Acts 17:1-4; Philippians 3:7-8; Matthew 16:24-27
Things are brewing here in Thessalonica just as they did in Philippi. A different plot line with the same result, right? Paul and SIlas arrived in this larger Macedonian city to reason with those in the Jewish faith community, sharing how the long awaited Messiah had come and offered the Kingdom of Heaven to Jews and Gentiles alike. As it had been in many Jewish communities in other cities, the receptivity from Jews and Gentile converts alike in those synagogues had been met with mixed reviews. Paul had been beaten nearly to death and run out of town…over and over and over. It’s almost like he had little regard for what might happen to his own person. He was just recovering from the bruises he and Silas endured in Philippi, remember?
As mentioned in last week’s podcast, Paul shared how he was on the fast track to becoming one of the most powerful legislators over all Jews and converts under Mosaic Law. After personally being confronted by a risen Jesus, Paul later pushed everything aside to follow him–his career, his status, his paycheck, and even his sense of purpose. Here’s what he writes to encourage the church in Philippi.
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
— Philippians 3:7-8
For sure! Paul was a man of single purpose.
In Paul’s mind… nothing else mattered. It was Jesus or nothing. To Paul’s credit, much of Western Civilization as we know it today would be deeply impacted by the passion held by this one man who gave up everything else to follow Jesus.
“I’m only one human being.” You might tell yourself. “What possible difference could I make?” Answer? You might be surprised when you develop a laser like focus for the Kingdom.
Be singular in purpose: To be honest, I think this is one of the greatest challenges we face here living in the land of opportunity. There’s a living to be made, a lifestyle to be enjoyed, a family to raise, a life to experience. All of these personal wants, while not bad in and of themselves, can easily get in the way of what really matters. Paul drew a line in the sand and made his choice, never to look back. For us, especially when there are literally thousands of different things–hobbies, careers, entertainment, fun–we could be doing with our time. this isn’t an easy decision for us. In Paul’s day, making ends meet and surviving was the name of the game. Not too many options there. In our day, yes making ends meet and surviving might still weigh heavily on us, but we have sooooo many options to select from.
Besides my work, a quick rundown of my daily schedule includes: creating this podcast, developing my culinary skills, learning spanish, playing bass, exercise, hiking, etc. Needless to say, we like to stay busy, but in all of my busyness, it’s so easy to lose perspective and singleness of thought. When reminded with the words of Jesus, I find it necessary to adjust how I carry out my time.
Jesus was pretty emphatic about this idea of singularity when he said:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.
— Matthew 16:24-27
Yes, it’s pretty clear. Give your life, including your ambitions for the sake of following Jesus who will be your judge. Yikes, right? Yeah, it’s easy to give lip service to how much we love Jesus, but inherently we are being tugged in a number of ways.
Truth moment: Our wrestling match is with God here. We’re challenging God by saying, “You don’t really want what’s best for me. Only I know what’s best for me, so I’m doing life on my terms.”
Does this mean we should abandon everything to follow Jesus, including our jobs or our loved ones?
Of course not! God deeply values our loved ones, and He has likely brought us along in our careers to make a difference. Our choosing to follow Jesus starts the journey whereby God changes our perspectives, resulting in a change of our habits. Yes, many have been called into full-time ministry at some point in their journey, but that won’t be the case with most of us. So, what does it mean to follow Jesus with a singularity of purpose? It means that He is the filter for the choices we make. It means, we first think, “Jesus, how do you want me to proceed from this point?” Then we move forward while keeping the Kingdom at the forefront of our minds.
There’s much more to this, but we’ve come to the end of our time together.
May you become laser-like in the way you follow Jesus. May you be one of single purpose whereby you let Jesus filter your decision making.