Pushing Swings or Swimming in the Pool
A few years ago, my wife and I were trying to book a vacation rental online for our family’s annual summer vacation. Although we enjoy walking on the beach and playing in the ocean, the bulk of our vacation revolved around the swimming pool. You wouldn’t think it would be difficult to find a property at the beach that has a swimming pool because most of them do. But it was 2021, and pools were staying closed because of the pandemic.
As soon as we found an Airbnb that highlighted that the pool would be open, we were ready to book it. We were even willing to make some major compromises on bedroom space and pay a little extra for it, but we wanted to be sure. So we sent a message to the property owner to verify that the pool was open, and we waited eagerly for a reply.
When the property owner’s message came through, we were given optimistic news that the pool always opens on Memorial Day. But we needed more certainty than that. Of course, all the pools open in May, yet none of them were open. We replied to the owner again and asked if they knew for certain that the pool would be open, to which the owner replied, “I think so.”
This was not convincing enough for us. The property owner viewed the pool with a little less significance than we did. To him, the pool was an amenity. It was a nice perk to staying at his condo. To us, it was the sole purpose for booking that rental. We knew that if the pool was closed when we showed up that there would be meltdowns and disappointment galore. The pool needed to be open. We further explained this to the property owner in another message, and once again waited for his reply.
The next day, we received the news that the pool was in fact closed due to covid. We were disappointed at the news, but also relieved that we didn’t book it and find out the hard way.
After days of trying to find an open swimming pool, sending messages, and making phone calls, we finally found a place with an open pool. We booked it immediately.
Right up to the moment when we arrived, there was still a nervous pit in my stomach that we were given wrong information and that the pool would be closed. But when we finally got to the condo, we headed straight down to the pool and cheered when we saw that it was open.
You wouldn’t think a swimming pool would be that important. It’s just a pool. But to us that summer, it was everything. We spent every waking moment at the pool. Each morning at breakfast, the kids would put on their damp bathing suits and ask to go back to the pool. Breakfast. Pool. Lunch. Pool. Dinner. Bed. Repeat.
We had a difficult time prying our children away from the pool to go to dinner. They just wanted to stay in it. All day. Every day. They were content as could be. But eventually I got a little stir crazy. Even though I enjoyed relaxing around the pool watching our kids play, I started thinking about all the things they were missing out on. We can swim anytime, I thought, but here at the beach, we’re missing out on other things to do and see.
The next day, I convinced my family to skip the pool and go exploring. We walked around and went inside of shops. We were having a good time. But occasionally, one of the kids would request that we go back to the condo to swim. I told them we’d go back later, hoping I could find something to entertain them the way the pool did so that we didn’t have to.
We finally arrived at a playground. It was a nice, big playground; so, we unleashed the children to run around and play. Although I love spending time with my children, taking them to the playground is not exactly my idea of a good time. As if watching them nearly fall from rope ladders and frequently lifting them to reach the monkey bars wasn’t already exhausting enough, there was something even more tiring for me at the playground. The swings. All my kids love the swings. So naturally, they made a mad dash to the swing set. There was only one problem. Four of my six children couldn’t swing by themselves.
“Dad, push me,” echoed from all directions like a bunch of chirping baby birds. I pulled back the first swing and gave it a couple pushes, then I quickly moved to the next swing and did the same thing again. By the time I got to the fourth child, the first two were already crying out for me to push them again because their swings had slowed down. At first it was like a game to them. It was fun watching me try to keep up. And I had fun with it, too. But that didn’t last long. I would eventually make them get down from the swings just so I could catch my breath. I realized at that moment, there was nothing else in that whole town that could compare to being at the pool.
What is the main thing?
When it comes to the Christian life—that is, when it comes to living the most human life possible—God’s love is the swimming pool. It isn’t a nice little add-on or amenity to our faith. It is the main thing. God’s love is often relegated to a cliché. Like it’s one of the many things Christians do in addition to the more important things. But what we often fail to realize is that remaining in his love is the most important thing. Everything else is secondary (Galatians 5:14).
Because love seems like the most obvious part to being a Christian, it is often assumed and dismissed, then placed in the category of invisible things like faith and hope.
How quickly we can depart from the waters of God’s love only to find ourselves tirelessly pushing swings instead. What begins as a well-intentioned effort to make a bigger splash, or a more meaningful life becomes a journey away from the pool.
I believe that people are desperate for an authentic, pure relationship with Jesus. We’re looking for the joy and peace that passes all understanding, and we are willing to do anything to get it. Even if that includes pushing every swing at the park. We are waiting for that breakthrough to come, and when it doesn’t, we are left scratching our heads wondering how to sustain all the swing-pushing.
One church leader might say that we need to spend more time in the Word. So, we pull back the swing of being in the Word and let it fly. Another leader reminds us that we need to serve in the community more. After all, how can we be a light if we don’t serve? So, we head over to the food pantry and push that swing. We need to be more involved on a serve team at church. Don’t forget to be at ministry team training. Be at band practice. Be at this conference. Go to that retreat. Don’t forget about mission’s trips. Another leader reminds us to give more and pray more, but we’re running out of steam.
All the things I listed are good things, but they still are not the main thing. Everyone means well. The motives are right. At least they start out that way. But then we are reminded that the kid on the first swing is barely swaying back and forth.
Pushing swings is exhausting and unsustainable. It leads to burnout and bad habits.
When we first hear a command like, “Remain in my love,” it may seem like a relief. It’s restful, right? But even “remaining” and “abiding” quickly turn into swings to push if we don’t fully understand what they mean. It can translate into adding another fifteen minutes of meditative silence to our quiet time before we read the Bible and pray. And that doesn’t even account for the journaling component.
Does this resonate? It can be frustrating and even cause us to feel guilty. We already feel like we don’t do enough as it is, but we’re too tired to add anything else.
Although our faith can feel complicated or burdensome at times, it doesn’t have to be this way.
It shouldn’t be this way.
God’s way is not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
If we boil our faith down to the simplest ingredient, it’s all about love. God’s love encapsulates the entire Christian life from start to finish. This isn’t just what fuels the Christian life. It is the Christian life. This doesn’t lead to mission. It is the mission. Simple faith is remaining in love. Not just receiving the love of Jesus but remaining in the perpetual cycle of it. The heart of it all is love. It is the foundation, the focus, and the future.
1. Love is the Foundation
The scandalous love of God is one of the most incomprehensible concepts in existence. That God would bankrupt heaven to sacrifice his only begotten son for us while we were his enemies is a love that transcends all knowledge or understanding. God would have been just to destroy every human being on the planet because of our sins, yet he gave everything to rescue us. Not only this, but when we respond like a spoiled child, he continues to show this same love.
This is the foundation of our faith. Not that we love God, but that he loves us. This is important because it means that God’s love and commitment to us is not based on our merit or our faithfulness. It is based on him.
As with any house, it all starts with a strong foundation. Jesus taught in Matthew 7 of the importance of a solid foundation. A wise man builds his house on the rock while the fool builds on sand. The love of Jesus is our rock. Our cornerstone. Without the finished work of Christ, we don’t have a foot to stand on. He is our rock and our salvation. God’s love is the ground on which we build our lives. It is the root system.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,” —Ephesians 3:17 (NIV)
Perhaps the best way to think about being rooted in something is to consider a plant in the soil. Soil serves as the foundation for the plant. It makes the plant steady and secure and gives it a foundation on which to grow. A plant that is not rooted in the proper soil can be catastrophic. If the soil is not firm enough, the plant will not be able to withstand the rain and wind. So being rooted and established in the proper soil is vital for the overall health and success of the plant.
God’s love is to be the very foundation of our lives. It is the ground that brings security to our lives. Understanding God’s love for us is the very basis of our faith. We must understand that God loved us enough to sacrifice his very own Son so that we might live with him forever. We must understand and be rooted in the fact that God’s intense love for us is not threatened by our flaws or mistakes. When everything else in life is stripped away, we will still be loved to the very core because his love endures forever. His love for us is not based on us, and that is a good thing.
When God’s love is the foundation of our lives, we are completely secure and stable in him.
We have the support that is needed to grow and bear fruit, and we need not worry through the storms of life. Being rooted on the foundation off God’s love is vital to our overall health and success.
How can we be rooted in the foundation of God‘s love? Like a root, we dig into it. As we grow, and as we mature, we never depart from the love of God. We only go deeper into it. If we are not planted in love, then we are like a tree planted in the sand. We cannot stand. God’s love is the basis for every act of worship and every fruit we will ever bear. Apart from God’s love, we are nothing.
2. Love is our Focus
If I had nothing but a pile of bricks beside a foundation, and I wanted to build a house, then there would be only one logical thing for me to do—to start laying bricks. I would not need to focus too much on the house itself. My focus would be to lay one brick at a time. And over time, I would be able to look back and see the progress.
Walking in love is our focus. It is the day to day calling that we have on our lives: to love as we have been loved. We already have the foundation of his love, and now it is time for us to follow in his ways.
Following in Jesus’ steps means dying to self and bearing our cross for others (Matthew 16:24). As Jesus laid down his life for us while we were his enemies, we are called to lay down our lives in the same way. This is our purpose. To build each other up one act of love at a time until we have become like him. Every act of love is like a brick that is being laid. It is building a structure that will one day resemble the very person of Jesus.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”—1 John 3:16 (NIV)
It’s in this focus stage—the now—where we can easily go wrong. With good motives, we can depart from the main thing and make it about other things—good things that can hijack the main thing. What if instead of laying bricks, we spent all our time looking at paint colors? What if our focus became all about studying the perfect brick laying method? But in all the studying, we never laid a single brick. What if we understood bricklaying so well that we made it our focus to point out how everyone else’s bricklaying method was inferior?
It is the foundation of God‘s love that gives us the strength and ability to pursue our focus, which is to love God wholeheartedly and love our neighbor as ourselves.
3. Love is Our Future
Knowing who and what we will become in Jesus is essential for understanding how we are being shaped today. It is the blueprint for a finished product. The end of our faith will result in one day being like Jesus. He is both our foundation and the model for who we are becoming.
“…to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” —Ephesians 3:19 (NIV)
Prophecies, tongues, and even knowledge will all come to an end one day, but God’s love endures forever. There will be a day when preaching is no longer needed. Evangelism will no longer exist because everyone in God’s kingdom will already know the truth. But in this future kingdom, loving God and loving your neighbor will remain our purpose. We will not collect wealth, climb corporate ladders, or strive to make a name for ourselves. But love will go on forever. Yet, sometimes it seems that all of our focus and energy goes into becoming a better preacher, being more influential, and being better at what we do. These are not bad things. They are just not eternal. Love is.
In a day when many people feel dry, dissatisfied, or lost without purpose, we can struggle to grasp the magnitude of impact on our lives that God’s love can have. Perhaps one of the reasons we struggle is because God’s love feels distant. But he is calling us back to our first love. Not only to remember it, but also to be completely submerged in it. To jump in and never depart.
In John 15, Jesus instructed his disciples to remain in his love. He said that if they remain in him, they will bear fruit for the Father’s glory, but if they did not remain, they would be like a branch that withers and is thrown into the fire. You don’t need to be a professional arborist to understand that a branch is only useful when it is connected to the tree. To provide shade or bear fruit, it must be connected. A branch that is not connected is only good for firewood. So, remaining is not merely helpful; it is vital. Because apart from the vine, the branch can do nothing.
Whether we are looking for fulfillment, contentment, peace, joy, or purpose, there is only one lever to pull that will make the difference. If we want to make an impact with our lives, then it’s going to take a total paradigm shift. It’s not about doing more and it’s not about tweaking what we are already doing. It is a complete overhaul. A call back to our first love. It’s a total commitment and deep dive into this one simple thing.
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” —Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)