Christ and Culture - Singularity of Purpose
Tiger Woods is a phenomenal golfer. OK, so that really isn't news to anyone, but the reason why is what really makes him stand out. Tiger is driven to be the best and when he sets his mind on a goal, almost no single golfer can beat him. The worst thing to do is make him mad, because then he really turns it on. Tiger has golf skill beyond compare, but it's his focus and desire to win that makes him nearly unbeatable. Why is he driven this way? Possibly because of his father, but probably that's just an innate gift of his. Tiger has the ability to shut out the world and have a single purpose. Woe to those who come between him and his purpose.
How many people do you know who can focus in on a single task or goal and follow it through to completion? It's usually the most driven among us that have that ability. Their competitive desire allows them to put everything else behind them and focus solely on the task at hand. I'm not that way, not usually. I have my moments of being "in the zone" where I can block out distractions, but they are few and far between. I'm interested in far too many things to be focused on any single thing.
I struggle right now to read the Bible. With all the events that go on in life, some things get pushed into the background. However, we choose what goes there. Every day we make a choice of what to do. Do we sleep or pray? Read the latest novel or the Bible? How important is our relationship with God to us, and does it show in what we do? I've heard many times that in order to find out how spiritual someone is, look at his checkbook. Personally, I think a person can give thousands to churches or charities and be a complete jerk. If you really want to find out how spiritual someone is, look at their calendar. What do they do with their time? Find out where their focus is and you will find what is important to them.
None of us can keep up this kind of focus for long, sometimes maybe no more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Everyone has down time and needs to relax. Some watch a movie, some read a book, some write, others work on cars or create art. All of us need that recharging time. But, what are we recharging for?
What if each one of us could spend our time in prayer with the same singularity of purpose that Tiger plays golf? How much could the world change? How much would we change? What if we mauled anyone who stood between us and our time with God? There's a song by Delirious? called Take Off My Shoes which describes this. The first verse of the song says:
I’ll take off my shoes, I’m coming in,
Untie this rope, I’m staying with him,
Love of my life, I’ll live and die,
Just for the moments for my king and I.
Can we live this way? Can we push away our own wants and desires to spend our time with God? Life barges in constantly with interruptions, but we have to be willing to untie the rope that keeps pulling us away from the Holy of Holies. Turn off the cell phone, unplug the computer, hide the remote, put the kids to bed, and find God.