Correcting Our Focus

2Corinthians 13: 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?

It seems modern day western Christianity is very outward focused. We see a focus on the sins of a fallen world. A focus on the political landscape of the country we live in. A focus on how we are treated as Christians. A focus on the evils of the world, other religions, or the new cause célèbre. It may surprise some that this is yet another scheme of the enemy. To get us to a place of outward focus when the only focus that really matters is upward and inward. Paul teaching from his first letter to the church at Corinth:

What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 1Corinthians 7: 29-31

The time is short and the world we find ourselves so easily engrossed in, is passing away. Our focus can be directed in one of three ways, inward to evaluate ourselves, upward to seek God, and outward to be distracted. The enemy knows that the more we are focused on the outward, the less we will focus on ourselves. On our walk. On our witness. The famous verses about healing our land found in the Book of Second Chronicles spells it out for us:

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2Chronicles 7:14

God is not expecting the people in the world who are walking in darkness to suddenly repent. This admonishment is directed at the people called by His name Christians. And what can we glean from these verses? That as Christians we have a humility problem, a prayer problem and a sin problem.

First of all, we have a humility problem. We are a proud bunch. We can tend to forget that while we finally understand that absolute truth exists, we actually had nothing to do with it. When discussing our righteousness the Prophet Isaiah puts us in our place:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64: 6

The only righteousness we can claim is because we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself to cover our filthy rags. Yet there we can stand in judgment of the world. Condemning that which we have no right to condemn. Yet only by the grace of God are we still not walking in that same darkness. We are just sinners saved by grace but we can forget that as we continually look outward instead of inward. The enemy wants us focusing on the outside so we can feel better about our own fallen state.

This outward focus is not limited to the looking toward the world either. We also fall into the trap of maintaining a critical spirit towards those in church as well, maybe even towards the leadership. What better way to sow dissension amongst the brethren? In Proverbs God outlines the seven things He hates and sowing discord amongst the brethren is one of them. Yet there we can go, judging what God has not given us to judge. Accusing without knowing what we are talking about. Criticizing decisions God has not given us to make. It all stems from our prideful state. We trick ourselves into thinking that it's the other guy that is not standing firm. It is the other guy that is struggling with sin. Paul warns us about standing firm:

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1Corinthians 10: 12

There is a difference between standing firm and thinking you are standing firm. One is a reality and the other is an illusion brought on by pride. That is why the first thing God commands in the verse from 2Chronicles is to humble ourselves. Without humility, we will be unwilling to listen to what we might be doing wrong. Humility forces us to look inward; not outward. That is difficult for Christians sometimes. We can rationalize our pride, after all, "God knows my heart."

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17: 9 (ESV)

Don't worry , God definitely knows our heart. It is deceitful and sick. It can convince us that we are doing ok, instead of maintaining the humble position of the Apostle Paul, who despite evangelizing the known world always maintained that of all the Apostles, he was the least.

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1Corinthians 15: 9

Note why Paul was able to maintain this humble stance because he always remembered where God had to go to save him. Many have speculated what the thorn in Paul's flesh was that he spoke of in 2Corinthians. Perhaps it was the visage of those Christians he had watched be slaughtered as he presided over their deaths. Paul's humility was firmly rooted in never forgetting where God found him. We need to keep in the forefront of our minds as well, how far down God had to go to save us.

We can also have prayer problem. We simply do not seek the face of God in everything that we do. We may seek Him when our backs are against the wall, or when we want something, but not consistently- day by day. We face decisions every day without seeking God. We can fall into the trap of thinking that we know better. Or we can listen to the wrong advice. We seek out our friends instead of God. After King Solomon died, Rehoboam was made king and was faced with an opportunity to unite all of Israel. Jeroboam said that if the heavy yoke of Solomon would be lessened, then all would serve Rehoboam. Two groups advised Rehoboam. The elders of his father had wise advice that would require humility:

They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." 1Kings 12: 7

Rehoboam did not like this servile idea and instead consulted with his friends who advised him to rebuke Jeroboam and threaten an even heavier burden. This would lead to the permanent split of the Jewish people into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Rehoboam thought he knew better and sought the advice of man instead of God.

There are other Biblical examples of people who did seek God first. Joshua sought God and Jericho was delivered into his hands. Jehoshaphat sought God in fasting and prayer and the vast armies that we set against him slew each other instead. Just as humility is an inward focus, prayer is an upward focus. These are the directions God wants us focused in. These are what help us avoid the traps of the enemy. But we can get so caught up in the things of this world. We can get so distracted by what we think we need. Our prayer life can be reduced to a wish list or a whine list, with God acting the part of an ATM. When Jesus discussed this His instruction was very clear:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6: 33

This is a verse about our focus. The things the world distracts us while God is saying that if we truly need them, He is aware of it and they will be added unto us. But first we must seek two things His kingdom and His righteousness. By seeking His righteousness, we remind ourselves that we have none without Him. It checks our pride and maintains our humility. By seeking His kingdom, we are keeping the focus on the things of God; not man. Is what we are pursuing of God? Does it hold eternal value? Does it enhance the kingdom or is it for temporal gain? The truth is that we often do not seek God in prayer consistently because we know we will not like the answer! God has three answers beloved. Yes, no and wait. In our microwave mentality yes seems to be the only answer we find acceptable. If we hear "wait", we think God has not heard us and if the answer is "no", we think God is wrong. The truth is that we do not know which way to go in this world. Nor should we because we are sojourners:

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 1Peter 2:11

We are supposed to be aliens in this world and strangers to it. But we can become too familiar with it. Walking blindly through it, without the help from God:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

In all your ways acknowledge Him through prayer. Whether the answer is yes, no or wait, it is always for our own good:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Lastly, we always have a sin problem. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In the 2Chronicles verse God says turning from our wicked ways is the third condition. Humility focused us inward to be honest with ourselves about our own condition. Prayer focused us upwards to remember that God is above all of our problems we may face. But focusing inward and upward is not enough. There has to be a change of our will. Knowledge without application is useless. Here is Jesus teaching about this concept:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand . The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7: 24-27

Both of these men in this example could very well have humbled themselves to look inward and directed their focus upward to hear the words from God but only the one who put them into practice benefitted. The one who heard the words but continued to live as he wanted did not survive the storms life threw at them and his house fell with a great crash. The admonishment grows only stronger in 2Peter:

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2Peter 2: 17-22

Springs without water; mists driven by the storm. Knowing the truth and doing nothing about it is worse than never having ever known the truth. One is a matter of ignorance but the other is an act of the will. Our key verse today implores us to examine ourselves to see where our faith is. That might be a frightening idea but a necessary one. Is our focus outward or inward to reveal the areas we need to work on in our walk? Is our focus outward or upward to the One who is control of everything? Lastly, once properly focused, what do we do with the knowledge gained? God does not expect perfection beloved. He just expects that we work on ourselves and represent Him in the same measure of love we have received. He knows we will have humility problems, prayer problems and sin problems. He just expects that we will seek Him to resolve them and never forget the grace which we have received.

Reverend Anthony Wade June 9, 2010