Don’t Get Distracted; Stay on Mission
October 21, 2020·Jon Berglund
“No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”
— 2 Timothy 2:4
The world is filled with distractions, but the soldier of the Lord must remain undistracted. It’s not that the soldier is “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good,” but that the soldier trusts the Commander. When Christ “set His face like flint” to Jerusalem, there was nothing that would stop Him. That didn’t make Him less compassionate — He still healed, delivered, and taught those around Him. Yet, His impressive “presence” to the ones around Him, including their plights and their needs, did not impede Him on His mission. He only aimed to please the Father, whether that was healing the sick or submitting to the cross.
The devil would like nothing more than to distract you — to ensnare you with disputes over words (2 Timothy 2:14), pointless chatter (2:16), destructive speech (2:17), and moronic and uninformed controversies (2:23). He lulls the world into thinking that such arguments will somehow produce the transformation it so desperately desires. But you know better. In seeking God’s justice, faithfulness, love, and peace with a faithful group of people (2:22), you have found that the surest way to setting things right in your life and in the world is not in our self-satisfaction or in pleasing other people, but in sticking to God’s mission.
There is no greater source of transformation in this world than obedience to God, for it is only God who knows what this world really needs. What a relief that you do not need to fulfill every demand, answer every question, win every battle; you only need to stick to the mission and trust that the Lord of Armies knows what He’s doing.
Pastor Jon Berglund
