Matthew 6:33 was my first key verse after I became a Christian in 1980. To this day, this verse prompts me to evaluate my priorities and my heart. It also spurs me on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24).
My first application of Matthew 6:33 in 1980 was to read the Bible the first thing in the morning when I woke up, instead of reading my medical books first. At the time, I was a medical intern at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. This was very good for me. It helped me to set myself grounded and rooted in Scripture the moment I woke up in the morning. I still earnestly wish to do so, yet sometimes, more often than I care to admit, I make my expresso latte and check my emails first …. subconsciously I think!
To prioritize God in my life since 1980 I also NEVER MISSED any of the following for about three decades: worship service at UBF every Sunday; 4 or more meetings every week for fellowship leaders, elders, students; and Easter conferences, Summer conferences, Christmas worship services and staff meetings every year without fail. Someone supposedly said of the Puritans that they were “meeting going animals.” Surely I was one of them!
Do I have any regrets about attending “too many meetings” for three decades? Perhaps so, probably because in my opinion the time could have been better spent with other people besides UBF people, with family and with loved ones. Also, today I regard that more personal time spent reading, reflecting, evaluating, meditating and contemplating would be better than attending all those UBF meetings and conferences for decades, which honestly become repetitive and highly predictable. It also caused me to become habitual, legalistic and dependent on UBF and UBF functions for my Christian identity, often without realizing it. But I am really not angry or bitter about it, since I believe that I was pleasing God by being actively immersed, involved and actively participating in all UBF functions and activities without missing any. Regarding UBF, I might have what is termed FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. Thankfully, not any more.
Is there a fallout by being totally involved with UBF 24/7 for almost three decades of my life? Without a doubt, I lost touch and lost contact with countless old friends, and hurt and wounded my family by giving my life to UBF campus mission, often at the expense of neglecting and not caring or understanding my own parents, my only sibling, an elder brother, relatives and many old friends. Last month, while in Malaysia I met a first cousin whom I last met 51 years ago!
Let me conclude with a question for your consideration: Is there a healthier and/or better way to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness?
After writing this, I wrote my 2nd blog of 2016 which is my rambling, ruminating reflection on Matthew 6:33 – http://westloop-church.blogspot.de/2016/01/how-to-seek-god-first-jan-2-2016.html.
Like Ben, some 30 years ago, I was inspired by Matthe 6:33 and tried to put into practice. Living in UBF-land, everyone just equated seeking God’s kingdom with doing the things that Samuel Lee commanded us to do (and yes, he commanded us to do these things, loudly and often): Go fishing, bring more people to one-to-one Bible study, and bring more people to Sunday worship service, not to mention attending meetings (they could not be missed under any circumstance), answering repetitive Bible study questions and writing repetitive testimonies.
All this emphasis on doing stuff begged the fundamental question: What is God’s kingdom, really?
Looking back on my UBF experience, the answers to that question that we were given were superficial, shallow and unbiblical.
Sometimes God’s kingdom was equated with heaven. As in “do these activities for God now, and he will reward you later when you get to heaven.”
The rest of the time, God’s kingdom was defined as Jesus reigning over your interior life. As in “do these things for God now, and you will experience heavenly joy in your heart.”
It never went beyond that.
After getting out of UBF-land and opening my mind to what legitimate New Testament scholars are saying, I have concluded that neither of those answers even comes close to what Jesus meant and what his listeners understood in the first century when Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God.
When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, he wasn’t talking about going to heaven after we die. Nor was he talking about the interior life of an individual believer (however important that may be). He was speaking about something much greater, more wonderful, and more profound.
Like Ben, I have regrets. Perhaps my biggest regret is that the endless focus on doing, doing, doing stuff for God, combined with the shallow understanding of the kingdom (derived more from folk religion than historic Christianity and the New Testament) blinded me to what God’s kingdom is all about.
Very good point, Joe:
“When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, he wasn’t talking about going to heaven after we die. Nor was he talking about the interior life of an individual believer (however important that may be). He was speaking about something much greater, more wonderful, and more profound.”
Since coming out of my ubfism fantasy land, I too have had a nagging desire to learn about the kingdom. Surely the gospel is more profound than a ticket to Heaven? Surely the gospel is about more than my individual life?
The inward focus is found not only in fringe Bible groups like ubf, but also in mainline American Christianity. I cringe everytime I hear American Christians talk about the Bible as God’s personal love letter or God’s life instruction manual.
There is so much more to the kingdom.
Ben asked, “Is there a healthier and/or better way to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness?”
Yes.
The healthier, better and more logical way is to put aside superficial explanations of what God’s kingdom is about and try to get back to the original message of Jesus and the apostles. It will not be easy.
A good place to start is to read the major prophets. The latter chapters of Isaiah, for example, are full of imagery about the kingdom. Or try Jeremiah 31:7-14. Too often, Christians who read these passages treat them as metaphors for heaven or for the interior life of the individual Christian. Those passages should be taken far more literally than that.
Good questions Ben. I’ll look past my disgust with this passage and try to share some thoughts. This verse you mention is near the top of the most abused Bible verses at ubf. I fell into the ubfism trap that went like this:
How do you seek first God’s kingdom? Go fishing.
What is the point of Matthew 6:33? Go fishing.
How do you love God? Go fishing.
What is the point of Genesis? Go fishing.
How do we love our wife? Go fishing.
The point was always to recruit more people into ubfism. This is obviously a dangerous path and faulty approach to the Bible.
On a more relevant note…
To seek God’s kingdom first, we should understand some important gospel ideas.
What is the kingdom of God? If we define this too narrowly or too strongly, we run the risk of missing the point and even harming ourselves and others. My definition is therefore that the kingdom of God is the jurisdiction of love–that is, a place where there is one perfect law, the law of love. Certainly there is much more to it, but until I understand love perfectly, I’ll keep learning about love.
In regard to the “first” part, I say we need to understand and articulate a value system. What does God value? What did Jesus value? Those are the things we should do with importance.
Jesus valued loving your enemy. So perhaps we should be urgently trying to forgive and to be around those not like us. Jesus valued confession. Perhaps we should all about confessing our mistakes and sins and wrongdoings. Perhaps we should be admitting the abuse we’ve covered up–first thing in the morning.
In ubf terms: If you think Matthew 6:33 is about you getting up at 5:00 AM to “do daily bread”, you have missed Jesus’ point entirely and have much repenting to do. I see no evidence that Jesus had guilt about ascetics in mind.
And as always, taking that one verse out of context is dangerous. We need to understand the Sermon on the Mount more carefully before jumping to verse 33. That section starts with this: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
The context is about worry–fearing for our needs in this life. ubf missionaries should take this to heart. One reason the say “go fishing” and all the other ubfisms is their deep-seeded fear of losing what they have established in this life. They worry about losing their precious heritage. They worry about providing an inheritance for their children.
Jesus says not to worry. Seek first the kingdom. Seek first to love everyone–your enemy, your stranger, your family, your neighbors. Let the heritage go, for that is up to God to decide. Do not be so anxious about establishing a heritage in this life, for we have no city this side of Heaven. Now is the time to love.
Thanks, Joe, Brian. In response I would say that UBF’s (over)emphasis on “obeying your leader/shepherd” creates too many unnecessary problematic issues, including dumbing down what it means to seek first God’s kingdom.
Yesterday, Forests posted this precisely pointedly piercingly pertinent poignant quote:
“And against any people who claim to rule me by spiritual superiority, I will everlastingly and happily rebel, conscious of that image of deity which equalizes us all.”~ Gk Chesterton, The True Vanity of Vanities.
Great quote. Shepherding, at its core, is about supervising the spiritual disciplines of other people. When Jesus spoke Matthew 6:33, such a twisted idea was not on his mind. How do we know? We just have to read the context.
A few verses earlier, Jesus spoke about spiritual disciplines, such as fasting:
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
The ubf-style of shepherding directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching here (and many many other places as well). Instead of managing how many times other people “go fishing” or “do daily bread”, we need to be mindful of our secret life.
Translation for ubfers: Instead of making sure your shepherd knows you performed some act of spiritual discipline, make sure no one knows about it. This will make everyone at ubf suspicious of you, but God will reward you.
What do you say, ubfers? How will the ubf leaders react if they don’t know whether or not you write your testimony every week? How long can you “do daily bread” on your own with no one at ubf knowing how much time you spent doing it?
Brian, that is an incredibly insightful observation. If we are under pressure to have our spiritual disciplines monitored, that does seem to contradict scripture. Isn’t the biblical example accountability among equals under God?
Hertoa, this is exactly right. Church leadership is all about accountability among equals, and also plurality of leadership.
Even more important is that the Holy Spirit is the one the Bible says will guide us and glorify us and sanctify us.
Suz just shared this exact point. UBFism is all about assuming the role of the Holy Spirit.
“Is there a healthier and/or better way to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness?”
This is such a good question. This past weekend P. George Koch shared a very blunt reduced summary of scripture: a.) God exists b.) you are not Him and c.) learn to love one another. He also showed us a peak into scripture that undermines all our limited constructs of God. He said that reading the OT was like looking into the face of God. Someone asked Him, “Does God work outside of the confines of Christianity?” Without hesitation he said, “Yes.” God’s kingdom is much bigger than we could ever imagine.
The answer to Dr. Ben’s question is also very individualized. To seek God’s kingdom, to me, implies submission. I want the kingdom, but sometimes I don’t want the King. I see this in the history of Israel and the parable of the tenants. They wanted the inheritance, but not the King. We want glory, but not the crown. We want intimacy with God, but don’t want to commit to a monogamous relationship. Within my own self I see so many distractions, fears and desires for instant gratification manifested in idolatry. We want food and clothes.
Practically, this means spending quality time with God and my sisters and brothers. God’s will for His church is a theme I see in the Bible. To seek God’s kingdom and righteousness is to seek God’s face and learn to love well. God wants us to be right with Him and right with each other. It also means to blossom where I am planted. Like in 1 Corinthians 12, where the foot complains that it is not a hand. Sometimes, I feel like that foot, unhappy with the way God made me. The kingdom of God is analogous to the body of Christ, the church. Maybe seeking God’s kingdom includes seeking the way God uniquely created you and honing the skills that He has given you.
God has His people’s best interests in mind. Anything He wants for us is for our good. To seek God’s kingdom is both an individual and corporate endeavor. I also pray for our local church to follow God’s leading with our future. To seek God’s kingdom is to seek His rule over our lives. I think it is a posture of heart, mind and body. It’s more than a decision about QT or New Year’s resolutions; it’s more encompassing than that.
I love George Koch’s summary of Scripture! 1) There is a God. 2) He is NOT you. 3) Learn to love others.
As stated too often already, a problem with UBF and certain churches is when they play God over the lives of their people.
I am not denying the importance of mentoring, shepherding and the discipling of others. But as I’ve stated very often: There is a very fine line between shepherding and control and manipulation.
True shepherding NEVER imposes one’s will and preference upon others. It never dominates others. It never guilt-trips others to make them do what is desired. It does not threaten or make others fearful. It always respects boundaries, always gives others freedom to choose and freedom to be fully themselves.
So perhaps to seek first God’s kingdom is simply to let God be God over me, others and the church, and not impose our agenda over others and the church.