I know this might sound kind of elitist, but it all depends on how you define who is and who is not a philosopher. The truth is that everyone lives according to a specific philosophy of life. Everyone lives according to values and ethics that drive their thinking and their actions. Now, some people, when they hear the words values and ethics, they automatically assume we’re talking about good values and good ethics. But that’s not necessarily true. Joseph Stalin had values and ethics. They were brutal and resulted in the deaths of more than 50 million people, but they were values and ethics.

So everyone has a life philosophy. The problem is most people are unaware of what that life philosophy is. They’ve never taken the time to sit down and examine what their life philosophy really means. It is mostly unconscious. They couldn’t necessarily tell you why they made certain decisions or acted in certain ways. All they know is, their thoughts and decisions make sense to them in the moment.

Now this is the exact opposite of what a philosopher does. A philosopher is someone who spends a lot time contemplating the whys of life. They want to understand why do I think a certain way? What are my assumptions? Does my thinking have flaws? What are the unintended consequences of my thinking? How does my thinking impact other people? Who will it help? Who will it harm? And perhaps, most importantly, does my thinking result in action or are my actions distinctly separate from my thinking?

Therefore, what Plato is trying to convey through his quote is that those who have spent the time reflecting on how they navigate life are those worth following. This is not just true of trained philosophers, but of average ordinary people. Every sermon will begin with a life philosophy from one or more members of our congregation. Then we will take these ideas and talk about the biblical scriptures that reflect on that philosophy. The goal of this series is to demonstrate that everyone has something to teach us about life, faith, love and our relationship with God.

Today we’re going to begin our series with a life philosophy from Laura Grochocki. Laura’s was one of the first submissions I received and she took the time to break her thoughts into five different categories: 1) Be Kind 2) Never Assume 3) Be Present 4) Perfect Doesn’t Exist and 5) Learn One New Thing Every Day. However, underneath every single one of these headings was a description of what these life philosophies mean to her personally.

For instance, when expounding on be kind, she says: “Out of all the things that you can be in the world, choose to be kind.” I think her phrasing of that is really important—kindness is a choice. We often think of kindness as a disposition; as something that is baked into your personality. So you are either born with kindness or you’re not. But that’s not Laura’s life philosophy. Kindness, from her perspective, is a choice. It is something that can be learned.

In fact, every day when she picks up her kids from school, her first question is, “Were you kind today? How were you kind today?” At the dinner table she will ask them to contemplate how they plan to be kind tomorrow. What is so important about this principle is how Laura sees kindness as a virtue that needs to be developed over years and requires thoughtful repetition. You must always examine what you did that day and how you could do better tomorrow.

Her second concept is just as insightful. Laura says never assume. Her illumination of that principle goes like this: “Demonstrate emotional intelligence by never assuming you know what someone else is going through or their intentions. You don’t know if they’re struggling with mental health challenges or physical health challenges or emotional challenges, so assume positive intent.”

I like Laura’s approach a lot because all of us have heard the advice—never assume—but she puts it in the context of emotional intelligence. So before I go any further, I think it’s important that we define emotional intelligence, which refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions in yourself and in others. Similar to kindness, emotional intelligence is something that can be learned.

People with high levels of emotional intelligence tend to be very empathetic because they are highly attuned to the emotional state of others. They are always asking the question: why is this person saying the things they are saying? As an example, let’s say you’re walking through the grocery store and your cart accidently bumps into another person’s cart in the aisle. If this total stranger loses it and yells at you, a person with high emotional intelligence won’t take those words personally. They will automatically understand this isn’t about me. This is about something else going on in their life.

Laura’s next life philosophy is Be Present. She says, “Put down all distractions and give something the full attention that it deserves. People will remember how present you are. Also, in order to truly demonstrate care, empathy and compassion, you have to be fully present.” First of all, I love how she relates this back to emotional intelligence. If you want to have empathy and compassion for others, you have to be present enough to notice what’s happening with the people around you.

Secondly, this philosophy is so important, not just for completing important tasks in our work, but also for the formation of deep and meaningful relationships. What I have noticed is that when I am present for someone, they are much more likely to open up to me about the challenges they face in their lives. However, when I’m distracted. When I’m thinking about other things or I’m glancing at messages on my phone, we lose that connection. The exchange of open, honest conversation becomes impossible when we are not fully present because it feels like the other person doesn’t really care.

Laura’s fourth life philosophy is that perfect doesn’t exist. She says, “You can always do better, so simply strive to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.” This idea is really important, particularly given the society in which we live where we are bombarded by images of who we should and should not be. Every day the average person is exposed to more than 3000 advertisements and these advertisements not only sell us products, but they sell us ideals of normalcy. They convey to us the standards of what a successful life is supposed to look like: if you look like these people who own these products and are doing these things, then you will be happy.

There is this carrot of perfection that is dangled in front of us, always just slightly out of our reach. When we come to believe that perfection is within our grasp, we exhaust ourselves pursing it. Laura’s philosophy negates this idea from the start. She says perfection does not exist, so there’s no point striving after it. Rather, dedicate yourself to becoming the best version of you. By striving to reach your own potential, you will find fulfillment.

Laura’s fifth and final philosophy is to learn one new thing every day. As someone who loves learning, obviously I agree with this. But her exposition on this is very important. She says, “This is my WHY. This is why I get up in the mornings and do what I do. If you learn one new thing that day, then you can consider that a good day!” And here we come to the very thing that drives Laura. She values knowledge above all else and orients her life around the accumulation of wisdom, which is a perfect way of cap stoning her life philosophy.

Now, what do all five of these life philosophies have in common? The answer: intentionality. Everything about her life is intentional. She’s not on autopilot, just going through the motions. She’s thinking about every aspect of her life, from her personal interactions to the example she sets for other people to her purpose for living. This level of intentionality is something that we all need to strive for in our lives. The harder question is how do you position yourself to live a life of intentionality?

Laura, in her message to me, referenced a TED Talk by a man named Simon Sinek, where he talks about how great leaders inspire action. His thesis is that all of the most successful innovations and movements in our world stem from a fundamentally different starting point than the ones that are unsuccessful.

So for instance, Sinek talks about how the Apple computer corporation innovates at a much higher level than any other computer company in the world. Think of the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. And yet, they’re just another computer company with access to the same engineers and information as everyone else. What makes them so special? How are they able to stay so far ahead of the curve? How are they able to continually create these amazing products that are so forward thinking?

Sinek suggests that Apple’s success comes from their ability to approach problems in the exact opposite manner from everyone else. Now what does he mean by this? Well, take a look at these three concentric circles. The center circle has the question why? The second circle has the question how? And the final circle has the question what? Most of us start with the outer circle and work our way in. So in other words, we start with what, then we ask how, and eventually, if we’re lucky, we get to why.

So a normal message from a company might be, “We make toasters. The toasters we make are energy efficient and ergonomically designed. Want to buy one?” They started with the what (a toaster). Then they told you how it worked (it’s energy efficient and ergonomically designed). Finally, they moved to the why (we made it so you could buy it). What, how, why. This is the exact opposite of how Apple approaches their company.

Apple begins with why and works their way out to what. So their message sounds like this, “We believe that you should think different. We believe that you should challenge the status quo. We believe that you deserve nothing less than perfection. How do we do this? We make beautiful products that are cutting edge, sleek and sophisticated. Want to buy one?” Of course you do and you’ll buy anything they sell because once you believe in their message, once you believe in their why, then it doesn’t matter what they make, the product is simply an extension of that message.

So if you think different; if you challenge the status quo; if you believe that you deserve nothing less than perfection, then that message will resonate with you; that message will represent you, and as a result you’re going to want to have all their products because their products are a reflection of who you are. This is why people are willing to stand in line for days to get the newest Apple products and it’s why Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Sinek says, “It’s not what you do, it’s why you do it.” This idea is at the heart of the Bible. The first scripture we read this morning comes from Deuteronomy. It is known as the Shema. It is arguably the most important scripture to the Jewish people. We all know the beginning of it because Jesus uses it in his greatest commandment (love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength).

But it’s the second part of the shema, which is just as important, but we often ignore. God says: “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.” This is a message of intentionality. It’s a message that the words in the Bible need to inform how you live your life. It is something you need to learn, practice and embody every single day.

The teachings of the Bible are meant to be a philosophy of life. They are meant to inform our values and ethics. The problem with religion is that people like things in very stark black and white contrast. Often times, a philosophy can get boiled down to black and white rules. And when you’re simply following the rules, it becomes very easy to go through the motions. It strips the teachings of their intentionality. It strips the teachings of their why.

This is what Jesus rails against in the gospels. Jesus saw the leaders of his faith caring more about what they were doing than why they were doing it. He saw people standing on the street corner, praying in public so that others would think they were pious. He saw people giving huge sums of money to the temple, but ignoring the poor and destitute on the streets. He saw people living for God, but not loving their neighbor in their hearts. Jesus felt that the Jewish faith was becoming more about doing what was expected, than doing those things for the right reasons.

Jesus was one of the first rabbis to say that motivations matter. Why you do something matters. When you read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, all of those teachings are about intentionality. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, don’t just react without thinking and strike them back. Be intentional. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemy. This is why we read the end of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount when he says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.”

In other words, when you live your life with intentionality; when you make Jesus’ teachings the “why” of your life, then you create the possibility of experiencing fulfillment and, more importantly, living a life that truly matters. So I think we need to take Laura’s intentionality, her willingness to ask why, and make that the starting point of our lives. We don’t start with what. We don’t start with how. We start with why and when we make Jesus the focus of why; when his philosophy becomes our philosophy, that’s when we’re able to change the world. Amen.