The Wrong Stuff

The 1983 movie, "The Right Stuff," chronicled 15 years of the United States' space program.  The movie depicted the challenges and frustrations of the Mercury astronauts who were responsible for the first manned space flights in our country's history.

But what if they didn't have the right stuff?  What if they had everything else but?  What if they had all the talent, all the equipment, all the resources, all the opportunities but did not have that thing within them, which allowed them to persevere and accomplish what seemed impossible back in the 1940s and 1950s when they pushed the limits of technology, physical ability and personal circumstance?

What if they had focused on their personal level of comfort and safety instead of the necessary demands and rigors required of test pilots pushing the envelope of space itself?  What if they insisted on their personal rights instead of what was right for the space program?  What if they allowed themselves to settle for doing what was required of them instead of going above and beyond what should have been expected?  What if they had the wrong stuff?

America became the leader in space because men like the Mercury Seven had the right stuff, the stuff that allowed them to do what others would not dare to do.  What they had was an inner desire that would not accept ordinary or conventional.  They set aside personal for purpose because they had a vision of greatness.  Our success in outer space rested on the stuff these men had.

It is no different among people of faith in pursuing kingdom goals.  Success in overcoming the challenges and frustrations of following Jesus in doing the right thing requires the right stuff.  Insisting on what is best instead of good enough, isn't easy.  Choosing to do the right thing instead of the safe or comfortable thing is risky business.  Putting kingdom purpose above your personal desires is not common, it is courageous.  But, that attitude, that willingness, that desire is what produces the right stuff.

The apostle Paul declared, "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death" (Phil 3:7-10).

Too many settle for the wrong stuff, the stuff of personal safety, personal comfort, personal gain and, generally speaking, personal pursuits instead of godly purpose.  As Christians, we need to develop an inner desire that seeks nothing less than the will of God in our lives.  Anything else is the wrong stuff.  Jus' Say'n.