"Doing the Right Things vs Doing Things Right" Are you "majoring in the minors"?

My husband was cruising his way right through our Wednesday night Bible Study. With elegance, well-timed scripture, and engaging with our church family as we dove deeper and deeper into the book of Romans. ( I just love our Wednesday night group study)

In the midst of this engaging lesson, I heard a phrase and it was like God winked at me from across the room. I could just imagine Jesus sitting right there in the sanctuary smiling as he waited for the delivery, knowing I would catch it.

" We tend to Major in the Minors," he said as he waved his hands in the air in an "aha" expression. I immediately picked up my phone and began scrolling through the myriad of screenshots and pictures I collect like little gems throughout my week. There it was. I found it! An article I had read just that morning posted on a "leadership training" website of all places. The exact phrase twice in one day. and now it had been connected to the very clear and concise word of God! And that's how I knew this was my message this week.

It doesn't always happen quite like that but I'm so grateful it did this time.

There are many ways we like to describe this idea of "Majoring in the Minors"

We hear :

-Focus on the "big picture" or " big idea"

-"Don't sweat the small stuff"

-"Pick your battles"

-"there are bigger fish to fry"

but I read one today that really struck me as well said

"Doing things right vs. Doing the right things."

But as usual, Jesus said it first and He said it best.

You see at the time He made it clear, Jesus was being "tested" by the Pharisees as they were trying to trick him into contradicting himself and they poised a question meant to entrap him, They asked him what was the greatest commandment of all was.. thinking he would inevitably make a hypocritical statement but instead He gave them the "one-stop shop "answer to everything in the world that ever mattered. (it's what we call a Slam Dunk)

Jeremiah 22: 37 Jesus replied:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Now, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were extremely legalistic, meaning they meticulously followed and preached the scriptures and the laws to the letter and were revered for their vast knowledge of the written word. This made them a veritable authority in the eyes of many.. they quote " knew the right things" .. but they were missing the big picture. They were in fact "doing things right" but missing "doing the right things" because in order to do the "right things" you have to know the heart of God. The message is empty when you separate it from the living word. That is to say the Love of God. For the message began at the beginning of time.. before there ever was written scripture or laws to abide by there was only God.. and He alone gave life to the universe .. in a WORD..and the WORD IS LOVE

John 1:1 tells us that " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1st John 4:7-8 goes the next step to connect it for us:

" 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Let's condense this for just a second: "The Word was God... God is Love"...You might then could say...God's Word is LOVE. There is the "aha" moment! The greatest commandment is Love.

So What do we do to "walk that out" in the big picture kind of way?

How do we focus on "doing the right thing" vs "doing things right"?

When confronted with this question I think we can ask ourselves 3 critical questions to help us identify if we are trying to major in the minors and need to maybe zoom out a bit and look at the big picture.

1) Is this the right Time? While God is always perfect in His timing, we unfortunately are blundering humans.. and quite often get this wrong. (definitely preaching to my own self here) A well-meant word of correction or even encouragement can be so misplaced as to actually create a division in the space between you and a person and worse than that.. between that person and their ultimate salvation relationship with God. If we understand the message above, the priority is on love, then we can ask ourselves.. is it "loving" for me to address this issue at this exact moment? Or is there more value in " doing the right thing " by waiting and praying as opposed to "doing things right" or as we see as right at that moment? Let's make sure we "pause and pray" as we learn to discern our own motives before we engage.

2) Is this going to cause permanent damage or injury if it's not addressed? This is a tough one because we all have such different ideas and feelings about what is actually "life-threatening". But I think sometimes what we are really assessing is something that may just be "lifestyle threatening" ( I will add a note here that if there is ever actual physical abuse occurring that can not be tolerated and help should be sought immediately)

If the scenario you find yourself confronting is more about the difference in details of opinions even painful ones.. it may be not worth sabotaging a relationship that can be a foundation of Love instead.

3) Do we really Trust God to do His Job.. or rather are we exercising our Faith?

The feeling that we need to control the right and wrong steps in another person's life is like a little ripple that says there's trouble in your Faith Waters. If you are reeling on the inside because you are certain there will be impending doom and defeat if things aren't "done right" .. is it possible you are not giving God credit for what He can do? Didn't he create the Universe and all things in it .. in His time.. in His order... If we aren't trusting Him to work out the small things. we probably aren't going to trust Him well with the big things. Listen to God often in prayer, in scripture.. in little winks He sends your way. He will lovingly show you .. your part in His plan.. and let Him take care of the rest.

Think About it:

What are some "minors" you have been "majoring" in lately? Are you ready to let them go and get back to the Freedom that comes with letting Love Lead the way? Take a minute to write some of those things down.. and then consciously and prayerfully ask the Lord to help you lay those burdens down.

Frazzled Prayer:

Heavenly Father as I sit here and write these words I imagine the many people around the world tonight who are going to bed with heavy burdens on their shoulders. Lord, I pray that you would give them the enlightenment to know what is yours to bear and that they could give it up to you. Help us, Father, to Do the Right Things and not fuss over doing things right.

Amen!

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