Kingdom First (4)
Posted by Vincent Cheung on April 21, 2005Yet another way to distort the verse is to represent it as teaching a merely chronological order — that we should first seek the kingdom, but then seek wealth and other material things. This view might initially appear plausible because of the word "first," but it does not imply that Jesus is telling us to merely make seeking the kingdom the first item on an agenda that contains many other items.
In fact, from the language and the context of the verse, it appears that Jesus is telling us to make seeking the kingdom the "first" and thus the only item on our agenda. In verse 33, he does not say, "You must serve God and then Money," nor does he say, "You must serve Money so that you can serve God." Rather, he has already said in verse 24, "You serve both God and Money." Therefore, in verse 33, he is saying, "You must serve God and not Money at all."
The verse reads, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (active); and all these things shall be added to you (passive)." The first part of the verse tells us what we ought to do; on the other hand, the second part of the verse does not tell us some other thing that we also ought to do, but it simply tells us what will happen. The point of the entire passage is to get our attention away from material things in order to actively seek the kingdom of God.
Therefore, by "first," Jesus is not indicating that we should give the kingdom of God mere chronological priority, but that we should actively make it the sole focus of our lives, making everything else subservient to it. In other words, you have not obeyed this verse just because you meditated on a passage of Scripture for two minutes "first" thing in the morning, but then put everything Christian out of your mind for the rest of the day. To seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness would include thinking on his word all day and all night (Psalm 1:2), even while you are doing other things. There are many things competing for your attention throughout the day, and each time you must put the kingdom of God "first"; each time you must let it control your agenda, your thinking, and your behavior.
This does not mean that you must neglect or abandon some of the legitimate things in your life. Scripture teaches that it is your duty to attend to your family, your occupation, and the practical matters of life that are necessary to sustain a normal lifestyle and to function in human society. But even these legitimate things must be done in the context of seeking the kingdom of God, and one must be prepared to put the kingdom first even at their expense. Often it is because of these "legitimate" things that cause people to neglect the kingdom of God, and all the while they still think that they are seeking first the kingdom, and thus they stop being doers of the word, but hearers only.
(to be continued)
Recommended:
Vincent Cheung, The Sermon on the Mount
Benjamin B. Warfield, "This- and Other-Worldliness," in Faith and Life