More Gas Won’t Help
We can get stuck on one solution, no matter the problem.
Hi. I’ve never seen the movie Sling Blade, but I know the meme. Some men are discussing why a small engine won’t run, when Karl, a simple man, comes to take a look. After a quick scan, he immediately diagnosed the problem. “It ain’t got no gas in it.”
When addressing problems, I guess it’s always good to look at the simplest things first, or maybe the most common issues first. In doing so, you might save a lot of time. But what if those things are not the problem? What if that engine had plenty of gasoline? Should you add more anyway? And if it still does not start? More gas? At some point, we’d all realize that wasn’t the problem, so the solution to that problem will not help this problem.
Sometimes I think people can get stuck on one solution, no matter the problem. In other words, no matter what goes wrong, the fix is always the same. Is the relationship with your main squeeze a little strained? Must need a date night. Different opinions about kid issues? Must need a date night. Growing apart for the last 10 years? Date night it is. Can’t stand to be in the same room? You guessed it! Date night. (Date nights are great, but you see where I’m going here.)
When you look, you can see this kind of stuck-ness everywhere. Feeling down? Apply a prayer. Messed up? Apply a prayer. Pattern of self-destructive behavior? Prayers, coming up! Again, prayer is absolutely necessary for growth, but God did give us more tools to help (His word, Holy Spirit, other people…).
Church isn’t growing like you want? It must need better preaching/teaching. A church member made a bad choice? It must have been the teaching. Some teenagers are being, well, teenagers? Just sit them all down and teach them the truth!
I think sometimes we get shaped by experiences where our one solution really was the solution. Maybe you have experience with a company that only focused on sales but didn’t care about service. Because of that bad experience, now you think that everything depends on service. Just keep doing that well and everything else will be OK.
Maybe you were in a church that was super friendly and had terrific worship but just didn’t emphasize the word of God enough. I can see how someone might leave that situation saying, no matter what, the church just needs to focus on scripture and everything else will be OK. I’ve known wonderful people who are single-issue Christians. That is, their answer to every issue was basically the same: add more gas. What’s more, a different answer would put everyone at risk of becoming like that “bad experience” that they remember. Any de-emphasis of their chosen solution and emphasis on another must mean terrible consequences lie ahead.
Will everything be good if we just keep adding gas? If there’s no oil? Bad plugs? Clogged filter? More gas won’t help no matter how necessary it is to start the engine.
What if, by realistic standards, your life, relationship, business, or church, is doing well in that “default” area of concern? Is it alright to focus on another issue that needs some help? Is it OK to even back off your favorite concern a little to give energy to what needs help? I think it’s hard to back off because we’ve been burned by that one thing before, or we’ve seen it burn others.
Jesus was a man who could serve or rest, teach or pray, enjoy fellowship or solitude, whatever was needed, all in perfect harmony. I can’t do it all in perfect harmony. But if I always focus on one problem or discipline, I won’t even come close.
I guess it’s OK to back off in that one thing I’m always going on about, provided it’s relatively healthy there. What’s your default issue to work on? What if your life, relationship, family, workplace, business, or church is good in that area? Are you at risk of falling down in another?