A Cosmic Guide to the Trivial-but-Necessary

“and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the [a]air come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:32 NASB

Smaller – Life can be cataloged according to two scales: Important to Trivial and Necessary to Superfluous. Combining these scales yields the following four categories: Important-and-Necessary, Important-but-Superfluous, Trivial-but-Necessary, Trivial-and-Superfluous.

Not surprisingly, when we rank all of our activities in the four quadrants that result from these two scales, we discover that most of the time we are stuck in the Trivial-but-Necessary. Life seems to be caught up in the small things.

Very few things are Important-and-Necessary. Most of these show up in times of crisis. If you are having a heart attack, it is very important and absolutely necessary that you get medical attention. If you are facing an immediate threat, it is important and necessary that you seek protection and help. But most of life, even life in the great worldwide machine, does not fall into the Important-and-Necessary group. Even attempted corrections to radical changes in conditions are normally not so critical that they must be done right now. What we soon discover is that in times of crisis, most of us are up to the challenge. We can tap unexpected resources, dig deep into our reserves or do whatever it takes to make it through.   Fortunately, life does not demand a constant adrenaline rush.

What about the Important-but-Superfluous category. In this group we find a lot of life’s little tasks. It is important to eat meals, fill the gas tank, pay the bills, catch the school bus, do your homework, pay your taxes, etc. Here are all the things that it takes to keep the major functions of life going. None are matters of life and death. All could be delayed, or even ignored. But if you want life to run as smoothly as possible, then you will have to do all these ordinary, routine, sometimes annoying little chores. A good portion of every day is consumed with these sorts of things.

Skipping ahead, we might suggest that the category of Trivial-and-Superfluous should really be empty. Unfortunately, for most of us it isn’t. We do a lot of trivial (that is, humdrum, commonplace and of little value) things that have no essential time pressure associated with them. Watching television (ouch!) is generally trivial and superfluous. Nothing earth shattering happens when I turn on the tube. In fact, in general Hollywood provides a constant stream of the Trivial-and-Superfluous (it’s call Sitcom) in order to lull us into a state of mental stupor (all the easier to make advertising suggestions). Trying to concentrate with an iPod stuck to your ears, chatting on the telephone or text messaging, “vegging out” and a host of other mindless activities crowd this category. We would find that we had a lot more time for other things if we could just break the habit of feeding the Trivial-and-Superfluous monster. But most of us don’t break the habit. In fact, we purposely seek relief and rescue in this category because the other three are sometimes just too much to deal with.

Finally, then, we come to the focus of our investigation – the Trivial-but-Necessary. Here lie all those activities that have almost no intrinsic value, that we would rather not do at all, but, if we don’t take care of them, will lead to a life of chaos and inefficiency. Cleaning the dishes comes to mind. Yes, you can get away with not doing the dishes. After all, it is boring, a waste of time and has no truly redeeming quality. But you can’t get away with it forever. Eventually, things get out of hand. Cleaning toilets ranks right in here. So does cutting the grass (which you will just have to do again next week), weeding, vacuuming, dusting. All things that have to be done but don’t really amount to being critically important.

Take a moment and categorize your spiritual involvement. Where does it fall in these quadrants? Going to the assembly? Is it important and necessary? Would your life be in peril if you did not pray? Where does reading God’s Word fall? Please don’t list these things according to what you wish them to be. List them according to what you actually do about them. You may find that even though you think prayer and Bible study and assembling together is Necessary-and-Important, in actual practice the Trivial-and-Superfluous take priority. Let’s ask a few questions and see what we find.

1. You have thirty extra minutes between meetings. You’re alone in the office. What do you do? Bless God in quiet communication or daydream about your next vacation? Check your email or look up a Hebrew word? Close your eyes and mediate or shuffle through another stack of Trivial-but-Necessary papers?

2. Time to cut the grass. What do you think about while you are pushing the mower monotonously from one side of the yard to another?

3. You’ve been busy with routine chores at home. You finish the ironing. You need a break. Do you open your Bible and read a psalm in order to calm your spirit or do you find a cookie to munch?

4. It’s Friday after work. What do you anticipate? The Shabbat meal or a mindless hour in front of the television?

5. You’re excited about something you just read or heard regarding a particular passage of Scripture. You can’t wait to investigate. You get out your lexicons and grammars. The phone rings. Do you answer it?

6. You make a plan to spend some time every day in meditation before the Lord. On the third day, one of the children gets sick and can’t go to school. The car battery dies. The bathroom light burns out. What happens to your plan?

We have been so conditioned by the Trivial-but-Necessary demands that we often sacrifice the Important-and-Necessary without really evaluating the difference. We put aside what actually matters in order to deal with what presses at the moment. What is true about abdicating the Important in order to take care of the momentary need is also true in my relationship with the Father. I know it is absolutely critical to listen to Him, but what happens when I try to listen? I hear only my sin. I hear the immediate, pressing squeal of my guilt. It shouts so loudly that I cannot hear the whispers of God. I feel as if I must take care of the shouts before I can discover the whispers. I spend all my energy on “correcting” my faults and as a result, I never have time to enjoy the presence of the One who already knows all those faults and wants to converse anyway.

Does God get involved with the four quadrants in the same way you do? What would it be like if God were as consumed with the Trivial-and-Superfluous as you and I? What would happen if, in the middle of a face-to-face conversation, He answered His cell phone? What if you couldn’t get His attention because He was busy with arranging His travel schedule? When was the last time God told you, “I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you back when I’m free”? How long would you pursue this relationship?

Perhaps it’s important for us to really examine our interactions with God according to the way we treat the relationship. If we project on to Him how we act toward Him, I wonder if any of us would continue. Isn’t it one of life’s incredible blessings that He doesn’t treat us that way?

Topical Index: trivial, necessary, small, Matthew 13:32