"But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" Mathew 6:33 ESV.
My wife and I just moved to a cozy little apartment in the middle of East Oakland. The entrance to the apartment's parking lot at the back is anything but ideal.
It's very narrow, and our trusty old van Biscuit (yes, we name our cars, don't judge us) can barely fit through the entrance.
The first time we drove Biscuit through this narrow way was a very unnerving and intimidating experience. We drove through it at a snail pace, making sure we didn't leave our side mirrors at the gates.
There is no way we are doing this everyday I thought.
At one point, Biscuit got stuck in the stair's metal handrail, one of the many obstacles that you go through when you enter our parking lot. Poor old Biscuit got stuck in such a way, that no matter if you pulled back or kept going forward, she would endure permanent damage.
After a few months of practice we got very efficient in getting in and out of our parking lot. At this point, we don't really worry about scratching Biscuit.
The trick to getting out of our parking lot damage-free is easy: focus on one side, and the rest will take care of itself.
I eventually learned the exact distance the side mirror needs to be on my left side from the stair's handrails, and as long as I kept that distance (and kept my eyes focused on it) Biscuit would fit right in.
As it is with Biscuit, So it is with Everything Else
I believe Biscuit has taught me an important lesson in life: many times it just requires that we focus on one important thing, and everything else will fall into place.
Much has been said about our ability, or rather our inability to multitask. Despite what we millennials try to do with our laptops on our laps, phone on right hand, tablet on our left, while playing an episode of Parks & Recs on Netflix at the T.V., we suck at multitasking.
I think this is one of the reasons Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God, knowing full well our propensity to juggle many things at the same time, however benevolent they might be.
As Christians and as ministers, we are tempted to seek first our ministry, our service, our congregations and its growth, or whatever else occupies our mind and time, and we do so with a martyr mentality of sacrificing for the Kingdom of God.
I don't think that's what Jesus meant when He told us to seek first the Kingdom.
In the end, our pursuit of ministry, work or deeds, can keep us from being single minded on the Kingdom.
It is not as if we should focus on the Kingdom at the expense of our work. What Jesus is saying is this: focus on my Kingdom; on my saving and loving presence, in my life in you and in the world, and everything else, ministry, work, deeds, passions, dreams will be added to you.
Put Him at the center of your vehicle, and all the wheels will fall into balance.
Doing Vs. Being
I believe this is part of the same principle I described in the second lesson I learned in 2015.
Most of us (if not all of us) have a desire to do great things. Whether that be doing great things in our ministry, our work, or whatever our dreams and passions are, we desire to do something that we are proud of.
I'm starting to believe, however, that this is the wrong focus. This focus runs the danger of making us self-centered, or thinking that we are more important than we really are.
Like I shared in my last post, maybe God is not too impressed with our marvelous deeds.
By focusing on being, and shifting our focus from our deeds to the quality of our inner-life, then we are empowered to work alongside with God and others to do some serious Kingdom work.
This focus on being, or the quality of our-inner life should not be confused with self-focus or self centeredness. Paradoxically, I believe that focusing on our outer-life is what makes us self-centered.
If you are able to focus on your inner life, this should result in selflessness. It is only by knowing who you are in Christ, and in nurturing His life in you, and the constant renewal of your mind to the mind of Christ, that you can go out into the world and act from the quality of your being.
Ministry flows out of being, not the other way around.
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