What's Really Important to Us

By William R. Cunningham
November 14, 1999

Introduction

I recently heard on the news where Burger King was having trouble dealing with angry parents. It turned out that the parents were indignant because Burger King had a shortage of Pokemon dolls. Can you imagine that? These Pokemon dolls were so important that the parents were angry at Burger King because there weren't enough dolls. I began to think about how we let things become so important to us.

I began to wonder why people aren't as excited about God as they are about Pokemon. Why aren't Christians zealous about knowing God more and living according to his word? Why aren't Christians focused on knowing the word of God above all else? Why aren't Christians as a whole striving to know the truth? The answer is very simple. God is not important in the life of the typical "Christian" and especially the non-Christian. Professed Christians just don't care about God or his kingdom. Professed Christians are concerned with the world and what it has to offer over and above what the Kingdom of God is all about. In short, "Christians" just don't care. I distinguish professed Christians from true Christians because true Christians do care about the truth and are striving to live a life centered around the word of God.

This lesson is designed to show that God should be the true object of our affection. God and His kingdom should be the ultimate desire of all people, especially Christians. Our zeal for God should transcend all things regarding our lifestyle and what we deem as important. This doesn't mean that we should quit our job to go to church or to pray. It does mean that God is ultimately the number one priority in our life. How is it that other things can take our affection away from God? How is it that we can reckon something else as the all-important object in our lives, whether that object is the children, church, or spouse. Let's discuss this subject in this lesson.

The Whole Heart

Consider the following scripture.

Note that Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. How can we say that we love in that fashion when Pokemon, or whatever the next fad is, has taken so much of our attention and affection? How can we claim to love God when pleasing others and conformity is the current mode of operation? We can't. The truth of the matter is that we left God far behind. Consider the following scripture as an example.

Revelation 2:4 through Revelation 2:5 (KJV) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

We profess to be Christians. We lift our hands in "holy" praise and worship. We do all the external things that give an appearance of true faithfulness to God. However, our hearts are far from the truth.

This last scripture summarizes many of the professed Christians today. In the eyes of the world I would dare say that this scripture categorizes the Christian community as a whole. The Christian faith has lost its respect in the world. There used to be a time when even the church building would receive respect. Not today, however. Many of the exploits of ministers on television, radio, and in the pulpit would lead anyone to believe that the church, and thus Christianity, is simply a big business vying for your money as any other business.

God Demands The Whole Heart

God desires and demands our whole heart. The Bible declares that God is a jealous God (See Exodus 34:14). The word jealous in that and corresponding verses means to demand allegiance or loyalty from. The word heart refers to the center of the physical, mental, and spiritual life of humans. It is the center of the individual. For example, the phrase "heart of the matter" refers to the core of the situation. Everything revolves around that central point in that one situation. Therefore, whatever the heart is focuses on becomes the center or core of the individual. Consider the following scriptures.

The word treasure in this verse refers to the object that is held in high esteem. Whatever you hold in high esteem is where the center of your being is focused. Please note that this is not a superficial correlation. That is, the mere manifestation of your heart's desire is not the center of your being. The source of that manifestation is, however. Let me illustrate this point with an example. Let's say that Sally cuts another parent off in the isle of a toy store, snatches a doll from the other parent's hands and rudely pushes the parent out of the way. At first glance you may say that the heart of Sally was for the doll. This would be inaccurate or at best incomplete. The heart of the matter for Sally is not the superficial object, the doll, rather it is the act of pleasing her child by giving him or her whatever he or she desires. Sally is focused on pleasing her child and that causes her to act in rude and un-Christian-like ways. Consider the following scripture as another illustration.

Money of itself can harm no one. However, people's love for that money will cause them to do all types of evil, selfish, and ungodly things. Superficially it may be thought that lots of money is a problem. However, the real problem is the heart of the person that desires money just to have it to consume on his or her own lusts. This person may cheat, steal, or kill for his or her heart's desire, namely money.

So we see that the things that we hold dear that pertains to our lifestyle and activities reveals the position and/or condition of our heart. Hypocrisy is not allowed in the true Christian faith. It is not an option when it comes to the things of God. Either you are for God or you are against him. Either you love God or you hate him and want nothing to do with him. Consider the following scripture as an illustration of this point.

You cannot serve God (be loyal to, put your affections on) and at the same time serve the world. If God is not the center of your heart then something else is the center and has your loyalty. If something else is the focal point of your life then God is not, regardless of how many church services you attend and how many church functions you participate in. Either you have a heart for God or you have a heart for something else that leads you away from God regardless of what it is or how holy it appears to be.

Affections to Deception

What happens when your affection is for something else besides God? Let me take a moment to express the fact that I am referring to the focus of our life when I say the word affection. There will always be things that we have affection for such as our children or our spouse. However, these are harmless relative to the Christian life if they are not the focal point of one's life. If your life centers on pleasing your children or spouse then God is no longer the center or focal point of your life. This state of the heart could gradually lead you into areas of life that you really do not want to be. Let's discuss this principle in this section.

Where can misplaced affections lead us? They can lead us down a road of deception and finally death. For example, a Christian that does not hold the Bible to be the standard and final authority of the Christian faith is destined to fall into error and therefore deception. This deception could cost the Christian their life. Consider the situation with the Jim Jones mass suicide. People that were interviewed after the mass suicide confessed that they didn't know the Bible and that they were compelled to follow Jim Jones because of an appeal to their emotions or weaknesses at that particular time.

People who, for example, do not know God's instruction for their Christian walk or godly walk can easily fall prey to dishonest ministers or ministers that are in error. One of the greatest illustrations of this is the concept of the tithe. We are told that we are commanded by God to give 10% of our income to our local church. Of course no such commandment appears in the Bible and this erroneous principle contradicts the Bible's teaching of financial responsibility and true honor and worship of God. See my Study on "Tithes, Offerings, Sowing and Reaping" for more information on this topic. The point is that many people are living in deception and are going with their needs unmet because they were convinced that they were supposed to give their money to their local church even though the Bible does not tell us that. Their affection is the church and not the word of God so they are more inclined to do what the "church" says and not what the Bible says. If God is the center of our affection and the focal point of our lives then it would seem reasonable to believe that we would do much to learn as much as we can about God and to develop a strong and close active relationship with him. This is usually not the case in the Christian community. We put more stock in "church" and the pastor then we do to God and His word.

If the focal point of our life is not God then we are more likely to move further and further away from the Father and closer to that which we focus on. Many professed Christian pledge allegiance to their church, pastor, Christian organization, T.V. minister and the like. It is rare to find a Christian that is striving to know more of God's word so that he or she can know more about the heavenly Father and His kingdom. These people are considered minorities in the Christian faith and are usually ostracized, criticized and persecuted for their love of the Holy Word of God and their pursuit for the truth.

People tend to go where they want to go. People tend to govern their lives based on an overall standard. In many cases, in my experience, this overall principle is church doctrine, or should I say church dogma, instead of the Holy Scriptures. You can discover the affections of people by what they usually talk about. A church person will usually talk about their church and what their church and/or pastor is doing. A person seeking the truth will tend to talk about new discoveries in the scriptures.

Where your treasures are is where your heart is. Do you treasure the Lord or do you treasure religion? Do you hold God in high esteem or do you hold your church or religious organization in high esteem? Remember that you cannot love both God and religion. So you, being a Christian, should put your affections on God. Consider an application of this given by Jesus Christ.

Do you want your needs met? Do you want those "things" to be added to you? Well, seek God and his kingdom first. The context of the word first may apply to place, time, order, or importance. The aspect of God's kingdom and his righteousness as the most important thing in our lives could lead to its first place in time and order. Do not construe this to be a formula in that you have to do something for God first every time you want to do something. Remember that we are talking about a lifestyle and not individual situations. That means that God is first place in your life and not the first object in every situation.

If the words of your pastor, teacher, or evangelist are first place in your life then another person governs your life besides God. This is not efficient nor is it effective because these people are susceptible to errors, mistakes, and shortcomings as any other human being. However, we would find life more stable and sure if we placed God and his word as first in our lives. God's word is stable and God never changes (his attributes are always the same). What are your affections and therefore where are you going?

The End Result

Your destination is dependant on your focus. If you are focused on the things of the world then worldly things you will accomplish. If your focus is on the things of God then the things of God you will accomplish. There are two ways that we can travel. We can go God's way or our way. Consider what Jesus said about this concept.

If God is your affection and you seek him then you will find the narrow way and live a life more in the way of God's WAY. If your affection is for other things (the world) then you will live a life of deception and defeat. The conclusion of the matter is to know the truth so that you can be free from deception. Know the truth so that you are less likely to believe the lies of others including ministers. One of the greatest deceptions today is the Toronto blessing. This, Hank Hanegraaff, calls the counterfeit revival. The movement is based on experience and ecstasy rather then the word of God. The leaders in the movement specifically deny the authority of the scripture and promote the authority of one's experience (mysticism). People are drawn to this movement because they are lazy, ignorant, and strive for the things that please the flesh. They are ignorant because they don't know the truth of the scriptures. They are lazy because it takes work to learn the WAY of God, to study his written word, and then to live it, which it appears that they don't want to do. They prefer the easy way out, which is to simply live a life of experience with God, or so they think.

Anyone can get caught up in any movement or heresy. We are all vulnerable. However, if we would learn to keep our focus on God and use the resources that he has given us to govern our lives, then we would be less likely to fall into deception and more likely to become delivered from it if we do fall into it. The true seeker of God's truth is less likely to become engrossed and infatuated by the fads that this world has to offer. A true seeker of truth will not put a lot of stock into Pokemon dolls or whatever the current fad is. Our affection will be God and his kingdom. Our activities will therefore stem from that affection. We won't get caught up in the "blessings" of this world; rather we will get caught in the blessings and knowledge of God.

The end result is life or death, truth or deception. The choice is yours. You have the written word of God before you to test everything pertaining to the Christian faith and life itself. However, will you use it or will you take the easy way out as so many other Christians? Will you take the time to discuss what you have learned with others so that all can be edified or will you stubbornly hold to your church dogma and ostracize all who believe differently? Again, the choice is yours. Consider the following scripture.

Do you spend time reading and studying the Bible? Do you talk to other Christians about your faith? Do you consider everyone that believes differently than you (your church) as on his or her way to hell? Put your affection and allegiance on God the Father and his kingdom and learn to live. Above all, pursue truth so that you can be defended against the lies of the Devil.

Pursuing the Truth Ministries