The Great Omission

How important is focus? Focus is crucial in many things. We hear about the importance of focus when it comes to sports. Reporters, coaches and athletes talk about keeping your eye on the goal and staying focused. This is something I reiterate to young kids when I’m coaching baseball. I see so many young athletes strike out or make an error and they fall apart. They hang their head and start crying. I tell them, “You’ve got to forget about it and move on. You’ll have other opportunities. Maintain your focus. Your team needs you!” Focus is also highly important in our careers. Each person in the workforce, regardless of their chosen profession, must stay focused on the task at hand in order to get the job done. Failure to focus can lead to poor performance and, perhaps, even losing a job if it becomes habit.

Focus is critical when it comes to our spiritual lives as well. With so many things tugging at us from every direction, it’s easy for us to get sidetracked and lose sight of what’s most important. Christians have done some noble deeds and stood for some worthy causes in the past. We have protested certain injustices. We have tried to block legislation that would make certain sinful acts legal. We have marched in the picket lines. We have joined the tea parties. We have preached against various heresies from the pulpit. But in my estimation, we have allowed these efforts to distract us from our real purpose. Should we ignore social ills? Should we not speak out against sin? Should we avoid politics? Should we stop preaching against error? Absolutely not! That’s not what I’m saying at all. What I am saying is that we can’t lose focus. We mustn’t forget what we’re supposed to be about. I'm speaking, of course, about EVANGELISM!

In Acts Chapter 5 the apostles were thrown in prison for healing the sick and preaching Christ. This prison could not hold God’s messengers for in the night an angel of the Lord comes and opens the gates. Notice the command of the angel: “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life” (Acts 5:20). They were not told to go and tell people how terrible the world is. They were not told to go and picket or organize a protest. They were not told to go and feed someone. They were told to go and carry out their primary mission—to seek and save the lost. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I am in no way suggesting that standing up for the ills of society is wrong or unnecessary. I’m not saying that it is not our duty as Christians to help one in need. In fact, the apostles did this. Jesus fed the hungry. He healed the sick, but that was not His primary purpose. That was not His main mission. In John Chapter 6, we see that the masses continued to follow hot on Jesus’ heels. Unfortunately, they followed, not because they wanted to hear Jesus’ profound teachings, but because they wanted to have their stomachs filled again. Jesus had just performed the miracle feeding of the 5000. The crowd was hoping for another meal but Jesus tells them, in essence, I’m not going to feed you again. Jesus offers them the bread of life that will save their souls, but He refuses to give them more physical sustenance. Why? Because of His mission. The feeding was a means to an end. It wasn’t an end in and of itself.

Friends, we need Christian men and women active in politics. We need to stand up when our morals are under attack. We need to seek to meet the needs of others. But we mustn't allow these efforts to sidetrack us from our main purpose. We need to use our influence to bring others to Christ. We need to meet the needs of others for the purpose of showing them Christ and, hopefully, saving their soul. However, acts of Christian service should be done for the purpose of fulfilling our mission. The best way to serve others is by being evangelistic. If you want to change the world don’t start by joining a political action committee. Don’t start by running for office. No, if you want to change the world then start by being evangelistic. The way to change the world is one soul at a time!