DON'T JUST SETTLE

“Don’t just settle.” This I have found myself often admonishing during counsel. The marriageable young lady is dating a young man of questionable relationship with Christ, sub-par work ethic, and evident narcissistic behavior; thinking she may never have another chance at being a bride, she begins to feel urgently inclined to accept his proposition of marriage. She asks my wife and me what we think. Among other things we say, “Don’t just settle.” A couple needs a vehicle. They’ve found one that seems like a good deal, but there are some indications of things not being just right with it; yet, tired of looking around and needing a vehicle, they’ve just about talked themselves into purchasing it. My opinion is asked. Pointing out some red flags about the vehicle, I urge, “Don’t get in a hurry. Check it out better. Don’t just settle.” Another is seeking a position of work or ministry—a position that is a fit for his gifts, skills, education, goals, desires, etc. The only position currently offered is one that is not a match for any of these. “Should I take it,” he asks. Again, I find myself saying, “Don’t just settle.” Most simply, just settling is accepting less. Settling is letting go of expectations, dreams, beliefs, values, goals, etc., and accepting something less. Often, this happens when one has a deflated view of himself, his abilities, potential, resources, and prospects, and an inflated view of the adversaries, obstructions, and interferences against his having, obtaining, achieving what would be the best, the more fitting and fulfilling. Often, just settling is fueled by believing one is out of options, opportunities, and time. Believing this, he gives up expectations, promises, dreams, aspirations, whose fulfillment may still lie in his future and just settles for whatever is in his present. He settles. He acquiesces, “This is just what I am; I cannot change. Things will never be any different; I will just have to live with this. Nothing better will ever come along; I better just resign myself to this is the way things will be.” Settling is a surrender that says, “I cannot be any more than I am, do any more than I do, have any more than I have.” To settle for less is to wave the white flag accepting the inferior, mediocre, second-rate, inadequate as inevitable. This is one reason I have an aversion to the ubiquitous, go-to, and hackneyed cliché, “It is what it is.” Often, that is the expression of one just settling. Arguably, COVID has drastically affected the visible Church. But the Church does not have to settle for an emaciated, decimated, de-moralized new existence. It must not. The Church must not settle for being anything less than the Spirit-filled, Gospel-preaching, life-changing Church, the kind Jesus founded and left when He ascended—the kind of Church He is coming back for. For many Christians, not worshiping in-person but only watching live stream has become inveterate and, thus, to them the new norm. Others are resigned that they will never be a witness for Christ or used by the Spirit. There are temptations, many have concluded, they will never overcome. They must accept their foibles, failures, and faults as permanent. No! The Christian must not settle for anything less than transformation, empowerment, and sanctification. He must not settle for anything less than being fully engaged in worship, fellowship, and sharing the Gospel with others. He must not settle for stagnation in place of progression. He must not settle for anything less than victory. One unsaved has become convinced his sins cannot be forgiven, that his heart is unconvertible. He has been told or has convinced himself that God can’t or either won’t save him. He will die unprepared for eternity. The unsaved must not settle for thinking he must be lost. He must not settle for believing he cannot believe. He must not settle for anything less than forgiveness, hope, joy, peace, and assurance of eternal life that Christ can and will give him. Sometimes this “settling” thing comes up when bartering over an item being sold. Recently, I sold a garden tiller on Facebook Marketplace. I had listed it with the price I expected. Minutes after posting it, potential buyers were messaging me; some asked, “Will you settle for less?” We must not settle for less than what God has for us, will do in and through us, and can make us. Not as individuals. Not as a church. Unwilling to settle for less, some sellers, to preclude even being asked, include with their list price “firm.” Firm means, “I will not take, I will not settle for less.” Less is not an option. Our time is a unique time for Church and Christian. It is a time to be firm. It is a time, not to settle for less. I find myself saying it again (to myself as well as.) “Don’t just settle.”