The Danger of Distractions

Revelation Chapter 3 presents 3 different local churches and how they deal with DISTRACTIONS:

The church in Philadelphia was encouraged for their obedience to God’s word and for NOT denying Him, even though they had little strength. They handled the distractions pretty well, so God opened a door for them that no one could shut.

The church in Sardis, however, didn’t respond well to distractions. They were living off a reputation that was no longer valid. They thought of themselves as being a LIVELY church, while in fact they were DEAD! So God demanded that they WAKE UP and Go back to what they had heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to Him again!

The church in Laodicea also gave into distractions. They were found to be lukewarm and warned of being spit out of God’s mouth! They thought they were in need of nothing, but God revealed to them that they wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. So God commanded them to turn from their indifference.

“The Danger of Distractions” is that they can cause you to focus on the things that do NOT matter and neglect the things that do! Distractions have a way of getting your priorities out of order!

Take the story of Achan for example: (Joshua 6:18-19/ NLT) says, "Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. 19 Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury."

(Joshua 7:1-5/ NLT) says, "But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites…Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the city of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. 3 When they returned, they told Joshua, "It's a small town, and it won't take more than two or three thousand of us to destroy it. There's no need for all of us to go there."

4 So approximately three thousand warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai 5 chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away…"

(Joshua 7:10-13/ NLT) says, "Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen the things that I commanded to be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them; they have also lied about it and hidden the things among their belongings. 12 That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.

13 "Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things."

(Joshua 7:16, 19-25/ NLT) says, "Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the LORD, and the tribe of Judah was singled out…19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don't hide it from me."

20 Achan replied, "I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest."

22 So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. 23 They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the LORD.

24 Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. 25 Then Joshua said to Achan, "Why have you brought trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you." And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies."

This scripture gives credibility to the principle that how we respond to DISTRACTIONS can actually bring LIFE or DEATH to us corporately!

For Achan to merely hear about the distraction was one thing, but when he came face to face with the distraction, he gave into it which resulted in the death of 36 warriors, himself and his whole family! Don’t tell me that Distractions are NOT Dangerous!

This principle of “Corporate Worship” plays out in our local church every Sunday and Wednesday Night, which is why we can’t afford to have an “off” day. Lives are at stake. Eternities are at stake. If I don’t PRAY somebody could die! If I don’t offer God PRAISE somebody could die! If I don’t WORSHIP somebody could die!

(Matthew 15:8-9/ NIV) says, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain;”

The Danger of Distractions is that we get to a place where we honor God with our lips, we honor God with our dance, we honor God with our singing, we honor God with our shouting, but our hearts are far from him. Distractions DISCONNECT you from God, and DISCONNECTED WORSHIP is VAIN WORSHIP-it's EMPTY WORSHIP-it's WORSHIP with NO POWER!

DISRACTIONS are REAL! DISTRACTIONS are DANGEROUS! Therefore, EVERYTIME we come together to Worship God, we've got to PRAY like it's our last service-we've got to WORSHIP like it's our last service-we've got to RESPOND like it's our last service!