Noisy
“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
- Luke, the Apostle
It is really noisy out there and seems to be getting noisier all the time. The average American spends a little over 2 hours a day on social media and an average of 35.4 hours a week watching television. That is about 7 hours a day between those two activities or 50 hours a week!
It is amazing that anything gets done around here.
There is also this imperative attached to all that consumption. We are supposed to be aware and care about just about everything. To be “enlightened” or be “human”, we need to have empathy for all causes, all issues, and all pain, equally.
But if we care about everything, we don’t care about anything…well.
If we care about everyone, we don’t care about anyone…well.
Reality is that we are all placed here to care about a particular subset of all those things. We all have finite amounts of time, resources, abilities, and heart. We can’t take care of everything, but the world’s increasing encouragement to be equally concerned about all of it often results in chaos, overwhelm, discouragement, and well...noise.
The one perfect person, Jesus, was sent to model what “right” is supposed to look like. He would roll into town with his crew, do some ministry to a very select few (sometimes one) and then disappear. When he had gotten the attention of the crowd and there was so much opportunity to do more, he would often withdraw.
How does that fit with our Western sensibility that more is better?
He was so connected to the Father, so clear on what his unique assignment was, that he simply did the few things he was supposed to do and went back to the source to get further instructions.
Increasingly, we are spending a lot of time quieting the noise and bringing necessary clarity and peace to leaders. We are aggressively integrating these powerful tools:
- Essentialism - do less things, better
- Ideal week - organizing you week more powerfully
- Boundaries - setting clear boundaries & protecting them
- White Space - from Julie Funt, carving out essential moments throughout your day
- Purpose - for your life and your organization - the plumb line of all plumb lines
- Core Values - the strategic anchors and filter for everything you do
- Strategic Initiatives - You can’t do everything...so what is most essential?
It is not only the integration of these tools, but the worldview that surrounds them that is so essential. As a co-heir of the Kingdom with a unique and finite set of gifting, ability, and resources, you have to be really clear about what you are doing and the reasons that are motivating all those good things.
You can drown yourself in good and miss what is truly great.
The world is increasingly and noisily vying for your attention…and winning. Being really clear and having the tools to find and hold that clarity has never been more valuable. It is increasingly more valuable with each passing day.
Consider
- What are you supposed to be focused on with your life? What about this year? This quarter? This week? Today?
- What were you created to address, solve, cure?
- What purpose does your organization exist for other than to make money and survive?
- Is your life getting quieter despite all the noise, or increasing as the noise around you continues to rise?