we believe in.

To step out with the courage of our convictions and simply live them, and if required answer for them.