Distraction
Brings Destruction
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. Several
years ago a Northwest Airlines flight left San Diego headed for
Minneapolis/St. Paul. During the flight the
pilot and co-pilot began looking at their
laptop computers and discussing a new
scheduling routine. They became so
distracted by their conversation they
forgot the number one rule of aviation. “Fly the
plane!” The result is they overshot the
runway by 150 miles. They were out of radio
contact for almost three hours. It is no
surprise that the NTSB (National
Transportation Safety Board) recommended
their licenses be revoked.
1. We live in a world of distractions.
2. We hear of distracted drivers who are
texting, eating, drinking, talking on their
phone or even putting on their makeup as
they drive, resulting in serious accidents.
3. Sometimes we become so distracted by all
of the activities in life we become like
the pilots of the aircraft and do not
think about our destination.
B. The
apostle Paul was concerned about Christians in the early church who became
distracted in their relationship with God.
1. In several of his letters he addressed
Christians distracted by prejudice. Division
brought about by opposing ethnicities
(Jew/Gentile).
2. In some of his letters he expressed
concern about distraction over false teachers.
3. In some of his letters he addressed
distraction brought about by persecution.
4. In other letters he wrote to Christians
distracted by worldliness.
C. To
the Colossians Paul concluded his letter by addressing three areas of lfie
where
we struggle with distractions today. These
are found in Colossians 4:2-6.
1. Some versions divide these five verses
into two paragraphs. Other versions group
them into a single paragraph.
2. There are four admonitions in these
verses.
I. DISTRACTED FROM PRAYER – vss. 2.
A. In verse 2 Paul wrote, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping
alert in it with an
attitude
of
thanksgiving.”
1. There is no doubt that prayer played
a critical role in Paul’s life and ministry.
a. Romans 1:10 - “always in my
prayers making request, if perhaps now at last
by the will of God I may succeed
in coming to you.”
b. Romans 10:1 – “Brethren, my
heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is
for their salvation.”
c. Romans 12:12 – “rejoicing in
hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to
prayer,”
d. Ephesians 1:16 – “do not cease
giving thanks for you, while making mention of
you in my prayers.”
e. Ephesians 6:18 – “With all prayer
and petition pray at all times in the Spirit.”
f. Philippians 4:6 – “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.”
g. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “pray
without ceasing.”
2. Why did prayer play such a critical
role in Paul’s life? It was an important part of
Jesus’ life.
a. Prayer was critical in the
ministry of Jesus from the beginning to the end.
1.) What happened to Jesus after
His baptism? He was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness where he fasted 40 days. What
accompanied fasting?
Prayer.
2.) What did Jesus do before the
trial and crucifixion? What was the last thing
He did on the cross? Pray.
b. Mark 1:35 records how Jesus got
up early in the morning to go to a lonely
place and pray. Luke tells us he
went into the hills to pray. John records the
prayer in the upper room with
His disciples (John 17).
B. Do you ever find yourself distracted
from praying?
1. Perhaps it is your busy schedule.
Bill Hybels has a book entitled, Too Busy Not
To Pray. John Wesley commented,
“I have so much to do today I shall have to
spend two hours praying to get it
all done.”
2. Perhaps it is fatigue or being
distracted by others. There is no right or wrong time
to pray. Your prayer doesn’t have to
be a certain length. The important thing is –
pray.
C. Do you know why prayer is so important? Prayer
is the result of a personal
relationship with the Lord.
Communication is a mark of relationship.
Satan wants to
destroy our relationship with God. He
begins by interfering with our communication.
D. The answer to prayer is not the
important thing. The discipline of prayer and the
relationship I have with God is the
important thing.
II.
DISTRACTED FROM EVANGELISM – vss. 3-4.
A. Paul asked these Christians to pray for
him. Notice his request in vss. 3 and 4.
1. “Praying at the same time for us as
well, that God will open up to us a door for
the word, so that we may speak forth
the mystery of Christ, for which I have also
been imprisoned; 4 that
I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”
2. If you were imprisoned for what would
you pray? Paul did not pray for release.
He prayed that God would open doors
of opportunity to share the Gospel.
3. In Philippians 1:12-18 he said that
his imprisonment had actually worked out for
the furtherance of the Gospel
because the entire praetorian guard had come to
know of Christ.
4. Paul and the apostles took the great
commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark
16:15-16) seriously.
B. What is distracting us from
evangelizing.
1. Feelings of inadequacy? Can you tell
someone what Jesus means to you and
how you became a Christian?
2. Belief that it is not your job? Every
Christian is called upon to share the message
of Christ.
3. Conflict or disagreement? A boy and dad
took one of the boy’s friends on a
fishing trip. It rained for three
days. The first day they played board games.. The
second day they began to get testy. The third day they were fighting.
The packed
up and came home. “When fishermen
don’t fish, they fight.”
4. Satan has distracted us by convincing
us that it’s okay to be keepers of the
aquarium rather than fishers of men.
III. DISTRACTED FROM CARING FOR OTHERS
– vs. 5.
A. In
verse 5 Paul wrote, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making
the most of the opportunity.”
1. Are we ever so distracted by our own
interests that we neglect opportunities to
help others?
2. A little boy sat through Sunday
School classes for three years at a large church
in San Antonio, Texas, but no one
took the opportunity to get to know him.
Everyone thought someone else would
take the time with the young man. No
one did. The young man grew up and
one evening forty-nine years ago this
month at the age of 24 he shot and
killed Senator Robert Kennedy. His name
was Sirhan Sirhan.
B. What is distracting you from making the
most of the opportunities you have right
now?
1. Are you waiting for a time when you
don’t have so many problems?
2. Are you waiting for something bigger
to come along? One little guy said to a
large man, “If I were as big as you
I’d go into the woods and find the biggest bear
and tear him limb from limb.” The
big man said, “There are a lot of little bears in
the woods. Why not go tackle one of
them?”
3. Don’t wish your life away neglecting
the opportunities you have to care for
others.
IV. DISTRACTED FROM ENCOURAGING OTHERS
WITH OUR SPEECH – vs. 6.
A. “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that
you
will know how you should respond to each
person.”
B. Satan does a really good job of
distracting our words for others.
1. Sometimes we simply do not think of
the impact our words have on other people.
2. In Ephesians 4:28-29 - Let no
unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment,
so that it will give grace to those
who hear.”
CONCLUSION:
A. The
plane in Minnesota missed its destination but there was no loss of life. On
December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight
401 was the first jumbo jet to crash and
the second worst single-plane disaster in
America up to that time. The experienced
flight crew was distracted when a small
light bulb did not come on to indicate the
landing gear was locked. Was it an
instrumentation problem or the real thing? As the
crew was distracted by the light no one
noticed that the auto-pilot had been turned off
and the plane was losing altitude. The
plane crashed into the everglades. One
hundred one people died.
B. Don’t
let the devil distract you in your relationship with God. If we can assist you
with
a spiritual need in your life we invite you
to come.
