Snapshots from El, Inc.

Moon vs. Finger

"Some Christians are like people that are pointing at the moon and miss the moon because they become too fixed on their own finger"

Food for thought gleaned from another person's blog. Kind of from an "outside" perspective, as in, it came from someone not enmeshed in the usual "church system" and way of life. Refreshing and jarring at the same time.
How true. Very often it's so easy to miss the whole point of the Way that Christ brings - the whole point of Him coming to earth to save us, to regenerate us from our sinfulness and bring us from death into life.
I've been going through 40 Days of Community at church, a follow-up to Rick Warren's 40 Days of Purpose. We're examining how the 5 purposes can only be fulfilled in the context of community. One of the things that was set in stone at the beginning of the 40 days was that we're nothing without love (taken straight out of I Corinthians 13). Within that framework, God's been challenging me to reexamine and reevaluate my priorities against the standard set out in I Corinthians 13, and one of the big things that goes along with it is the emphasis on loving people, setting aside time to be still and listen to those around me..
As God's been working on that in me, I've come to realize what a dastardly enemy busyness is. It's so, so easy to get my priorities messed up, focusing on my finger instead of the moon that it's pointing to. So easy to get lost in a swirl of activities and develop a deaf ear to God's still small voice, and the silent cries of those around me.
In brutally evaluating myself, I've also realized this: if I were a non-believer observing my life, I might very well accuse myself of missing the moon for the finger. I'm just so busy, rushing from Bible study to rehearsal to prayer meeting to officer's meeting.. No time for God and people, because.. I'm preoccupied with doing stuff? Classic Martha Syndrome. *sighs*
I've been praying that God would really help me out on this one, and that short little sentence is a welcome wake-up call this busy week. Yes, I do have a big test in two days, but that just means that I've got to work all the harder so that I don't wind up precluding really loving God and people just because I've "got stuff to do". *shakes head resolutely*

Labels: Musings

posted by Joel Chan @ 7:56 PM