Thursday, October 31, 2013
Download MP3 (right click to save)
For many years Americans were not very quick to catch on to soccer. It's been the world's game; not so much America's game. We did have the World Cup finals here, and for many Americans they began to understand most of what the world already knew. It's the greatest sports obsession in the world. Obsession may seem a little strong, but consider what happened in Thailand. One night during the World Cup games there the streets were empty in this particular Thai city. "Hey, the World Cup is on. Why would I be out on the street?" In fact, even the security guard at the bank left to watch the game. And while the guard and the city lost themselves in a soccer game, you guessed it. Some thief cleaned out the bank. Now, I don't know who won the match, but I know who lost their money.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fatal Distraction."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke chapter 17. I'll be reading verses 26-30. It's an unsettling example that Jesus uses to describe how people will be living just before Jesus Christ comes back. Here's what it says, "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage up till the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
What were these people doing? Does it say they were doing real sinful stuff? Well, they were, but that's not what it says here. They were doing everyday stuff. I mean, planting, building, marrying, eating, drinking; that's not real sinful stuff. They were just so busy with little stuff that they missed some of the biggest stuff in history. Sounds like our Thai soccer fans. It's sort of a fatal distraction; all hypnotized by a comparatively trivial thing while they're losing what's really valuable. Maybe like some of us.
There are some little things in terms of eternity that have become big things, and it ends up causing us to treat the really big things far too lightly. Take sports for example. Now, I'm not some pharisaical prude who doesn't care about sports. I've got my teams I like and root for. Ask my sons; I yell as loud as anybody for our home team. But for some of us we spend entirely too much time talking about, thinking about, watching our teams. We even get angry, depressed, and delirious over it.
But if we take a step back, how much does it really matter who got a ball through a hoop more times? Or who got a ball into a net, or who can get the pointed ball from one end of the field to the other the most times?
We can become addicted to fitness, or our favorite TV shows, our favorite music. We can get addicted to cars, antiques, recreation, video games, clothes, or the Internet. Actually for most of us, there is some fatal distraction that tends to take us over and push everything else aside and then take a disproportionate chunk of our time, money or energy. Now, I'm not suggesting we eliminate all the diversions from our lives. I'm suggesting we ask ourselves, "Is there something that has more of me than it should?"
See, Jesus suggested that the trivial can become consuming and cause us to miss what He's doing or what He wants to do in our lives. Some of our obsessions might biblically be called an idol, especially if it dulls your excitement for the things of God. If it pushes those you love to the edge or if it pushes time with Jesus or work for Jesus to the edge.
God wants us to think of ourselves as soldiers. In 2 Timothy 2:4 it talks about "a soldier not getting caught up in civilian affairs but only what will please his commanding officer." A real soldier is focused on his mission; his commander, and not on a trivial pursuit. We're living in incredible times, maybe end times. It's time to take inventory and make sure the best of our energy and our resources is going to the things that are going to matter a hundred million years from now.
Those Asian soccer fans might make this recommendation: Let's not get hypnotized by things that ultimately don't matter much while we're losing what's really valuable. Or in the words of Jesus, "Seek first the Kingdom of God."