“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41).
“. . . but one thing I do . . .” (Phil. 3:13).
It has been said, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Someone who is too busy to do the right thing is almost as bad as the person who does the wrong thing.
Christians today are easily distracted. The all-pervasive Internet bombards us with news, entertainment, and hot takes. It’s easy to become so absorbed by total strangers’ opinions on social media that we waste hours of our day. Most of us have gone to check our inbox and then become captivated by social media for the next hour.
There are, of course, countless ways to waste time. Sports, celebrity gossip, economics, and world crises cry out for our attention. The problem is that every minute wasted on something unimportant is time that could have been spent on a priority.
In addition to blatant time wasters such as social media, many of God’s people are being distracted by secondary matters that have a veneer of importance. For some, attending meetings falls into this category. Meetings give the allure of important work when often they merely provide an opportunity for people to talk about important matters. Satan couldn’t care less how much we talk about evangelism or missions if those meetings keep us from engaging in those activities.
Some people are infatuated with what others are doing. Pastors and church leaders might obsess over the orthodoxy of their peers. Untold hours have been invested in trolling suspected heretics or meeting to discuss how to rid the association or denomination of those who do not meet certain theological standards. I am reminded of James and John. They eagerly informed Jesus that they had found someone casting out demons who was not in their denomination (Luke 9:49). Jesus responded, “Whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50). James and John did not accuse the person of powerlessness or even ineffectiveness. It seems he was indeed casting out demons, just not the way James and John thought he should. Jesus, understanding how small the number of his followers was, would not tolerate hairsplitting among his disciples and wasting “ammunition” on people who were fighting on his side. We would do well to heed his counsel to the Sons of Thunder.
I also see many of God’s people spending hours of their day and untold emotional energy worrying about issues ranging from economic trends to the next election cycle and pronouncements by the White House. While there is nothing wrong with being informed, one could only wish many of these “news junkies” were half as informed about Jesus’ teaching as they are about White House press releases. Some people fixate over end-times prophecies. Again, there is nothing wrong with studying every part of Scripture, including the prophetic and apocalyptic passages. But it is easy to become so focused on what God will do tomorrow that we are ineffective servants for him today. It is better to change today than to speculate about tomorrow.
Martha was a good friend of Jesus. She loved to care for him in her home. But Jesus saw that she was so distracted by secondary concerns that she was neglecting what mattered most. Paul was a Type A, driven leader. He had a high capacity for productivity. Yet the older he got, the more focused he became. Much of what had previously occupied his attention appeared as rubbish to him. Paul had a strong sense that his time was short. He needed to make each day count, even when people were lying about him and ministering with wrong motives (Phil. 1:17). He certainly could have launched a campaign to expose and oppose two-faced church leaders. Instead, Paul concluded, “What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). Paul certainly addressed issues when they affected gospel purity in one of his churches. But he was typically much more focused on his own work than on what others were doing.
One of the keys to effective leadership today is staying focused on what God has called you to do. It’s easy to become so fixated on what others are doing (or not doing) that you fail to complete the assignment God has given you. As you get older, you may find that God reduces your commitments and activities so you have time to focus on your priorities. We need to invest not in what we can do but in what we must do.
I went to visit my dad today. He is the greatest man of God I have ever known. In his prime, he was the busiest person I knew. He achieved enormous accomplishments for God’s kingdom. But today he is largely sedentary. Age and health have caught up with him. He will never again be able to do the things he used to accomplish effortlessly. It is a somber reminder to us all. Time is our most valuable resource. It will soon be gone. We can’t afford to waste it on things that don’t really matter.
