here i am

i was in this big meeting the other day
and the guy leading it
was talking about all sorts of things-
but he had one thing to say that really stood out to me:


i don’t even remember how he started to talk on this,
but he started to talk about how you enter a room or a conversation,
or a situation, or a relationship.
and he said you can have two attitudes:
“here i am” or “there you are”


“here i am” means that you walk into
a room, or a conversation, or a situation
with the attitude like:
“i am here!” “i have arrived!”
“roll out the red carpet! i’m a celebrity!”
we make an entrance:
we try to look cool, or act cool, or talk cool-
and we see the situation as all eyes on me.
“here i am!”
“ask me questions!”
“seek my opinion!” “interview me!”
“let some of my cool rub off on you!”
we show up fashionably late
so that we can say
“here i am!”
its self-centered-


“there you are”
means that you enter
a roomor a conversation, or a situation,
or a relationship
focusing on those present.
instead of drawing attention to ourselves
we project attention and the spotlight onto others.
and they feel cared about
and welcomed, and listened to.
“there you are!”
“how are you?”
“how have you been?”
“i notice that…”
its others-centered-


“here i am.” “there you are!”
its the difference between
saying "i think..."
to asking "what do you think?"
its the difference between
staring off into space
and looking into someone's eyes
its the difference between
showing up and saying to yourself "
who is here that in know?"
and saying to yourself
"who is here that needs a friend?"
its the difference between
leaning against a wall all cool
and walking up to someone
with your hand out
and a smile on.


it doesn’t come natural to say
“there you are.”
we are all born with a drive to say
“here i am!”
“feed me! entertain me! watch me!”
if we want to say “there you are”
we have to turn that auto-control in our hearts off
it takes work saying “there you are!”


but its worth it.


because the ones who live their lives
saying “here i am”
are the most miserable.
if they weren’t-
why are they always in and out of rehab?
why are they always crashing their cars
and breaking up with their loved ones?
why are they going crazy and shaving their heads?


the ones who live their lives saying
“there you are”
are the ones who live free of drama-
they are so focused on others that they have no drama!
and their lives mean something
and do something more than just keep the paparazzi
and lawyers employed.


“here i am.” “there you are!”


i guess it’s the same way with our relationship with God
we can come to Him saying
“here i am!”
“aren’t you so glad that i gave up a few minutes for you?!”
“so…bless me ok?!”
or we can approach him saying
“there you are…”
“there you are...”
“what would you have me do?”
at that point its appropriate to whisper
“here i am.”


“here i am.”
“there you are!”
i guess we all know some "here i am people."
but do you know any "there you are" people?
i know i do!
i think of my mom-
my friend bruce
my friend galen-
i should really try harder at being a "there you are person!"


when it comes to being a
"there you are person"
no one did it better than jesus himself-
he had every right to be a
"here i am" person,
but he chose otherwise:


“do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
each of you should look not only to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
your attitude should be the same as that of christ jesus:
who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
and being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
(philippians 2)