Renewing Our Priorities
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced a framework called “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” You may have seen it — a pyramid that starts with our most basic needs for survival (like oxygen and food) and moves up toward things we need in order to “flourish.”
Maslow’s idea was simply to name what we already know instinctively: some things are more foundational than others. If you don’t have air, water, or food, you won’t be thinking much about art, philosophy, or vacation plans.
Pastor Andrew Heard uses this as a starting point in Chapter 5 of his book Growth and Change. He points out that, for many years, a lot of Christian thought has resisted the idea that some things are more important than others — especially in the realm of work. People have feared that if we say one kind of work is more valuable than another, we might create “second-class Christians” or minimize the good of love and charity (see pp. 79ff)
But the Bible is clear: priorities matter. Some things are more important than others. Scripture calls us to see life through the lens of eternity. As Heard puts it,
Some ways of investing time and resources are more important, more worthwhile, than other ways of investing time and resources. This might not require us to divide the world into 'sacred' and 'secular', but it certainly divides the world along some very fundamental lines: the temporal and the eternal, the flesh and the spirit; this world and the world to come; what is most important and what is secondary (80).
“The most important thing in our life together as a church is that people would come to know Jesus and keep walking with him.”
From that, Heard draws two conclusions:
The spiritual state of the human soul is of far greater concern than any other concern. The eternal fate of those who die apart from Christ is more important than any earthly difficulty.
The greatest human need is the forgiveness of sins, which comes as we turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, finding peace with God now and salvation from the wrath to come.
If that’s true — and it is — then our priorities should reflect it. The most important thing in our life together as a church is that people would come to know Jesus and keep walking with him. It’s that people get saved and stay saved.
God has been kind to grow us in the “staying saved” part — we’ve seen many of you flourish in faith through both joy and hardship. But if we’re honest, we haven’t seen as much fruit lately in the “getting saved” part. In the last two years especially, we’ve seen fewer people come to Christ.
Why is that?
Here’s the honest truth: often it’s because seeing people come to Christ has been missing among our top priorities. And when it’s not a priority, we don’t work toward it as we should.
But the hopeful truth is this: we can make it a renewed priority. And when we do, we can trust that God will use our words, our prayers, and our invitations to draw people to himself. As a church, we can be a community that truly “leaves no stone unturned” so that others might know Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon once spoke to a group of pastors, some of whom had not experienced much conversion fruit. He said,
I may be speaking to a few who have not [seen much fruit]; if so, I would recommend them to look steadily over their motive, their spirit, their work, and their prayer, and then begin again. Perhaps they may get to work more wisely, more believingly, more humbly, and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. They must act as farmers do who, after a poor harvest, plough again in hope.
“After a poor harvest, plough again in hope.” That’s where we are. Let’s plough in hope — praying for open doors, speaking about Jesus when we have the chance, and inviting people into the life of our church.
Think about the people around you — friends, family, coworkers, neighbors. What difference have you made in their lives?
By God’s grace, let it be this: you point them to Jesus.
