The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

From Rigidity to Flexibility:  Mt.6:33 - 34

^6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  ³⁴ So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

How flexible we can be reveals a lot about our spiritual maturity.  When I was a student in college, I tried to take Jesus seriously as I worried about questions that seemed big:  Should I try to make a lot of money in order to give more away, or is that just a thin justification for being afraid to take some risks?  Should I change my major and go in a different direction?  What if I choose wrongly?  I felt a lot of uncertainty about these issues.

My mentor shared with me an analogy.  Imagine that you are swinging on a trapeze.  That trapeze represents some our major or career, a significant other, or something that makes us feel secure.  You’re glad you’re hanging onto this trapeze because you look down and there is no net underneath you – so hanging on is a whole lot better than falling!  Then you see another trapeze swinging near you.  And you hear the voice of Jesus say, ‘Jump!’  The thought of changing to another trapeze terrifies you.  But you can’t resist the voice of Jesus forever, so you swing harder, build up some momentum, and jump.  For a split second, you’re hanging onto absolutely nothing.  Then you grab hold of the other trapeze.  It feels good underneath your fierce grip.  You say, ‘Ah, it is God’s will for me to be on this trapeze!’  But then, you see yet another trapeze, and the voice of God comes again, saying, ‘Jump!’ 

The point is:  Often we assume that the will of God refers to this or that trapeze.  And, on a practical level, we do need to have a major, a job, a place to live, and whatnot.  But what if the will of God is not so much about being on one particular trapeze?  What if Jesus wants to train us to fly?  What if Jesus is training us to be flexible?  Not flaky, jumping from one thing to another randomly and irresponsibly, but flexible for the sake of his mission because we feel deeply secure in him?

Sometimes, we spend a lot of time asking God to give us things that feel scarce, like good grades, a nice job, and a nice home.  Those are the trapezes – they feel rare and precarious.  We become rigid in our decisions about them.  But I suspect that He’d rather that we ask Him for more opportunities to love people and share His love – things that are abundant and nearly infinite.  Jesus, all throughout the Sermon on the Mount, is saying that our relationships are more important than anything else.  For the sake of reaching more and more people (‘you are the light of the world’) and loving difficult people (‘love your enemies’).  We manifest the inner work of Christ in us in our relationships.  In that way of viewing life, we can be flexible, and we can fly.

You can love others even if you don’t get your dream job.  You can demonstrate the character of Christ even if you’re not the star performer.  You can be a fantastic witness for Jesus and force for good in the world even if you don’t have any particular career ambitions but want to be a great parent and influential in the lives of those around you.  You can receive criticism without exploding or imploding.  You can let go of a pet project or ministry if the Lord leads you elsewhere. 

Maybe there’s not one ‘right’ trapeze.  As long as you’re prayerful, really submitting those decisions to Jesus, constantly growing in his love for others, and, if you get married, marry someone who is similarly committed to Jesus, I think that’s great.  Sometimes you won’t get a specific answer from the Lord.  Perhaps Jesus thinks you can, by his Spirit in you, be flexible – that is, you can legitimately be on a few different trapezes and be creatively effective among people for God’s kingdom.  So don't stress out about it. 

Just to be concrete with a personal example:  Because my parents had told me that I should amass a large personal fortune before I help people later in life (which is a non-Christian way of thinking), I used that to justify my greed and my fears concerning not having a lot of money.  Sound familiar?  When I came to Jesus, I held onto that rationalization.  I told him and myself that if I didn’t have a lot of money to give, that I would be less influential in the world.  It was a long struggle as I handed that way of living over to Jesus.  I let go of a bigger-income trapeze for smaller ones.  Yet I have helped other people give more money away than I could have imagined.  I help form small groups where Christians (and a few non-Christians) put Jesus’ generosity into practice towards the global poor.  After only four years, the 12 week curriculum I helped write (called Lazarus at the Gate or alternatively, Global Poverty Impact) has helped Christians simplify their lives to give money away.  In the Boston area alone, the curriculum has mobilized $135,000 towards global poverty in four years.  That, by the way, counts people’s giving only through their first experience in such groups, not what they’re able to sustain afterwards.  I’ve helped more dollars move to relieve global poverty than I ever thought possible.

You can hold tightly to Jesus, and to his kingdom values, and hold flexibly to everything else, and your life can be quite abundant.  Where can you be less rigid, and more flexible?