Swimming Up A Tree

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

There’s something fishy about this popular internet meme. The above quote is attributed, incorrectly, to Albert Einstein, a bona fide genius. He actually never said this, but there are more problems with this quote than the incorrect origin. For one, it’s a misuse of the term “genius,” watering it down to the point that it literally exalts the ordinary to the same level as extraordinary. Speaking of literally, we see the same thing happening with the word “literally,” which mostly gets used metaphorically. “Literally” has literally become the most misused word in the English language, which will ultimately rob it of its meaning.

The word “genius” has been diluted, getting tossed around so casually that those who are above average in the slightest often get labeled “genius.” Or, as in the case of the above quote, calling everyone a genius as something. There are relatively few legitimate geniuses in the world in any given field. Everyone is not a genius at something, and that is perfectly ok. It’s better than ok, it’s completely normal, because most people aren’t geniuses. You don’t have to be a genius at something to still be good, useful, and beneficial at it.

What the above quote gets right is that you cannot judge the effectiveness, skill, or ability of a person solely on their ability, or lack thereof, to do another thing. A woodpecker is pretty good at making a hole in a tree, but I doubt it would have much success digging a tunnel. On the other hand, if you put a mole in the mud he can make magic happen underground. This seems easier for us to accept and acknowledge in others than in ourselves. We judge others by what we see and ourselves by what we know. Someone can praise or appreciate something we are good at and we barely hear it because we know they aren't privy to the litany of faults, flaws, and failures running through our minds. Like an iceberg, we know our good is just the tip that is readily visible, while our inadequacies, mistakes, and sins are many and lie just below the surface.

Maintaining a healthy view of self is somewhat like walking on a tightrope. Lean too far to one side and you fall into insecurity. Lean too far to the other side and you get lifted up with pride, which precedes a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Ego and esteem are a lot like a pair of shoes or jeans -- at first they may look good, but they don't necessarily feel good, but in time they get broken in and become comfortable. It took me around forty years to grow comfortable with who I am and the fact that I don’t have to: 1) be good at everything, 2) try to be something I’m not, or 3) impress anyone. Rather than being content swimming, I wanted to climb trees, and felt compelled that I must or I should or else I wasn't good enough. Even when I wasn't trying to climb trees, I was convinced I should be able to swim better or faster or upstream. Comparison is a leash to lead us around at best, and a noose around our necks at worst.

I know PLENTY of preachers who are: tremendous personal workers, great at pastoral care, dynamic speakers, brilliant teachers, inspiring leaders, cultivators of others abilities, strong counselors, inventive creators, skilled promoters, effective youth leaders, and more. What I don’t know are ANY preachers who are great at all of these things. I’ve known a few who are proficient in all of them, but MOST are really good in one or two of those areas, and then do the best they can in the others when called upon to perform them. I wasted too many years of my life being discouraged that I couldn’t measure up to others in different areas. It took me a long time to accept that there are abilities that I possess naturally, and some that I have cultivated over a long period of time, and these are MY strengths. Some people love me for these things, usually because it is what they prefer or needed, and so naturally they value these things, and by extension me. Other people have different interests or needs that they value, and so they prefer other preachers. One of my favorite quotes says, “You can be the biggest, juiciest, sweetest peach in the world, but some people just don’t like peaches.” Just because a person praises someone else for something good in them, doesn’t mean they are criticizing you for lacking it. For me it might be things pertaining to preaching, for you it is likely something else. Maybe you are envious of the way someone decorates their home, or keeps their yard manicured. Perhaps you think you aren’t as good of a parent or spouse as someone else, or that you can’t teach as well as them. It could be weight or money or number of friends, or any number of other things. Few of us are immune to the curse of comparison.

Even the apostle Paul had to deal with the curse of comparison, sometimes from others, sometimes self-inflicted. Littered through his letters are comments and defenses of his apostleship, and the fact that he wasn’t one whit behind the chiefest of the apostles, though he was "born out of due season." “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles.’ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:5-6). When describing his initial meeting with the original twelve Paul wrote, “As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along” (Galatians 2:6-10). Paul wasn’t afraid to defend himself and his abilities, and yet he also wrestled with the insecurity of his limitations and mistakes. “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God…No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed” (1 Corinthians 15:9-11). “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom…I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words” (1 Corinthians 2:1,3-4). "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst" (1 Timothy 1:15).

On a day to day basis Paul may have wrestled with his place in the apostles and his role in the kingdom, but over the course of his life he figured out exactly who he was, who he wasn’t, and what he was meant to do. “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.” Somedays we have the same struggle, trying to be something we’re not instead of just being what God created us to be. You can use a hammer like a saw, but you will have to settle for beating on something until it breaks in two. A hammer was made to drive nails and a saw was made to cut things. Neither has to compete with the other. You need both to build a house.