June 19, 2024 • 8 mins
Another experiment, this time talking about the idol of busyness.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Balancing the Christian Life.
Quick Thoughts.
I'm Dr Kenny Embry.
Join me as we figure out whatit means to live as Christians.
I just picked up my smartphoneto see what's going on In my
notifications.
I've got a few messages.
Specifically, I've got 49.
My washing machine said it wasout of water.
I fixed that several hours ago,so that's an old notification.
(00:31):
Apparently, it's someone'sbirthday.
I've saved $2 through one of mygas apps.
Someone I barely know postedsomething on LinkedIn.
The weather forecast is here onLinkedIn.
The weather forecast is here.
Costco wants me to spend moremoney.
Last night the Reds beat thePirates, and on and on and on.
Most of this isn't worth much.
(00:53):
Yes, at some point I need to gothrough the phone notifications
and tell it what I care aboutand what I don't, but that's
probably not going to be today.
Picking up my phone, I feel busy.
There's a lot of activity goingon around me and I'm not sure
it's helpful.
There's something comfortingabout having a long to-do list.
I would never admit this, butit makes me feel important.
(01:17):
It also gives me something tocomplain about.
I've met several people whoalways seem to have a crisis
going on in their lives.
They are constantly frantic,frazzled and have a short fuse.
I often call this crowd peopleaddicted to struggle If they
don't have something to worryabout.
Give them a few minutes andthey'll find something.
(01:40):
There's a payoff for beingconstantly busy and distracted
something.
There's a payoff for beingconstantly busy and distracted.
I call this the idol of busyness.
I readily admit that most of usare busy because we are trying
to keep all the spinning platesfrom falling.
I've had two or three years nowof plate spinning myself.
But this kind of idolatry isdangerous because it allows you
(02:02):
to frame yourself as a victim ofyour own story.
Is dangerous because it allowsyou to frame yourself as a
victim of your own story.
To be fair, many of us are putin situations with few great
alternatives, but embracingvictimhood is almost always a
losing strategy because it putsyour decision-making ability in
someone else's hands.
It renders you powerless, whichis never a good place to be.
(02:25):
If only the world would change,you'd have all your problems
fixed.
Well, let's assume for a momentthe world isn't changing.
Let's assume you have decisionsyou can make to make things
better, if not perfect, andlet's assume for a moment maybe
God has a vested interest inhelping you rather than hurting
(02:50):
you.
So how can we be moreproductive with the idol of
busyness?
First, cultivate gratitude.
I've heard a chorus of criticismabout smartphones and social
media.
More recently, I've heard a lotof hang-wringing about
artificial intelligence.
(03:10):
If we could only get back toMayberry, where all the gossip
happened at Floyd's Barbershopand Barney was only allowed one
bullet in his chest pocket,wouldn't that be better?
Well, unfortunately that'sfiction, and it was fiction in
the 1960s as well.
But more importantly, thinkabout the things that genuinely
(03:30):
make life better.
You have a device in yourpocket that connects you with
almost everyone on earth, givesyou access to almost all
information you could ever want,and even tells you when you
missed your turn and reroutesyou in seconds.
(03:52):
But let's put your phone awayfor a moment and marvel at just
your bathroom, where you havesomething that takes care of
your sewage, gives you hot wateron demand and allows you to
smell clean all day long.
Then think for a moment abouthow all of that would be
(04:12):
different 100 years ago, whenyour sewage was your problem,
where your hot water was aluxury, where you had soap,
because you made soap or cleanwater depended on you.
I'm not going to call thesethings blessings, but I will say
I'm grateful we figured thesethings out and I didn't have to
(04:36):
depend on my ingenuity to makemyself sanitary.
All of these things come atprices.
Smartphones, indoor plumbingand even the poisonous, highly
processed foods we sometimes eatare all modern miracles of
convenience and comfort.
By the way, all of them havedownsides and none of them
(04:59):
should be used without someattention to what's good and
what's bad.
But please don't believe for amoment that someone is holding a
gun to your head to eat LuckyCharms.
You are the person who choosesto open the Facebook app or turn
on the hot water.
You don't have to and you canalways choose not to, but the
(05:27):
generation before you never hadthe option.
Communication was harder,Finding information was harder,
Living was harder.
You don't have to, and that'ssomething that should make you
grateful.
Second, if you want to overcomethe idol of busyness, then ask
(05:47):
God to help you concentrate.
There are two verses I thinkabout a lot.
One is in the 46th Psalm.
Yes, I'm taking it out ofcontext a little, but I would
contend it still has the samemessage Be still and know that I
am God.
I will be exalted among thenations, I will be exalted in
(06:11):
the earth.
To paraphrase this verse, Ithink it says no matter how much
you do, no matter how importantyou think you are, there's
nothing you can do moreimportant than God.
So settle down.
You aren't that important andthat's a very good thing.
(06:32):
The other verse is in the firstchapter of Mark.
It says Very early in themorning, while it was still dark
, Jesus got up, left the houseand went off to a solitary place
where he prayed.
Jesus found a place toconcentrate on what's truly
(06:53):
important and what isn't.
I don't do that and that's mymistake, which leads me to this
last recommendation Learn to cutstuff out and stop worrying
about what other people think.
There's a true differencebetween being busy and making
(07:16):
things better.
If you give yourself some timeto think, you can figure that
out.
When you're young, you worryabout the fear of missing out,
or FOMO.
As you get older, you see theblessing of missing out.
Let's take this to God, theblessing of missing out.
(07:37):
Let's take this to God.
Lord, help us to lose ourselvesand find you.
Help us to see ourselves astruly insignificant, so we can
better see how important you are.
You love us.
(07:58):
You have promised to take careof us.
Help us to trust that, In thename of our King, Amen.
Okay, so now go out and be goodand do good.
Welcome to Balancing the Christian Life.
Quick Thoughts.
I'm Dr Kenny Embry.
Join me as we figure out whatit means to live as Christians.
I just picked up my smartphoneto see what's going on In my
notifications.
I've got a few messages.
Specifically, I've got 49.
My washing machine said it wasout of water.
I fixed that several hours ago,so that's an old notification.
(00:31):
Apparently, it's someone'sbirthday.
I've saved $2 through one of mygas apps.
Someone I barely know postedsomething on LinkedIn.
The weather forecast is here onLinkedIn.
The weather forecast is here.
Costco wants me to spend moremoney.
Last night the Reds beat thePirates, and on and on and on.
Most of this isn't worth much.
(00:53):
Yes, at some point I need to gothrough the phone notifications
and tell it what I care aboutand what I don't, but that's
probably not going to be today.
Picking up my phone, I feel busy.
There's a lot of activity goingon around me and I'm not sure
it's helpful.
There's something comfortingabout having a long to-do list.
I would never admit this, butit makes me feel important.
(01:17):
It also gives me something tocomplain about.
I've met several people whoalways seem to have a crisis
going on in their lives.
They are constantly frantic,frazzled and have a short fuse.
I often call this crowd peopleaddicted to struggle If they
don't have something to worryabout.
Give them a few minutes andthey'll find something.
(01:40):
There's a payoff for beingconstantly busy and distracted
something.
There's a payoff for beingconstantly busy and distracted.
I call this the idol of busyness.
I readily admit that most of usare busy because we are trying
to keep all the spinning platesfrom falling.
I've had two or three years nowof plate spinning myself.
But this kind of idolatry isdangerous because it allows you
(02:02):
to frame yourself as a victim ofyour own story.
Is dangerous because it allowsyou to frame yourself as a
victim of your own story.
To be fair, many of us are putin situations with few great
alternatives, but embracingvictimhood is almost always a
losing strategy because it putsyour decision-making ability in
someone else's hands.
It renders you powerless, whichis never a good place to be.
(02:25):
If only the world would change,you'd have all your problems
fixed.
Well, let's assume for a momentthe world isn't changing.
Let's assume you have decisionsyou can make to make things
better, if not perfect, andlet's assume for a moment maybe
God has a vested interest inhelping you rather than hurting
(02:50):
you.
So how can we be moreproductive with the idol of
busyness?
First, cultivate gratitude.
I've heard a chorus of criticismabout smartphones and social
media.
More recently, I've heard a lotof hang-wringing about
artificial intelligence.
(03:10):
If we could only get back toMayberry, where all the gossip
happened at Floyd's Barbershopand Barney was only allowed one
bullet in his chest pocket,wouldn't that be better?
Well, unfortunately that'sfiction, and it was fiction in
the 1960s as well.
But more importantly, thinkabout the things that genuinely
(03:30):
make life better.
You have a device in yourpocket that connects you with
almost everyone on earth, givesyou access to almost all
information you could ever want,and even tells you when you
missed your turn and reroutesyou in seconds.
(03:52):
But let's put your phone awayfor a moment and marvel at just
your bathroom, where you havesomething that takes care of
your sewage, gives you hot wateron demand and allows you to
smell clean all day long.
Then think for a moment abouthow all of that would be
(04:12):
different 100 years ago, whenyour sewage was your problem,
where your hot water was aluxury, where you had soap,
because you made soap or cleanwater depended on you.
I'm not going to call thesethings blessings, but I will say
I'm grateful we figured thesethings out and I didn't have to
(04:36):
depend on my ingenuity to makemyself sanitary.
All of these things come atprices.
Smartphones, indoor plumbingand even the poisonous, highly
processed foods we sometimes eatare all modern miracles of
convenience and comfort.
By the way, all of them havedownsides and none of them
(04:59):
should be used without someattention to what's good and
what's bad.
But please don't believe for amoment that someone is holding a
gun to your head to eat LuckyCharms.
You are the person who choosesto open the Facebook app or turn
on the hot water.
You don't have to and you canalways choose not to, but the
(05:27):
generation before you never hadthe option.
Communication was harder,Finding information was harder,
Living was harder.
You don't have to, and that'ssomething that should make you
grateful.
Second, if you want to overcomethe idol of busyness, then ask
(05:47):
God to help you concentrate.
There are two verses I thinkabout a lot.
One is in the 46th Psalm.
Yes, I'm taking it out ofcontext a little, but I would
contend it still has the samemessage Be still and know that I
am God.
I will be exalted among thenations, I will be exalted in
(06:11):
the earth.
To paraphrase this verse, Ithink it says no matter how much
you do, no matter how importantyou think you are, there's
nothing you can do moreimportant than God.
So settle down.
You aren't that important andthat's a very good thing.
(06:32):
The other verse is in the firstchapter of Mark.
It says Very early in themorning, while it was still dark
, Jesus got up, left the houseand went off to a solitary place
where he prayed.
Jesus found a place toconcentrate on what's truly
(06:53):
important and what isn't.
I don't do that and that's mymistake, which leads me to this
last recommendation Learn to cutstuff out and stop worrying
about what other people think.
There's a true differencebetween being busy and making
(07:16):
things better.
If you give yourself some timeto think, you can figure that
out.
When you're young, you worryabout the fear of missing out,
or FOMO.
As you get older, you see theblessing of missing out.
Let's take this to God, theblessing of missing out.
(07:37):
Let's take this to God.
Lord, help us to lose ourselvesand find you.
Help us to see ourselves astruly insignificant, so we can
better see how important you are.
You love us.
(07:58):
You have promised to take careof us.
Help us to trust that, In thename of our King, Amen.
Okay, so now go out and be goodand do good.
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