I hope you got a laugh from the title of this blog. I also hoped it piqued your curiosity to investigate and read. Simply queried, when is do it yourself brain surgery a good idea? When is do it yourself anything a good idea or a bad one?
Working at Lowe's has been an interesting experience and I can't believe I've been there over a year now. After a year, I am convinced that retail is not to be my career and have experienced a great deal of growth in working on my 'humility' merit badge...but that is for another blog. A few weeks ago, I had the joy of attending a men's retreat whose keynote speaker was a brain surgeon who offers to pray with his patients. No, not because he isn't any good at it (I know you thought that, some of his patients do too). In fact, he's a well known leading brain surgeon in 'the industry'.
I have met Dr. David Levy before. I have read his book (he is working on another). I even have his personal phone number and email, and no, he isn't a friend of mine, he's just a man on a mission and rightly trusts that I won't abuse 'my privilege'. He came to speak at our church because I had taken the risk to see if he would, and he did. That's how it all started. I suppose I share this with you to give you a sense of his character. He is a extremely successful, as an incredibly gifted neurosurgeon, could be arrogant and self glorifying, but in amazing ways is wonderfully humble and quite transparent about his 'mistakes' (not only in surgery but in life as well), and very thankful for the plethora of successes. In short, he is real. A real man, a real and amazingly gifted surgeon, a real follower of the LORD.
So, who would I want doing do it yourself brain surgery on me? You got it, Dr. David Levy. Why? Because he is trained? Yes. But mostly? Because he understands his position as a brain surgeon and has learned not to just do it himself. David's hands are blessed by God for His use, His glory and His kingdom. He knows he has been given the gift but also knows that this gift can be used to help or hurt a patient and that his patient's life is not in his hands, but the hands of God. He shares account after account of great outcomes, but also the struggles along the way, his turning or even stopping in the midst of surgery to ask for God's guidance and is not shy to share his failures, and in brain surgery, a 'failure' costs a life.
I am a do it yourselfer. I am not afraid to try and fix many things, but fix a brain by doing surgery? Not unless I were to undergo the long training of Dr. Levy. Not unless I had the root personal skills and drive he has. And not without the calling and skill he has to do amazing things in the brain. I can, however, do, risk and rise to the challenges fit for me. However, I am also learning that I am not to do it myself.
When is it good to do it yourself? And not? Obviously a very small percentage of our world would take on brain surgery and do it ourselves. But some are called to do it, some good, some great and some, well, need find another profession. But can and should we, normal people become do it yourselfers? I believe it is the wellspring of life to press forward, continue learning, accomplishing greater and greater successes (and failures) in this thing called life.
People who are coddled and never challenged to continually learn new things, never have many opportunities to try and fail, become people who risk little. They most likely will not become do it yourserlfers. We have developed, as a society many such people; people who have been enabled and expect instant success at everything they do, or to be paid well even though they aren't very good...at anything. Most of these have not 'paid their dues'. You learn humility by starting a career sweeping floors (or, as in my late years of employ, sorting and straightening out pluming fixtures on the shelf). If that is all you can do, do it with all your heart. Even if seems below you, be the best floor sweeper (or plumbing fixture sorter) you can be. I have discovered new joy in doing tasks that 'are far below my credentials' enabling me to do it with all my heart. Like laundry, I can sort out the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) fixtures every day without end, but can stand proud when, for the moment, every single piece is where it belongs (or in laundry, when every piece of clothing is clean except the stuff you are wearing).
There is a new paradigm arising in business. It is called servant leadership, and at it's heart is, I believe, the heart of Jesus Christ. He was and will always be, the best example of a servant leader. He called fishermen to become skilled teachers and learners of something difficult; being a disciple, a likeness of the Messiah, kids of His kingdom. It was psychological brain surgery. Every account of what He did with them was a way of retraining them 'how to think', 'how to do'. When His disciples thought they were about to die while in the storm on the Galilee Sea, and, as Jesus was sleeping on the small boat, He was trying to teach them (and us) to be calm in the storm (David spoke of this at our church, click to hear). It wasn't their lives that were at risk, but their faith and trust in the one who had given them their lives. When Jesus fed the crowd (5,000 of them) with a kid's lunch, He was trying to retrain His disciples brains (and ours) to see who was their miraculous provider for food and care. He also demonstrated this care when, after an all night fishing trip, tired and completely unsuccessful, He told them (and us) to throw their (our) nets over the other side of the boat instead of just finally rowing to shore. He provided the most bountiful catch EVER! I now see every account in scripture (Old and New Testament) as psychological brain surgery. Removing my 'wrong' and often selfish training, replacing it with His, selfless and as a more provocative means to live this life with confidence and peace. And He does this not by force or demand, but as a servant, wanting to help them discover the deep truths of following a servant.
Dr. Levy has it right. He never wants to now 'do it himself', or do anything himself. He has discovered the keys to giving life are not in his hands, but in the hands of our God. He trusts God to do His (God's) work with the work of his (Dr. Levy's) hands, heart, and mind. If we think about EVERYTHING, we should take the same stance, for if we go about doing it ourselves, we will not only fail miserably in this life, but fail to find peace in the life to come. It is not failure I fear, nor does Dr. Levy, for we learn through the God led failures. But, when we do it ourselves and fail, it truly is 'our own fault'.
It is time for us to become servant leaders rather than do it yourselfers. Most will not rise to this call. If you are tempted to say that I am wrong, or "I'll try this another time", there may never come 'another time'. I am not saying I have this down. I too am like the disciples spoken of in scripture. They didn't get it too. But like them, even when the storms are raging and I think I'm gonna die? I want to run to Jesus, wake Him up and ask Him if He'll calm the storm rather than try to do it myself. My desire is to follow in the storm and get to the other side, which He promises can be found here and in my life to come.
Dr. David Levy has it right. Do it yourself brain surgery? Never. Do it with God brain surgery? Always.
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