zeal·ot
/ˈzelət/
noun
a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.
Okay, so I was one of those. I am one of those. Ironically, being a zealot can actually do a lot of good in ways that aren’t intrinsically bad, but sullied by the motive that drives them. Most of mine were driven by the need for validation and the hopes of convincing my God that I wasn’t as bad a person as I secretly believed I was. I still carry the capacity to be one of those but am working really hard to redeem the more negative aspects. Here are some zealot highlights:
Read an impactful book, convinced my church to let me do a retreat based on it, and ordered cases of the book to hand out personally as part of the invitation for men to attend
Heard of a new book that was the feminine companion to that one, pre-ordered a dozen, and suggested my wife invite a group of women to go through the book with her (and I suggested the list of women and wrote a sample of the invitation…yikes!)
Wouldn’t get cable or internet for my family and pretty much banned all media and music that wasn’t expressly connected to my faith
Was inspired by a story about how a guy made small decisions in the direction of a better life and gave away dozens of them to others (I lost count at eighty-something copies)
Found that writing this short blog was a way to communicate thoughts and ideas, I’ve written over 450 of them
Went to Colorado for two with a plan to start a manuscript around our coaching methodology/worldview for life/leadership/business and finished a rough draft with over 43,000 words while I was there.
The last three on that list came from a more recent and healthier version of my tendency to be a zealot, but there can still be some self motivation masking what might seem well-intentioned. But if I am not careful, being a person with those kind of jaundiced drivers can mean that I miss out on opportunities to see and respond to a myriad of great opportunities right in front of me.
Slowing down, being open to the unforced rhythms of God’s grace, and seeing the people around me has provided so many special opportunities. These are just a few of the highlights from the last few months.
asking a few directional questions to a stranger in a hotel completely changed his thoughts on the next step in his career
seeing and acknowledging the intentionality of a coffee shop manager brought tears to his eyes
celebrating the beauty of some landscaping completely awakened the pride and joy of a simple manual laborer
asking a convenience worker where his joy came from because it had really brightened my day…he said it wasn’t always the case but he was working really hard to reverse the trend in his life and was super encouraged I noticed
finding every occasion to tell my daughters how beautiful they are and how proud I am versus pointing out everything they are doing wrong
laughing with grandkids while they empty the water from my windshield wiper reservoir on the car and us
moving the needle on a disgruntled auto store employee by relentlessly showing her the good in all the bad she sees
telling a server how her joy made my day better in every way
engaging a rental car shuttle driver around the intentionality and professionalism of his approach to his work
getting far less “done” on a beautiful afternoon by choosing to sit outside in an Adirondack chair instead of inside at my battle post
choosing to abandon the cockpit of my laptop and headphones in a coffee shop to in order to observe and converse with the folks around me
The reality is that wanting to do good things (and maybe big things as a zealot) finds greater purchase and more lasting impact in the still and quiet, one-on-one, and away from the hurried pace the world is badgering me to join. What do other types of recovering addicts say? One day at a time.
Consider
Are you accomplishing a lot of good in this season?
Is your motivation really all about the people you are doing the good for?
What is all the drive costing you and are you missing opportunities to do real good all around you?