4 Core Strategies - Which is Yours?

Ian Miller | 08/09/2024

I was created to pursue, to worship, to delight in, to find fulfillment, to live for—something or someone. That pursuit is what it means for me to be human. It is a pursuit that manifests itself in questions such as:

Who am I? Pursuit of identity
Where do I belong? Pursuit of relationship and community
What is my purpose? Pursuit of meaning

The early developmental years as well as the tumultuous years of adolescence shape the answers to these questions and charts a course for that lifetime of pursuit. My hurts, losses, longings, and desires all come together to shape my pursuit. But here’s what you and I have in common—our pursuits comes up empty. They leaves us longing, desiring, and thus, continuing the pursuit, expecting the outcome to somehow be different somewhere along the way.

I develop a subconscious strategy along the way that shapes the way I pursue identity, community and meaning. That strategy, when it becomes an end in and of itself, becomes my core idol. Something that I subconsciously turn to and rely on. Something that shapes my subconscious responses. Something that affects my relationships. Something that becomes part of who I am.

4 Core Strategies

As you reflect on your childhood and teenage years, which of these four core strategies resonates most with your experience? Note that these strategies are not bad in and of themselves. They become idols when they become the end of our pursuit.

Which of these core strategies resonates most with you?

My core strategy is power. I continue to see how much this subconscious strategy impacts my parenting, my marriage, my ministry, my work. It shapes my reactions and responses when I am under pressure and stress. It feeds my pursuit and subtlety becomes a core idol, an end in and of itself. I become its servant and it becomes my god.

Back to where I started…I was created to pursue, to worship, to delight in, to find fulfillment, to live for—something or someone. That pursuit is what it means for me to be human.

I was created to find my identity, community and meaning in The One who created me. That means that I am hardwired to pursue, with Him as the end of my pursuit. That means every longing and desire can be a trigger for me to turn to Him, to seek to experience Him yet again.

I want to think more about how I might allow these triggers to channel my core strategy in healthy ways—towards the only One who can fulfill my pursuit. Maybe I need to write another post to explore and process that further.

NOTE: The core strategies model comes from a workshop taught by Lester Lin, as well as the book "Who You Are" by Judy Cha. I highly recommend the read!