Attitude Determines Altitude
Almost every time I hear one of my favorite evangelists preach I will hear him say, "Friend, your attitude determines your altitude." He is right you'll never go very far for God or get much done for the cause of Christ with a sorry attitude. Yet, clearly a great percentage of the Christians I meet are guilty of this. In fact some are very proud of it. Some of you won't believe this, but there is actually a fellowship of preachers who title their fellowship meetings, "Bad Attitude Baptist Blow Out". That may sound unbelievable, but Truth is always stranger than fiction.
I'm not a spokesman for the power of positive thinking, nor do I believe in pretending that your reality is something other than reality. Yet I can't help but believe that the sour, unbelieving, negative attitudes that are so characteristic of some are the source of a great many of their failures. Sure the apostasy is deepening, and maybe America is so far gone in debauchery that she can't be turned around. But when I hear preachers and Christian leaders citing these things as the reason for the dwindling crowds at their church and for the lack of any one to fellowship with, often I want to scream, "It is not your position and the demise of America that is pushing people away, it is your rotten attitude and your foul disposition." Please don't misunderstand me, I fully understand that fighting sin and worldliness and unfaithfulness has a way of dampening our spirit, but Heaven is still real and salvation is still sweet!
Recently I read a story about a guy who went through some real difficulties and his attitude remained fight. I felt like the story could be a help to a lot of Christians and Preachers so I've added it to this article to illustrate this important point. The story is about a gentleman named Michael who is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something nice to say. If someone asks him how he is doing, he replies, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" The writer of the story is a co-worker whose attention was drawn to the individual because of the excellent spirit that he witnessed on a daily basis.
"After months of watching Michael at work and being convicted by his attitude and outlook that was so much better than my own, I went up to him and asked him, 'I don't get it! You can't have a great attitude all of the time. How do you do it?" He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or ... I can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or .. I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or.. I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. " "Yeah, right, it's not that easy, " I protested "Yes, it is, " Michael said. 'Life is all about choices.
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life. " I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. I lost touch with Mike, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter. Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ... I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.
Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared In their eyes, I read "He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action. ' 'What did you do?" I asked "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me, " said MichaeL "She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I replied " The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.
I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity. " Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead. " Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. Attitude, after all, is everything. Matthew 6:34 says, 'Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself"
Reader, don't dismiss what I'm saying too soon. A lot of good Christians who faithfully attend church, are faithfully involved with the ministry, faithful to have devotions, faithful to try and live for God , and are faithful to separate from the world, have lost their kids and/or their spouse. As a pastor, I've had some of these dear folks ask me how this could happen when they were so faithful. With great difficulty I've had to say, "Friend, it is your attitude, it's driving everyone away! You make serving God miserable. You are hard to be around." Among other things that separated Daniel from all his peers was his excellent spirit.
He had every right to be cast down or to complain - but he didn't. Listen to Daniel 6:3, 'Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm." God help us to learn something right here.
Steven E. Mays - Trumpet Editor