Dealing with Distractions

“Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they don’t mature.” — Luke 8:7,14

All of us have them. No one is immune.

Often they’re minor — a driveway moment with a favorite radio program, a funny email that’s been forwarded to us, a glance at a TV show that ends up drawing us in. We know we should be getting on with whatever we’re supposed to be doing, but we allow ourselves to get sidetracked.

But sometimes, the distractions in our lives can be much more complicated and involved — to the point that they begin to choke out the effectiveness of God at work within us. Jesus put those kinds of distractions into three major categories:

# • Worries. Some of us have raised worry to an absolute art form. We play an endless game of “what if?” with every situation that comes our way — and waste massive amounts of time and emotional energy as a result.

# • Riches. We chase — and covet — what we don’t have, as though it’s our God-given right to own more than we could ever possibly need. Instead of being content with what we do have, we climb aboard the merry-go-round of materialism, endlessly pursuing the next new possession.

# • Pleasures. The culture says, “If it feels good, do it.” And while most of us are much too disciplined to wantonly give ourselves over to sin, we still fall prey to “pursuit of pleasure” thinking — albeit in more subtle and “acceptable” ways.

And here’s the rub: It would be one thing if Jesus was addressing those who didn’t know any better. But when you study the Parable of the Sower — the passage from Luke 8 quoted above — it becomes obvious that Jesus is not talking about unbelievers. He’s talking about us. The church. The ones who have heard the Word, but fail to fully mature because of the weeds, the thorns, the distractions.

So how do we avoid being “choked out” on our way to maturity? How do we deal with the distractions that threaten to derail us?

One good way to think about it is to “walk the talk” — in other words, to make sure that our actions match up to our words. When we allow our faith to guide us, we’ll be living (what we do with our time) and giving (what we do with our treasure) in a way that makes God’s ownership over our lives abundantly clear to everyone around us.

Because the truth is, we don’t have to remain stuck in immaturity. We can blossom into the fullness of everything God has in store for us, and make a lasting impact on the culture … if we deal with the distractions.