Read: Luke 9:57-62
The past few years have seen a real crackdown on “distracted driving.” In 2010, in fact, the state of Illinois instituted two new laws effectively banning the use of cell phones in construction areas and school zones. The state legislature followed that law up with another one prohibiting drivers from texting or e-mailing from behind the wheel. In the years since those laws passed, thirty-nine states have followed suit in an attempt to keep drivers’ eyes (as well as their minds) on the road.
I think we can all agree that this is a good thing. After all, we want drivers paying attention. We want everyone doing everything they can to ensure our safety on the road. Distracted driving – whether it involves talking, texting or eating – can be very dangerous. Consider some of these statistics (taken from Distraction.gov):
- “In 2010, 3092 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.”
- “Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.”
- “Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%.”
Obviously, we want to do as much as we can to eliminate distracted driving. We want to keep everybody safe so they can get where they need to go in one piece. Still, there’s a part of me that thinks distracted driving is just symptomatic of a larger problem. You see, we’re distracted all the time. I would argue not an hour goes by without a distraction of some kind pulling our attention away from where it needs to be. We’re distracted by the television, distracted by the internet, distracted by our phones. When we get to work, our minds are clouded by stress at home. When we get home, our thoughts drift back to our unfinished work. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, it seems like our minds are always somewhere else.
In short, we’re all suffering from “Distracted Living.”
Just like distracted driving, “distracted living” is very dangerous. It keeps us from living in the moment. It keeps us from focusing on that which really matters. Distracted living can harm our relationship with our spouse and our children. It can hurt our productivity. It even has a way of interrupting our times of relaxation and peace. Distracted living has a way of sucking all of the joy out of life. Worse, it keeps us from being effective in our faith.
In Luke 9, a group of three wannabe disciples approached Jesus. They had heard of His teachings and miracles. They knew Jesus’ fame was rapidly growing across the area. So, they wanted to follow Him and learn what He had to teach them. They believed in Jesus; they even believed He was worth following. Unfortunately, they let other things get in the way.
The text tells us that each of these three men was distracted by something different. One found himself sidetracked by the accommodations on the way. He wanted to follow Jesus, to be sure; he just wanted to be comfortable along the way. Jesus told him that following would lead him down a difficult road, one with few comforts. In fact, Jesus wouldn’t even guarantee this applicant a place to lay his head.
The second wannabe disciple was distracted by his family commitments. He asked Jesus for time to go and bury his father. Interestingly, Luke doesn’t tell us whether or not the man’s father was actually dead. It could be that he was just waiting for his father to die before he fully committed to Jesus. Jesus, however, told him that those who want to follow shouldn’t wait for anything. Even death shouldn’t be a hindrance to those chasing after Life.
The final applicant, too, was preoccupied with family. He wanted to follow, but he wanted to return home first. He wanted to be sure to tell his family goodbye. Of all the requests, this one was the most understandable. Yet, Jesus found even this one unacceptable. If this would-be disciple wanted to follow, he couldn’t look back. There could be no second-guessing, no regrets. Those who wanted to follow needed to follow wholeheartedly.
While Jesus’ words seem harsh to our modern ears, I think they teach us a very important truth: He doesn’t want distracted disciples. If we’re going to follow Jesus, we have to follow all the way. He has to get the highest priority. He has to be our singular focus.
As members of a constantly distracted culture, we would do well to learn this lesson. Following Jesus isn’t like our other pursuits. It’s not something we can do absentmindedly. The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to a life of focus and dedication, a life wholly devoted to the pursuit of Him. It’s high time, then, that we stopped practicing “distracted discipleship.”
Questions to Consider:
What tends to distract you? How can you minimize those distractions?
Read Matthew 13:22. How can distractions harm our faith?