Maintaining Proper Priorities
A guest post by Chase Green.
If someone were to ask you for one Bible verse that correctly sums up a Christian’s priorities, could you give a verse? More than one comes to mind, but one of the first ones I think of is Matthew 6:33, where Jesus said:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The context (in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount) deals with the fact that Christians are not to worry about their various physical needs. Rather, they should focus primarily on the spiritual needs of the kingdom (the church) of God, as well as living according to God’s standard of righteousness, and God will take care of our other needs.
What are some examples of things that may take priority over Christ if we allow them?
The love of money, materialism, covetousness.
1 Timothy 6:10 warns us about the love of money, and by implication, the things which it can buy. Colossians 3:5 warns against covetousness, which is idolatry.
Sinful entertainment choices.
Some entertainment choices are downright sinful. See Romans 1:32. Other entertainment choices might not be inherently sinful, but would become so if allowed to reach the level of idolatry. A valid question to ask is: Am I spending too much time, money, and energy on this choice of entertainment?
Hobbies.
The same point said previously can also be said here. It is common for some Christians to skip worship services to go hunting or fishing. A person with a Hebrews 10:25 problem first has a Matthew 6:33 problem.
Sports.
People skip out on worshipping God for this reason, too. Perhaps the greatest indicator of sports idolatry is an excessive focus on travel ball. While travel ball isn’t inherently sinful, it becomes sinful quickly when it takes precedence over worship and fellowship. Remember, your child has around a 0.001% chance of playing in the MLB, NFL, NBA or other professional sports league. He has a 100% chance of standing before God at the judgment.
Work.
We have a term for obsession with work. It’s called a “work-a-holic.” While work is a good thing and required by God, we must never allow it to eclipse our work FOR God. If work is taking away from our service to God and our families, we might consider taking less hours or even finding a new career if necessary. Solomon found out the hard way that endless work projects would never fulfill him. See the book of Ecclesiastes.
Family.
Sayings such as “God, Family, Country,” or “Jesus, Others, Yourself,” are not without some merit if understood properly, but even family can be idolized if we are not careful. Jesus said,
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).
I have actually heard preachers say, “Family comes first.” But that simply isn’t true. GOD comes first, and part of that includes helping lead our families to heaven. God should pervade everything else on our priorities list, including our families.
“Pet” sins.
Everyone struggles with something, or perhaps several things. It may be alcohol, gambling, drugs, gossip, lust, fornication, complaining, wrathfulness, filthy language, and the list goes on and on. The Bible teaches in Romans chapter 6 that we are not to be the servants (slaves) of sin.
Refocusing Our Priorities.
What should one do if he realizes he is caught up in something that is misplacing his priorities? Colossians 3:1-11 gives the answer:
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”
If something is getting in the way of our service to Christ, we need to make a clean break from it.
Chase hosts the Everyday Christian podcast with the Scattered Abroad Network. Chase also writes on Substack about his family’s travels to national parks. Read more at Park Stars.
Excellent edifying post. Thanks. I would simply add SELF to that list.