Contently Distracted

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me—if I could just…stay…focused!”

—Nathan Mortenson

Let’s talk about distraction. I could rattle your brain with a bunch of statistics about how much the quality of your life is being degraded by distraction. On the other hand, I’d say you are already aware of just how much distraction costs you regularly. Of course, It’s not just you and me, it’s all of us. It’s us as individuals, it’s us as a society, and it’s us as a church. Distraction is a real thief!

In his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer says it like this:

If the churches came to understand that the greatest threat to faith today is not hedonism but distraction, perhaps they might begin to appeal anew to this frazzled digital generation.

Distraction has convinced us that to be content we need to have a life full of more. We are so easily convinced of this that we allow our phones and our social media accounts to have access to every second of our lives. And why do that? So they can cater ads that reinforce the idea that life would be fuller if we just had this or that. It’s wild when you stop to think about it: Even when we don’t desire more, we’ve programmed our phones to desire more for us! When will this desire stop? What will it take for us to ever truly feel satisfied?

The answer that Tomas Aquinas came up with was this:

“Everything… We would have to experience everything and everybody and be experienced by everything and everybody to feel satisfied. Eat at every restaurant; travel to every country, every city, every exotic locale; experience every natural wonder; make love to every partner we could possibly desire; win every award; climb to the top of every field; own every item in the world; etc... We would have to experience it ALL to ever feel enough.”

Let’s jump back to the beginning and the verse I almost quoted, Philippians 4:13. This verse is probably hanging in more houses (and gyms) than any verse in the Bible. I think the apostle Paul would have been horrified if he had heard how we use this verse today. I even used this verse in high school to give a pep talk to my pickleball teammate in P.E. class so that we could finally beat Adam and his annoying friend Mark who was constantly bragging about how "great" he was! I mean seriously Adam, close your mouth and serve… the…ball...before I have to climb over this net and—AARGH!

Uh, excuse me! I might have gotten a bit carried away there... Where were we again? Oh, yeah! Back to Paul. Paul is not talking about achieving “more” but about being content when “more” is out of reach. The sentence right before Paul pens that iconic line defines what is really going on here.

“I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”—Phil. 4:12b-13

Paul isn’t talking about our favorite football team finishing the season 16-0, or about crushing Adam and Mark in the pickle-ball championship match (though we totally did!).

Paul is okay with loss. He actually seems a bit TOO excited for loss at times if you ask me. But here he says that whether he has a lot or a little, “I’m content!” because my strength doesn’t come from things, it comes from Christ!

He even goes as far as to say that everything else our distractions are telling us we need are worthless compared to simply knowing Christ.

So let me serve the match point here. In order to be content and thankful, you don’t need anything that you don’t already have. Sure, 2020 was a bit much… I’ll give you that. But you’re here! You’re breathing! God is all around you. Look at the lilies of the field! Look at the birds of the air! We woke up to a brand-new day today that we got to choose how to shape! You have access to an internet (or you wouldn’t be reading this) that has the ability to connect you to almost anyone on the planet in a matter of seconds! The restaurant choices in Springfield alone are enough to rejoice about! I mean, seriously, I could go on for hours listing what I’m thankful for today. Sure, that list would contain some things, but that list is rooted in Christ. That is the only way it works. If my contentment is rooted in what I "have", what happens when I lose those things?

Paul had built his contentment on a foundation of Christ.

That is why Paul could be thankful in any circumstance. That is why he could “do all things.” And that is why you can do all things as well.

Contentment is beautiful. However, as beautiful and as freeing as it is, you won’t just stumble into it. You have to choose it. You have to choose to set your phone down in the morning and thank God for all he has done in your life. You have to choose to turn off the TV, gather your family close, and tell them how much you love them. You have to pause at work, take a few deep breaths, and be grateful for the opportunity and privilege of working, even on the tough days. You have to choose to slow down.

You have to choose to pull the focus back onto Christ when the distractions threaten to steal your joy.

You have to choose it every day, over and over and over. Things are nice, but life is found in Christ! So let's help each other choose Christ!

Activity: Take a moment this week to physically write down some of what you are thankful for (yes, you can include things). Even better, if you have kids, gather up the whole family and see who can make a list of 50 things first! Pick out some sort of inexpensive (or free) prize for the winner and celebrate as a family all of the blessings you have in your life.