The Main Thing

One of the typical characteristics of our children—maybe yours too—was that they enjoyed playing their music loud. Not just loud… LOUD. The kind of loud that rattles the drywall and makes the dog rethink his loyalty to the family.

One day, while I was getting dressed, I heard music thumping through the walls from their room. My first reaction, if I’m being honest, was parental suspicion: “What are they listening to? And how many counties can hear it?”

But then something strange happened. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t recoil. I found myself drawn to the rhythm, the beat, the sound. And then—more unexpectedly—I got hooked by the refrain:

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Over and over again. Louder and louder. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

At first I rolled my eyes. “Well, duh. Of course the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” It sounded almost insultingly obvious. But the longer I listened, the more it sank in. The more I repeated it to myself, the more I realized:

That chorus contains more wisdom than we give it credit for.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

And suddenly, what sounded like a teenage lyric became a theological earthquake. It hit me: That’s exactly what Paul is doing in 2 Timothy. He is looking young Timothy in the eyes—and through him, us—and saying:

Timothy, listen. Don’t lose the main thing. Don’t drop it. Don’t drift from it. Don’t let it get buried under lesser things. The main thing must remain the main thing.

Turn with me to 2 Timothy 1, beginning with verse 3. And as we read, let’s read this not as spectators reading someone else’s mail, but as disciples reading God’s word addressed to us personally. Because it is.

> “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience… I constantly remember you in my prayers… recalling your tears… I have been reminded of your sincere faith… For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God… For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline…” (selected)

Then verses 8–10:

> “Join with me in suffering for the gospel… This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time… but now revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Through what? Through the gospel—the main thing.

And Paul isn’t done. Verse 12:

> “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.”

Now pause and take this in:

This is Paul’s final letter.

His final words.

The last ink before the executioner’s sword.

If you knew your time was almost gone—if you had one last opportunity to speak into someone you love—how would you write? Would your tone be calm? Casual? Detached? Or would it be urgent? Focused? Passionate?

Paul is not meandering. He is not rambling. He is not wandering through spiritual side streets. He has one burning burden:

Timothy, keep the main thing the main thing.

Verse 13:

> “What you heard from me, keep…”

Verse 14:

> “Guard it.”

Two repeating verbs: KEEP and GUARD.

Why? Because there is a main thing. And there are many other things. And those other things—some good, some necessary, some important—are still secondary. They derive their importance from the main thing but are never equal to it.

Paul’s message is crystal clear:

> Timothy—don’t loosen your grip. Don’t drop what matters most. The main thing is the gospel.

John Stott puts it bluntly: “All around us we see Christians relaxing their grasp on the gospel, in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether.”

And if that was true then… how much more now?

We live in a world where churches argue over styles, personalities, politics, preferences, programs—while quietly losing the gospel itself.

People are busy doing Christian things while forgetting why they do them.

And Paul, from a Roman cell, with death approaching, says:

Tighten your grip, Timothy. Don’t lose it. Don’t fumble it. Don’t assume it. Guard it. Treasure it. Hold it. The gospel is the main thing.

Because Paul’s whole life—every city, every sermon, every missionary journey, every imprisonment—was anchored to one central reality:

Christ and Him crucified.

From his earliest letters to his final breath, the refrain never changed:

> Keep the main thing the main thing.

So the question becomes:

How?

How do we, in our world—busy, distracted, pressured, hurried—keep the gospel central? How do we keep our hearts anchored when everything around us tries to pull us off course?