Changed People… Changed Priorites
Last Sunday, we had the opportunity as a church to step out of our normal rhythms of worship through music and time in the Word and into an exercise of generosity through the 100K Meals event. If you are wondering, yes, we did pack 100,000 meals! The question that should linger for each of us is, why did we do that? The answer lies in the transformational nature of the gospel. That is, when we give our lives over to Jesus, he begins to change us from the inside out to become more and more like him (1 Jn. 2:6).
Or in other words, changed people have new priorities and motivations.
We see this reality reflected all through the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, God set Abraham’s family apart to be a blessing to the nations (Gen. 12:2), and in Psalm 96:3, Israel was instructed to “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” Changed people had new priorities. In the New Testament, Jesus talks about giving new and abundant life (Jn. 10:10). Paul reminds us that we are new creations in Jesus, the old has gone, and the new now defines us (2 Cor. 5:17). See, at one time, we might have been motivated to serve others simply to affirm in our minds that we are good people, and in that way, our motivation and love are still very self-centered. But, in Jesus, we are made new, and therefore we have new priorities and new motivations. Being generous because God was generous first is a priority and motivation that is not self-centered but instead overflows from God’s radical love. What a wonderful gift!
There is a warning for us to consider. While we are being made new, we will still struggle with selfishness on this side of heaven. In that, we will continue to be drawn back to our old priorities and motivations. And when we look to anything other than God to fulfill us, we will be disappointed. Tim Keller reminds us of this reality when he says,
“No person, not even the best one can give your soul all it needs…this cosmic disappointment and disillusionment is there in all of life, but we especially feel it in the things in which we set our hopes. When you finally realize this, there are four things you can do: You can blame the things that are disappointing you and try to move on to better ones (that’s the way of continued idolatry and spiritual addiction), you can blame yourself and beat yourself (that’s the way of self-loathing and shame), you can blame the world (that’s how you get hard, cynical, and empty), or you can reorient the entire focus of your life on God.”[1]
Let us be cautioned but not lose sight that Jesus is reorienting the focus of our lives as we follow him.
[1] Tim Kelller, “Counterfeit Gods”