When Christians Get Distracted

What happens when we allow our priorities to take precedence in our lives and our work?

There are times in my life when I want what I want, and nothing else is an option. These times come, and Christ is not admired. To be honest, the beauty of Christ's glory is probably the farthest thing in my mind. However, when I finally realize my error, usually I can look behind me and see a path of destruction that includes bridges burnt, feelings hurt and a vast emptiness within. Essentially, relationships are disrupted, or worse, they are irrepairably broken.

How do we avoid times like these? Unfortunately, we can't. In God's redemptive work, He found it best to leave us flawed until we are fully glorified with Christ at the end of time. So, what do we do when we or someone with whom we come into contact goes on this destructive path? First, we have to understand that such conflict is necessary in this life and remember that God is still in control. I say "necessary" because as long as sinful mankind lives, sin will be present. God will continue to be slighted by man. However, if God is truly working all things out for His glory (and He is), each conflict is a chance for us to learn somehting about God's infinite character. If we did not have such destruction in our lives, we would never have the chance to learn the beauty of Christ and His atoning work.

Next, for those times when we find ourselves getting priorties mixed up, we have to realize that there will be a time when we will be corrected. God may reveal our errors to us through someone else (though, it may not be the first person to bring it to our attention). I have found that when I follow my own priorities, God eventually corrects me through the most random things. For example, God once corrected me through dialogue in a video game I was playing. I stood corrected because I was spending more time playing the game instead of with my wife and sons. Despite our best efforts not to get caught shuffling our priorities, there will come a time when we will be stopped in our tracks. In those times, our best response is to take the correction in humility and ask forgiveness.

When another Christian is on their tirade, and I am the one hurt, being patient and responding in love is much easier when I realize that correction is watiting for them, as well. That commonality gives us the ablility to somehow see though the pain we are experiencing and have compassion for our brother/sister. When they are disciplined, we become more able to welcome them in love and repair the relationship because we know that every one of us. In doing so, we are able to model Christ to not only ourselves, but to our brothers and sisters in Christ and even to those outside of the church! Who knows? That very act of forgiveness could prove to be the event that God uses to bring someone into His kingdom...

Now, if I could only remember to remember that...