Things That Matter

I’ve become a big fan of Josiah Queen in the past year.  He is a Christian musician and he recently released this song entitled “Things That Matter.” It's a really good song you should go listen to it.   It has been stuck in my head and has made me reflect on life and, as you might expect, the things that matter.  When I worked as a camp counselor I had this one camper tell me the activity we were doing did not matter.  I was working on a special program that week which was all about challenging the campers physically, mentally, and spiritually to teach them to lean on each other and ultimately to lean on God.  I distinctly remember my response to the camper.  I said “As Christians everything we do in this life matters.”  I have gone over this encounter time and time again because I have wondered if maybe the camper was right.  Maybe there are simply some things which do not matter.  

I think most of us are naturally results oriented people.  We see each aspect of our lives through the lens of success or failure.  We either get the promotion or we don’t, we either ace the test or we don’t.  Life becomes about metrics.  I don’t think God cares much for metrics, at least not human ones.  Mark 12:41-44 (NIV) says the following:

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

By all human standards the rich people are the ones succeeding in this passage.  They have money spare, everyone in the crowd wants to be like them.  Everyone except Jesus.  He sees the hearts of the rich and their hearts don’t measure up to his metrics.  But the widow, the one who gave out of her poverty, who was relying on God for her daily bread, who gave because she knew ultimately it all belongs to God anyway, she measured up.  I think results rarely, if ever, matter.  I think the heart, the intention, the love behind every action we take, is what truly matters.  1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV) says it so well.  

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

We must live in complete opposition to the idea that the ends justifies the means.  As Christians the means in which we do something is everything.  We are called to love and faith, to mercy and grace, to stewardship and obedience.  It doesn’t matter if I get the promotion, but it does matter that I work every day as unto the Lord.  So if I could go back and talk to the camper again I would tell him that his success at the activity does not matter, but it does matter that we do all for the glory of God (see 1 Corinthians 10:31).