When Good Things Distract Us from What Matters

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith"... Hebrews 12:2

Suppose tomorrow you discovered that one of your favorite prophetic views, church traditions, or theological opinions was mistaken. Would your relationship with Jesus change? Would your love for your brothers disappear? Would your hope of salvation be shaken? If the answer is yes, then perhaps something secondary has quietly become primary.

Having gone to Catholic school for the first three years of my educational career I heard a lot about Jesus amongst other things. Something I have become very grateful for is that those stories they told captured the imagination of a young mind and seeds were planted. At that time an unresolved issue in my little mind was - If Jesus went around doing so much good and so many miracles back then - Where is He and what is He doing today? My young mind wanted to see more of this Jesus.

Well many years later I did and am seeing more of Jesus - not in person but through the lives I see being dramatically changed through the Gospel message, and yes at times miracles too. Now many more years later I am spending my retirement years writing - not just about Jesus back then two thousand years ago - because His story spans much further from eternity past to eternity future. And what I'm seeing today is the same Jesus still inviting people into the Kingdom of God. Not in a bodily presence but through the many lives He has been continually touching throughout the centuries.

The opening verse - "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" captures what was going on in the mind of my young eight year old self. I wasn't just hearing stories - I was envisioning what an actual encounter with Jesus might be like. My heart accepted the reality that Jesus was real and at that moment He began authoring a story through my life and has gifted me an unquenchable faith to know that Jesus has never stopped authoring countless more stories in so many lives that believe in Him.

...Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

The imagination of a child has culminated now to become a writer of all Jesus has shared with me - but not for me - but rather - for you - the reader. My hope is that you are keeping your eyes on Jesus and "Looking unto Him" and Him alone.

Hence the purpose of this study - to educate us on the things that distract us and move our eyes to look at other things. In a similar sort of way James tells us we are drawn away by our own lusts and enticed. The word lust simply means wants and desires. It is completely normal to have wants and desires - God created us that way. It is when the devil uses what we want to entice us to buy whatever he is selling. He is the ultimate smooth talking salesman who has an easy time making the sale because he already knows you want it. Cha Ching! Sorry I'm too old - cha ching is the sound of an old fashioned cash register when the cash is put in and the drawer is closed. In other words the devil got what he wanted - you separated from your relationship with God.

Likewise we have natural interests - normal interests - even good interests. But if the interest diverts your attention from what Jesus is wanting to do in your life - then something secondary becomes a distraction and your relationship with God suffers. So before going any further let me identify the primary purpose.

The Heart of God - The Center of it all

If I may just offer my years of study and boil the entire Bible down to identify the core essence - the story of the Bible and God's heart, in essence, paraphrasing from God's perspective is this:

I made you, I want you, and I am making a way for you to dwell with Me.

You were created to share life with Me - under My authority, in My order, and in My goodness - but you chose independence, and that choice brought separation, corruption, and death. Yet I did not abandon you. From the beginning, I set in motion a plan to restore what was lost - not just to recover you, but to transform you.

I am not merely calling you back to where you were - I am bringing you into something greater: a covenant relationship where you know Me, reflect Me, and belong to Me fully.

Through judgment, I remove what destroys you. Through mercy, I preserve what can be redeemed. Through covenant, I bind Myself to you. And through Christ, I make the way for you to become a new creation - clean, alive, and able to dwell with Me again.

In the end, when all is said and done, this is where it is all going:

Not just forgiveness - but union.

Not just survival - but transformation to become.

Not just subjects - but a people who are Mine.

The People Who are Mine

This is where the rubber meets the road and also where the devil likes to grease the road. This is where we need the wisdom and fortitude to learn about what really matters to God. This is where what God is trying to author in your life enabling the transformation to become - must become your primary focus. Remember:

This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

What are we to become? Living testimonies to the power of the Spirit to transform us into the children of God-the people who are His. This is really, really very clear in the New Testament but if I were to select one passage that encapsulates who and what God's people are it would be this one:

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 4:13-21

There is a lot to unpack in that passage - too much for this study but again if I were to pick out the central core of this passage it would be this:

"God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

"Dwelling in love"- rather than dwelling in everything else that distracts us. Dwelling in love means in reality we are "dwelling in God and God is dwelling in us." That is the exact purpose and heart of God - which is also the description of the New Jerusalem.

...Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Revelation 21:3

"Hereby know we" - "Hereby know we" - "Hereby know we." This is an unmistakable absolute - by this we know with all certainty - no guessing, no doubts, no questions - we know His commandment - we dwell in that commandment to love and the eternal bond is unbreakable bringing us home into the eternal glories of union with God. This is the center and the whole Bible points here. So with this now in view - "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" Hebrews 10:24. I provoke you to continue reading.

Now with the most important priorities identified we can move on to identify distractions. There is one example in scripture worth noting. One person who was so focused on Jesus nothing else existed. This person - because of their unmovable desire to learn of Jesus - Jesus said her example will become a memorial for all time. What an enormous compliment coming from Jesus. Do you know anyone else He complimented like that? Of course I'm talking about Mary - of Mary and Martha fame.

Why did Jesus compliment her? Because she would not be distracted nor dissuaded from sitting at Jesus feet. While there she learned and she heard things no one else from amongst Jesus' many disciples was hearing. At that time the vast majority of the Israelites all believed Messiah would be the conquering King come to overthrow Rome. This was believed by the Twelve also. So in all the times Jesus plainly told His disciples - He was going to be arrested and put to death - those words bounced off into the ionosphere to disappear forever. What do you mean die? We have Romans to overthrow - He must be talking cryptic and we don't understand. Well them not understanding was profound and touching many topics and it is no small wonder as to how any of them ever moved on to become the great Apostles they were - but that credit goes to the unmatchable glory and work of God. Remember the One who writes directly onto our hearts? Well Jesus needed a hammer and chisel for that crew but He got the job done.

So out of that whole entire crew of all that were following at that time - and that could be many hundreds if not thousands of folks - only one gets honorable mention because she was listening and believing the hard words of Jesus speaking about His death.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) John 11:1-2

For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. Matthew 26:12-13

Everyone else was occupied with expectations. Mary was occupied with Jesus.

I said all that to bring out the fact that in our current society there is a constant bombardment and battle for our attention. Distractions caused perhaps thousands not to hear something Jesus was saying. Only one is memorialized for hearing and responding in faith. I don't want you to miss your opportunity by being held captive by things that don't matter. Being held captive is a tyrannical situation and that is the reality of things that take you away from sitting at Jesus feet with the same intensity demonstrated by Mary. If you want to hear the words "Well done" then you must do well.

Good Things that Distract us

1) Knowledge without Knowing.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:7

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me to receive this life. John 5:39-40 NLT

Jesus dealt with religious lawyers who were educated from their youth up. They were educated and expert in the word of God yet how tragic Jesus came to His own - but His own received Him not. Their esteemed education was rendered worthless because the One who they were supposed to be learning about - showed up and they were clueless. There should have been a point to their learning to recognize their Messiah - the word was there for them to find. "He shall be cut off, but not for himself". Dan 9:26. "He was cut off out of the land of the living". Isa 53:8. Word of the suffering Messiah was there to find but again the ideology of a conquering Messiah amongst other ideologies clouded over there ability to see Jesus as their Messiah.

That was their issue that kept them captive. We today are past that right? Hmm. Just in these few pages I used the word transformation a few times - did you hear me? This is today's issue - the danger of becoming educated without becoming transformed. That transformation can actually take place without a technical education. The Apostles, save Paul, were on record as being "unlearned and ignorant men" but "they had been with Jesus." As a matter of fact they dwelt with Jesus and as John said, they "dwelt in the love of God." Ignorant or not they kept the main thing the main thing. Is learning important? Yes, absolutely. But What did Paul say?

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2Ti 2:15

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, Philippians 3:8 KJV

"That I may win Christ" - you see that is the real point of learning about Jesus. With knowledge alone Paul also said "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth". 1 Corinthians 8:1. Charity or love edifies or builds up - love builds up. Again love is the center and all else we do must point to the center. PhD's and doctorates are good if they don't puff you up and you can use those degrees in practical ways that demonstrate the love of Christ.

An even bigger issue though are people with a little knowledge and suddenly think they are authorities. Everybody on Social media are proclaiming their revelations all the while belittling and bashing people. What happened to the "charity"? If the following passage is not your motto then you have no business thinking you can teach. As far as I am concerned and in my humble opinion this passage is a prime directive for anybody who thinks they are somebody - they should obey. Strictly if I may add.

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:2-6

2) Endless Debates

Do you realize if people obeyed that above passage there would only be one church. The reality is there is only one church and thousands of divided groups. Where do you fit in? Keeping the main thing the main thing-the people of God are going to be dwelling in the love of God.

Defending the Word of God is a priority as we are told to guard it - but at what expense? We are commanded to guard the unity that God created, not every opinion that men create. Understanding the distinction first comes by understanding what God created. We are talking about the Church of God - the body of Christ. One Christ = One Body = One Church - that is what God has created. Connect that to "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us" and the hereby is: "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar' "he who loveth God love his brother also."

This mindset is going to be the source to create this action: "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The Spirit of God operating in the heart of "His" people creates the mindset of lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, patience and love. And those are all the attributes of Jesus Himself. By their fruits you shall know them. So what we are defending isn't a doctrine but rather what I would call family traits produced by the Spirit of God writing on our hearts. So in essence we are guarding our relationship with God and each other.

3) Secondary doctrines

This goes hand in hand with endless debates because in general the debates are over certain teachings. What defines secondary? Paul told us what the primary doctrines are. He mentioned the word 'one' seven times in Ephesians 4:2-6 and these mark the non negotiable boundaries and foundation for the household of God. These are the primary teachings:

• One body.

• One Spirit.

• One hope.

• One Lord.

• One faith.

• One baptism.

• One God and Father of all.

These form the reality of God and what He created to establish His household. Then directly connected we have the doctrines that teach how to become part of the household and how to operate and live within it in unity.

• Loving God with all your heart

• Loving your neighbor.

• The Person of Jesus Christ.

• His death, burial, and resurrection.

• Repentance and new birth.

• Walking in the Spirit.

• Becoming conformed to Christ.

• Preserving the unity of the Spirit.

• Faith working through love.

• Growing into the fullness of Christ.

Nothing in the Bible is unimportant. Many things deserve careful study, and sincere believers may hold strong convictions. Things become dangerous only when they replace Christ as the center of our attention, and become tests of fellowship, or cause us to love our position more than our brother. Christ shed His blood to save and gather - people shouldn't be be worth more to Him than they are to you. Seeing people through His eyes will help you celebrate the victory that it took to see them into the Kingdom.

Everything else is secondary such as:

• The timing of the rapture

• Is there such a thing as the rapture

• Who is Mystery Babylon

• Who is the beast

• Should we drink wine or grape juice

• And the such like on and on...

Here is the important issue. The primary teachings are repeated clearly throughout Scripture and form the heart of God's purpose. The secondary issues often involve passages that sincere believers have understood differently for centuries. Yet many become far more dogmatic about what is difficult than they are obedient to what is plainly written.

This is why I chose the word 'tyranny'. The tyranny is that proponents of the secondary teachings seek the spotlight to defend their goals while neglecting God's goal which is unity. Instead of measuring maturity by love, holiness, humility, patience, and obedience, we measure it by who agrees with us on our favorite doctrine. And this is exactly why there is a church building on every corner. However well meaning what becomes evident is every man is looking out for himself.

As professing Christians we are to emulate Christ and we are to "put on Christ" in lifestyle and action. Christ is not divided. The question we need to ask ourselves when we choose to champion and particular teaching is does this doctrine serve the Gospel in leading people toward Christ, toward love, and toward the unity of the Spirit?

By every standard every man ought to orient their hearts more towards Christ, love and unity. Yes, all the word of God is good and we all know this verse:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV

However this verse is hardly taken to heart.

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully 1 Timothy 1:8 KJV

The lawful use of scripture should:

• move all towards Christ

• move all towards love

• move all towards unity

That is the one and only way Jesus' prayer will become a reality.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:22-23 KJV

It is amazing to me that so much about God and His Kingdom revolves around the number one. If you would let me share a tid bit for why this may be. Even though currently there are billions of people - right now a vast majority are living for self. If we truly understand the heart and nature of God - He is beyond all doubt and without question selfless. He sustains all things and upholds all things by His word. If eight billion people decided to also become selfless - subtract self will from that eight billion - How many wills will be left? Only One - His will. Does that mean we become mindless blobs? No. That means we have finally learned how to enter His unity and become part of His eternity.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28 KJV

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:22-23 KJV

Striving for unity - centering our lives around Christ and what He is striving for joins us to Him in what will one day become His reality. I know the imagination starts kicking in and we are asking - What does that look like? All I need to know right now is that I am abiding in His will and whatever that looks like at that time - all I care about is that I'm with Him and it will be a whole lot better than what we have now.

In the end, perhaps "The Tyranny of the Secondary" can be overcome by one simple decision. Every morning when we choose where to sit we should remember - Martha's place is always available. There will always be work to do, debates to win, opinions to defend, and distractions demanding our attention. But Jesus still says only one thing is needful. Mary chose that good part because she chose Him. May we do the same.

I'm going to end right here and continue with part two: A life Centered Around the Cross

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