My oldest son was quite a perfectionist as a 2-3 year old. One particular thing that had to be right was that his shoelaces had to stay on top of his shoe. They must not drape down on either side. If he noticed they had fallen to the sides of his shoes, he would stop what he was doing to fix it. He had the chore of feeding the dog every morning. At the time, our dog had to be tied up and not run free. So, Jared would fill the dish at the back porch and carry it over to the dog, about 20 feet away. He would get the dish filled and start to walk toward the dog when he would noticed that his shoelaces had fallen to the sides of his shoes. He would walk back to the porch and fix that and start again to bring the dog his food. This would be repeated numerous times every morning while he fed the dog. There were times he would get within 5 feet of the dog and turn back, go to the porch, fix his shoelaces and then commence to finishing the chore. Accomplishing the task should have taken no longer than 2 minutes. But, it often took him 10 minutes or longer….because he was fixing his shoelaces.
We can laugh about it now, but I find that we as Christians are often like that. God has given us a job to do and we get so distracted by little things that have little impact on the mission He has given us. My purpose here on earth is #1-to glorify God and love Him forever; and #2-to go and make disciples of all men. But, how often have I gotten distracted trying to determine if someone is in sin if they do _____________________(you fill in the blank). I fail to glorify God during those times and push people away that need Him. So, I’m delaying the task God has given me because I’m fixing my shoelaces. I confess being side-tracked by little things like vaccinations, clothing, movies/books, choice of schooling, etc. So much energy and time spent in trying to convince people of the error of their ways. And, for the most part, they were little things that were not helping, and were actually hindering me from accomplishing the task God had assigned. How many people did I fail to love….how many times did I fail to glorify God….because I was so pre-occupied with fixing my shoelaces?
Churches do the same thing. I realize that as a church, there is a need for logistics. There are things that need to be taken care of that go to the actual operating of the building and ministries. But is there really a need for rules that will push people away? Rules that make it harder for a person to join our church, but won’t deny them access to heaven? How often do churches spend so much time deciding on these rules or guidelines-rules will not keep one soul out of heaven or hell….thereby neglecting our true mission? We also make the task far more difficult than it should be: #1-glorify God and love Him forever and #2-go and make disciples. That is what we are about and what we should be helping others learn to be and do. Do we spend as much time on the task as we do fixing our shoelaces? And, how many people are turned away while we are fixing our shoelaces?
We ask ourselves silly questions which, if they have answers, aren’t in our power or responsibility to bring it about. We seek lines that are so fuzzy but we think will help us feel more confident in our walk. We look so minutely into the details of a Bible story that we miss the main point of what God was trying to teach us.
And, I am shocked and dismayed at how many of us are quite proud of the fact that our shoelaces are on top of our shoes, not dangling at the sides like so many others, ignoring the fact that they might actually be more concerned with feeding the dog.
Papa, forgive us-forgive me-for spending so much time fixing my shoelaces that I am neglecting the job you have given me. Forgive me for examining your Word only to shore up my argument and not to know You more. Forgive me for looking at a person You love and only seeing someone who hasn’t quite got it right.