Awesome Activator Revisited

Introduction and Review

This will be our last session of this series, Salt and Life Living: Eliminating the Sacred/Secular Divide.

This series has been just a taste that will hopefully help you realize how easy it is to disregard God in certain areas of our lives. Few of us would even notice if it were not pointed out. Too often we compartmentalize areas of our life into sacred and secular without even noticing. This study has had the purpose of making us aware two things: 1- There is nothing secular, 2- We need to intentionally live as though God is present and relevant in every area of our lives and every activity that we do.

So when we say that nothing is secular, what do we mean? There is not area or activity in which God is not relevant.

The primary reason we exist is to give God glory. One of the ways we give God glory is by treating everything we do as if He is involved in it, and when we do that, we become salt and light to the world.

Matthew 5:13–16 KJV 1900

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Our Worldview Matters

Why does our worldview matter?

Because ultimately, our worldview influences our behavior. Our worldview informs what we believe about what 5 things? God, Creation, Humanity, Moral Order, and Purpose.

What we believe will ultimately be lived out in our behavior.

This is why it is important that we know what we believe and why.

What is the foundation of our belief system? It should be the Bible. I believe the things that I do about God, Creation, Humanity, Moral Order, and Purpose because of what the Bible says.

Those beliefs are the basis for my values. I believe that God creates people in His image and does so with a purpose, therefore, I value every life. The value of life, informed by my belief that every person is created in God’s image is the reason that I do not murder.

I believe that life starts at conception, that God makes not mistakes, and that every life is planned by Him. This belief that is founded on Biblical principles also informs the value that I place on unborn babies. Because I value the life of unborn babies, I do not support abortion under any circumstance.

What is would be another belief that informs a value that, in turn, drives a certain behavior?

I believe that God loves me and that despite my unworthiness, wants a deep and meaningful relationship with me. That makes me value the time that I spend with God very highly. Because I value the time that I spend with God (and the reason I value it is because I believe that God is real, that He is good, and that He wants a relationship with me), that drives me to make time out of my day to spend with Him.

DADI Plan Review

Last week we looked at the DADI Plan. Can anyone tell me what that acronym stands for?

Discover

Apply

Develop

Implement

When we talk about discover, we are talking about discovering what we believe about God, Creation, Humanity, Moral Order, or Purpose. The discover section of the plan is a statement of what we believe. We say: I believe that… This statement should be based on biblical principles. Why? Because we are seeking to be influenced by a biblical worldview.

Looking at your 99 truths sheet, what is something from those truths that we can use as an example? Somebody pick a random statement. [Convert that statement to an “I believe...” statement.]

What section did that come from (God, Creation, Humanity,...)?

Ok. So based on that belief, we then need to apply it. Going to the apply section, we then would write down as many “I could” statements. How could that statement be applied in my life? Now, let’s narrow this down to applying it to a certain area of our lives - work, home life, church, friends, hobbies, etc.

Now make “I could...” statements.

Now that we have made up some “I could...” statements, we move to the Develop section.

In this section, we want to think of anything we might need to bring those “I could...” statements into reality. Are there any disciplines I need to begin practicing? Are there skills that I must develop? Is there any training that I need to receive? Are there things I need to acquire? Books I need to read? Etc.

These will be identified through “I must...” statements.

Then, once those statements have been exhausted, we move to the next step of the plan which is the Implement section.

In this section, we will take the “I must...” statements and write “I will...” statements. This is the part where we implement the plan. “I will...”

This is what we did last week, and we can do it for every area of every circle of our lives.

Now, what I want to finish up doing this evening is a second attempt at the Awesome Activator.

Awesome Activator

The Awesome Activator is the thing that we did about 4 weeks ago. It was a lot of confusion, but now that we have done these the DADI Plan and looked at the Questions contextualizing work, I thing that we can do the Awesome Activator way more effectively.

So we are going to try it tonight.

So, whereas the DADI Plan informed us of what actions we needed to take that would line up with our beliefs in general areas of our lives, the Awesome Activator gives us a was to make sure every individual activity that we do is one that is driven by a biblical worldview.

It’s kind of a reverse engineered DADI Plan. With the DADI plan, we start of with a single belief that brings out many actions. With the Awesome activator, we start off with and action and give value to that activity by finding as many beliefs as we can (from the Bible, of course) that inform that activity.

This makes it to where we can be sure of doing an activity the right way for the right purposes.

For example: The DADI Plan helps when I know what I believe, but do not know how to apply it.

The Awesome Activator helps me when I am engaged in activities (big or small) but don’t know exactly why I am doing those things from a Biblical perspective. The example that we will look at is washing dishes. Obviously, we know why we are washing dishes - so that we have a clean plate to eat from tomorrow. But how does washing dishes glorify God? Does it/can it even glorify God? The Awesome Activator helps me in that way.

So, let’s go through the Awesome Activator [pass out the sheets to everyone]

The goal for this exercise is to begin thinking about how you could apply a biblical worldview to every activity you do. Not just on the job, but each individual activity that is part of that job. For example: If I am a janitor, I am going to do the Awesome Activator not just for Janitor, but for cleaning toilets, vacuuming, taking out trash, etc. See what I am saying?

Select an activity that is common for you to do - something that either happens multiple times throughout the week.

What is an activity that you perform at your job regularly? [Ask a few individuals]

Ok. So, in the circle, write an activity concerning your job - Studying, homework, meetings/presentation (be specific about this - are you attending or presenting, who is the audience - employees or supervisors, etc.), loading a truck, quality inspection (on what item or system?), teaching a class (perhaps too broad, what do you do while teaching? grade, review, give a test, present new info, etc.).

For the moment, I only want you to write in the activity that pertains to your job, your vocation (your calling), in that circle. Do nothing else. We are going to go over what the next steps are in just a bit.

In a moment, I am going to show you an example of an example of an Awesome Activator that someone might do regarding chores around the house.

So, let’s look at the instructions for this.

1: Think of an activity (project or task) you are going to do. Write this activity inside the bubble shown in the center of the box below. This activity may be as simple as washing dishes, or as big as creating a new computer software program.

We have done this one, so let’s move to the next thing.

2: Brainstorm specific ways in which your activity relates to the “bigger picture of life” [as given in Scripture]. What is the bigger picture of life? First Commission, Great Commission, we are created for God’s glory, we are to love Him and love others as ourselves.

To prompt ideas, you may want to refer to 99 Truths about Work, Economics and Human Flourishing, and Questions for “Contextualizing” Work.

3. Narrow down your key ideas to 5 or 6 thoughts that particularly “speak to you.” Write these ideas in new “bubbles” around your activity below. (They may be part of the 99 Truths or answers to the Questions Contextualizing Work, or they may not be. Make sure that they do fit in with the bigger picture of life.)

Let’s look at an example of the Awesome Activator:

The particular activity chosen is Washing Dishes.

Note the bubbles on the outside and how the thoughts expressed in them are statements that have to do with the bigger picture of life. It’s not about washing the dishes, it is about loving others as myself. It’s not about washing the dishes, it’s about me doing my best so that God can be glorified in my work. It’s not about doing the dishes, it’s about the fact that washing dishes is governing over creation. It is subduing and exercising dominion over soap and water and dishes.

So, now, what we are going to do is split up into pairs. The way I want to do this is for men to split off with men and women split off with women. Teens, I want you pairing up with an adult that is not your parent. Adults, find a teen to work on this with. Then, once you find your partner, you can start working on it.

Work on filling out five or six bubbles for your paper first. After a few minutes, check to see if your partner needs help and help each other out.

[Give about 5 to 8 minutes to complete this portion of the exercise.

Have everyone turn to the front and then ask a few their bubbles, if time permits.]

Next, we want to go to the next page.

Following the instructions from the first page, we see number 4 is next.

4: On the next page, write down specific ways you could apply your ideas to your work. Ask God for help. Think outside the box. Talk it over with someone.

Some ways I could apply biblical truths (as shown in the outer bubbles) to my work, written as visionary “I could see…” statements:

I could see washing dishes as an act of loving service to my family, and it could be a direct expression of my love for those who are closest to me.

I could see washing dishes as an act of service to God Himself, and as fulfillment of His commission for me to govern over all the earth—including water, soap, cups and plates.

5: Think about any preparation you may need to do in order to be successful. (Any training you need to have? Any research you need to do? Any changes to be made?) Write these things down in the “skills I must develop” section on the next page.

Some skills I must develop (or preparation I must make) in order to succeed: (Training? Research? Changes?)

I must be convinced that dishwashing is the will of God for me, and that He wants His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven through me in this way.

I must be conscious of the fact that when I am washing dishes, I am doing work that God wants done.

I must keep in mind that I am washing the dishes as though Jesus were going to eat on them.

I must fully realize that I am loving and serving God and others through washing dishes.

6: Write down action steps you will to take. Be specific. Give yourself some time-deadlines.

Action steps I will take: (Be specific, and include some time-qualifications.)

I will use my dishwashing time as a time of practical discipleship, putting my faith into action in a very real and practical way.

I will wash dishes regularly and consistently “as unto the Lord,” in a timely and organized fashion.

I will was dishes well because it is a loving act to my family.

Questions or Comments?

about the study?