Distractions Series

Please open your Bibles to Luke 10:38. If you have been here for a while, you know we have been going through this series called “Do not conform. Be transformed.” The series is based the passage out of Romans 12:2 that says “Do not be conformed to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The idea behind the series is that we would look at the various patterns out in the world, especially the negative patterns, and we would look at the consequences of following those negative patterns and come up with a bridge to some sort of a biblical solution. We have looked at a lot of different patterns.

Today, we are going to look at a pattern of distraction. I suspect that most of you realize we live in a very distracted world in so many different ways. Before we examine the different evidence for distraction, let’s come up with a basic working definition of a distraction. A distraction is something that divides the attention or prevents concentration. That is a basic definition. Based on that definition, we all get caught up in distractions every single day. A lot of the distractions happen simply when we are driving around in the car. One of the biggest distractions right now is this thing called an iPhone, a smartphone, or whatever mobile phone you use. I know the biggest thing in the news lately is how dangerous it is to text when you drive or get on the phone while you drive. Now I know that no one texts or gets on the cell phone when they are driving. Or at least I don’t. That is a lie. Like many of you in this room I sometimes allow myself to be distracted by my cell phone even while driving.

But even before the cell phone came around, there were obviously a lot of distractions. You can’t blame all the distractions on the cell phone. I know a number of people were probably being distracted by the driver next to him or her. Many were being distracted by food. Driving down the road eating their lunch or dinner. I have seen some people brushing their hair in the car. I have seen some people even brushing their teeth. One of the biggest distractions seems to is music on the radio or whatever device it comes through. I am certainly dating myself, but when I was a teen one of the biggest distractions was my 8-track player, and it caused me to get into an accident one night. I was driving a ‘63 Plymouth Fury and I was about 17 years old. One night I was driving through our town trying to look cool. I pulled into the local McDonald’s which was a big hang out spot. I don’t know why, but as soon as I pulled into McDonald’s I decided to swap out my Temptations 8-track for my Three Dog Night 8-track. Sure enough, when I am swapping it out and going about 30 mph around the curb, I smacked right into a car with three or four people in it. So, yes even pastor Chuck was often distracted as a teen.

Some people are distracted at work, with things like personal texts, or the need to update your Facebook page. And occasionally you get a random email and you feel the need to open it. That was a mistake I did a few years ago. I was working for this high-tech firm back in Oregon and I received an email that appeared to be from a friend, so I decided to open it. About two seconds later all these people were running out of their offices saying we just got this virus that is shutting down the entire corporate system and it is coming from Chuck’s computer! So work distractions can be dangerous.

We know there are also distractions at home. As men, we know that we can be distracted sometimes. You men in the room know that sometimes your wife is trying to tell us something very important, and we are on the computer, maybe watching the sports channel on TV, or just zoning out from a long day at work, and all the while the wife is saying pay attention to me, pay attention to me. Of course, it only applies to you guys. It never applies to me because I give my undivided attention to Debbie all the time, right? Wrong she says. So distractions happen at home.

Some of you students can be distracted at school. It is so easy to be distracted at school because you have so many important things on your mind. Is Sally going to ask Billy to the dance? Who house are we going to after the game? Students get distracted by all sorts of things in school. Sometimes students are simply daydreaming, other times they are having a conversation with a classmate when they should be listening. I am reminded of the time that I was in first grade at a school assembly, and the principal, Mr. Findley was standing up giving in his mind this very important speech at the beginning of the school year. For some reason, I was distracted by the cute little redhead that was sitting next to me. So in my effort to impress her with my knowledge, I felt the need to engage in a discussion by pointing out those big ropes hanging from the ceiling and explaining the function they served in gym class.