Gumption: boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness; guts; spunk; get-up-and-go
John, Jordan and I were sitting in my office the other day thinking great thoughts (for this is what paid religious professionals do) and discussing the finer points of gumption. As always, we came up with more questions than answers: Is a person born with gumption or is gumptacity developed and learned? If a person is naturally gumptous can they teach others to be the same? How is gumptocity measured? If Paul (himself a veritable gumptuoso) were writing today would gumption be listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit, or would it be a spiritual gift? Did Forrest Gump’s name inspire gumptiousness in him?
All these questions notwithstanding, we know that gumption is a good thing. Gumption is what made Abraham leave his family and people to go to a land God would show him. Gumption brought Moses before Pharaoh. It compelled David to attack Goliath. It helped Jeremiah boldly proclaim unpopular truth. Gumption is what the early church prayed for when the foundations of their building shook.
It’s what made my friend Greg, an out-of-work business analyst, deliver pizza to make ends meet. It’s what enables a widower to stay involved in church and other activities when he’d rather hold his wife’s picture and cry. It’s the thing that makes a business owner keep moving when things are looking bad. It’s what carries the college student through to graduation. It enables parents to never stop praying for their children. It moves a person from the couch across the finish line of a marathon.
Get gumption.
Gumptitiously Yours,
Brian
John, Jordan and I were sitting in my office the other day thinking great thoughts (for this is what paid religious professionals do) and discussing the finer points of gumption. As always, we came up with more questions than answers: Is a person born with gumption or is gumptacity developed and learned? If a person is naturally gumptous can they teach others to be the same? How is gumptocity measured? If Paul (himself a veritable gumptuoso) were writing today would gumption be listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit, or would it be a spiritual gift? Did Forrest Gump’s name inspire gumptiousness in him?
All these questions notwithstanding, we know that gumption is a good thing. Gumption is what made Abraham leave his family and people to go to a land God would show him. Gumption brought Moses before Pharaoh. It compelled David to attack Goliath. It helped Jeremiah boldly proclaim unpopular truth. Gumption is what the early church prayed for when the foundations of their building shook.
It’s what made my friend Greg, an out-of-work business analyst, deliver pizza to make ends meet. It’s what enables a widower to stay involved in church and other activities when he’d rather hold his wife’s picture and cry. It’s the thing that makes a business owner keep moving when things are looking bad. It’s what carries the college student through to graduation. It enables parents to never stop praying for their children. It moves a person from the couch across the finish line of a marathon.
Get gumption.
Gumptitiously Yours,
Brian
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