"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
This is somewhat of a difficult topic, and because the scriptures don't deal a lot with this issue directly, it can be harder to see the evil in our approach to time. But I do think at least some of how we approach time is something God finds detestable. Perhaps you are sneering at me right now, just as the Pharisees were at Jesus when he said you could not serve God and money. Well, you cannot serve God and time, either. God will have no rivals; NONE. He alone is worthy of glory and honor and praise, and what he deems as good is good. People, for one, are more important than time. The first two commandments upon which all the law and the prophets hang is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Ummm, time is not mentioned there. We are not to love God and our neighbor when it is convenient. But in America, that is largely what we do. I think perhaps the primary way in which we idolize time here is by seeking first the career we most prefer in the time fashion we deem best, rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Why are our worship services so tied to time here? Because the worship of time we have in other areas has clearly determined what we do in our worship of God. Do we never see the transcendent greatness of God to the extent we cannot leave our time of worship? Are we never in awe such that we forget time and are drawn into closeness with God? Having travelled a little bit, and from what I hear from at least some other places in the world, it is good to know not the whole world has these issues. But Americans do, and it is time we repent.
In American culture, time is worshipped. Being on time is goodness, and being late is badness. It can get you fired from work, it is seen as impolite, and you can be sure you will miss something because no one is really waited on (very often) when they are late. This is something HIGHLY valued among mankind, at least in America, and probably a few other western nations, and when it comes at odds with what God values, our service of time becomes detestable. Certainly things beyond ones control are accepted as excuses, but nothing as "lame" (to an American) as the need to spend time with someone who happened to show up. Americans are OBSESSED with time, to the point of lunacy. This is THE lesson ALL American school students are taught EVERY day- be on time to class and if you are not, and are tardy, you are in trouble. Students might be kept after school for being late in what is called detention; or perhaps this will occur at lunch. With enough tardies a student might be given a suspension where they are not allowed to come to school. So, the school sees that it is correct to make the student miss something after school for being late to enough classes, or the student to miss school itself for enough lateness to classes. Yes, we really do believe in punishment in American schools for tardiness. I'm talking 5 seconds late to class. I enforced this as a teacher. My question is why? Why are we SO obsessed with time in this way? It ties to our views of work, and orderliness, and our "get it done" attitude. It ties to the value of making money, and a saying like "time is money." We have watches on our hands and clocks in practically every room of the house. We wake up to alarms (unnatural ones, not the chickens for most of us), and go to bed as scheduled (most of the time for working people, anyway).
There is a good side to time, such as being aware of how long an anaesthetic will keep a person asleep, or knowing how long it takes for the body to break down a drug, and hence the time before you can take another dose. When time serves us or is used in the service of people, it is a good thing. That is when we are loving God with our minds, by thinking clearly about what will help people and serve them, and not put them in chains or harm them.
Jesus said, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 A similar passage that speaks to our over desire to plan is found in James 4:13-17 NIV "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." What God condemns here is not planning, but not submitting those plans really and truly to the will of God. This is probably the main American abuse of time, and where God finds our view and use of time detestable. There are just some realities that are more important than time, such as loving God enough to put His will above our plans and to trust Him enough that if our plans don't work out in our time, it is okay.
Remember when Jesus said that if you were presenting your gift at the altar and remembered your brother had something against you that you should leave the gift and fix your relationship with your brother? How many of us would do that because of concerns over time issues?
Time should just not dictate all that it does. Where it is a useful tool, by all means we should use it for good ends. But where we end up serving it, or putting our relationships, particularly with God, into the servitude of time, that is detestable.
This will take courage and a willingness to change a lot about American society if we truly do repent of our worship of time, but it will be worth it, and we will have a richer society and culture for the change.
No comments:
Post a Comment