IS OUR FOCUS WRONG?

 

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

               There are so many things that grab our focus. It is easy for us to get caught up in whatever the current crisis or cause of the day is. I received a tongue-in-cheek Facebook post once that said, “I’m for whatever is the current hot issue.” There are so many things that are clamoring for our attention that we can easily lose focus on what is most important.

               There has been a trend in the church in general to adjust our message to speak to whatever is the current hot topic. In our effort to be relevant, we have placed some important things on the back burner. We still think they are important but we don’t give them much attention. One of those things is Heaven.

               When I was growing up in church, I heard much about heaven. Most people, whether they were a committed believer or not, thought about heaven. People were concerned about what happened to them after they died. They wanted some assurance that death was not the end of their story. Those that were cynical quipped that many believers were so heavenly minded that they were no earthly good. The real truth is that when we forget about heaven, we lose our perspective on earth as well. Most people today think very little about heave, if at all. It is not even on their radar screen. They are so focused on today that they have lost sight of eternity.

               C.S. Lewis has pointed out that a person’s hope in heaven is a great motivator for how they live their daily lives. He made the point that those in history who did the most for this present world were those who thought most of the next.

               In my devotions today, I came across this quote from Lewis that puts things into perspective.

“It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in’: Aim at Earth and you will get neither.”

               It is clear from scripture that a vivid hope is heaven was the motivation for the heroic efforts of the early Christians. They understood that what a person does with his life here on earth has eternal consequences. They were willing to make great sacrifices for others because they knew that God would reward them in heaven.

               Today, we are caught up in seeking temporary rewards while we pay little attention to eternal ones. We are caught up in focusing on making this a better place to live instead of preparing better people for eternity. It is like redecorating a sinking ship rather than assuring that everyone has a life preserver.

               This is not to say that we are to ignore the issues of our day. Instead, we are to view the issues of today through the lens of eternity. It is always right to seek justice and show mercy, but not as an end in themselves. We are to seek the best for others so that they might see the light of Christ and turn toward him. All of our efforts will come to nothing if they are only for today. It is only as we place our efforts in the context of eternity that they will last. We don’t just want better people living in a better world, we want redeemed people headed for a better eternity.

               If I may refer to C.S. Lewis again, the way we live our lives each day is shaping the person we will be for all of eternity. We are either drawing closer to Christ and becoming more like him or we are drawing further away from Christ. We are either becoming glorious, eternal beings or hideous, demonic ones. Our eternal path is set now, in this life, in this world.

               We need to care for this world, not just to preserve it for future generations, but because it is God’s creation and we have been given the responsibility to steward it wisely. We need to care for other people, not just to make their life better here on earth, but because they were created in God’s image, to be in relationship with Him for all of eternity. Living our best life on earth is God’s will for us. Keeping our eyes focused on heaven is the motivation that keeps us moving in the right direction.

Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

 

A HUMBLE REFLECTION

 

Luke 12:48b (NIV)
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

               My level of anxiety and concern has risen to new levels. Each day, as I look at the current news, my heart sinks farther. As a country and as a society we have lost our moorings and we are drifting into dangerous territory.

               I had the privilege of traveling to Ukraine sixteen times, encouraging the church there and sharing the love of Jesus with the Ukrainian people. The war in Ukraine has been a genuine heart break for me and many others. Recent events have caused me to despair over the course we are taking in regards to Ukraine and its people.

               In my daily devotions, I have been working my way through Jeremiah. Each day, as I read, I can see the parallels between the people of Israel and Judah and our own nation. We are guilty of worshipping false gods, of rejecting God’s moral and ethical law, and of seeking our benefit over the benefit of others. As a church in America, we have become complacent and complicit. It is time for some honest and humble reflection.

               I am not one who casts stones at the church in America. We have had many failures, but we also have many genuinely committed believers who are quietly, faithfully living out their faith. Bashing “the church” is not helpful or constructive. But honestly taking stock of where we are and where we need to go is essential. Our hope is not in a particular political system or party, but in the truth and the power of the Gospel. The church has always been its weakest when it has closely aligned itself with those in political power. It has been its strongest when it has lived out its faith in practical ways, independent of political affiliation.

               The people of Isreal and Judah, in the days of Jeremiah, went through the outward actions of their religion, but their hearts were not in the right place. They assumed that as long as they kept up the façade of following God they would be blessed. That was not the way God saw it. In one place God made this statement: they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. There are many in our country who are giving lip service to God, but their hearts are far from Him.

               When Solomon was dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem, God made a promise to him.

2 Chronicles 7:11-16 (NIV)
 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

               We no longer worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, but we still worship at God’s Temple, His church. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NIV) How we live our daily lives is a reflection of our commitment to God. We honor God’s temple when we live according to his word. We dishonor God’s temple when we give in to the ways of the world. And so, just as God gave Solomon a pathway for renewal for his nation, so God has given us a pathway to renewal for our nation. If we will honestly repent of our own failures and seek Him with sincere hearts, He will heal own land.

               We have been blessed to live in a country that has allowed God’s church to flourish. We have taken this privilege for granted. We have allowed ourselves to but caught up in political squabbles and combatting ideologies. Instead of taking our cues from God’s word, we have listened too much to loud, political voices. Following God’s word will not make us popular or powerful in people’s eyes, but it will make us right in God’s eyes.

               There is a path open to us of grace, compassion, and mercy. It is not the path of compromise with sin nor is it the path of legalistic self-righteousness. It is the path that Jesus walked. He never condoned sin, yet offered grace to the sinner. He called for justice, but also offered mercy. Is it possible for us to find this path again?

               We, as a nation and as a church, have been given much. Because God has entrusted us with much, He also requires much from us. As a nation and as a church we have the responsibility to steward what God has given us for His glory and for the benefit of others. Turning inward and focusing only on our needs and wants is not a part of God’s plan for us.

               Each of us needs to begin by humbling ourselves before God, asking for His forgiveness, and asking for wisdom and discernment to navigate the journey before us. Then we need to pray that God would humble our leaders and give them wisdom and discernment to lead us in the way God would have us to go.

Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.