‘Keep the main thing the main thing’ is our main thing, too!
By Dean Collins
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” (Stephen Covey).
Covey’s work attempts to help individuals prioritize their calendars and their lives in order to lead more effective and satisfying lives. Long before Covey, one of the disciples of Jesus had clearly bought into the idea of keeping the main thing the main thing.
Mark told us the main thing
The Gospel of Mark opens with a statement of the main thing: “This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Unlike other Gospel writers who have more focus on historical accounts of the life of Jesus, Mark is focused on the Good News. Mark chose to forgo the nativity narrative. Instead of a manger and angels, Mark takes a long step back to the prophets of old to open his Gospel with the prophet Isaiah declaring that a messenger would come ahead of the Lord’s arrival.
Mark quickly declares that John the Baptist is the messenger and his purpose is to clear the path for the arrival of Jesus. John the Baptist’s message was one of repentance. His main thing was preparing the way for the Good News of the coming Messiah.
John the Baptist understood the main thing
It is interesting to note that while John the Baptist’s primary role was to prepare the way for Jesus, he didn’t pick Jerusalem as his primary location for his ministry. Mark tells us the Baptist preached a message of repentance in the wilderness. He didn’t dress like the religious leaders and he didn’t eat or live like them, either. Nothing about John the Baptist’s appearance, methods, or message was like the religious leaders of the day.
Mark described the response to John the Baptist: “All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John.” And they listened, they repented of sins, and were baptized. John made it clear that he was a forerunner to something greater: “Someone is coming who is greater than I am, so much greater I am not even worthy to untie the straps of his sandals.” John knew he was not the main thing. His role was to prepare for the world to hear and receive the main thing, the good news of Jesus.
We can pursue the main thing
Three of four Gospel writers end their account with indications that Jesus wanted his followers to go everywhere proclaiming the good news of Jesus. The book of Acts and the epistles demonstrate that the early followers of Jesus knew the main thing was to proclaim the good news. They also knew that they were not responsible for the outcomes. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
What would happen if every follower of Jesus kept the main thing the main thing? I suspect we know what would happen. The world would come to know Jesus and the end result would be the imminent return of our King.
Lord, help us today to remember that you came from Heaven to show us the way back to the Father. You took our sins and our shame upon yourself on the cross. You died and rose again, conquering death forever, and you will return in glory. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts stay focused on the Good News. Use us to share your message each day until you return. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Mark 1:1-8 NLT
Photo by Maurício Mascaro at pexels.com
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