Last week I watched the “Ax Men” TV show for the first time. Its a reality show that tags along with loggers and tree climbers. I was a professional tree climber for several years, so watching the show brought back a lot of memories. What stood out to me was the risk I put myself in. Climbing 60 – 80′ up a tree then running a chainsaw within inches of myself and the rope keeping me safe, posed risk.
I was well aware of the risk at the time and took the necessary precautions. I was trained, used the right equipment, ensured the ground crew knew the plan, and stayed alert. I could severely injure someone on the ground if I messed up, and they could severely injure me up if they messed up. We had to constantly rely on and trust each other.
It was dangerous work, but there were safe ways to get the job done. It hit me during the show that its the same with life. Life on this earth is dangerous (with eternal consequences), we need to be prepared, and we need others to get through it safely. But, unlike an immediate risk like tree climbing, we often don’t approach life with a similar awareness of risk, preparation, or alertness.
The Bible repeatedly begs us not to be distracted by this world, but rather to focus on what matters – focus on our relationship with God. Last night we read three passages:
Mark 8: 34 – 38, Matthew 6:31-33, and John 3:30
Then we tried to put things in perspective by listing out the various roles we’ll likely have, and on average how long we’ll be in those roles. Here’s the list we came up with.
- Christian – 1,000,000,000,000 x 10∞ years (forever!)
- Human – 80 years
- Son / Daughter – 60 years
- Spouse – 60 years
- Father / Mother – 60 years
- Employee – 50 years
- Grandparent – 35 years
- Student – 12 – 20 years
- Pet Owner – 15 years at a time
- Athlete – 10 years
- Friend – 10 years (average so far, will increase as you age)
- High-Schooler – 4 years
- Boyfriend / Girlfriend – 6 months – 1 year
We discussed how much of our attention is spent on temporary v. eternal relationships, how to incorporate eternal matters into our temporary roles, then answered the questions below:
- If you were the devil, how would you distract you from eternal matters?
- If you were God, how would you gain your attention for what really matters?
- If you were your Youth Pastor, how would you remind you of proper priorities?
- If you were you, what plan would you create to keep you focused?
During our discussions, we came back to John 3:30 quite a bit – “He must increase, I must decrease.” Its an easy phrase to remember and a great way to approach this dangerous life.
Updates covered last night: The church board approved having a non-voting Youth representative. I’ll select someone from the list who showed interest in the position. If you’d like to be considered for a 6 month appointment, please let me know. We selected the Youth t-shirt design (the one with the mountain on the front) and the color – blue or blue/grey. l’ll work with Lillian and Claire to finalize the design.
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