Chambers-Made (1)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.  Matthew 6:33  NASB

Will be provided – For many years I started my day with a page from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. My copy in the original 19^th century English is so worn that the covers are taped together, but I’ll never replace it with something newer (or contemporary).  It has special feelings for me.  Dog-eared pages, scribbles in the margins, a few stains, and a heart-shaped photo of my two youngest children when they were very small make this a lifetime keepsake.  Of course, after all these years I have revised some of my thinking about Oswald’s Christian theology, but often I’m still impressed by his insight.  He was no linguist.  He doesn’t pay much attention to syntax, historical culture, or transmission errors.  But what he does say (taken from note fragments since he never actually wrote a book) speaks to me reminding me that practical application might just be the most important lesson from the biblical text.  Chambers doesn’t do theology.  He does confrontation—how we live it.  Maybe that’s why I like him so much.

At any rate, today I was reading his comment on Matthew 6:33, that famous, and famously misused, passage about the priority of the Kingdom.  One of his remarks is particularly relevant:

“‘Take no thought for your life . . .’  Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living.  Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed—that man is a fool.  Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about everything else in comparison to that.”[1]

Two points worth noting.  First, imagining that Kingdom concentration means God will do everything else for you is not just theologically wrong, it’s stupid.  “That man is a fool.”  Yes, indeed.  God isn’t the provision genie.  A prosperity gospel theology, rigorously applied, results in a welfare household.  Grasshoppers and ants.

Secondly, notice that Chambers doesn’t say, “make his relationship to Jesus the dominating concentration.”  Chambers was certainly a Trinitarian, but on this count he recognizes that “Jesus” places the emphasis on YHVH, not himself.  The text in Matthew is clear.  It is the “kingdom of God,” not the kingdom of Christ.  What matters is not how devoted I am to Jesus but how committed I am to the God of Jesus, the Holy One of Israel.  I’m pretty sure that Abraham, Moses, and David would agree.

The point Chambers makes is simple: if we want a purposeful life, we have to make sure our concentration on God isn’t diminished, even by those things necessary for living.  Priorities require discipline, something we might have missed in the “free grace” substitution for self-control of Torah.  I needed this reminder.  All those interesting issues about transmission, textual integrity, theological paradigms, and muddied consonants can easily distract me from the real goal: kavanah!  Oh, want to know about that?  Click here.

Topical Index:  Kingdom, Oswald Chambers, kavanah, Matthew 6:33

[1] Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, May 21.