For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been haunted by an old Geoff More lyric. It’s from the song, “God Believes in You”, and says, “Everything matters if anything matters at all / No matter how big, no matter how small”. The implications of the lyric torture me. I think we would all agree some things matter, particularly when it comes to knowing Christ. Knowing some things matter, I am compelled by Scripture to believe everything matters.
Every word I speak, every thought I think, everything at which my eyes look, every interaction I have with people, how I spend every moment – they all matter. They all will be either for the Kingdom or against it. They all will be either pleasing or displeasing to my Lord.
At first, I thought the lyric was very wise and I immediately embraced it. That’s when the trouble began… Suddenly those words were coming to mind often as I went about my day. I had to admit I’m not living like everything matters. Despite my proclaimed intention to never want to do so, I am making choices I know don’t please Christ. I could use the cop-out of saying I’m human and will never live a perfect life. At the same time, I am faced with the words of Jesus when He said to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). I don’t think He would encourage or command us to do something we could never hope to accomplish. It doesn’t fit with His character which means, through His strength, I am able to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16).
Now I am faced with trying to live each moment as if everything matters because it does! I think I am doing a far better job of this than I did ten years ago, but I am excruciatingly humbled by how much further I have yet to grow towards this mark. I want to live as if everything matters. I want to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:3-5), control every word I speak (James 3:5-8; Ephesians 4:29-32), and love others as I want to be loved (Matthew 7:12; Mark 12:31). I want to abandon everything for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:8) and put nothing before Him (Exodus 20:3). This is what it means to live as if everything matters because it absolutely does!
Do you believe anything matters? Are you then living as if everything matters? This isn’t an optional exercise for disciples. Disciples live and look like Jesus. Jesus lived a life demonstrating everything matters, therefore we must live in the same manner. Everything matters all the time. To live otherwise is to live in contradiction to the example set for us by Christ. To believe otherwise is to suppose your ways are better than those of God. Deep down, you know everything matters. You also know how difficult it is to live as if this is true. Jesus didn’t call us to the easy way, He called us to the narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14). Living as if everything matters is to walk on the narrowest path, but it is the only path leading to life, the only path leading to Jesus. Are you living as if everything matters?