The Things of the Lord

I heard about a Christian man who said, “I don’t mean to suggest that it is wrong to pay attention to some of these social issues — but I do wish we would spend more time talking about the things of the Lord!”

I couldn’t agree more about the eternal importance of concerning ourselves with “the things of the Lord.” But just what are those so-called things of the Lord? What matters to him should matter to us, so what are the things that matter to him? Are his things only comprised of those “spiritual things” like prayer, Bible study, worship, good theology, church attendance, evangelism, the gifts of the Spirit, and such? Surely, those are some of God’s things, some of the things that matter to him. In some ways and at some times they might even be the things that matter most.

How can you tell when someone prioritizes certain things over other things? You can often tell by the “3 Cs”: their conversation, their calendar, and their checkbook. In other words, if it’s important to them, they talk a lot about it, are willing to pay for it, and plan for it by putting it on their calendar. Though we don’t have access to God’s calendar or his checkbook per say, we do have a record of some of his most important conversations. It’s called the Bible. So, if we want to know what matters most to him, what his “things” are, we might take a serious look through the Book he’s given us.

We don’t have time or space right now to list every important theme of Scripture and put them in order of priority based on frequency of mention, but I will posit some “things” of a social nature that the brother I referred to earlier felt really don’t qualify as “the things of the Lord.” I suggest that these things also matter to God, maybe even as much or more at times than the so-called “spiritual things.”

For instance, could it be that one of the things of the Lord is how we treat one another, especially those who aren’t like us, some of which even hate us? How about the way we treat the planet on which we reside? Is that one of the things of the Lord? Could our care for the least, last, and lonely be one of those things that matters a lot to him and should therefore matter to us? Unjust policing, abortions, gerrymandering, materialism, and greed. Are solutions to these the things of the Lord?  These “social issues” are the kinds of things that the brother appeared to consider not a part of the Lord’s things. I guess these things either don’t matter or matter less than so-called “spiritual things.”  

Rather than sorting everything into distinct categories of social versus spiritual things, maybe God intends for us to jumble them all together like fish in a pond and then throw in our line to catch whatever he intends at the time.

Remember when Jesus told Peter to throw his hook into the lake to catch that particular fish with the tax money in it? Of all the other fish in the sea that day, it was that one that mattered most at the moment. It was the one that God intended Peter to catch. Other fish would have made a good meal, but it wasn’t a meal that so much mattered at that moment. It was tax money and the lesson Peter (and us) needed to learn.

Don’t forget that Peter had left fishing for following Jesus. The Lord had called him to catch people, not fish. But on this day, what mattered was a fish with money inside. The things of the Lord aren’t always the same things. At one moment they might include what we mistakenly think of as “spiritual,” like praying, prophesying, or preaching. But in the next moment, the circumstance might call for something much more physical like paying our taxes or feeding, clothing, and befriending the poor. What matters to God and should matter to us depends on what the need is at the time.

Apparently, the priest and Levite on the road to Jericho thought whatever “spiritual thing” that was on their agenda, was at that moment more important than stopping to help a dying man.

What are the things of the Lord? Is it making it to church on time or stopping to give a cup of cold water to a thirsty person?

I guess it depends.