The most important thing – Introduction

When it comes to serving the Lord, what’s the most important thing?  That’s going to seem like a very broad question, but I’ll clarify … eventually.

For a number of months – well, I guess it’s years now – I’ve been thinking through an article on the topic of what’s most important.  It’s been hard to focus on for long enough to actually complete, so I thought I’d start putting the ideas here so that I can get your input.  I’m planning to publish several posts on the topic, and I’ll tag them with The most important thing so you can find them all.  I encourage you to leave your comments.

As I’ve thought through this topic, I’ve realized more and more that it’s of key importance to every Christian.  We need to understand our priorities, understand what the Lord expects of us – where those expectations begin and end.  I’ve frequently seen how some things have been overemphasized, or underemphasized, and how that can cause problems.  It’s easy to confuse priorities, to expect too much of ourselves, to be knocked down with pride or despair, just because we don’t understand really what’s important and how important it is.  I’ve heard sermons that have left the wrong impression because the speaker doesn’t seem to have these things in mind.

As you can guess, I think that knowing what’s most important is … well … important!  It’s important for those that want to evaluate a person in full time ministry, a strategy, a program … any kind of service.  It’s a difficult and very controversial thing when a church or organization tries to evaluate someone’s ministry.  But it’s even important when an individual looks at their own lives of service – trying to be effective in the work God has called them to.

One reason I’ve been reluctant to post on this topic is because it’s hard to understand if you can’t see the whole picture, and it’s hard to get across the full picture in a few words.  No doubt I’ve left most of you in complete confusion, but bear with me over the next few posts on this topic and everything should become a little clearer.  Clear enough, anyway, that you should be able to tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong!

But the main idea of what we’re going to look at is this – when it comes to serving the Lord, what’s important, how important is it, and what’s more important and most important?  I have several specific things in mind.  They’re all important, but some things are more important than others.  Overemphasis and underemphasis of each thing can cause problems.  The next post will explain the first thing (and, I hope, start to clear up the confusion).  Stay tuned!