Priority Check

As most anyone reading this likely aware, I am the Youth Minister at Lakeview Baptist Church here in Waco, TX. This past week we were talking about living like it is your last day. I was trying to be the cool youth leader by launching the discussion with the music video for "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback. (I did of course add the disclaimer that while this particular song may have some good implications, and while they have some good rockin' sounds... overall Nickelback does not generally write positive messages in their songs).

The conversation Wednesday was quite frustrating. Much of it just seemed so disingenuous. It took on the "being nice for the sake of being nice" moralism that so much of what we do in church has fallen in to. Ya know? the idea of spending your final time on earth doing something 'worth while' instead of selfish pursuit of fun. But there was no real depth to it. While selfless acts of kindness are noble and good, without a foundation of WHY they are noble and good, ... it's ultimately hollow, or just self gratifying because it makes YOU feel good. May as well go bungi jumping.

I have started adding a small audio message online after Wednesday nights as a sort of 'recap of', 'after thought for', or 'in addition to' the lesson. As I was preparing that message it hit me. The answer to the 'last day' question isn't the end of the thought ... it's just the beginning. How you answer the 'what if ...' gives you a good look at your priorities.

As a follower of Jesus Christ what should your priorities be? And why? And do they match up when you answer the question, "What if it were your last day?"

In those moments of intensity who we really are tends to come out. Marriage and family doesn't fix problems. It brings them to the surface. Winning the lotto won't change who you are. It just magnifies it. When we are faced with the end, our desires become more intense.

So if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, and we claim to live His teachings every day, then shouldn't the idea of our last day make that desire even more intense. Wouldn't we want even more so to strive to be more like Him in that time we have left? What if we don't? Does that mean we're not really Christians? Are we somehow not saved? or not going to heaven?

While I do believe it is possible for someone to intellectaully accept teachings and still not come in to a saving grace through repentence of sins ... that's a discussion for another time. I would say rather in this instance we have simply allowed ourselves to be distracted and hypnotized by the things of this world and we have let the worries and comforts of the temporary overshadow the blessings of the eternal.

Maybe we just need to refocus.