For as long as I can remember, I have been a starter. As a kid I started lemonade stands, clubs, and neighborhood lawn care companies. In my teen years, I started bands, a publishing company, and printing business. In my early twenties, I started non-profits, service organizations, a campus ministry, and church. Who knows what is next.

Although every start up venture comes with its own share of ups and downs — one thing is certain. No matter how pure your motives. No matter how good of an idea. No matter how hard you try to stay off your competitor’s “turf” — YOU WILL BE MISUNDERSTOOD.

People will misunderstand your motives, your mission, your goals, and even worse your heart. Over time, some of them will come around, but the truth is that many of them will not.

Misunderstanding is just one of the many side effects of innovation. Over the years, I’ve seen far  too many ideas never get off of the ground because of fear of how “they” will perceive it.  Years ago, one of my mentors (who has started nearly 60 companies in his lifetime) made a comment that has stuck with me to this day.

He said, “From the very beginning, just assume nobody will understand what you are doing or why you are doing it. This will free you up from pointless worry and speculation–thus freeing you to do what you are excited about.” It was great advice then, and it is great advice now.

So my question for you : what would you try to do if you had no fear of what “they” might think?

One of the greatest assets of an active imagination is the ability it gives one to transcend his/her current predicaments in pursuit of a better future. We have seen this truth at work all throughout human history as slaves have found freedom, scientists have found cures, inventors have solved problems, and the list could go on. The ability to imagine has literally changed the world.

But this ability to imagine can also be detrimental.

At times, it is easy to allow our imaginations to lead us to think we are something more than we are, to think we are responsible for something we are not, or to find our identity in something other that what truly identifies us.

I love the words of Galatians 3:26 where it says, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith …”.

Sometimes I allow my imagination to deceive me into thinking I’m something I’m not. I buy into the lie that I am in charge, have control, or must do something in order for God’s plans to come to life. Sometimes my imagination leads me to believe my value in God’s eyes is dependent on how I lead, manage, or control the situations he has given me.

I must constantly guard my imagination from dreaming up a scenario in which I find my self worth in anything other than being a child of God.

My value is found not in what I do, or the ministry I lead, or any other tasks for that matter. My value is found simply in the God who calls me His.

Every now and then I find myself getting caught up in the sin of “what if.” I start to daydream wondering what it would be like if I was more like someone else. I find myself wondering what it would be like if I could:

… preach like Matt Chandler, lead like Andy Stanley, be as tough as Mark Driscoll, be as passionate as Francis Chan, or be as smart as Tim Keller.

Sometimes I travel down a slightly different, yet equally destructive road, wondering what it would be like if only I had :

… more money to accomplish the vision.
… more time to work on that project.
… more energy to devote to this challenge.
… a venue more suited to this need.

And the list could go on.

No matter how hard I try to spin it — wishing that I was someone else or had what someone else had is not only a waste of time, it is a sin. It always robs me of joy, and diminishes who God created me to be and what he has called me to do.

So even if the grass is truly greener on the other side, that still doesn’t change the fact that it is not my grass.