As unmanly as it is to say, I actually like the Lion King. I know, I know, I can hear all of you saying, “But Chris, you’re so studly! How could you possibly?” So go ahead…tell me how studly I am………………(crickets) I like it because it’s a great story, and it has some really great parts to it. Like when the hyenas are gathered in a circle and they keep saying the great lion Mufasa’s name:
1st hyena: “Mufasa!”
2nd hyena: “ewwww, I hear that name and I shudder…do it again.”
1st hyena: “MUFASAAAAAAAA…”
That’s just good quality stuff right there. But my favorite part is when the lion cub Simba has run away from everyone because he thinks he is responsible for Mufasa’s death. Rafiki finds him in hiding and tells him that he needs to come home:
Adult Simba: I know what I have to do. But going back will mean facing my past. I’ve been running from it for so long.
[Rafiki hits Simba on the head with his stick]
Adult Simba: Ow! Jeez, what was that for?
Rafiki: It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.
[laughs]
Adult Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts.
Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or… learn from it.
[swings his stick at Simba again who ducks out of the way]
Rafiki: Ha. You See? So what are you going to do?
Adult Simba: First, I’m gonna take your stick.
The truth is, the past does hurt. We’ve all made some serious mistakes that we’re not proud of. (If you haven’t, it’s coming. Sorry.) And because of that, we have a tendency to run from the future. That’s right, we will keep ourselves from doing something that God has ordained because we’ve made a mess of something before. We become afraid of how bad we might screw up again. But you need to know that the past is the past! That’s why they call it that! It’s over, gone, done and done! We need to move on and not allow our past failures to control our future. Every great leader has quotes on how much you must fail to succeed. If they know it, why don’t we?
And God doesn’t want to leave you there in the past and taunt you about it day after day. One of the greatest examples of someone who messed up, but God redeemed, is Paul. Paul was Saul, a guy who used to kill Christians. We believe that it was he who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. And yet God turned him into the greatest evangelist. Every time I read the story, I don’t ever read how everyday God was there every day going, “Hey, don’t forget you used to be a murderer. That’s really kinda bad in my book.” Instead, He used him to help me to know about my place in Heaven.
As an individual, the next time you allow the mistakes of the past to ruin your day, stop and think about Paul and how some of his days went. It’ll change the way you feel. As a leader, you need to be keenly aware of where your people struggle in the area of making mistakes. If it’s from the past, you won’t get them to take many risks for the future.
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Along the same lines, leaders have to be open to giving people a new name and identity.
Good post.
I enjoyed this the read was easy and the message excellent. My Lord is clear the past is the past His forgiveness complete and yes the past can leave bruising. That is why He is also the great Healer.
great post, I know sometimes I like to hide under the covers and wish it away. Great analogy with Lion King, one of my favorites too 🙂
I think it is one of the greatest challenges, to be able to lead people into learning to move forward. We all struggle with our past, because it is what has formed us, but just as we one day had to leave crawling to begin walking, we have to learn to keep moving forward.
Liked the analogy, nice post.
Of course, the other analogy that “The Lion King” might bring to mind is that stealing is perfectly alright since the whole story is pretty much a ripoff of “Kimba the White Lion”.
Other than that, yes, learning from the past and moving forward is all good.
Chris I am so happy to have stumbled across your blog! What a great ‘weaver of a good story’ you are. For anyone to go from The Lion King to the amazing grace of God is one heck of a good ‘weaver of a story’ in my book.
You are spot on that the past, while it does or can hurt, is just simply in the past. When we continue to go back to that whipping post or that source of pain, we are continuing to give sanction to that past experience. And not our future self.
There are so many examples in the Word where Jesus simply forgave. Or just did not even pay attention to someone’s past faults. And he was persecuted often for even associating with people who had past sin on their lives. The classic ‘let those who have not sinned cast the first stone’ is a reminder for me as Paul is for you.
Leaders hold a lot of keys for people when it comes to bringing up the past – a strong leader will model forgiveness as they continue to encourage the hearts of their team. Often I see teams in that place of brokenness because of the constant reminders of the past. Let go, forgive, create an action plan to not return to it. That’s just good for everyday living.
Thanks for your post. I look forward to reading more.
Once again, awesome thoughts Chris.
We all need to be reminded of this because Satan is agressively working to keep us reminded of what we need to forget and press on running the race in service to others!
If God removes our past as far as the East is from the West, then why do we hold onto it?
Thank you for the reminder,Chris. I needed to hear it. I didn’t realize I was ‘running from my future’ until I read your post.