Are you a Frank Sinatra fan?
I have a friend who is a huge Sinatra fan. In fact, my friend is actually a great singer and sings Sinatra classics. When I had my agency we produced 5 albums for him. During that time I certainly had an education in Sinatra’s music.
Sinatra certainly has a massive impact on North American culture, and arguably global culture as well. He performed for 6 decades, sold millions of records, acted in dozens of films and won all manner of awards from Grammy’s to Oscars.
He is truly a cultural icon.
I thought about Mr. Sinatra recently when I was chewing through something the Lord was helping me to understand. What I recalled was a simple lyric from the song, “Strangers in the Night”
At one point in the song he simply croons the words, “Do-be-do-be-do”
I thought, “That’s it. That’s how we’re called to live.”
Let me explain before you begin to think I’ve lost it…
We are human beings. Sometimes though, we are more about doing and can be accused of being “human doings”. In fact, at one point in time someone pointed out to me that I was a pretty good human doing, but not a great human being.
In other words, I was great at doing things; at working. But, I was not very good at resting, at being still – at being.
I believe we need to be like Mr. Sinatra sang – we need to know how to do and be. Do-be-do-be-do, that’s how we’re called to live.
I believe we all have a propensity toward one of these 2 ways to live. Some of us are motivated to get out and “do” things. We want to make it happen. We can’t sit still for very long. We don’t do nothing well – doing nothing is difficult for us.
This is actually a God-given strength. We take action. We get stuff done.
However, the corollary weakness to this strength is that we can define ourselves by our performance. We can believe that the better we perform, the more valuable we are. We can actually believe that what we do defines us.
That is a very dangerous belief indeed.
For those who have a propensity to “be”, they believe that what they do does not define them. They have a deep understanding of who they are. They know how to be still, they know how to rest, they can actually do nothing and not go crazy. They can be at rest.
This is a God-given strength as well. They can rest and be at peace.
However, the corollary weakness to this strength is that they can be very unproductive. They don’t get much done. They don’t “do” anything. They can be lazy and are quite content with “being”.
We’re all created and called to both be and do. Mr. Sinatra actually got the order wrong though. I think we all need to have a deep revelation of our being – who we are. We’re beloved sons of our Father in heaven. There’s nothing we can do to earn His love or get Him to love us more.
It’s only out of a profound revelation of who we are that we can actually “do” in total freedom. We don’t do things to earn God’s love, or to prove our value and worth. We actually do things as an act of worship of God and obedience to Him.
We do because we’re loved and can rest in our value and worth in Him.
We need to know how to “be” – to know Him. And, we need to know how to “do” – to make Him known.
As we increasingly know God, we can increasingly make Him known. It is in knowing Him that we discover how to make Him known. It is in being a beloved son of our heavenly Father that we can powerfully partner with Him in all that He wants to do through us to see his kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Let’s commit ourselves to know our Father, so we can truly make Him known.
Be-do-be-do-be
Romans 8:15, 16
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
John 15:16
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
John 14:21
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
James 2:17, 18
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”
Psalm 46:10
“…Be still, and know that I am God;…”