Central Abbotsford

 

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon while I was in the process of setting up the foyer at Central Abbotsford, I received the following text message from my wife: “Our furnace thermostat is playing all the TV noise.”

At first, I assumed that either Siri had managed to pick up some ambient conversation and mangle it into a bizarre phrase, or else Andrea somehow managed to miss multiple typos in a one-sentence text message. But further inquiry confirmed the truth of the original message: indeed, our furnace thermostat – you know, the thing that lets dads everywhere turn down the temperature in the house because “we’re not made of money” – was playing all the TV noise. The antics of Bluey and Bingo (if you know, you know) were being broadcast into our front hallway by a 3×3 square on the wall. Go figure.

It turns out that the new thermostat that we had installed about a year ago comes with Bluetooth speaker capability, and someone had managed to sync our TV with it! The wonders of technology truly know no bounds. When I was a kid you could find the temperature on the TV. Now you can get the TV on the thing that controls the temperature. I suppose that’s progress.

All this to say: when something in our world isn’t being used for its proper purpose, the results are less than ideal, and can even be downright absurd. 

There is a point in the Gospel of Matthew where someone (a lawyer, naturally) asks Jesus about the purpose of humanity. He doesn’t ask that specific question, but the question that he does ask is effectively the same one: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36). Why do I say that these two questions are one and the same? Because one of the purposes of the Law is to lead God’s people to true human flourishing, as David poetically states in Psalm 19:7-9:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; 

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 

the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; 

the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; 

the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

And so, we see Jesus answer the lawyer with the purpose of humanity: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37b-40). It’s as simple – and as deep – as that: love God fully and love your neighbour as you would love yourself. This is the purpose of life; this is what we were made for.

Therefore, a person who views the purpose of life as something else than what Jesus says – or lives that way – is like a thermostat playing the sound from the television: they are not doing what they are designed to do. 

What does it mean to abide by the two greatest commandments? At a base level, it means asking and reflecting about your thoughts and actions with these questions in mind: 

• • Does what I am thinking or doing (or planning) glorify God?
  • Does it help my walk with God? 
  • Does it help others in their walk with God? 
  • Does it prioritize the needs of others over my own wants or desires?
  • Does it advance the Gospel or serve as a positive witness? (Conversely, is anything about it something that threatens to bring unnecessary dishonour to Christ, the church, or the faith?)

Faithfully seeking to live according to these commandments – seeking to live in the way we have been made to live – should see us asking these questions regularly and being willing to subjugate our own desires and change our actions if we cannot reasonably conclude that what we are doing is loving to God and neighbour.

Living in the context of a church means also that we should (humbly, of course) be willing to speak these questions into the lives of those around us and even more willing to have them asked about us. This can only happen in the context of strong relationships among those who are part of the church. Part of the impetus behind having a weekly dinner at Central Abbotsford is that it allows these “relational bridges” to be built and reinforced so they can withstand the weight of the heavier conversations that sometimes must happen in the course of our walks of faith.

But, remember, the motivation behind all of this is our desire – both individually and corporately – to live for the reason and purpose that God has created us! When the thermostat is playing sound from the TV, that’s a problem. Let us strive to assess our priorities, our actions, and our thoughts, and ask God to continually transform them into those of Christ – the perfect One who truly lived His live according to true human purpose.

In His very name,

Eric