No one will ever accuse me of being organized. Even as a teen the sign on my bedroom door was “Enter At Your Own Risk”. Not because I was a bear or demanded my privacy but because it took the skill of a minesweeper to navigate through my room. While I’m better there is still plenty of evidence to convict me of being sloppy, messy, or disorganized. My office at work fluctuates between the clutter of work in progress and semi-organized. The stand between mine and Betty’s recliners has a virtual line down the middle. You can guess what my side looks like. Betty, on the other hand, is an excellent organizer with a place for everything. Her cupboards could make the cover of a Tupperware catalog. Interesting how God draws folks together.
Jesus once warned the Pharisee’s about making a show of being right with God. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” (Matthew 23:25–26, NASB95) We can fall into the same trap, making a show of being a Christian but living the rest of our lives according to our own rules. Call this compartmentalization. Where our lives are organized into Tupperware containers. Basically, we can live in a way where our words and actions are dictated by our surroundings. We’re one person at work or school, another when alone, yet another when out with friends, and someone else at church. What this boils down to is that Jesus is lord, but only over one of the compartments that we have organized our life around.
It may be cliche to say but if Jesus is not Lord of all He’s not lord at all. It’s ok to have an organized, compartmental life. The issue is one of walking with Jesus no matter where we are. Of being true to who we are on the inside no matter where we are at on the outside. Some call this integrity. Living life as an integrated whole and not in some kind of schizophrenic fog where people don’t really know us. It’s risky to choose integrity, people may not like you and they may reject you or they may finally understand you. The decision boils down to who is really in control over all of your life.
Perhaps being less than organized has made me comfortable with living without the walls of compartments; all the parts slopping together like some giant stew. I’m not advocating that others adopt my habits. I understand that there are times for every purpose under heaven, a time to focus on the task at hand. Some choose to organize their lives, some choose stew. Either way, the question remains the same – Is Jesus Lord of everything? Or have you simply cleaned the outside of the cup and retain control over the inside of the cup? Or, thinking of Betty’s Tupperware organized cupboard, is Jesus Lord over four compartments but He dares not touch numbers five, six, and seven. I encourage you today to trust Jesus with everything, every moment, every place, every activity that makes up your life.
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