Disciplines of Distraction - A

Jack Hibbs: Don't let something important go out the window when urgency raises its ugly head and it's loud and it gets all the attention and we usually respond to it first and important stuff suffers.
David J: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.
Guest (Male): This Independence Day season, don't just celebrate America's 250th birthday, stand for what it was built upon: faith, freedom, truth. These are the values that shaped this nation from its very first days, and our faith and freedom collection was designed to help you carry them boldly wherever you go. This collection is more than patriotic apparel. It's a reminder of the convictions worth passing on. In a culture that's working overtime to silence those convictions, a simple shirt can start a powerful conversation. And right now, when you order from the faith and freedom collection, we'll also send you a free copy of the Happy Birthday America kids guide, a faith-centered resource that puts America's founding story in the hands of the next generation. Order soon and be ready to celebrate America's 250th birthday with conviction. Shop today at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346.
David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues in his series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled The Discipline of Distraction. The Christian walk is full of disciplines, the trials, the setbacks, the hard seasons that God uses to shape our faith from the inside out. And one of the most constant attacks we face is simply being pulled in a hundred different directions at once. Distraction sounds harmless, but it can quietly drain our walk with the Lord. Just like Martha in the kitchen, we get so busy with the urgency that we miss out what matters most. But handled the right way, distraction can actually draw us closer to God. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that the first step is to identify what tugs at us. When we honestly name the worries and the urgent things pulling us away, we can start to see how often we are like Martha, troubled about many things. Now with his message called The Discipline of Distraction, here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
Jack Hibbs: Tonight we come to the discipline of distraction. This whole day has been a distraction. This whole week has been a distraction. And here we come to the discipline of distraction tonight. Are you ever distracted? If you say, no, I'm never distracted, well, I tell you what, start praying, start reading your Bible, or become a Christian and you will get distracted. It's pretty amazing. Matthew chapter 28 is our theme verse, verse 18. It says, "And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore," that's a command, "and make disciples." That's part of what's going on here in this series, making disciples, "of all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them," that's also what's going on here and on Sundays and whenever we come together, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." And then now turn a little bit to the right to Luke chapter 10. The discipline of distraction is probably personified in a portion of Scripture, Luke chapter 10, that is very famous to us. And it's famous, it's funny, it's also convicting. Why? Because it's funny, we can relate, it's convicting because she's a little bit of us, or maybe a lot of us. I'm talking about Martha. Luke chapter 10 beginning at verse 38. It says, "Now it happened as they went and entered into this certain village, a certain woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house and she had a sister named Mary, who also sat at Jesus's feet and heard his words." Verse 40. "But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Jesus and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things." Notice he had to say her name twice. You could just see her face. She's got her apron on, she's got flour across her face. You could have heard the pots clanging back in the kitchen. She's got chocolate syrup on her shoulder. She's got everything going on. She's the busy cook. And apparently, Jesus is there in the house. Mary is just sitting listening to Jesus speak. You can probably hear the pots clanging harder and harder and harder as the day wore on. And all of a sudden she had had enough. She comes out to the living room or wherever that is and says to Jesus, "Hey, don't you care?" And she wipes her brow. "Don't you care that I'm doing all the cooking myself alone while Mary just sits here?" She tells God in human flesh sitting in her living room, "Tell her to help me." How can you come to that point? It's very easy. We do it all the time. Distraction gets the best of us and then things begin to happen in our lives. Words come out, actions come out, attitudes are displayed. And there's no doubt about it. For the real Christian, for the Bible-based, Spirit-filled Christian, a Christian engaged in our world, in the culture, in the church, the enemy will attack. Martha was under attack. But at her expense, we get to learn a great lesson. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 verse 10 for all of us here tonight, it says, "Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles," trickery, the plots and plans of the devil. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood," says the Bible. There's no doubt about it. The Bible teaches that the Christian is at war against evil in this world. And sometimes that war that the Christian wars against will surface in the physical realm. But the Bible tells us that those policies and plots and attitudes are often demonically driven. And we don't often think that way. But what might be the worst thing of all for us is that the most constant of all attack, I believe, a sustained attack, a repeated attack by the enemy in our lives as Christians is this thing called distraction. Distraction really absolutely can kill us in a sense spiritually. And so tonight as we look at this, I want you to be one who is constantly asking yourself these questions tonight: How does distraction affect my life? Because each and every one of us will be and are suffering from distractions, plural. Especially now, maybe more than ever, the way the world is going. And part of that whole thing, distractions can lead to you questioning your faith if not handled right. But also distractions, if managed correctly, can lead you to a stronger faith. It's what you do with them. So the discipline of distraction tonight we look at this. Number one is identifying the distractions. Will you jot that down? The number one thing is I want to be able to identify the distractions in my life. And one of the things that we need to do is this: What are those things that tug at us? Will you write that down? When we want to identify the distractions in our life, we want to ask this question: What are the things that tug on me? That tug on you? That have this effect on our lives? In Martha's case, what was tugging on her was the Bible says, "Many things." Jesus said, "Martha, you are distracted," encumbered, "by many things." But Martha, listen church, here's the thing about distraction. Many distractions you and I sanction. We not only allow them, we'll defend them. Don't you think Martha would have said, "Okay, sure Jesus, fine, you just sit there and we won't eat anything tonight"? Have you ever heard that before? Or that kind of stuff? "Oh sure kids, you don't want me to do this and do that? Well then there'll be no vacation." Where does that come from? Distractions, pressures build up, things come out of our mouth. And so what tugs on us? In Martha's case, many things. Jesus looked into her soul and he saw this probably very A-type personality. She's probably the older sister, she's strong and she is very practical. You can tell. We don't know much about her, but we know this: She's very practical. Mary probably was the one that said, "I just think it's going to be a wonderful day." And Martha would say, "Do you want to know why it's going to be a wonderful day? Because you're going to sit there and enjoy yourself while I do everything around here." You know that's true because they're sisters. I have two daughters who are sisters, and how could they be absolutely, they came from the same place, from the same people. My wife and I made them. But how could two people who came from the same place be so different? They're sisters.
David J: You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.
Jack Hibbs: So this whole thing is going. The Bible tells us there in verse 40 that she's distracted, she is at her end emotionally. The word distracted here and what tugs on Martha is it what tugs on you? The word distracted means, listen to this, it means to be dragged around or tied to something that's out of control. The word picture is fascinating. And for us out West, it kind of just tells us or reminds us of things that we've seen in Western movies or whatever. That word distraction, the picture that it paints, is a man who has fallen off a horse whose leg is still stuck to one of the stirrups as the horse is running. That's Martha. Have you ever felt like that in your life? Of course you have. With all the pressures of life, you are now so easily distracted. I have to tell you, I'm easily distracted. It's one of my great battles. I'm 50, I forget how old I am now, 52 or three, I forget, doesn't matter. See how old I am? I forget how old I am. All this time in my life, I would have thought by now that I would have figured myself out yet. And I'm wondering what kind of a person am I? I'll look out the window, I will daydream, and I can selectively remember anything that's going on around me. My brain takes pictures of stuff. I can tell you ten years ago where we were standing some place, I can tell you the street name. It's freaky weird. But I can also tune out in a second and I could see your lips moving in my direction and I cannot hear a word you're saying. I had a mother that nagged a lot and I think I learned that. I'm not kidding. She would be going and going and going and it's like [yawn]. And I don't know, at five years of age I learned to just tune that out. And my mind goes somewhere else. Distracted, heavily distracted. You say, "Well I'm a very focused person, I'm this way and that." Man, that's awesome. I wish I were like you, but you know what? You still suffer this thing of distraction because the proof is, you can do this at home. You can go home, the most focused person in this sanctuary tonight, you can go home, you can pray, you can read your Bible, and I guarantee you your mind will wander off to stupid things like this: "When was the last time I changed the oil in my car?" When you don't even do it. Jiffy Lube does it. Why are you even thinking that? You'll be distracted. The flesh will distract you. The Bible tells us, no doubt Satan will distract us. But we will get our foot caught in that stirrup of activity and of urgency. Listen, it's a dangerous day, church, for all of us in America, because we have this sense of whatever's urgent has got to happen now. And listen, we always throw out what's important because something urgent pops up. Don't let something important go out the window when urgency raises its ugly head and it's loud and it gets all the attention and we usually respond to it first and important stuff suffers. When we take each other for granted, that's what happens. Urgent things constantly, constantly. Listen, for those of you who are married, when's the last time you had a date? A date? What? We're too busy to have a date. That's my point. All this urgent stuff, you've got to fight this. You want to identify the distractions. They will tug on you. They'll grab you and they'll lead you down the path as your foot is hooked to that stirrup of that horse. Distractions generate confusion. There's no doubt about it. Is your life confused? Is your life a confusing force or power? Confusion leads to worry. Distractions result in missed opportunities when we're distracted. We'll start out one way. "Oh yeah, I have to take care of this thing, I have to do this thing." And something will distract us and we'll get off the course of it. Now that might be okay, we can live life like that if it's some shopping list we're supposed to go fulfill or some errand we're supposed to run. But church, listen, distraction, I believe, is one of Satan's key ways of keeping you and I out of a very, very warm and continuous healthy relationship with Jesus. If he can get us sterilized with distraction and all this stuff pressing in against us, then I think he wins. And so that latter end of verse 40 says and she approached Jesus. Okay, she's distracted with many things, she's upset and it says and she approached Jesus. And I thought about that. The word is that she came to him. She wasn't sauntering about or meandering. She came with a purpose. She is coming at him like a battleship. She's underway. And so she comes to him and she says, "Lord." Number one, watch, "Do you not care?" She just attacks him. That's an attack. "Don't you care?" When we are in that place of distraction and we let it get the best of us, these are the kind of words that come out of our mouths. And so, "Don't you care?" She is attacking him, accusing him of not caring, saying that "my sister has left all this to me alone to do." Therefore, number two, "Tell her to help me." "I'm commanding you, Lord." That's an oxymoron. You can't put those two things together. "Yes, I know you're the Lord, but I'm telling you what to do. And here's what I want done. You tell my sister to help me now." Wow. You've got to love Martha, but she's out of control. And Martha's attitude, listen, Martha's attitude is determining her altitude. And right now she's flying pretty low. And so what are the things in your life that tug on you? Only you know this. It's just that thing or things. Well apply this to the tug. Psalm 37:7 says, "Rest in the Lord." Now I want to define this in a moment. Psalm 37:7. "Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him and don't fret." Now here's the thing. The person who is doing this okay goes, "Praise the Lord. Great verse." The person who needs this verse the most is the person that's saying, "Easy for you to say. What are you, some kind of a dope? That's ridiculous." That's what happens to a distracted person. A distracted person. There are people who it's not that big of an issue in their life and they'll get it and they'll go with it. And then there's the distracted person, and I'm here to tell you, the distracted person's got to work twice as hard to keep up with you guys who get it easily. It's amazing. Rest in the Lord. Those of you who have a tendency to fret. "This is never going to work. Oh my goodness, it's not going to happen." Wait, rest in the Lord. Secondly, wait patiently for him. I was talking to somebody on the phone yesterday and the guy said, "Man, I tell you, I couldn't believe that this thing took that long and this took that long and we had this kind of problem. And quite frankly, pastor, I thought you were nuts when you said let's just wait on the Lord and I just bit my lip and I wanted to say to you, pastor, but I just kept it in my mouth, you dope, don't you realize we got to do this now?" But it was outside of anyone's power to do. So what happened was you either choose to wait on the Lord and rest in him and he'll take care of it, he really will, or you can bite your fingernails, get an ulcer, and freak out about it and it doesn't change anything. And again tonight, I can feel it in the room. The person who is almost comfortable worrying and fretting says, "Oh yeah, right." And yet you're the very one who needs to hear this tonight. You are distracted about many things. I read the story of a seven-year-old. The father said, "You know, I took my daughter to Disneyland for her birthday." Seven years old, took her to Disneyland and he said we got on the rides and he started thinking, "Oh my goodness, she wants to go on Space Mountain." And so the father was trying to talk her out of it. And he couldn't do it. And they got on the ride and she loved it and got off the ride and she said, "Daddy, let's go again." And they get right back on Space Mountain again and they went on the ride. And then he said she wanted to go back to Disneyland on her eighth birthday, one year later. And he said they got in line, never once discussed it, never once talked about it. They got in line and he said they got right up to the time to get on the ride and she goes, "I don't want to go on this." And he said, "What?" And she goes, "I don't want to go on this. I want out of here." And he goes, "What's the matter with you? Last year you went on it twice, you loved it." Listen to this. She said, "Yeah, but now I can read." Do you know what happened to her? She saw that sign that's at the entry. "Violent roller coaster ride. Make sure your back doesn't have any problems and your heart's working right and you're not prone to fainting and vomiting." She didn't know that a year earlier. She didn't know what those words meant. So she's standing there, "Alright, great. What? Oh, I'm not going on that thing." And aren't we like that? When we know too much about something, we freak out. And then we get encumbered by many things, worried about so much. And it tugs on our heart and we're like that little girl. The second thing under this is identifying distractions is what are those things that pursue us? There's things that tug on us and then there's things that are just like that lion that's chasing you in a dream. It sounds great if you think about it when she says, "I need help in the kitchen. Send help." Martha's desire, she says, is help. Now look, I'm not an analyst on this, but she says, "I need help in the kitchen." We take her at face value, okay. But what's her motive for sure really? We don't know. What is pursuing Martha? It could be the very same thing that pursues us. What I mean by that is what's driving her worth? Listen, every one of us, we were created this way. We generate or I should say we enjoy feedback from what we do. That's normal. When somebody, and look, all of us have different, what's the word, languages. Some people, they work for a company, they don't even care if they get paid at all. They live for the pat on the back by the manager. Really, there's people like that. You say, "Well of course they're, well I'm not that kind of person." Here's the thing, I'm a terrible person to work for. I never grew up having accolades at all. And so when I grew up and had to be an adult and all this stuff and worked for the world and in the world, I didn't want any, I didn't care if anybody said good job or not. I wanted more money. "Did I do a good job? Okay then. Don't even talk to me. Just put money in, just pay me. Right?" Guys, can I have an amen somewhere? Okay. And then there are those who say, "Man, I don't care how much I get paid, just tell me every week I'm doing an awesome job." And that's how the world goes around so to speak. That's fine. People are different. But what is Martha pursuing? What is she deriving from her state of being distracted and pressure? Again, it's very complex. We're all different in this area.
David J: Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio and his message called The Discipline of Distraction. Thanks for spending part of your day with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life. It's a series on the disciplines that God builds into the Christian life: the trials, the setbacks, and the hard seasons that he uses to shape a believer's character and to deepen our faith. And we will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Guest (Male): This Independence Day season, don't just celebrate, stand for what this nation was built on. Our faith and freedom collection is bold, patriotic apparel that declares your convictions and starts conversations. Perfect for July 4th and all summer long. Order now and we'll include a free Happy Birthday America kids guide, a faith-centered resource for the children and grandchildren in your life. Visit jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346.
David J: Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in his word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.