FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS
(6-minute read)
If you had been miraculously saved from a near fatal accident or a deadly disease, would your life not be significantly redefined from that point when God snatched you from the door of death? How is it then that our salvation often turns into a non-event in our lives? We talk more about the start or end of a relationship, a job, an illness or a new life stage than we bring up our salvation (except when we want to evangelize to someone). The truth is, whether it happened recently or a long time ago, our salvation is a pivotal life moment when we have clarity of where we will be in eternity. But how much does it really matter in our day-to-day living?
Have a listen to what John Piper said about salvation from the last email he received from the late Tim Keller. The Scripture reference is drawn from Luke 10:17-20 when Jesus gave a cold response to His disciples’ fist-pump success after they invoked the Lord’s Name and made demons retreat. Jesus instantly made the correction that while they were celebrating what they could achieve in His Name, they missed the point that their ultimate joy should come from having a place in eternity with Him.
This offers us a lesson in that when we lose consciousness of our Savior and our salvation, we lose ourselves to prideful pursuits that become our primary source of joy.
WHAT DOES FOCUSING ON SELF LOOK LIKE
Seventy-two of Jesus’ disciples came to Him, gushing with pride and joy over how they took down the enemy. If they had all been fishermen, the number of fishes and the value of the haul would have mattered. If they had been entertainers, the number of ticket holders and the size of the venue would have mattered. But in terms of defeating demons who recognized only the authority in Jesus’ Name, what really mattered was not the spectacle but peoples’ names written in heaven.
The disciples genuinely thought they hit a ministry milestone when they enthused before Jesus, “Lord even the demons submit to us in Your Name.” (Luke 10:17).
Interestingly, Jesus neither praised them for doing a good job in setting people free from spiritual oppression, nor said anything that most of us would ordinarily say after we have done something that uplifted the Name of Jesus. In fact, the Lord was not even impressed that He was credited for what they did. To be sure, there is nothing wrong in sharing stories of spiritual breakthroughs and life transformations among ourselves, but there is a risk of performance orientation when all we talk about is how powerful and sought-after we are doing God’s work.
When it is not God’s salvation that takes centre-stage in our hearts, the self will sneak up to take the pride of place where the ego slowly becomes larger than life. The tell-tale signs of an obsessive self-focus include adopting fancy-sounding honorifics, an insatiable pursuit of professional and recreational accolades, a fondness for name-dropping, a lack of relational vulnerability, and because they need to be seen as superior to others, people generally know what they do more than who they are.
Christians who are driven by outsized egos are self-serving and can be demeaning, especially if they are also leaders. They are easily snubbed if people don’t show them special attention, and they are generally not as quick as they should be to show their appreciation.
While it is not easy to detect unhealthy pride and ego in casual or occasional encounters, perpetually hanging onto performance and people’s opinions as primary sources of joy will eventually ruin one’s self-esteem and any meaningful purpose in life.
WHAT DOES FOCUSING ON OUR SALVATION LOOK LIKE
Nothing we do – good and bad – escapes God’s eyes. Jesus was quick to make this known to His disciples when He said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18). Clearly, He was describing a phenomena that could not be captured by human eyes.
To be fair, Jesus was likely the first spiritual leader who ever tutored the disciples. Up to that point, it is reasonable to speculate that they had only been taught by synagogue leaders, family elders, or trade mentors who emphasized different values in their training where getting one’s name displayed on a leaderboard would generally be a good sign of progress. But the Lord was a different kind of teacher, and the only place where the disciples’ names would be displayed was in heaven.
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
It is fair to ask why we should care if our names appear in heaven. The short answer is that our names matter to God, and we are surely not talking about some heavenly scoreboard. But we are also not undifferentiated believers admitted into the Kingdom of heaven en masse by some religious rituals or affiliations. We are admitted only through a very personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. In fact, God takes extreme delight in preparing to be with us for eternity. With Him in heaven - and also on this side of heaven - we feel complete (not lacking anything). The only certainty we have of making it to heaven’s namelist is God’s commitment of love for us and the promise that nothing can ‘separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39).
When Jesus said, “rejoice that your names are written in heaven”, it tells us that being assured of our salvation ought to sharpen our focus and purpose in life. Going to church and silently bowing our heads to give thanks before a meal cannot be the only outwards signs of our salvation.
All of us know how life can spring challenges and conflicts that veer us off-course for a variety of reasons. As such, we cannot go about without being conscious of our salvation and the joy it gives the Lord. Therefore, this is a worthy prayer, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12).
Joy is a deep pleasure we share with God not only when we see our names in heaven’s permanent records, but also in this life, whenever we take the focus off our own circumstances and challenges to spend time with someone or intercede for them; when we overcome our resistance to learn what it means to be a true friend; or when we set aside our anxieties and have a loving conversation with someone about their own salvation.
God does not leave us to figure things out on our own but will help us to focus on what really matters in life. Indeed, “He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.” (in Psalm 23:3b), and “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.” (in Psalm 16:11). It is important to know that ‘the right paths’ and ‘the way of life’ are often unconventional, risky and uncomfortable because they are often without precedence. Conventional wisdom and past experience will not be enough to sustain us. We must rely on God to face the ever-changing realities, and trust Him to keep us on the right track.
Finally, we need to know that salvation is not about safety and self-preservation but about God’s divine grace that makes right our relationship with Him through Christ (Romans 3:22-24). Because salvation is a gift of grace from God and not something we achieve through our own merit, we must remember to focus on what really matters on this side of heaven. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 17 February 2023.
