{"id":2200,"date":"2011-06-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"A448A320-9B1B-4BEF-BA18-08356AA62B2E"},"modified":"2014-03-12T16:53:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T23:53:33","slug":"beyond-curious-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/adulthood\/beyond-curious-george\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Curious George"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read recently that another Curious George movie<\/a> is in the works. In hopes of making more money than the 2006 movie with Will Ferrell, 24 Frames (makers of the movie Despicable Me) will try to bring their own approach to the 70-year-old story of a mischievous monkey and the man with the yellow hat. <\/p>\n

Regardless of any artistic innovation they may bring to the story, I anticipate that 24 Frames will retain the same theme that Curious George has always had \u2014 \u201cDo whatever you want, because the man with the yellow hat will bail you out.\u201d <\/p>\n

That may sound harsh, but seriously, have you read the books or watched the Will Ferrell movie recently? It\u2019s all playful storytelling, and George is quite cute in his exploits of curiosity, but the theme of getting away with mischief underlies every plot. Consider the story of Curious George and the Puppies<\/em> \u2014 one I read to our kids a couple of times before realizing what kind of message it was sending. <\/p>\n

In this story, George and the man with the yellow hat (TMWTYH) find a stray kitten that they take to the animal shelter. While there, TMWTYH has to leave George for a minute. Before he leaves, he gives him his standard plea: \u201cDon\u2019t be too curious.\u201d But of course, George is. In a matter of minutes, he opens a few cages, and puppies end up running all over the place, barking up a storm. Fortunately, TMWTYH shows up (and though mildly upset) helps get all the puppies corralled. In the midst of the chaos, George finds a puppy that\u2019s been lost. \u201cGeorge you certainly caused a ruckus!\u201d said the director of the animal shelter, \u201cbut if you hadn\u2019t let the puppies out, we\u2019d still be looking for this one.\u201d <\/p>\n

Oh, my! George\u2019s serendipitous act of goodness earns him not only forgiveness, but also praise for how his episode of curiosity-induced chaos ultimately saved the day. <\/p>\n

Good Intentions Instead of Intentionality<\/h5>\n

OK, so why am I piling up on a cartoon monkey? It\u2019s because the Curious George storyline has grown so pervasive in our popular culture. And it\u2019s leading too many young adults to squander their 20s, all the while hoping that a Curious George plot twist will emerge from nowhere and reward them for their good intentions by giving them happiness in their 30s. <\/p>\n

Like George, they\u2019ve been warned by their elders not to be too curious or mischievous, but they\u2019re used to those same people coming along and bailing them out whenever they\u2019ve made a mess of things \u2014 primarily because they had good intentions. Even worse, many who have some kind of notion of a God in heaven see Him more than anything as the ultimate man with the yellow hat \u2014 someone who gives a certain amount of direction, but then goes away while they have their fun until it\u2019s time to return for the clean up. <\/p>\n

The Curious George types think little about consequences. It\u2019s easy for them to believe that life has more to do with good or bad luck than having a connection to what they do or don’t do. <\/p>\n

I thought of this as I was reading Christian Smith\u2019s book Souls in Transition<\/em>. For several years now, Smith and his research team have been following a group of young adults through their teens and 20s, asking them about all kinds of things like faith, education, sex and more. One of the guys in the study, John, tells them about his experience with prostitutes. \u201cWhen it\u2019s only 30 bucks,\u201d he says, \u201cthat\u2019s a lot less money than it would have cost to take a girl out to dinner and movie these days.\u201d Just a few paragraphs down, we read, \u201cJohn definitely wants to get married someday, a little before he turns 30 years old.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d they ask him. And John replies, \u201cAmerican dream, life, kids, house. All that s\u2014t. I like that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Really? The destination John wants is thousands of miles away from the road he is traveling. Or to put it another way, he\u2019s dreaming about enjoying a crop of fresh strawberries while planting some serious weed seed. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s kind of the way the Apostle Paul told it to the Galatians. <\/p>\n

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:7\u20139).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This passage makes it very clear that how you live now will be the basis for the life ahead of you (especially when it comes to important stuff like work, faith, marriage and family). Just having good intentions is not the same as living with intentionality. <\/p>\n

Recognize the Law of the Harvest<\/h5>\n

In a high-tech world where we\u2019re disconnected from the agrarian life our forefathers knew, we don\u2019t often think about the \u201claw of the harvest,\u201d but when I was young, my dad made sure I knew it well. <\/p>\n

When I was 6, he moved our family into the country and proceeded to draft us into helping him cover our property with gardens, fruit trees, grape vines, strawberry bushes, watermelon patches and more. A simple lesson I learned then was that seeds go down and plants come up. In all our planting, I never saw watermelon seeds produce okra or grape vines produce string beans. <\/p>\n

I also learned that the reaping season is different from the sowing season. Often it was months between sowing and reaping. For some things we planted, like pecan trees, it was years before we saw produce. That gap between sowing and reaping often makes people think they can get away with things in the short-term. The passage in Galatians reminds us, however, that the harvest will indeed come. <\/p>\n

Avoid Sowing to the Flesh<\/h5>\n

Each season builds on the last. In your 20s, you reap what you sowed in your teens; in your 30s, you reap what you sow in your 20s. Fruitfulness now leads to fruitfulness later. Of course, the opposite of that is also true. As Paul says, \u201cThe one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is especially true when it comes to dating, relationships and marriage. While many come short of the guy John I mentioned earlier (who still hopes to harvest a family by planting prostitution seeds), there\u2019s still lots of \u201csowing to the flesh\u201d happening. <\/p>\n

\u201c[W]hen it comes to romantic relationships and sex,\u201d writes Christian Smith, \u201cmany \u2014 if not most \u2014 emerging adults see little connection between the lives they live now before settling down and the lives they will live later after having settled down.\u201d He sees that many emerging adults believe they can \u201cparty, hook up with strangers and generally play at being wild\u201d and then later, \u201cwhen they settle down they\u2019ll be sober, faithful and responsible adults \u2026 and the memories and behavioral consequences will never haunt them down the road.\u201d <\/p>\n

Many young adults who are \u201csowing to the flesh\u201d will still end up married some day, but they will tragically harvest marriages full of weeds, vulnerable to predators and bearing little in the way of fruit. No man with a yellow hat can fix the messes some of us have made. God and His great mercy is our only hope. Although He may allow the crops you\u2019ve already sown to be reaped as His means of discipline (Hebrews 12:4\u201311<\/a>), you can ask Him for forgiveness (Acts 2:37\u201339<\/a>) and wisdom to sow for the next harvest (Hosea 10:12<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Cultivate the Crop of the Spirit <\/h5>\n

As we worked our garden growing up, we quickly realized that we would have a crop of weeds if we weren\u2019t intentional in our cultivation. And it wasn\u2019t enough to just keep the weeds pulled; we knew we had to plant and cultivate good stuff \u2014 we had to be fruitful. <\/p>\n

Fruitfulness is one of the most consistent themes throughout Scripture. It shows up in the first words from God to mankind (\u201cbe fruitful\u201d) and then appears over and over again in the books of the law, the history books, the wisdom literature, the prophets, the Gospels, the epistles and then Revelation. <\/p>\n

Fruitfulness is the opposite of our consumer-driven culture. At its heart, it’s productive, giving and other-centered. And it\u2019s often hard work. It requires cultivating the soil, planting, fertilizing, weeding, being on guard for insects and predators, pruning and then harvesting. <\/p>\n

While all that work is essential and requires intentionality, it would be in vain without God. He\u2019s the one who faithfully provides the sun, the water and the seed. He is generous and faithful to bring a harvest when we sow \u2014 not because He owes us for our good deeds, but because He puts natural laws into place that He then faithfully carries out. That\u2019s why you can trust God as you sow now in Christian character development, in sexual purity, in Biblical dating, in financial stewardship and more. God isn\u2019t going to bless you because He owes you for those good works, but He\u2019ll bless your sowing with reaping because He\u2019s true to His nature. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Give Up<\/h5>\n

But you can’t give up. I suspect that someone reading this is weary (like the Galatians Paul was writing to) and needs to be encouraged not to give up. Being fruitful requires a countercultural patience and lots of delayed gratification. There is no immediate payoff. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s embarrassing how impatient my brothers and I were growing up. We anxiously watched the seeds we planted. We picked and ate way too many grapes, plums and peaches before they were ripe \u2014 and suffered sick bellies for our rush. We needed to hear these words from James: <\/p>\n

Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7\u20138).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wait on the Lord and trust Him for the harvest when you\u2019re being faithful \u2014 even if you feel like the last virgin you know, the only person who doesn’t justify porn, or the last young woman who is careful to be modest in dress and action. <\/p>\n

And remember that trials and hardships are not a sign that you’re doing the wrong thing. Challenges will come in a fallen world \u2014 especially as our enemy seeks to keep us from being fruitful (see Mark 4:14\u201320<\/a>). You have to persevere. It\u2019s to God\u2019s glory that you bear much fruit, even in the face of persecution (see\u00a0John 15<\/a>, especially verse 8 and 16). <\/p>\n

There is no man with a yellow hat waiting to come in and give your story a happy ending, but there is a faithful God who promises that you will reap in due season if you do not give up. <\/p>\n

You will certainly reap what you sow \u2014 so what will you sow?<\/p>\n

Copyright 2011 Steve Watters. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s easy to believe that life has more to do with good or bad luck than having a connection to what you do or don’t do.
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