Good morning Church! My name is Trent Houck, and it's my joy to be one of the
Pastors here at FCBC. I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Colossians 3:1-
4 and have that open in front of you as we set this passage up.
Here is my main point today: Jesus is the Focal Point of the Christian Life.
Because Jesus is the focal point:
God calls Christians to seek Christ, set the mind on Christ, and to see Christ.
1. Seek Christ (Colossians 3:1)
2. Set the Mind on Christ (Colossians 3:2-3)
3. See Christ (Colossians 3:4).
Jesus saves us into a life of singular focus.
Our argument today is set against the backdrop of the human condition. That
is, living with multiple focal points. For example, we want flourishing families. So,
we try to center our lives on family. We want flourishing bodies. So, we focus
ourselves on happiness and health. We want financial stability. We want to be
relieved of our stress. So, we adopt practices that minimize strain. We track our
sleep, see a counselor, or become minimalists. Our hearts are crowded by the
objects of desire.
The more we want something, the more we focus on it.
I want to begin this morning by asking a few simple questions: What do you
want? What do you desire? What motivates your affections? What is the focus of
your life?
My argument this morning is that we want whatever it is that takes up the
imaginative space of our hearts. It's what we think about when we have nothing
else to think about. We want those things that
we are sure to keep an eye on. We want those
things to which we pay closest attention.
Let me just illustrate this by the idea of a
focal point. What is the focal point of this first
image? The obvious answer is the single air
balloon. Your eye is drawn to the center of this
picture. You probably feel a sense of peace.
The lake is serene and placid. The sky is monochromatic. The trees are all aligned.
The horizon is linear. It's beautiful. This is what it's like to have a single focus.
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However, if I show you a contrasting image.
What is the focal point of this second image?
The answer is debatable. There may be no focal
point. Maybe it's the largest balloon. Maybe it's
the nearest. Maybe it's the one in the center of
the picture. Your eye moves around, rather than
staying focused on a single point. You might
feel a sense of stress, unease, or crowdedness. I
am personally anxious about the balloons
running into each other and seeing people fall from their wicker baskets.
The Old Testament is a single story about competing focal points. God
commands that his people "have no other gods before me", and he warns that those
who construct idols, or take on false gods, become like them. This is not because
God feels threatened, or wants to steal our joy, but precisely because he knows that
he alone is the source of our highest joys. He proscribes a life of singularity.
The Bible teaches that what we want, desire, or pursue eventually becomes
the object of our affections. Our pleasures become our pressures. God knows that
we are habitual creatures, and that whatever we take pleasure in becomes precious
to us.
This generation is characterized by the
disembodied, absent presence of unchecked desires.
We are walking zombies. If you were to ask a
sociologist what this generation of people wanted
more than anything, I think the sociologist's answer
would be: "Everything and Nothing." We are a
distracted people, holding hands with God, while
engrossed in finding satisfaction in this world. We are
everywhere and nowhere at once. Jesus addresses us as
the Martha generation: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many
things, but one thing is necessary" (Luke 10:41-42). This is a dangerous way to
live. Cal Newport warns that, "[If you] Spend enough time in a state of frenetic
shallowness and you permanently reduce your capacity to perform deep [focused]
work." This concept also applies to deep worship. Even Winnie the Pooh once
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famously said, "Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your
heart." Little things become focal points.
So, what do you want? What is the focal point of your life? As a Pastor, I am
constantly wrestling with multiple objects of desire. I want our church to be
unified. I want ministries to be flourishing. I want to preach well. I want to write. I
want to administrate. I want to persuade. I want friends. I want clarity and
precision in my thinking. I want to read. I want to feel. I want my marriage to
thrive. I want my kids to excel. I want to leave this place better than I found it. I
want to be missed when I'm gone. Which of these will become the focus? Well, it
depends on the time of day!
The Christian life, however, is one of singular focus. We need to know,
more than any other generation that we cannot have everything, do everything,
experience everything, see everything, be everything, or maintain everything
without losing something.
Jesus famously said:
24 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will
it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits
his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his
soul? (Matthew 16:24-26).
Echoing Jesus, the American Missionary to
Ecuador, Jim Elliot, once wrote, “He is no fool
who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he
cannot lose.” And, C.T. Studd, once wrote,
"Only one life, 'twill soon be past. Only what's
done for Christ will last." Or, to quote our very
own Steve Walker: "In 70 years, none of this
will matter."
What do you want? What is the focus of
your life? The Christian can only be about one thing.
To say with the Psalmist,
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One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his
temple (Psalm 27:4).
Are you ready to be about one thing? Do you want to be about one thing?
We are learning that the Colossians were quite like us. They were at a
spiritual set of crossroads. They were being tempted to
engage in an infinite number of distractions that would
cloud their vision and affection for Jesus. Their one life was
threatened and assailed by "...philosophy and empty deceit"
(Col. 2:8). Their lives were judged on the basis of what they
ate and drank and how they organized their liturgical
calendar (Col. 2:16-19). So, they were tempted to submit to
regulations that were "...of no value in stopping the flesh"
(Col. 2:20-23). The pressures were mounting. In short, they
were being given a set of metrics to measure their sense of
assurance or spiritual fitness. They were being tempted to
regress to the spiritual shallows of multiple focal points.
The false teachers were whispering, 'You can have it all!'" They were beginning to
slide down the slope of self-righteousness. 'Holiness is this way. Follow us to
Christ."
Paul, having furiously warned of the dangers
of succumbing to this kind of frenetic and
chaotic life, now demonstrates in all of chapter
three what the Christian life ought to be
focused on. And, we can say plainly, that it
ought to be focused on Christ alone. Jesus
Christ is the single and solitary focal point of
the Christian life.
There is only one thing that should really matter to the Christian: Jesus
Christ. Jesus is enough. There is only one road and only one way.
So, we must ask: Why do other focal points crowd out our gaze on Christ?
Isn't it astounding to think that Christians, who have come to know Jesus Christ, to
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love "the glory of God in the face of Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:6), to be filled in Christ (Col.
2:8-10), to be born again to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), could ever grow distracted
by other things? Paul certainly thought so as he wrote to the Galatians, "I am
astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different gospel…" (Galatians 1:6). Why does this
happen?
You might remember that last week David challenged us to reflect on why
we make human-centered rules to maintain our sense of self-righteousness. He
said, "The answers to the deeper 'why' questions will reveal a reward you are
pursuing or a pain you're avoiding." We start making rules when we get our eyes
off of Jesus. Why aren't we growing in
Christ? Why are we discouraged, or
stuck? Maybe the answer is that we've
made our growth the focus of our gaze,
instead of Jesus. We're still, in some
small way, focused on ourselves! To our
surprise, our relationship with God may
be about us, and not God. Our Bible
reading may have become a vendetta to
get something from God, rather than be
with God.
The problem for the Colossians is the same problem for us. They were
tempted to add to Jesus.
Ever since the Garden of Eden, we get spiritually stuck when we add
something to Jesus. The human-focused way to get unstuck is to adopt idols. New
rules. But, that only deepens our ruts. Our hearts are 'idols factories' and ruleproducing.
Jesus shows us a better way.
God calls the Christian to seek Christ, Set the mind on Christ, and See Christ.
1. Seek Christ (Colossians 3:1)
2. Set the Mind on Christ (Colossians 3:2-3)
3. See Christ (Colossians 3:4).
Heavenly Father, we come before you again and ask that you would magnify your
name. We want to seek the one thing that really matters. Your words divide
between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and we would ask that you would use it
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to cut through our defenses. Show us our disordered desires and the ways in which
we are inclined to make something or someone else central to our lives.
Jesus, thank you that you not only show us what it means to live with a singular
focus, but for the joy set before you, you endured the Cross. Your perfect
righteousness is now imputed to us by faith so that we stand before you righteous
and not guilty. We can now stand before you totally focused on you alone.
Holy Spirit, we ask that you would apply these truths directly to the areas of our
hearts that we most need them today. Cause us to be open to your ministry,
available to your Word, and attentive to your voice. Cause us to be able and willing
to lay aside those things that are not central to our purpose in you. In Jesus' name, I
pray, amen.
First, the Christian is called to seek Christ. Paul writes,
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
The statement "If then you have been raised with Christ…" draws us back to the
arguments that Paul was making in Colossians 2:8-15. He writes, "...you were
raised with him[that is, Christ] through faith by the powerful working of God, who
raised him from the dead" (Col. 2:12). While in English, the conditional 'if' seems
to indicate doubt, (i.e. if you really love me, you will do the dishes) in Greek, this
is what is called a 'first class condition'. That is, something that is assumed for the
sake of the argument. So, Paul is saying: "If [as it is the case that] you have been
raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is…" He is not
contradicting what he said previously. He is showing a connection between the
reality of our resurrected state and the command in the second part of the verse.
Essentially, he is saying: because you were raised from the dead with Christ,
you now exist in a new sphere. You have been transferred into a new dimension, a
new kingdom. You are now participating in the new creation. The Kingdom has
arrived in Jesus, and it is now being made evident through the work of the Holy
Spirit.
You have a new identity. A new self.
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Resurrections happen as people believe the Gospel.
We need to pause here and express a sense of wonder. When did this
resurrection happen? Paul indicates that this is a past tense, completed action. You
"have been raised with Christ." Furthermore, this is something that took place
while we were in a state of deathly passivity. He wrote earlier in chapter 2
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
you alive with Christ (Col. 2:13).
Illustration: maybe you have personally witnessed the unresponsiveness of
a dead body. They are cold to the touch, immovable, and no matter how
loudly you might address the body, he or she would not respond. That is,
unless God was speaking.
Have you been raised? How would you know?
The New Testament reframes the Old Testament idea of resurrection. If you
read the gospels, the disciples are consistently confused about when the
resurrection will happen. In Jewish tradition, resurrection only happens at the end
of the age, if at all. The New Testament, however, teaches that there are different
types of resurrection. In Luke 7, for example, the gospel writer shows a physical,
material resurrection in the here and now:
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd
went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being
carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from
the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said,
“Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers
stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and
began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
So, there you go: dead people can hear Jesus. That's why if any of you are
spiritually dead in this room right now, the second that Jesus wants to, he can say,
"Young man, or young woman, I say to you, get up!"
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But, physical, material resurrection is not what Paul has in mind here. The
resurrection that Paul has in mind is a resurrection with Christ. That is, the
resurrection here is one that happens through faith. Paul writes,
"...you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of
God, who raised him from the dead" (Col. 2:12).
Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the tomb. On the third day, Jesus was
raised from the dead. When he was raised, Paul says, you were also raised! This
outward, objective, historical reality becomes spiritually significant for you as you
believe. It happens within you through faith. That is, the evidence of a spiritual
resurrection is not physical, material change but spiritual alertness and
responsiveness. Paul writes elsewhere, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing
through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). When Jesus speaks, those who have
faith respond.
This is describing what theologians call regeneration. That is, the new birth.
When God speaks, he acts. And, as that action takes place, God calls into being
something that was not previously there. God does not perform CPR on a nearly
dead heart. He creates a new one. That is why Paul says that when you are buried
with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life.
You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. If you are a Christian, you are a
walking miracle.
This should never cease to amaze you!
So, now that you are spiritually alive by the power of God, what are you
supposed to be up to now? Paul says,
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
The Christian is called to be continually seeking the priorities of God's throne
room. It is, as it were, that we continually rap on heaven's door. We are continually
placing the priorities of Jesus on our calendars. One author writes, the things that
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are above, "…include his[Jesus'] character, his presence, his heavenly joys. We are
not to be seeking heavenly geography, but the One who dwells there.”
Illustration: If you are familiar with the film Free Solo, you know that rock
climber, Alex Honnold gives us a great example of this.
The central aim of his life was to free solo El Capitan in
Yosemite, CA: a 3,000 climb up sheer granite wall without
a rope. To "seek" this mountain peak meant to daily,
monthly, and yearly training, planning and preparation to
scale this wall. Seeking this peak involved careful planning,
meticulous placement of hands, feet, fitness, and food
intake. The cost for failure was extremely high. El Capitan
set the agenda. Alex Honnold conformed his life, his
fitness, and his focus to El Capitan.
In the same way the Christian's seeking the things that
are above defines the Christian life. We are always climbing further up and further
into the Person and Work of Christ.
Do you have this kind of exalted picture of the living Christ?
Jesus is glorious and unreachable, invisibly seated at the right hand of God.
Underlying this text is Psalm 110:1,
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
The Father says to the Son, "Take the throne."
Hebrews also speaks of this throne room in this way:
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to
angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:3-4).
To sit down at the right hand of God is to take up the kingly residence that the
whole Old Testament anticipates. It is the highest place. Jesus is preeminent. There
is no higher place with which to be preoccupied.
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To the Christian, this text is saying: "Do that which you most enjoy, and
never stop doing it." Seek Christ continually. Set your eyes on Christ.
For the new creature in Christ, this is not drudgery.
But, it requires total focus and devotion. It is upward and onward.
Sermon Illustration: Shasta Fetching
Illustration: we are blessed with an Australian Shepherd, Black Labrador
Retriever who doesn't need to be told to "continually fetch a tennis ball." It's
part of his nature. In fact, it's baked into his name as a retriever. However, if
something compelling comes along as a distraction, like a squirrel, he does
need to be reminded! In the same way Paul is reminding the Colossians to
'seek Christ.'
How does the Christian do this? If Christ is high and exalted like this, how do we
reach up to where he is? Those questions lead to the second point.
Second, Christians are called to set their minds on Christ. The Christian is
called to make their new creation lives about seeking Christ, and conforming your
life to Christ is regulated by setting the mind on Christ.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Let me illustrate what this looks like first:
Sermon Illustration 1: "Hold on!"
Illustration: One of the keys to parenting is manufacturing fun things for your
kids to do. We decided, when there was no snow, to take our kids sledding. One of
the key commands in sledding is "Hold on!" Keep a tight grip on the sled. While
my kids are clinging on for dear life, I am moving them forward. In the same way,
the Christian advances in the Christian life by clinging to the cross, by keep our
eyes fixed on the Gospel. Rather than advancing on the strength of our moral
efforts, the Christian is pulled forward by the strength that the Spirit provides
because we have already been seated as Sons and Daughters with Christ.
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So, what does 'clinging' or 'setting' our minds on Christ look like?
First, we need to be clear that the physiological brain and spiritual mind are
not the same thing. When Jesus rebukes Peter for misunderstanding Jesus'
purpose he says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are
not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew
16:23). Jesus is not saying that Peter has made an intellectual error, though the
intellect is a part of the mind. Jesus is not mainly saying, "You marked A instead
of B; you failed the test!" He's saying, "The whole way you think about things is
actually Satanic, Peter." Whoa. Your mind is framed with Satanic presuppositions.
You don't have the right priorities. Further, when Paul uses this word in Philippians
2, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," Paul is not
saying: "Have a single brain" though surely he wanted them to think about things
similarly.
In this text:
1. This is the new, resurrection 'mind'. This is the mind that has been raised
from the dead. The mind that responds in faith, trust, and hope. The mind
that is unified to Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is the mind that is powered
by the Gospel. This is your whole way of thinking now that you are alive in
Christ. It's not just the brain. That's why our application can't just be
"Memorize Scripture, read your Bible, or Say your prayers." Scripture
memory ninjas might have strong brains, but weak minds.
2. This new mind is yours. When a person becomes a Christian, God does not
rob them of agency. You are not made less yourself when you become a
Christian, but a new self in Christ Jesus. Everything you do, and everything
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you are is now in relationship to the living Christ. So, the new you has a
unique mind. Your God-centered perspective is still yours.
3. This mind makes choices. It is possible for the new mind in Christ to either
be fixated on things above or things that are on the earth, but
not both at the same time.
a. Illustration: A few years ago, due to some health issues,
I began eating gluten-free. This involved a change of
mind, or a change of heart. I left the world of pizza,
pasta, and sourdough bread for a world of rice, meat, and
salads. Once I had tasted and seen the new world of new
energy, new emotional stability, I didn't want to go back.
a. Application: by setting our minds on things above, we
are going with the grain of our newly created selves. Sin, for
the Christian, is actually a weariness, not a joy. Following
Jesus, empowered by the Spirit is the gravitational pull
toward Christ and not away from him.
b. Connection: this is what is so silly about adding rules to
Christ. We don’t grow by making life harder on ourselves.
We grow by taking on Christ’s easy yoke. The truth is that being
singularly focused is surprisingly way easier than having multiple
foci.
So Paul says,
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
So, what is this new hidden life like?
Illustration: we play hide and seek quite a bit in my house. When Sam is "hidden
with Damaris in the closet", they are usually pretty loud and easy to find. On the
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other hand, if I go play hide and seek in the
Boise National Forest, the tragic headline
might read: "Man lost, hidden with dog in the
forest."
Verse 3 is perplexing. It requires us to
exercise our imaginations. Paul says, "Set
your minds [that is, the new mind that is
united to Christ's mind] on things that are
above…FOR [reason] you [that is, the old
mind and heart that was crucified with Christ]
have died, and your life [the totality of your
new selfhood] is hidden [invisible] with
Christ in God. One commentator writes,
“…[Christians'] lives are now securely hidden
with Christ in God and thus belong to the
invisible realm. Their sphere of being, action, and enjoyment is therefore now
totally different from that of their former situation.” So, setting your minds on what
is above is the natural outflow of your new nature.
Do you see what this means? If you are a Christian, you already live in
heaven.
Hebrews 12 puts it this way:
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the
firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the
righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The Christian lives spiritually in the City of God. "Your life is hidden with Christ
in God." So, your participation in the Kingdom of God is the natural outflow of
your new citizenship in heaven.
But, you might say, that's not mapping onto my experience. That leads us to our
last point.
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Third, are called to see Christ. Even though the Christian participates in all of
this through faith now, they cannot yet see the things for which they hope. What
we see is only partial. Though this is the true reality: "Your life is hidden with
Christ in God," we live in the here and now where we are still learning how to put
on our new selves.
Hebrews puts it this way:
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them
and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles
on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a
homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they
would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is,
a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared
for them a city (Hebrews 11:13-16).
However, even though we cannot see all this yet, we are assured of a promise in
this next verse:
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
God has appointed a date for the return of Christ. It will certainly happen. As sure
as we are that August 8th is coming, we can be sure that Christ will return. For the
Christian, this is not a day to be fearful, but a day for which we long. This is good
news for two reasons.
First, Because Christ will appear, we will appear too. We need to rest
assured that when he comes, we will see him. Whether we are living or dead, we
will all see the living Christ when he comes. This is a moment planned in history.
Illustration: The simultaneity, or singularity of this event is quite like when
someone knocks on our door: the kids run to the door, the dog barks, the parents
finish cleaning. It's a simultaneous event to which we all respond. We will not miss
it!
Second, Because Christ appears, we will appear in his glory. This verse
is an invitation to meditate on heaven.
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Activity: Look around you for a moment. How glorious does the person
who is sitting next to you appear? Don't answer that. The truth is that if the
person next to you is in Christ, they will one day be absolutely radiant.
1 John 3 says it this way,
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of
God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know
him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he
is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure (1 John 3:1-3).
The Psalmist, anticipating this day says,
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness (Psalm 17:15).
Romans 8:28-30 says,
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[h] for
those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and
those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Would you like to spend 30 minutes in heaven? Ladies and gentlemen, through
faith you just did! One day, our faith will be sight. And, we will finally realize that
our time in the Word, our fellowship with one another, our worship in this place
was closest we ever came to heaven in this mortal life.
To close, in C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory, he writes,
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that
the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if
you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a
corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in
some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light
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of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to
them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all
loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere
mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as
the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and
exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
In 100 years, when this generation is dead and
gone, what will really matter is Christ. He is,
therefore, the only single focal point worth
living for. Let us live for him! Let's be rooted
in him.
Summary:
God calls Christians to seek Christ, set the mind on Christ, and to see Christ.
1. Seek Christ (Colossians 3:1)
2. Set the Mind on Christ (Colossians 3:2-3)
3. See Christ (Colossians 3:4).
Because Jesus alone sought things above, set his mind on things above, he fulfilled
the law. But for our sake he was treated as someone who failed to seek what is
above, and to set his mind on things above, so that by his death, burial and
resurrection, we might be counted as righteous before God. When he was raised,
our justification, sanctification, and glorification were all assured by Christ. So, we
are safe with Christ in God. This is good news!
1. Make a List. List your identities and rank them in order of their importance
to you. How could the Gospel be applied to each identity? How would the
Lord re-rank them?
2. Give. Give something [material, talent, time] away this week that takes your
focus off of Christ. Instead of engaging with a distraction, pray.
3. Memorize. Memorize Colossians 3:1-4. Post it somewhere in your home.
4. Read. Read Richard Chin's Book Captivated by Christ with a few people in
your Life Group.
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5. Calendar. Schedule 30-45 minutes each day to read your Bible and pray.
Instead of just checking the box: ask the Lord to increase your delight in
Him. Focus on Jesus in your reading.
6. Teach. Teach some of the concepts in this text to your kids. Play hide and
seek and explain how our true lives are invisible to us, but will be visible
one day. Hide in a particularly hard spot and explain that the tension we feel
when we can't find a person is a lot like when we can't see Christ right away.
Even in the hard times, we can be assured that we will see him.
7. Purge. Sift through your possessions. Ask "Does this matter to Jesus? Or,
just to me?" Give or throw away things that are distracting.
8. Plan and re-prioritize. If you knew the date of Jesus' return, or the endpoint of your life, what would take up time in your near-term schedule?
9. Pray and share the Gospel with someone using this resource.
https://twowaystolive.com/
10.Think Deeply. Watch Tim Keller and John Piper discuss the nature of
sanctification.
Why are we so inclined toward distractions? How can this happen? I think the
answer has something to do the cross pressures that assail our identity.
For example, by my count I have at least ten identities: I am a
1. Human Being
2. Christian
3. Husband
4. Father
5. Son
6. Brother (friend)
7. Pastor
8. Citizen of the US
9. Suburbanite (i.e. home owner, pet owner, car owner, etc.)
10.Student
I would argue that we grow distracted because we can't keep our desires or
our identities in proper order in relation to Christ. For me to grow in Christ, the
Gospel must be applied to all ten of my competing identities. Everything must be
seen in relationship to the single focal point. If you have to balance all these
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identities, you can see why it might feel necessary to make rules and regulations to
keep yourself in order! Sin splits our identities and disorders our priorities.
Why is the human heart so
inclined toward stagnation? The answer
is: We get distracted by multiple focal
points. We lose track of ultimate,
eternal goals. We age. We grow
accustomed to our shortcomings. We
leave problems unaddressed. We settle
into our self-knowledge, and we begin
to repudiate change. We fall into ruts.
We begin to make it about us. In short, we get our eyes off of Jesus.
Illustration: My wife Lauren has planted sunflowers for the past two years
in our backyard. They are now over 10 ft. tall. Imagine one day if I walked out into
the backyard and said, "Lauren, why isn't this sunflower growing?" She would
respond, "It is." "Oh," I might say, "I can't see it." Precisely. Our Christian growth
cannot be measured in daily metrics, experiences, or moments but over a lifetime.
In fact, in most cases, we cannot see it. The human tendency to measure things can
only give an account for what's happening on the human plane. So, when it comes
to spiritual growth (i.e. how much is your soul being stretched right now?), we
can't answer those questions, except through the revealed word of God.
The ultimate answer to this "Why?" questions are found just inside the gates
of the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, Eve took of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge good and evil, which Adam had been commanded not to eat from
"...and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis
3:6). Later, God's curse is grounded on the fact that "...You[Adam] listened to the
voice of your wife…", implying that Adam had failed to listen to the one voice that
truly mattered: God's voice. His gaze was distracted. He failed to stay focused. He
took on two focal points: obedience to God and Eve. Jesus shows us a better way
than Adam.
John Piper writes that sin is to fail to recognize the centrality of God to our
identity. He says that sin is,
● The glory of God not honored.
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● The holiness of God not reverenced.
● The greatness of God not admired.
● The power of God not praised.
● The truth of God not sought.
● The wisdom of God not esteemed.
● The beauty of God not treasured.
● The goodness of God not savored.
● The faithfulness of God not trusted.
● The promises of God not believed.
● The commandments of God not obeyed.
● The justice of God not respected.
● The wrath of God not feared.
● The grace of God not cherished.
● The presence of God not prized.
● The person of God not loved.
The answers to the why questions of our rule making, the pressures of our
responsibilities and identities reveal that our hearts are 'idols factories.'
Why is the human heart so inclined toward stagnation? The answer is: We
get distracted by multiple focal points. We lose track of ultimate, eternal goals. We
age. We grow accustomed to our shortcomings. We leave problems unaddressed.
We settle into our self-knowledge, and we begin to repudiate change. We fall into
ruts. We begin to make it about us. In short, we get our eyes off of Jesus.
The ultimate answer to this "Why?" questions are found just inside the gates
of the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, Eve took of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge good and evil, which Adam had been commanded not to eat from
"...and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis
3:6). Later, God's curse is grounded on the fact that "...You[Adam] listened to the
voice of your wife…", implying that Adam had failed to listen to the one voice that
truly mattered: God's voice. His gaze was distracted. He failed to stay focused. He
took on two focal points: obedience to God and Eve. Jesus shows us a better way
than Adam. God is calling us today to seek Christ, set our minds on Christ, and to
see Christ. This is the key to reordering our lives around God and the Gospel, and
not ourselves or our multiple identities.
