You Were Made for MoreSýnishorn

The Solver

Message

If you’re on a boat about to collide with a bridge and you’re unable to raise it, what do you do? It’s that old saying, “If you can’t raise the bridge, lower the water.”

That’s one of my favorite quotes of all time. I love people who simply find solutions. In today’s text, Jesus’ ministry was growing quickly, and the word was spreading about his abilities. So a sick man’s friends take him to see the teacher. When they can’t get him through the crowd to receive healing, they lowered him through a roof so he was right in front of Jesus. I know some of you reading this are rule followers and wondering “What are these guys are doing cutting in line. Why are they entitled to get to Jesus before all of us who’ve been waiting our turn?”

I get it. But Jesus wasn’t exactly a rule follower Himself. Before He ever got to the paralytic’s ability to walk, He told him, “Your sins are forgiven.” That’s the deepest of healing, and the type of healing that got Jesus into trouble. To cause someone to rise and walk is one matter, but to tell them their sins are forgiven is something only God can do. And why would Jesus decide to perform this great healing on a lame man He has never met before? We’re told in the text that it was the faith of his friends that brought his healing. I would argue that it was the prejudicial longing for a friend’s healing that led them to cut in line. They believed that their healing request was the most important. So they decided to find a way to get to the healer, even if it meant an unconventional (and dangerous) path. If you look through the scriptures, you’ll see Jesus is almost always taken back when people find a creative solution. He spoke to a centurion and healed his daughter who wasn’t even present because of the centurion's belief that Jesus was the solution. He chose disciples who said yes to the strangest of offers to follow. He loved those with hearts that say yes and minds fixed on solutions.

Turns out, in the work world people who are focused on solutions always get noticed. If you focus on solutions, you will stand out of the crowd. Why? Because we actually love talking about problems. There’s an old line that says it takes fewer muscles to smile than frown. I’d like to believe that’s true, but humans are wired to say negative things. If you don’t believe me, pull up any major news outlet on either side of the spectrum and tell me they aren’t selling negativity: “Five reasons the market will likely crash this year!” “Four ways the world might get destroyed tomorrow.” “Thirty-three tips for looking better, thinner, and generally less terrible than you do now.”

Negative words get clicks. But positive words bring healing. Positivity, kindness, and solutions help heal what’s broken. And a solution is something that a lot of people wouldn’t suspect from a Christian. I don’t need to tell you that we’re labeled as the group of “no.” No you cannot do this. You cannot do that. It’s almost a “salvation by subtraction” that the world sees. “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t cuss…I must be a Christian.”

The original word for evangelical wasn’t about problems. It was about solutions. It literally meant, the “good message,” or “good messenger.” God loves when His people act toward good news and solutions, and the world will find it to be a refreshing surprise.

I had a mentor who said to me many years ago, “William, everyone falls on one side or the other of life’s equation. You either fall on the problem side of an equation, or the solution side.”

Problem sided people tend to point out what is wrong, to talk about what cannot be done, and to talk about the devastating results of this problem. Solution sided people immediately start talking about how can this be fixed? What can I do to make it better?

It turns out, if you are in the workplace and simply focus on saying, “What can I solve today for someone else?” you will rise above the crowd. You will look as intriguing and unforgettable as four people trying to lower their lame friend through a roof to get to see a homeless rabbi.

From the moment we fell in the garden of Eden, God had been talking about a solution and planning for the solution in Jesus. So why in the world would we focus our energies on problems rather than solutions? You have a chance to bring peace to the problems in your office. You have a chance to get on the solution side of the equation. And by joining that minority of people, you will have a chance to do greater and greater things.

Prayer

Lord, help me not to ignore problems or complain about them. Help me to examine them, to see what there is to learn. But very quickly, Lord, cause me to see and discern solutions. Let me be a part of the solution, and never a part of the problem. In Jesus’ name. Amen.