by Elder Peter Lim

If you were to describe your ideal life, what goals would you include? Prestigious college, high-paying career, good-looking spouse, well-behaved children, large house with modern appliances and a home theater in a nice family oriented neighborhood within a good school district? How about some fancy cars, high-end electronic gadgets and gourmet food as well? How about throwing in at least 4 weeks of vacation every year, so that you can spend some quality time with your family? But as a Christian, shouldn’t we be concerned with reaching the lost with the gospel, discipling younger people, serving at church, and caring for the poor and needy? You may be getting a little uncomfortable at this point because you can foresee where I’m going with this and it’s not a comfortable place I’m headed to. Perhaps you might be getting a little upset because this is starting to sound suspiciously like a legalistic guilt trip.

Note that none of the goals listed above are sinful. In fact, there is nothing wrong with any of them. We all want those things, don’t we? After all, there are no verses in the Bible that says we can’t have any of those things, right? Actually, this is beginning to sound a lot like a description of my life, minus the fancy cars. So what’s the problem? Is there something wrong with the way I’m living? The fact is, many of the goals of the typical American Christian, though not necessarily sinful, are in competition with the Biblical priorities for a Christian. But this competition is not necessarily whether or not we are allowed to have these things while living a God-glorifying life but rather it has more to do with how willing we are to think Biblically and make decisions that are Spirit-led. Elder Mike has been writing some helpful articles dealing with decision-making so I won’t repeat those points here. The absence of Biblical instruction regarding those goals (including entertainment options) should speak volumes to us regarding their non-importance. I’m sure that we are sophisticated enough to rephrase our goals so that we would say that we want those things for the sake of ministry. Whether that intention is altruistic or not is between you and God. Bottom line, many of these decisions are within the realm of wisdom issues rather than right versus wrong. Making wise decisions is what Elder Mike is dealing with. I’m merely trying to point out in this article that too often, we have a minimalistic attitude when it comes to desiring certain things for our lives.

For example, many of us wouldn’t mind just going to church on Sunday, hearing a good sermon, and then going home to relax the rest of the day. Maybe attend an occasional Baptism service or Members meeting. The rest of the week is filled with work and maybe a Saturday family activity, gardening, golf, or hanging out with friends. Repeat this the following week for the rest of your life. This is a minimal mindset. Does this sound attractive to you? Then where is the ministry to younger people of the church? Counseling them? Serving the needy? We should have a missional mindset. Many people are using the word “missional” lately but what I mean by this is that we should live as if we are on a missions trip, for example, to Tucuman or Ostrava or wherever else. This means that although it wouldn’t be wrong to have a house or car or whatever, our priority is to work together to spread the gospel. If the whole team is meeting together to prepare for an evangelistic outreach in Tucuman, you wouldn’t miss that because of some sporting event, would you? Or because it’s the opening weekend of a new blockbuster movie? Why would we live differently just because we’re here in San Diego instead of elsewhere? We should live like a missionary because we are missionaries.

Unfortunately, the life of a typical Christian in the United States can be described as minimal, by erring toward the side of personal comfort rather than living out the primary purpose of a Christian. Many of us excuse our current behavior by telling ourselves that we are in a special phase of life that will prepare us to live a more committed-to-Christ life in the future. The problem is, every phase of life has its uniqueness. Collegians need to study, single adults are looking to establish their careers and find their mates, newly married couples are in a honeymoon period, older married couples are dealing with kids from the baby stage on up to college, and then they feel too old to have enough energy to do ministry. I don’t know beyond this point because I’m not that old yet.

So what’s the solution? As always, we look to scripture for our answers. I would like for you all to read Colossians chapters 3 and 4 but since it’s helpful to highlight a few passages, here are some:

• Col. 3:1-2 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
• Col. 3:15-17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
• Col. 4:5-6 “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
• 1 Thess. 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
• 2 Thess. 3:6-7 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you”

If we are busy living out these verses as well as the “one anothers”, we won’t have much time left to spend on lesser priorities. Instead of asking ourselves whether some activity is right or wrong, we need to ask ourselves whether it’s really the best way to glorify God. You will find that much of what we want to do can be forsaken for a more worthwhile activity. When we do need to take a vacation and enjoy recreation, we should do so with the attitude of wanting to re-engage in the priorities of ministry as soon as we are able to because our time on Earth is short.