Last time I discussed a basic understanding of "meaningful" and why we should pursue it. Today I am going to discuss a basic understanding of "expedient" and why we should not pursue it.
The Difference In The Definitions
If you spent any time reflecting on the definition of meaningful, you can see the distinct difference between meaningful and expedient upon reading the definition at the beginning of this post. When you read the definition, you are probably thinking, "Thanks for trying to mansplain to me why I shouldn't pursue things that are expedient, Captain Obvious." [Side note: lets be honest... if there ever were a blatant form of mansplaining to ever exist in our world of content, any blog trying to point the differences out between right and wrong can be considered mansplaining even if a dude wasn't writing it.] But this is something that probably needs to be fleshed out a little before we make any quick judgments. We can often believe what we are doing is meaningful, but in reality, it's simply the most convenient. It could be justified as a "work smarter, not harder" kind of deal where we are doing something convenient that should legitimately be done with the mindset of doing something to the best of our ability, even if it costs more time and effort on our behalf. The 1% rule that I discussed last post is completely toast when it comes to expedient works because you cut the habit, or the process, out of your life for simply rushing a result.
The Standard That Was Set
Think about this for a moment with me: What if Christ took the convenient and practical route on his way to and through the cross? What if Christ said, "Well, I mean.... I still love you guys and I'm still gonna die for your sins and all… but all this extra stuff isn't really necessary." What if Christ hadn't healed the ear of the Roman soldier after it was cut off in the garden? What if Christ opted out of being taken before the Sanhedrin? What if Christ just skipped his meetings with Pontius Pilate? What if Christ hadn't given the religious leaders an opportunity to lead a mob into yelling "Crucify Him?" What if Christ hadn't felt like carrying his cross and getting help carrying it in his tired and exhausted humanity? What if Christ just skipped all the flogging and mocking of the people? What if he just skipped it all except just being nailed to a cross and giving up his spirit before he was even raised to endure the full wrath of God as a substitute for us and say with his final breath "it is finished?"
You see what I mean? He could have taken a more expedient route to His death, but He pursued something more meaningful. He set the standard for us in lives and/or ministry to not go the quick and easy route. We are co-heirs to the throne with Christ, and imagine how amped he would be if you said, "Yeah, I didn't feel like the little details mattered so I just skipped it for what ACTUALLY mattered." If people still wore WWJD bracelets, there's no way they could wear it with a clear conscience and be cool with taking the short cuts that still achieved a certain end.
Two Words, One Synonym
In the definition, two words really stood out to me (outside of the words convenient and practical) that I feel like need to be addressed: Improper and Immoral. What synonym do these two words share?
Wrong.
If something is not done properly, it was wrong.
If something is done immorally, it was wrong.
Take that idea and apply it to the things God would ask you to do. This reminds me of the "Preach the Gospel, and use words if necessary" quote. Are you supposed to preach the Gospel? Yes. Can you do that without speaking? No, because "Faith comes by hearing" According to Romans 10:17, so though living a Godly life and allowing others to see you living a Christian life is a great thing, it is NOT preaching the Gospel. It is a fruit of what The Gospel has done to your life. To tie it back to what we were talking about, it is done improperly (and in my opinion, immorally) if you don't use words when laying out The Gospel message to someone. That would be a convenient way to evangelize, but it is improper. That makes it expedient and not worthy qualifying as something truly meaningful. Meaningful for you? Sure, but if it doesn't impact others around you, then it's not truly meaningful. People will not be redeemed by your life because a good life striving to be sinless still has sin in it. They need the truth of Christ given to them. Again, Christ was sinless but He also spoke truth. The woman at the well met Christ, but until He started speaking truth to her it never prompted her to get up and tell people about Him.
Ripping ourselves of blessings
Christ set the standard for us by not just living a perfect life (which is unattainable for us and essential to The Gospel of why Jesus died), but He emphasized how He lived by preaching truth. It wasn't his perfect life that made the religious leaders want to nail Him on the cross, it was the Truth that He spoke. If we stay so focused on the convenient ways to live our lives, we could be missing out on the blessing of worshiping God in truth by speaking truth and being honest with what we are doing. We also see how we are short changing our lives by cutting corners and in the name of convenience and practicality. It may achieve a certain end, but it's the means in how we get there, the little details that lead to the end, that make the end worth pursuing.
And that is what we will deal with next post in the final part of this "rule." We will we do a small comparison of some scenarios where we chose the expedient route in life versus when we chose the meaningful route.
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