What Matters To You?

It's fairly easy to discern what matters to someone; all you have to do is watch their behavior. I'm as guilty as anyone for saying I value something, but then never doing anything that consistently reflects my claim. You can call it hypocrisy if you want. I think there are occassions where that is the case, but at the same time, I think we can often stretch ourselves too thin or simply become accustomed to saying certain things that we unintentionally don't do what we say.

Regardless of the reason for the disconnect between what we say and do, we can't accept the continual pattern of disconnect that often reigns in our lives and churches. Jesus said that we know what matters to us by examining how we use our treasure/resources (see Matthew 6:21).

So what is treasure? I believe it's the things that are most important to us... Our time, money, and abilities. How we use our time, money, and abilities directly reflects what matters most to us regardless of what we may say.

For example, if we say we have a passion for serving others, yet we never take time to serve or give our money to serve others, then we really don't have a passion for serving others. If we claim to have a passion for showing people how to follow Christ, yet we never take time to share our experiences with others on a regular basis, then we really don't have a passion for discipleship. If a church claims to care about it's community, but never does anything for the community except invite the community to it's building or programs (if that), then we would have to wonder if that church really cares about making a positive impact in the community.

I'm sure you can pick up on the point I'm trying to make. We don't determine our values by our words; instead, our values are determined by what we do. When it comes to The Overflow, we're in the process of making a shift in what we do so we can truly value the people in the community. You can see some of our plans to begin building a consistent present in the community by going here: OVERFLOW THURSDAYS. I'm excited about making sure that what we say we value is actually evident by our actions. I'd also encourage you to evaluate whatever you claim to value, see if it matches up with your actions, and make adjustments as needed.