Adventures in missing the point

We take pictures everywhere now of everything and of everyone with our smartphones. The technology allows us to capture moments in our lives that in previous generations were missed because we did not have cameras with us twenty-four seven. Not only can we take the picture, but we can also see it immediately. We can edit them or take another to get just the right shot. Our smartphones are now filled with moments that we can easily pull up and share with others. 

When documenting important experiences, individuals often do not engage fully with the event as it unfolds. The act of capturing images or recordings can distract from being present in the moment, leading to a diminished focus on the actual experience.  It is easy to become distracted. 

As Christians and the church, we can also become easily distracted. We can lose sight of what truly matters. We can spend an enormous amount of time and energy devoted to issues that, in the bigger picture of things, do not matter. Every church has had moments when a meeting spent extensive time discussing the color of the carpet, the temperature of the room, the style of the bulletin, or who moved a certain table. Or how often have we sat through a worship service unable to worship because our minds were preoccupied with one of these kinds of issues?

Jesus addressed this topic during his conversation with the religious leaders of his time. In Matthew 23:23-24, he states, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!” The passage suggests that the religious authorities had placed excessive emphasis on minor rituals, thereby overlooking fundamental principles such as justice, compassion, and mercy.

This passage speaks powerfully to the church. It is possible for us to get so caught up in trivial matters that we forget what really matters. We lose focus. We forget the ways of Jesus, and Jesus gets lost in our distractions. The Spirit of Christ gets suffocated by a spirit of self, pride, control, and self-importance. 

Jesus calls us always to be present in the moment. Present in the Spirit of Christ. If we are always seeking to be like Jesus in every situation, then the trivial things in the Christian and church life will not matter. We will remain focused on what Jesus focused on: the needs of others. We will take on the mind of Christ. As the apostle Paul would so eloquently remind us in his letter to the Philippians 2 1-5: 

If then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

This is how you have adventure and do not miss the point!