MULTI-TASKING GOD’S WAY
Intro
I was at a conference a couple of weekends ago and I heard some pretty interesting statistics. The speaker was discussing the technology age, the age of media, and how it is affecting our lives. He began to talk about multi-tasking (doing more than one thing, or several things at once), and it struck a chord with me. Listen to some of these statistics:
One report states that kids are media multi-tasking 29% of the time
31% of kids say they multi-task while doing homework
8-18 year olds are exposed to 7 hours 38 minutes of media per day (with multi-tasking, turns into a total of 10 hours 45 minutes per day)
15-18 year olds spend 1 hour 51 minutes per day texting
On average there are more televisions per household than there are children per household
A child will spend 18,000 hours in front of a television by the time they graduate high school (5,000 more than they spend in school)
1 out of 5 toddlers under the age of 3 have a television in their bedroom
Research shows that the average American ingests 34 gigabytes of information in a day from various forms of media (tv, music, games, internet, etc.) This translates to 105,000 words per day from media.
Many people are calling this the “age of distraction.” However, studies in neuroscience have shown that the brain is unable to effectively focus on more than one thing at a time. Therefore, multi-tasking as we define it, is a myth. The human brain cannot participate in two different things at the same time and do them as well as if they were done one at a time. I found this interesting, and I began to think about the concept of multi-tasking. It began to dawn on me that, in a way, God asks us to multi-task. He asks us to do a few different things all at once, and to do them well. Here’s what I mean:
TASK 1
I. Maintain a Heavenly Mind-Set
Phillipians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Paul likely wrote this letter to the Philippian church near the end of the his imprisonment in Rome. He had several reasons for writing the letter; namely to address the tendency of the Philippian Church toward disunity and disagreement among one another. Paul was distressed at this behavior, and had some strong words against them. Some of the church were being influenced by the Judiazers; those that wanted to add or modify the requirements of salvation. Others were being led astray by groups that tended toward sensuality and materialistic greed. Paul’s goal was to unify this church, to bring everyone back together, and his strategy was to have them focus on what they had in common. What they had in common was Jesus Christ. Paul sought to restore a heavenly mind-set within the Philippian Church.
When Paul writes that “our citizenship is in heaven”, the Greek word he uses for heaven is ‘ouranos’ (oo-ran--os) literally meaning “the abode of God”, and “happiness, power, and eternity.”
We are citizens of the house of God. Our home, our true home, is where God reigns. Our home is utter happiness. Our home is, literally, power. Our home is eternal. Paul encourages the readers to stay focused on this idea--to re-gain a little bit of perspective. Don’t get sidetracked by things and people that want to lead you this way or that way. Think big picture. Don’t forget the end goal.
Our destiny changes with our thoughts; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thoughts correspond with our desires.
Orison Swett Marden
Paul then goes on to discuss the resurrection aspect of the new life. He states that “the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
The ‘body of our humble state’ is referring to our position on earth. The phrase ‘humble state’ is translated from a Greek word meaning depression, humiliation, low rank. This is not an insult to us as human beings. This is a contrast. A contrast between what we have now--what we are now--and what we will be in heaven. Paul says here we are in these earthly bodies completely wrapped up in the chaos of the day, disagreeing with our brothers and sisters in Christ over earthly matters.
Think bigger!
Look farther!
Get your perspective back. Regain your heavenly mind-set.
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
Seneca (Roman Philosopher)
A man should have any number of little aims about which he should be conscious and for which he should have names, but he should have neither name for, nor consciousness concerning, the main aim of his life.
Samuel Butler (novelist)
The first part of multi-tasking is gaining our perspective. Getting our mind right and keeping it that way. This is not a small job. It takes work--a lot of work. Remember where our citizenship lies. Look toward the future transformation of this earthly body, low rank compared to our new one, as we take up residence in the abode of God.
Multi-tasking, by definition, means doing more than one thing at a time. There’s another side to this.
There is a quote that states, “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.”
There is a balance to be had here. This is multi-tasking God’s way. We must maintain a heavenly mind-set, while at the same time doing some earthly good.
There are two main ways that we make the most of our time on earth.
I. We must HONOR GOD
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul warns of all of the dangers awaiting him as the begins his ministry. Lust, love of money, evil people, etc. He then orders Timothy to:
“Flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Paul is saying that once Timothy made his confession (acceptance of Jesus Christ) he called himself--obligated himself--to a life that honors God. That life is lived here on earth.
Every man, as to character, is the creature of the age in which he lives. Very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of their times.
Voltaire (writer and philosopher)
Now we’re multi-tasking. Our perspective is right: we’re maintaining a heavenly mind-set. We’re doing our best to honor God in our lives. What else should we add to this workload?
II. We must REPRESENT GOD
What does it mean to represent God? That sounds like a heavy responsibility. You want me to represent God? Creator and sustainer of the universe; perfectly just and holy and eternal. I can’t even remember to set the timer on the coffee maker so it’s hot and ready for my wife the next morning, and you want me to represent God.
What it means to represent God: Doing our very best to ensure that other people see God through our actions. It will be futile attempt; a dim light compared to the blinding Glory of God, but an attempt is all He asks. God’s influence on our life should be apparent.
1 John 3:17-18
But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
John tells us to love others through our deed and truth. The Greek word for deed is ‘ergon’, which means to labor, to toil. This is work. Showing the love of God to others does not mean just doing what’s comfortable to us; it means doing what’s necessary to show them who lives in us.
Shane Claiborne, who spent a summer in the slums of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, wrote about her experience there. She said, “People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery — like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget — her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. ‘Hey Mother, what’s wrong with your feet?’ One day a sister said to us, ‘Have you noticed her feet?’ We nodded, curious. She said: ‘Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet.’ Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her feet.”
Mother Teresa became the epitomy of service for God. She set a high bar for the rest of us. But it’s exactly what John was talking about--she represented God through her deeds. Her labor. Her work.
Matthew 5:16
Jesus states, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
When we set forth to honor God, and to represent God in what we do on this earth, all the while maintaining a heavenly mind-set, we come close to that perfect balance that God wants for us.
One thing about multi-taskers in the modern day. They don’t last. They burn out. Sometimes I sit down to work in the morning and begin looking through my emails, and I’ll have emails from people at 11:00, 12:00 at night. I have co-workers who get up out of bed at 3:00AM and get on their Blackberry so they can conduct business with people in Asia and Europe. These people will burn out. It’s too much.
On the contrary, however, is multi-tasking God’s way. It has the exact opposite effect on us. Keeping a heavenly perspective gives us the drive, the stamina, to honor God in our lives. A desire to honor God naturally leads to representing God through deed and truth. And honoring and representing God through our actions leads us back around to keeping our minds focused on heaven.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
CLOSING
