I came across an interesting expression in one of Arthur
Pink’s books—“Career Christian.” Imagine if someone were to ask you, “What is your occupation?” and you answered “I’m a full-time Christian.”
I don’t know about you, but what with setting my mind on
things above, taking all thoughts captive, renewing
my mind, putting off the old self and
putting on the new, watching over my heart with all diligence, letting the peace of God
rule my heart, walking in love, in unity, in light, and by faith, and don't forget walking worthy, speaking the truth in love, loving my brothers and
sisters from the heart, loving my wife as Christ loves the Church,
and making sure all I do, even eating and drinking, glorifies God, well… I’m fully occupied.
Is this what Jesus meant when he said “occupy until I return?” Yes. And, thankfully, He furnishes us with an infinite supply of grace to assure our progress and success until He does return (2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Peter 1:10).
One’s occupation, or vocation, is that to which he or she is especially drawn and for which he or she is well-suited and
qualified. Though today the concept is secular, it originated in the Bible. The nobility of one’s occupation is
central to the doctrine that God has created each person with gifts to be
employed for specific purposes that will fulfill God' purposes for him and Himself (Eph 2:10).
For this reason, Paul warns, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift(s)
within you; take pains to be absorbed in them so that your progress will be
evident to all, paying close attention to yourself;
persevere in these things” (1 Tim 4:14-16, edited). In other words, we are to be
resolutely “preoccupied” with our “occupation.”
What then keeps us from being so occupied? Is it perhaps that we are already preoccupied: “me-occupied.” This principle has been proven to me
over and again: to the degree I am absorbed in my view of circumstances,
I simply cannot occupy myself with His, and even worse, with HIM. Evidently,
judging by the strength of his words, Paul must have known how challenging this
would be. I wonder. Did he also find himself sometimes more “me-occupied”
than “He-occupied”?
I feel like I need to apologize for appearing to milk this “occupy” movement, but the spiritual analogies are relentless! From beginning to end, the Bible abounds with occupiers. It appears our government is discovering a biblical principle you and I have known for years. Once you let those “occupiers” set up camp, they are not easily gotten rid of. Their site becomes a stronghold.
Even so, once we allow sinful thoughts to enter and occupy our minds, they set up camp. Interestingly, Paul calls this campsite a mindset: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). And then Paul describes this mindset as a “stronghold of human reasoning” (2 Cor. 10:3), and that it will take “God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons” to knock them down (tear gas and pepper spray won’t work).
It is therefore all the more critical that we be careful what occupies our minds. “Fix your thoughts on [occupy your minds with] what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise—on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Phil. 4:8; Col 3:2)
You probably think I’m really “milking” this “Occupy” movement, but it is so loaded with analogies, I can’t help myself. Yesterday, writing about the apparent dementia that affects the rank and file of Bible believing Christians, I quoted Hebrews 2:1, "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we [our thoughts] do not drift away.”
Significantly, the Greek word translated "pay attention" means "to turn the mind to or to occupy oneself with a thing or thought." The believers to whom the author was writing had heard the gospel, but didn’t occupy themselves with their new-found faith; they were in danger of drifting away, or, in my words, “losing their minds.”
Though the various cities around the country are attempting to evict “occupiers” from the spaces they occupy, those in occupation of them are holding fast. This reminds me of another warning by the author of Hebrews, “We are God’s house [people] IF we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end” (3:6), implying that it may be harder to “hold fast” as we approach the “end.” Even Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have” (Rev. 3:11).
All this “Occupy” Wall Street and “Occupy” Oakland, ad infinitum, has got me thinking a lot about what it is I occupy and what it is that occupies me. I am afraid I am often so preoccupied with “life on earth” that I am not being fully occupied with God—or worse, allowing Him to occupy me.
Arthur W. Pink said, "How little real love there is for God." In his opinion, the low level of spirituality in the church was a result of hearts being so little occupied with thoughts of God’s divine love. Then he went on to say, “The better we know His love—its character, its fullness, its blessedness, the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him." What greater occupation can there be, than to be occupied with seeking to comprehend, appreciate, and apprehend God’s love for us.
The majority of comments spoken by the “occupiers” of these various campaigns seem to spring from an underlying fear and insecurity. But for those who are occupied with God: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment [as with the Occupiers, a fear of harm that will come to them if ‘things’ don’t change]. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
Having been a college student in the 60’s, I am no stranger to protest movements! The current Occupy Wall Street movement reflects our nation’s anger and frustration. In my opinion, it shares commonalities with its cousin, the Tea Party movement, each one wanting to fix what is wrong with our country. Unlike the Tea Party movement, however, Occupy Wall Street is still amorphous, yet to be defined by a specific set of demands. Both are united by shared values; both are occupied with the idea that something is wrong.
It think it is significant they are using the word “occupy.” Like all earthlings, they are occupied with the things on earth. But you and I know that the wrongs of this world’s systems (financial, governmental, and judicial) will never be righted. That is why we are admonished not to become occupied with them.
“Occupy” means to be busy, engaged, or hard at work. When Jesus used this word—“occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13)—was He not only telling His followers to be fully engaged and hard at work taking care of His business (the kingdom of God), but was He also implying we ought not to let the things of this world occupy too much of our attention? It seems to me that during these troubling times, it will be very easy to pay more attention to the things in the world than to what God is doing. Beware of getting too occupied with Wall Street, or for that matter, even your own street.
“Occupy Wall Street” is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City that has now spread all across the U.S., some of which are teetering on the edge of violence. Last weekend, nearly 700 persons were arrested for trespassing on the Brooklyn Bridge.
What are they protesting? That’s the strange thing. It is an amorphous movement, less about specific issues than it is about discontent with the status quo—a demand for social and political change. I think this movement is part of an emerging global restlessness.
By now we are all familiar with the anti-government protests, known as the “Arab Spring.” But similar anti-government protests are even now occurring worldwide. Since the beginning of this year, there have been anti-government protests in 24 countries. Like a bad hurricane season, one protest after another is battering global shores. One commentator said, “Stability has left the building.”
Our world today has entered into one of the most challenging seasons of history. Has the entire world ever seen such chaos at once? Jesus expected His disciples to be able to discern the times. Are we?
I have been reading a recently published book “Jesus Manifesto—Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. I highly recommend it to you.
The authors’ objective is to counter a spirit of narcissism that has crept into the church, where ‘conversion’ is less a turning to Jesus than a turning to success and self-discovery. Of the top 100 best selling Christian books on the market in 2009, they point out, just 4 were about Jesus.
They ask “what is it that will change the course of Christianity, putting it back on course? What will emancipate God’s people from all the things that Jesus nailed to His cross? What will create a spiritual revolution in the world today?" The answer: a total occupation with Jesus. Many Christians are not occupied with spiritual things at all. And others are errantly occupied with good things like evangelism, or worship and praise, missions, or end times, or church growth or city-wide prayer. All good things, but may keep us otherwise occupied. Jesus must be our 'only' occupation. We must pray for an inward revelation of Christ to our hearts by the Holy Spirit—a progressive unveiling of the Person who is seen on every page of the Word and occupies all things. Have we become so self-occupied, so preoccupied that we have forgotten it’s all about Jesus?
As I stood in the check-out line at Safeway the other day, a young woman whose groceries were being checked out was talking on her cell phone, paying little attention to what was going on around her. I wondered if she would get off the phone when it was time to manage the ATM machine and get her groceries. But alas, she continued multi-tasking. I observed what-I-thought was an expression of irritation by the cashier who was being completely ignored. Meanwhile, the whole check-out process was slowed to a near halt while everyone in line waited—albeit impatiently. In short, her preoccupation prevented her from paying attention to the people around her.
But you don’t have to be on a cell phone to be preoccupied. Who of us has never been so lost in our own thoughts, so self-occupied, we couldn't see someone God wanted to touch through us.
Each person who crosses your path today is important to God. Do you realize that God is working in their hearts, just as He is yours? Maybe He wants to use you to touch them with kindness. But if preoccupied, you won’t—and His love and kindness cannot touch them.
Try going into this new day with your eyes open for the people you'll encounter at the store, the office, the school, or wherever you're headed. When that Starbucks barista or grocery clerk asks ‘how are you?’ respond with a heart-felt “and how are YOU?” Give them your full attention and see how God uses you to touch them. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Mat. 5:16).
How would you answer the question: ‘what was Jesus’ occupation?’ If you said “carpenter,” you are wrong. When I was bi-vocational (a government administrator by day and a biblical counselor by night), I was never quite sure how to answer ‘what is your occupation?’ Generally, I found it less confusing to say “I work for USDA.” While it was the job that occupied most of my time (and the source of my salary and benefits) my biblical counseling and teaching occupied most of my attention. Even when Jesus’ occupation was carpentry, what do you suppose occupied His attention? “Occupy” means in use, busy, engaged, employed, engrossed, and hard at work. The word “occupy” was used only once by Jesus, in the parable of the pounds (money). The master called his servants and gave them each ten pounds, and said to them, occupy till I come [take care of my business] (Lk. 19:13).
Those who followed Jesus had to change their occupation—the fishermen became fishers of men! And Luke tells of two men who claimed they wanted to follow Jesus, but were otherwise ‘occupied’ with family matters (9:59-61). In rebuking these 'wannabe' disciples, Jesus reveals the intensity of His command for total occupation. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Luke 14:26). Jesus insisted on total occupation.
Doesn’t Jesus deserve our complete attention—fully engaged, engrossed, and hard at work to know Him and do His work? “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me [fully occupied] cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). Do you ever get to the end of your day and realize you were so preoccupied with the details of your life you were not occupied with Jesus?
