Distraction Isn’t Always Lazy
It is a fair assumption, and most often true, that distraction is equivalent with laziness. Most would probably picture phone in hand, TV on, or gaming late into the night.
Massive headsets, LED lights, all the RGB one room can handle, but there is a difficulty found in distraction.
It is not always laziness or entertainment that vies for our attention.
Sometimes it is something much more subtle.
Sometimes it is business.
In the high-paced, hustle culture of America, and most western nations, it is the testament of someone’s success to work hard and grind to reach success. The penultimate position of power is the 80 hour work week. Not one second wasted. The poison of productivity.
Please do not misunderstand my position, I am not saying that hard work, perseverance, and intestinal fortitude are bad. I think each of these values are essential as we build our lives and strive for the Kingdom. I would submit to you today that these values can sometimes be the leading cause of distraction because they are aimed in the wrong direction.
The efforts and ethics are not evil, they are simply misaligned and destiny is traded for deskfulls of paperwork and checks. All the while the purpose and call of our lives remains stagnant, as a sidecar clown viewing our speedometer wondering when they will get the chance to drive.
This is the difficulty of distraction. The subtlety of working hard at the wrong thing. Still working, still moving, just without much effect on the purpose of our lives. Not the mundane tasks of everyday living, these are indeed essential. It is the “busy-ness” of work that steals our attention in moments where it should be focused on the Call and not the task.
The Task at Hand
This is the hardest part of articulating the dangers of busy-ness. The truth of The Call is that there are moments of being that are required. To simply sit in a Holy Moment and hear the voice of the Lord. I would submit to you that these are similar to the “debrief” times that are implemented in most organizations.
A time, often in the midst of ongoing actions and chaos, to sit with the task or project completed and evaluate with an open mind and ear to ensure we are gleaning everything we can from it. This is almost impossible to fathom because when would stopping and thinking be more productive than completing the task at hand.
When would listening and learning be better than doing? It seems counterintuitive but some of the greatest breakthroughs were in moments of reflection or meditation rather than action. When we allow ourselves time to hear it means we get to take action on projects and tasks that have the greatest impact. Not just exerting energy.
This is the story of our faithful sisters, Mary and Martha. Luke records it in his gospel account in chapter 10 verses 39 through 42.
The sisters have been presented with the difficulty of distraction. Juxtaposed on the visitation of their savior is the dauting requirement to entertain. The imposed expectations of hospitality have raptured the attention of Martha who is desperately trying to ensure that she serves her guests well enough to be worthy of Jesus’ presence and she is caught in the midst of her work with the truth—she is distracted.
Hospitality or Holy Moments
She is presented with the revelation that her “busy-ness” isn’t really accomplishing all she thought it would. In reality it just burdened her so much that she’s missing the moment of her visitation. Jesus has come specifically to their home. She is caught trying so hard to entertain that she is no longer entertaining the man she has longed to meet. Martha is overwhelmed by the weight of assumed expectations and she attempts to avail herself by DOING the most. Jesus then responds: “the most important thing in this moment is to be with me.” Not to be worthy of His presence but to allow His presence to make us worthy of the work.
What is the main thing? What would even be the requirement of hospitality?
Is it truly to present a worthy home, to entertain well, to serve everyone everything they could ever need, to be a “good host,” or is it to foster an environment where relationships can flourish? Where time can be spent together in conversation with one another. Is the main thing the hospitality or the holy moment?
Yes, fellowship is a holy moment. Its what the Bible called a convocation. A practice run, if you will, of what the moment would be like in the presence of the Lord to worship and praise together our great God and King.
Jesus’ admonition to Martha was not, stop working so hard, it was do not be so concerned with the work that your forget the whole reason for which you are working—to be with me. The difficulty of distraction is that sometimes we can work so hard we forget what we are working for, why we want to work so hard, and what we are truly trying to achieve.
Signal or Noise
It has been captured well in the corporate statement regarding signal or noise. Tech moguls, CEOs, and multitudes of leadership influencers have discussed the topic.
It is the distinguishing between what is valuable, useful information and what is just chaotic, random, and unwanted information which obscures what is really going on.
This was Martha’s dilemma. She was distracted by the noise of the need rather than the signal of the Spirit which contained everything she would need to minister in the moment. This is why we must keep the main thing the main thing.
The admonition of the scripture and the instruction is to keep the main thing the main thing. Sort through all of the work, the needs, and everything that is going on so that the Call remains clear. The attention is given to what makes a difference in the big picture because as noise often does it will fade once focus is achieved.
The Phantom Problem
I have labeled this the “Phantom Problem” when it comes to engineering design. It is not rare that in the process of design a ton of symptoms begin screaming that there is a problem. Processes, systems, controls, whatever the case may be, there is a loud noise that is trying to signal disaster; however, it is rarely true.
These symptoms are noise. They are a distraction to pull you away from the main problem. It is very easy as a designer to begin working diligently to solve every problem that would alleviate these symptoms and never make progress on the project. Simply chasing symptoms and denying the main need of the design. It is important that the engineer observes all the symptoms, considers the main purpose of the design, and works to resolve the problem for which they have been contracted. Almost always, when that alignment is achieved, the remaining symptoms work themselves out and seemingly solve their own problems.
Do not get distracted by busying yourself with solving the phantom problem. Do not become overwhelmed with the expectation of hospitality that you miss the holy moment. Focus on the task at hand. And watch, as Jesus’ promise is fulfilled—all these things will be added unto you.
When you keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing keeps the remaining things. Don’t let the difficulty of distraction keep you from your destination.
This is not a rebuke against busy-ness. Its an invitation to align the efforts. To ensure they are for the main purpose and drive of our lives. We must work while it is still day but we must make sure the work is not pulling our attention from the presence of the savior. It may be time to stop and listen so that your work can be blessed by the signal of the Spirit.
Push forward, turn down the noise, and design your life for the purpose of the Kingdom and all the symptoms will subside in time. It is the promise of God.
Let's build together.