Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

priorities

What Holds You Back? Part I

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What holds you back from serving Christ the way you want to, from serving Him the way you know you should? Life has a way of throwing multiple obstacles in our path as we endeavor to live like Jesus. I would say satan throws these obstacles into our path, but I believe many of the obstacles are of our own creation. I previously wrote about the dangers of allowing ourselves to become too busy. Satan does not make us too busy – we do. Some of the things we fill our life with might indeed come from a subtle, evil place, but it is we who choose to indulge in such activity. I think it is important that we take full responsibility for not leading the life Christ instructs us to live.

For me, the things that hold me back can be broken down into three universal categories: time, money and selfishness. The encouraging part about this is that we can easily improve in each of these areas; there is no magic or rocket science required. Time and money are forever intertwined; we have to work to earn money to live, and that work takes time. As I have lamented in previous posts, I give away the best ten hours of my day to a job that does nothing to further the kingdom of God. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends 36% of their waking hours on the job (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090621/BUSINESS/906210317/1003/BUSINESS). It makes me realize how much better the New Testament model of the Church was, where everyone came together and shared their possessions for the good of the community. In our modern age, there is little community and even less pooling of resources. Instead, each of us soldier on alone; some earn more, some earn less, but all earn for self. While we give – sometimes even generously – to various ministries around the world, we miss the point and joy of communal living. Pooling our resources would mean more time for everyone to be doing Kingdom work. I think what Shane Claiborne is doing with the “Simple Way” community in Philadelphia is amazing (http://www.thesimpleway.org/index2.html). We would do well to follow suit.

If work is holding you back from fully serving Christ, perhaps it’s time to find another job. I know this is not the best economic climate to be seeking employment, but perhaps you at least need to try. We cling to our jobs and our paychecks as if they are the most important thing in the world. I don’t know about your Bible, but mine calls that idolatry. How many of us are guilty of making an idol out of our job? If work is interfering with you being able to serve God effectively and fully, then the job needs to go; you need to find a way to make money that is more conducive to fulfilling your call to serve Christ. That call is simple: love God to the very depths of your soul, and love your neighbors (that’s everyone who’s not you!) in the same way.

Help those in need; care for the single mom’s in your community – they are the widows of our generation and they need someone to come along side of them with the love of Christ. Care for the outcasts in our society, for they are the orphans of our time; they are alone, homeless and desperate for love. James (Jesus’ brother) told us that doing these things is what true religion looks like (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=66&chapter=1&verse=27&version=77&context=verse). What’s holding you back from loving others in this way? What holds you back from giving your entire life to the service of Jesus? How have we gotten so off mission in our modern culture? We claim to be followers of Christ, but our lives look nothing like His. Determine what holds you back and eradicate it from your life. Whatever it is, cut it out, stop doing it immediately. Replace that time with time spent in prayer, study and loving others. This is the key to happiness; this is the life Christ calls us to live.

Too Busy?

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I read an article the other day that was talking about the new phenomenon of “funemployment” (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906070348). The article described the “funemployed” as people who had lost their jobs, but instead of getting depressed are finding immense joy in their newly found freedom. They are rediscovering balance in their lives, realizing there is more to life than work. They are realizing that they had allowed work to dictate the priorities in their lives. I think there is a great lesson to learn here.

For those of us who profess to follow Christ, who or what are we allowing to dictate our priorities? To follow Christ is to give all. That pretty well settles the question of priorities. What should be our number one priority? Our number one priority should be, must be, to follow Christ and to do so by serving others. Is that our number one priority today? If not, what have we allowed to move into first place? Are we too busy at work? Do we have too many balls in the air; are we wearing too many hats? Do we have too many social commitments, regardless of how noble those may be? Worst of all, would we simply rather be doing something else?

The Christian life is not for those lacking discipline. Don’t forget, Christ’s followers were called disciples, not merely people with a passing interest. To follow Christ requires self-discipline, dedication and a passion of the pursuit. This isn’t a game, not something we can do half-heartedly. If we are to follow Christ, we must go all in. If Christ isn’t our first thought in every situation, if He isn’t our motivation in every action, then our priorities are wrong.

We must never allow ourselves to be too busy to follow Christ. We must never find ourselves in the situation where we are trying to make time for Christ. Christ comes first; everything else must fit in the time remaining, or it must be cast aside. Don’t wait for something dramatic to happen in your life to make you realize you’ve allowed yourself to become too busy. Renew your commitment today to put Christ first in all things.

Hats

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If you’re like me – and chances are, if you’re reading this, you are – then you wear a multitude of hats on any given day. For those unfamiliar with the analogy I simply refer to the various responsibilities we each have. I have my day J.O.B., run my own business, am trying to launch a new career as a writer (how am I doing?), I’m a financial counselor for my church, have family responsibilities, house and home duties, Bible study and prayer time. I somehow need to squeeze in friends and, perhaps maybe, just a little down time for myself. As I write this I am thinking of additional hats I wear, but for now I think you get the picture. The world has become a crazy busy place, and it is nearly impossible to not play along.

My dilemma, beyond the obvious, is how little time there is for God. I suspect most of us struggle with this. One fact we cannot escape from is the fact that the amount of time we make for God is totally up to us, a choice, plain and simple. I think it is a subtle and brilliant plan of Satan to continually add to the busyness of our lives. Is it merely coincidence that the busier we have gotten as a nation, the further we as a people have drifted from God? Satan’s best moves are indeed the subtle ones. He rarely uses blatant tactics, but rather takes something inherently neutral, perhaps even helpful, and twists it ever so slightly in a manner that takes our focus off of God.

Having a job, pursuing your passion and serving others are all worthy tasks. But when they start piling one on top of the other, what are the first things that get squeezed out? I think more often than not, God is the first to go in our busy schedule. After all He’ll love us regardless and He knows how we feel about Him anyway, right? As a side note, the next thing that tends to get removed from our schedules is exercise. Soon we become flabby and depressed and focused totally on our appearance rather than on God and the needs of others. Satan wins; he has removed our focus from God and that is all he wants to do. The easiest way to save money is to pay yourself first and pay your bills with what’s left. Might I propose the best way to serve God with your time is to spend the first hour of your day with Him? Take care of everything else with the time you have left. We need to guard our lives from becoming too busy. We need to recognize the subtle ploys of Satan. When it comes to spending our time, we need to pay God first.