We are seeing more and more reports of people being seriously injured or even killed by distraction. On Christmas day, a man stepped off of Sunset Cliff in San Diego and died from the fall. Witnesses reported that he was “distracted” by some type of digital device in his hand (likely a phone). Emergency rooms throughout the world are reporting a dramatic increase in motor vehicle and fall injuries that happen as a result of distracted walking. Most of these people were distracted while operating digital devices. Anti-texting laws have been passed in an effort to curb distracted driving, which has killed and maimed many people over the past several years.
While these physical injuries and deaths are tragic, there is another type of distraction with far greater consequences — distraction from God. This type of distraction results in eternal spiritual death, not the mere death of the physical body.
People, including God’s people, are constantly being distracted from spiritual things and from service to God. These distractions take many particular forms, but Jesus addressed the general categories in His parable of the sower. Among the four soils was one called the “thorny” ground (Luke 8:14). The thorns emerged and “choked” God’s word out of the person’s life. The thorns represented “the cares, riches and pleasures of this life.” Sadly, this is exactly what we see around us every day. People are distracted from God and His word by “the things that are in the world” as John called them (1 John 2:15). Let us consider these areas of distraction:
1. The Lord’s word “cares” (Gr. merinma, Luke 8:14 and the parallels) best suits the title of this article, for Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines the word as “distraction, to be drawn in different directions.” It has reference to anxieties about things in this life. People tend to obsess and worry about tangible things. They forget that all such things are temporal. Yes, houses, vehicles and other physical possessions must be maintained (Ecclesiastes 10:18), but God and His service takes precedence over all such concerns. We are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Using the same Greek word, Peter tells us to cast our “cares” upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7).
2. “Riches” or “wealth” is a tremendous distraction for many people. Rather than working in order to provide for their needs and the needs of others (Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:8), they “seek to be rich.” Paul warned against such an attitude, saying that it causes people to err from the truth and pierces them through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10). One should not “trust in riches, but in the living God” (1 Timothy 6:17). In Matthew’s account of the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of the “deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22). People tend to associate wealth with security, but Paul explains that this is a false security. Money might purchase physical security, but it cannot buy spiritual security — it cannot save one from sin. Let us not be distracted by wealth.
3. The term “pleasures” in Luke 8:14 is from the Greek word “hedone” (also translated “lust”). The pursuit of various forms of carnal pleasure has been the motivation of many people throughout history, and it is certainly a problem today. The Epicureans even practiced it as a philosophy. They reasoned, “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Paul quoted them in 1 Corinthians 15:32, not as an endorsement of the philosophy, but to cite a consequence of the anti-resurrection doctrine that was being taught by some of the Corinthians. God does want us to be comfortable, content and happy in this life (1 Peter 3:10; 1 Timothy 2:2; 6:8). Solomon said, “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love” (Eccl. 9:9). God wants us to “enjoy” life. However, we must not become so obsessed with physical happiness and contentment that we allow it to disrupt our service to God. Even hobbies, recreational and entertainment activities that are morally right within themselves, must be regulated.
Let us be careful. Distraction can be deadly, both physically and spiritually!
—Tim Haile