Christian Actor Post 1: Following God vs. Following My Dreams

When I was in New York, pursuing acting, I found that I was in good company in my desire to voraciously pursue my dreams. Even among non-actors I would talk to--strangers even--there seemed to be this longing and jealousy in people's eyes when I talked about how I was pursuing acting in New York. Many times I heard things like, "Way to go for your dreams," or, "Don't forget us when you are on Broadway," or, "Your life seems so exciting."

However, for all the encouragement to follow my dreams, and for as much as American culture would make me think that this was an entirely worthwhile pursuit, it led me into trouble. Following your dreams has a lot to do with what makes you feel good, and with wish fulfillment. I like how Christian author Donald Miller says it (and I hope I'm quoting him accurately here):

Moral #1: "If you work hard, stay focused, and never give up, you will eventually get what you want in life. Moral #2: Sometimes the things we want most in life are the things that will kill us."

I am not called to follow my dreams, ultimately. I am, above all, called to follow Jesus. It is important to pay attention to my dreams...and then tell Jesus all about them and how I feel about them so that He can show me what to do with them. But, the tricky part is this: If I hire my dreams to be my guide on the path of life--if I am following them--then my guide is no longer Jesus. And for a long time, I tried to follow both.

It's like this: You are walking on a path, going through beautiful, lush green trees, almost celery green in their vibrancy. The forest is rather wild and overgrown--beautiful, but also dark and confusing. This forest is life. You look ahead, and there are two people in front of you, both trail-worn, both wearing packs and gear on their backs, both obviously working as your guides.

Now here's where it gets interesting: You see a fork in the trail ahead, and you are curious which is the right way to go. Guide #1, Jesus, takes the trail to the right, which looks steep and treacherous, and you know you are going to show your inexperience and vulnerability--He might even have to carry you at certain parts! How embarrassing would that be?

Guide #2, your dream, takes the lefthand path, and you can see other travelers ahead, happily enjoying this path. They wave to you to come on. This path looks pretty smooth, and you can just picture yourself being hailed as an expert trailsman for how well you would handle yourself.


Which path do you choose?