Blind Faith (No. 32, 2008)
d
Modern parables that have true “staying power” don’t come along
very often. Illustrations abound in speeches and sermons, but pithy,
striking images that can vividly imprint themselves in your mind and
easily reappear when life presents situations addressed by the parable
are much more rare. One I have always loved has been replaying in my
mind since last week’s Blind Faith dealing with What Really
Matters.
Last week I wrote that visions of Olympic gold, or images of
people desperately trying to salvage truly important items after
earthquakes, floods, and other disasters may cause us to ask of our own
lives, “What really matters?” Loving God, demonstrating God’s grace to
others, and following Christ, whatever the cost were the items I
highlighted among what the Bible says really matters. But many other
important concerns – from home and family, to work, to self-improvement
- quickly and persistently demand attention. How do you deal with the
competing demands?
Setting priorities correctly touches everything we do at
church, home, work, school, or wherever we spend our time. Stephen
Covey tells about one of his associates attending a time-management
conference where the seminar leader presented this memorable modern
parable. It has been repeated in countless sermons, speeches, and
online postings since Covey included it in his book, First Things
First. Stephen Covey, himself, has demonstrated the parable
numerous times. The following version is slightly shortened and edited
from the book:
One day an expert in time management was speakingto a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of
high-powered over-achievers he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.”
Reaching under the table, he pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar and
set it on the table next to a platter covered with fist-sized rocks.
“How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked
the audience.
After the students made their guesses, the seminar leader
said, “Okay, let’s find out.” He put one rock in the jar, then another,
then another–until no more rocks
would fit. Then he asked, “Is the jar full?”Everybody could see that not one more of the rocks would fit,
so they said, “Yes.”
“Not so fast,” he cautioned. From under the table he lifted
out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel
slid into all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Grinning, the
seminar leader asked once more, “Is the jar full?”
A little wiser by now, the students responded, “Probably
not.”
“Good,” the teacher said. Then he reached under the table to
bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar.
While the students watched, the sand filled in the little spaces left
by the rocks and gravel. Once more he looked at the class and said,
“Now, is the jar full?”
“No,” everyone shouted back.
“Good!” said the seminar leader, who then grabbed a pitcher of
water and began to pour it into the jar. He got something like a quart
of water into that jar before he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the jar
is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this?
What’s my point?”
An eager participant spoke up: “Well, there are gaps in your
schedule. And if you really work at it, you can always fit more into
your life.”
“No,” the leader said. “That’s not the point. The point is
this: if I hadn’t put those big rocks in first, I would never have
gotten them in.”
(Paraphrased from Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R.
Merrill, First Things First, Free Press, 1996, pp. 88-90)
Identifying the big rocks, gravel, sand, and water allusions in your
own life is helped greatly by the vivid visual image of the
parable.
One big rock, according to Jesus, is setting our highest
priority as living the way God designed us to live. The Bible verse I
have quoted most often in these devotionals states Jesus’ teaching
clearly. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ” The thing you
should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all
these other things you need will be given to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NCV)
Food, clothing, and personal appearance are some of the sand and gravel
Jesus mentioned specifically just before he called for putting the big
rock of living responsibly as a citizen of the Kingdom of God in our
lives first.
Paul had an impressive resume`, which he recited on several
occasions. He was highly educated in the best schools. He was a full
Roman citizen. He was a respected religious leader. His star had
blazed brightly among his contemporaries when he was a young man. But
Paul would certainly have called all these laudable factors in his life
just more sand and gravel, (actually, he called them something much
less!) when compared to the essential rock of Jesus Christ in his life.
Another of my favorite passages of scripture conveys Paul’s testimony:
” I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I
consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. {8} Yes,
everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else,
counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ {9} and become
one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to
obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me.” (Philippians 3:7-9a
NLT)
Jesus seems to recognize how constantly we are tempted to fill our
lives with what we think of as the “nitty gritty” matters of life, many
of which simply turn out to be gravel and sand. As important as
families, homes, jobs, financial security, education, and all our other
daily concerns may appear from our point of view, if we fill our lives
with those concerns first, we may not find room for our relationship
with Christ. But if we miss following Jesus, we miss foundation-sized
rocks that will sustain us all the way through eternity. Jesus was
clear about this with his disciples: “Then Peter said, ‘We’ve left
everything to follow you.’ {29} Jesus said to them, ‘I can guarantee
this truth: Anyone who gave up his home, wife, brothers, parents, or
children because of the kingdom of God {30} will certainly receive many
times as much in this life and will receive eternal life in the world
to come.’” (Luke 18:28-30 GWT)
Can you identify the big rocks that need to go in your jar?
What about sifting out all the sand and gravel that always wants to
fill your jar prematurely A little of this, a little of that, and soon
no room is left for what really matters, personally following Jesus and
loving others the way he does. But get those rocks settled, and other
concerns will snug up around Jesus’ kind of love very well.
J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.
