Everything in my life right now is LEGO.
The boys every waking moment (when not in school of course) is consumed by LEGO and the creation of. There are always ships to be made, robot armies to create and houses to craft. The creation component of LEGO makes me happy of course. I feel as though in many ways we are closest to God when we create, when we allow that creative force out from within but it’s more than that. I love to watch them think, to explore, to dream. And speaking of dreams I found this little Emmet tucked into my son’s bed right beside his LEGO Ninjago alarm clock. I told you every waking moment was consumed by LEGO but now you know the truth. Every moment in some way or another is touched by these interlocking bricks.
There are worse things of course. We could be battling video game addictions or dealing with kids who just want to watch TV. Instead we only have to deal with the the pain of stepping on rogue pieces in the dark of night. Even our watching TV as a family seems to centre around these creations as this past weekend we all sat down and watched the LEGO movie.
I love The LEGO movie because the hero of the hour isn’t Batman. It’s not Superman or Gandalf or anything other than a simple, normal, everyday guy names Emmet. Emmet follows the rules, blends in with the crowd and is trying to find his place on earth by building his life according to the instructions. He never stands out. All he wants is a group of friends. Even so, without any extraordinary qualities or super powers he wins in the end. Emmet is just like us and Emmet wins. Isn’t that great?
Sometimes it seems in this world as if we lose when we are the nice guy. Sometimes it seems like everything we want can only be attained if we are aggressive and mean, if we invoke fear and dominate. Sometimes it seems like being an “Emmet” will only get you pain, suffering and failure.
But what if it doesn’t have to be this way. What if we could let go of these thoughts and sink into the reality that everyday life is in fact what changes the world. What if I told you that as Christians we’re encouraged to be anything other than dominating, fear inducing, aggressive or mean. I’ve been reading from the book of James a lot lately and it seems to me an awful lot like an instruction manual. It’s one of my favourite books in the Bible. It’s practical, helpful and it reminds us that when we follow we live differently but it doesn’t promise anything other than right ways of living.
Is that enough for us in a world where fame and fortune reign supreme? If it isn’t, maybe it should be. Taming a torturous tongue and quelling favouritism are massive tasks. The fact that our faith comes with a guidebook, an instruction manual really on how to live and build communities where Christ Followers are truly following is kind of fantastic. We don’t have to have all the answers. It’s not up to us. There is a master builder who laid out the way for us.
Sometimes we all like to dig into the LEGO and build whatever comes to us. It’s fun and we fail or achieve with little risk. Our lives though, they need a little more direction. Perhaps it’s ok to ask for help, to lean into the advice and listen when God whispers a course correction in our ears. After all what’s wrong with following the instructions? Our faith comes with some really simple rules, Love God and Love God’s people?
Imagine what the world could look like if we followed the instructions.
