I’m a bit of an efficiency wonk.
If there’s a way to hack a task so I can do it quicker and easier, I’m all for it.
But life-hacks have a limit. They’re fine when you’re seeking a faster way to get from Point A to Point B, but when you’re dealing with relationships, principles, and issues of integrity, life-hacks are nothing more than moral shortcuts. Compromise. Sin.
Sadly, there are too many people using moral shortcuts in the church, politics, business, and family relationships. And we’re all paying the price for it.
No Hack For Consistency
I recently read this simple sentence (I wish I could remember where, so I could give credit):
“There’s no hack for consistency.”
The same could be said for faithfulness.
In a world where so many people are chasing the latest hack/shortcut, there’s no substitute for doing good work, living with integrity, and putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, after day, after . . .
Principles, Not Shortcuts
The Bible is not a collection of life-hacks. It is a library of principles and stories. Principles handed down by a loving creator that were kept (occasionally) and broken (constantly) by those made in his image, along with the real-life stories about the consequences of both.
I’ve been in full-time ministry for over four decades, and I have learned this, with absolute certainty.
The tasks you can hack don’t last, while the principles that last don’t have shortcuts.
Stay faithful. Live with integrity. And live by eternal principles, not moral shortcuts.
(Photo by Stephan Ridgway | Flickr)
