Focus

The tweet invited its readers to ‘explain your profession badly!?’ I thought: “helping people discover joy and die well…“ And then I got shy and didn’t press send on the tweet. Yet this is what captivates me: to encourage and equip others in joyful and purposeful living because of Jesus.

We’re endlessly told that the secret of a successful life is to stay focused. Paul the apostle was a pioneer in this way of living. Possibly one of the most effective persons who ever lived. More than two thousand years after his death, his writings are being followed by millions of people all over this globe. Except for Jesus Christ, has there ever been a man whose thoughts have influenced more people over the generations than this tentmaker from Tarsus? One of Paul’s secrets was the power of focus.

Paul already had all the essential credentials to impress his peers. He didn’t need persecutions, shipwrecks, imprisonments to validate his standing in the community of faith. He was a circumcised Jew: a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews. More than that he was a Pharisee. He not only knew the law, but he also practiced it fastidiously. In fact, he was so committed that he’d previously persecuted the early Christian church very harshly. Yet one day he came to see that none of these things mattered in the least to him compared to his new-found life in Jesus Christ. And therefore he focused his life on this one endeavour: to know Christ. He writes: “For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ!” A few breaths later he writes: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death . . .” Then he sums up his intent with these words: “But this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

That’s focus. Paul concentrated his life on this one thing: knowing Christ! And Paul lived it out. He let God-shaped focus do its good work. For where your attention goes, your life goes also. David Foster Wallace writes this in Infinite Jest: “Be on guard. The road widens, and many of the detours are seductive.” Paul would suggest that focus is key. The air you and I breathe is not for nothing. It’s entrusted to us for a purpose.

Focus gives our lives agency. One theorist asks us to consider whether we are ‘wandering generalities’ or ‘meaningful specifics!’ In other words, are our lives focused on a few important things or do we spread our lives far too thinly? A good analogy is that of light. Light comes in many forms. But light’s focus and intensity determine its power. Light bulbs generally have a low level of focus and intensity. The light rays scatter out of the bulb, creating incoherent light. But take those same scattered light rays and focus them in one direction at one target, and you have a laser, which is infinitely more powerful.

Paul’s life had the power of laser focus. Distinctive people have a clear understanding of what their life is about. They know where they are headed and they make a significant commitment to get there. They negotiate many things to prioritise what they desire the most.

When comedian Jim Carrey was a struggling young actor, he wrote himself a check for ten million dollars and postdated it seven years into the future. That written paper check kept him focused. Even more impressive is the fact that, when it came due, he was able to cover the amount. By staying focused on his goal, he achieved great fame and success. What he stayed focused on grew!

Paul was focused on a goal that was narrow enough that he never was distracted, but large enough so that he never became bored. In his commitment to Christ, he had an intensity of focus that made his life laser-like in its intensity. I know of a piano teacher who taught many students over a lifetime career. When she got them ready for recitals, she would encourage them to perfect their endings. She insisted they practice the endings over and over again. When her students grumbled that it was boring going over and over these last few measures, she would answer: “You can make a mistake in the beginning or in the middle or in some other place along the way. But all will be forgotten when you manage to make the ending glorious.”

We know little about Paul’s last days on earth. But we do know his ending was glorious. The power of a focused life: “But this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” The best use of your rare and precious life is the joyful adventures that only Jesus enables, and because it’s death-proof, it makes for abundant life!

#2021WritingChallenge