There is no such things as a bad time to make serious assessments about the things we take seriously. Life by no means is a joke, and there are things that are certainly not to be taken lightly, however I feel that many people walk and run through life making everything a top priority. If you live a life in which everything is in a tie for first place, I’m going to go ahead and guess that you probably live under an immense amount of pressure, and that much of that pressure is self created. Priorities are the vertical order of importance we use to organize our lives and relationships, time is finite, and typically finite resources have value. Furthermore the more limited or scarce a resource is, the more perceived value we assign to it. The fewer moments we have the more valuable each moment seems. Priorities assign a value hierarchy to our lives and help us define how we will employ our key finite resource time. There of course is a reason we inevitably see a shift in priorities of the way a terminally ill cancer patient prioritizes his time as compared to someone who isn’t forced to face, in a real sense, the fact that we’re all on a countdown to the grave. The perception of value changes when we change the way we view the scarcity of something.
Priorities are a way we communicate with the world around us. The way we establish the ranks and resources of our lives sends a message about who or what is in first place, and the things for which all others fall subordinate. Do we shift our relationships to fit into place around our jobs, or visa versa? Do we value providing for our families over having a fun day out at the beach? What matters more? What matters most?
I think for many of us young folks its so easy to get caught up in the pursuit of a career, establishing life in a marriage relationship, raising a family, whatever. The list of things that fit into our individual priority economies is exhaustive, and no matter how we perceive our “priority lists”, there is undoubtedly much that claws for our attention. But what really matters? We are complicated beings, and the reality is that there probably are infinite number of ways to rationalize any given priority structure.
For example, does a job matter because:
1. it communicates something about social status or value
2. it provides money or a means to provide for life
3. work in and of itself is important
4. people rely on you for your job
5. it enables you to do other things that actually matter more than the job itself
Every facet of our priority systems can fall subject to this line of questioning, and it is important to understand no only where things fall, but why they fall where they do. At the end of the day if you follow the process through to the end, everything you do will communicate something about whatever priority is really number 1 on your list. And number 1 of course communicates a very deep truth about what matters in your life.
I have spent many years of my life focusing on much that simply doesn’t matter. This is incredibly disheartening, because I haven’t been around for that many years. Whether it be pleasure, popularity, success, acknowledgement of my peers, fun, or general advancement in life, I’ve often caught myself prioritizing things that in the grand scheme of things simply DO NOT MATTER. The cultural trophies we have created often become my idols, and often it is because I either take myself or certain things in my life way too seriously.
There is great danger in myopically assessing that which is important, because when we do so our priorities become self motivated and self serving. The human tendency is to have a very narrow focus, and that focus is typically aimed and centered around ourselves…it is a shameful reality, but lets face it even in our most selfless moments we are all very self consumed.
There is only room for one at the top rank on the list of that which we care about in life, and typically there is a battle between Self and God, no two other things are in greater conflict. Self as a top priority may manifest as a job, a family, monetary wealth, or even some philanthropic endeavor, but the reality is that without God as number one, everything we do becomes a means to glorify ourselves. When we put God at the top, we cannot help but to take our work and the things that “matter” to us, and subordinate them to things that truly matter. All things on our priority lists work towards whatever holds the top rank, and when that is God, work, family, money, friends, and the lot all become means make God the top priority. It all becomes ministry, it all is transformed into something infinite, paychecks, board meetings, social gatherings all become a pulpit for God as the end all and be all in our lives. Conversely, when God is absent all works towards the glory of self, and in turn in one way or another we all end up at a point of total despair, total emptiness, or total destruction.
For all practical purposes our priorities are more than a list, they define a singular salient point about our lives. If all else fails, and I am left with nothing else what do I choose?
A prioritization of our lives is a 1 item list that contains multiple sub points, the sub points are the means by which we communicate what is number 1 and why. May God help us if our top priority is anything but him. How hopeless is life if we are given the choice to have one thing and we choose a job…yikes! I am aware that there is an old proverbial saying that warns of putting all your eggs in one basket, but a life for Christ is an all or nothing kind of thing, there is no room for anything but him at the top. There is no way to parcel and compartmentalize our lives to try to find a “happy medium”. In operating in an area of comfortable compromise we slyly rearrange ourselves back to the top spot and simply use God as an means to glorify ourselves.
For me especially, black and white choices are tough, I like to qualify and create contingencies in the event that I change my mind. I prefer to have escape routes and ways to keep my options open. In terms of picking what’s number one however, its an impossibility there just simply isn’t room at the top. Christ throughout his ministry preached this concept and the choice is simple, we may choose life (God) or death (anything else).
So the question remains, what really matters most?
CP
Priorities are a way we communicate with the world around us. The way we establish the ranks and resources of our lives sends a message about who or what is in first place, and the things for which all others fall subordinate. Do we shift our relationships to fit into place around our jobs, or visa versa? Do we value providing for our families over having a fun day out at the beach? What matters more? What matters most?
I think for many of us young folks its so easy to get caught up in the pursuit of a career, establishing life in a marriage relationship, raising a family, whatever. The list of things that fit into our individual priority economies is exhaustive, and no matter how we perceive our “priority lists”, there is undoubtedly much that claws for our attention. But what really matters? We are complicated beings, and the reality is that there probably are infinite number of ways to rationalize any given priority structure.
For example, does a job matter because:
1. it communicates something about social status or value
2. it provides money or a means to provide for life
3. work in and of itself is important
4. people rely on you for your job
5. it enables you to do other things that actually matter more than the job itself
Every facet of our priority systems can fall subject to this line of questioning, and it is important to understand no only where things fall, but why they fall where they do. At the end of the day if you follow the process through to the end, everything you do will communicate something about whatever priority is really number 1 on your list. And number 1 of course communicates a very deep truth about what matters in your life.
I have spent many years of my life focusing on much that simply doesn’t matter. This is incredibly disheartening, because I haven’t been around for that many years. Whether it be pleasure, popularity, success, acknowledgement of my peers, fun, or general advancement in life, I’ve often caught myself prioritizing things that in the grand scheme of things simply DO NOT MATTER. The cultural trophies we have created often become my idols, and often it is because I either take myself or certain things in my life way too seriously.
There is great danger in myopically assessing that which is important, because when we do so our priorities become self motivated and self serving. The human tendency is to have a very narrow focus, and that focus is typically aimed and centered around ourselves…it is a shameful reality, but lets face it even in our most selfless moments we are all very self consumed.
There is only room for one at the top rank on the list of that which we care about in life, and typically there is a battle between Self and God, no two other things are in greater conflict. Self as a top priority may manifest as a job, a family, monetary wealth, or even some philanthropic endeavor, but the reality is that without God as number one, everything we do becomes a means to glorify ourselves. When we put God at the top, we cannot help but to take our work and the things that “matter” to us, and subordinate them to things that truly matter. All things on our priority lists work towards whatever holds the top rank, and when that is God, work, family, money, friends, and the lot all become means make God the top priority. It all becomes ministry, it all is transformed into something infinite, paychecks, board meetings, social gatherings all become a pulpit for God as the end all and be all in our lives. Conversely, when God is absent all works towards the glory of self, and in turn in one way or another we all end up at a point of total despair, total emptiness, or total destruction.
For all practical purposes our priorities are more than a list, they define a singular salient point about our lives. If all else fails, and I am left with nothing else what do I choose?
A prioritization of our lives is a 1 item list that contains multiple sub points, the sub points are the means by which we communicate what is number 1 and why. May God help us if our top priority is anything but him. How hopeless is life if we are given the choice to have one thing and we choose a job…yikes! I am aware that there is an old proverbial saying that warns of putting all your eggs in one basket, but a life for Christ is an all or nothing kind of thing, there is no room for anything but him at the top. There is no way to parcel and compartmentalize our lives to try to find a “happy medium”. In operating in an area of comfortable compromise we slyly rearrange ourselves back to the top spot and simply use God as an means to glorify ourselves.
For me especially, black and white choices are tough, I like to qualify and create contingencies in the event that I change my mind. I prefer to have escape routes and ways to keep my options open. In terms of picking what’s number one however, its an impossibility there just simply isn’t room at the top. Christ throughout his ministry preached this concept and the choice is simple, we may choose life (God) or death (anything else).
So the question remains, what really matters most?
CP
1 comment:
Great blog Chris. That last paragraph about wanting contingency plans or escape routes really cuts to the core of the problem! Very great stuff.
Post a Comment