The One Thing Necessary - Part 2
- Pam Gilbert
- May 27
- 6 min read
“The true goal is to be what we do.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel
We are moving through the Sermon on the Mount to learn how to live it out. As C.S. Lewis said, it is going to be easy and hard. There is an atmosphere in the kingdom of God - an environment that is life and leads to life. “The heart of God is the environment for the Christian. God meant that we should live in that environment.” (1)
We are to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. (Mt 6:33) This is our priority. If you miss Him, it is hard to experience His kingdom. This is the one thing necessary and it has an AND. There are two parts. In the previous article, The One Necessary Thing - Part 1, we looked at seeking first His kingdom. Now we look at the next part.
Seek His righteousness.
If you turn to the beginning of the Bible, the first thing we learn is that God created all that is by His Word. The psalms tell us that day after day, speech pours out. The sky proclaims God’s creative work (Ps 19). There is an atmosphere of glory and praise all around us. That’s not all. God’s Word is at work. We learn:
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. (Ps 19:7-9)
The environment we are seeking in God has been proclaimed through His Word. It is perfect, trustworthy, right, and firm. As we seek God and his kingdom, our souls are refreshed, we are made wise, we experience joy, and we dwell in righteousness.
Paul explains, “ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of legalistic rules about what you eat and drink but of righteousness, peace, and joy.” (Rom 14:17) When we seek him and his kingdom, all these other things - peace, and joy - shall be added as well. God’s righteousness leads to fullness of life.
The word righteousness can be distracting to our modern ear. Think of it this way. To be righteous is to be found pleasing or to be right with. As Paul told us, “find what is pleasing to God.” (Eph 5:10 ) And then, with God’s help, we become the kind of person who lives in a way that is pleasing or right with God.
As the church began, Peter spoke with people who had never met Jesus and were unfamiliar with the teachings of the law and prophets. He had to find a way to tell people who Jesus was. This is what he said,” Jesus went around doing good.” (Acts 10:38)
Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we see what doing good looks like. We see what his righteousness is like:
Be salt
Be light
Follow God’s commands
Resist anger
Be faithful in marriage
Keep your word
Turn the other cheek
Go the extra mile
Love your enemies
Give to the needy without making a fuss
Pray
Forgive
Pursue God
Don’t worry
Focus on the plank in your eye
Examine your own life before judging others
Be Perfect
It is true that we are not perfect, but have you considered that we are supposed to be? Jesus tells us, “Be perfect.” (Mt 5:48) Maybe we give ourselves a free pass on this all too often. We write it off rather than acknowledging where we fell short, failed, or did wrong. No one’s perfect.
C.S. Lewis says, “When [Jesus] said, ‘Be perfect.’ He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard, but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder - in fact, impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” (2)
Years ago, I volunteered with a group of children. The children were in the care of a gym teacher. Some kids liked him. Others, not so much. I have to admit, even as an adult, he scared me a bit. He seemed to assume the role of a drill sergeant, yelling commands and feedback at will. I half expected that I would have to drop and do 25 or start running laps.
I could see that he was wearing some of the kids down. And then it happened. One of the children had had enough. Upon being yelled at, she yelled back, “You know I’m not perfect. Only Jesus is perfect.” The room fell to a hush. Life seemed to come back to some kids, while others were in disbelief that she challenged the “Sergeant.” This teacher had very high standards. As the girl pointed out, he wanted everyone to be perfect!
In the Bible, Paul talks about becoming perfect. He says, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded” (Phil 3:14-15, KJV)
Some newer translations have changed the word perfect to mature. The young girl seemed to be onto something. Jesus is the only one who is perfect, and the only way we can grow to be more perfect like him is through maturity. It is going to be a process. Thankfully, God is not like a drill sergeant.
We need to mature. We need to grow.
John Mark Comer explains it this way: “The genius of Jesus’ ethical teaching was that you cannot keep the law by trying not to break the law. You cannot become more loving by trying to become more loving…You have to be transformed in your inner person, or what Jesus called the heart.” (3)
Your Treasure
Jesus tells us, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6:21) What does the heart want? It wants to be known and understood. It wants to be loved.
Preacher and Bible teacher Tom Long says that our hearts desire to count for something and to someone. He says we want to come to the end of our day or the end of our life “with the satisfaction of having stood for what is good, with the joy of having loved and been loved well in return, with the memory of having shown mercy, and with the peace of having walked with God - these are the true treasures, the treasures of the kingdom, a fortune, no thief can plunder.” (4)
Once again, we see that Jesus is giving us a new orientation. We can see life as a gift from God and an outpouring of God's provision. We can understand that we are treasures and live with others who are treasures. We can give because we have received. We can hope because we know we are not in control. We can be good people who bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. (Lk 6:45)
The Golden Rule
Which leads us to another treasure - the Golden Rule. Again, Jesus gives us a new way to live, saying: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do unto you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 7:12)
Just imagine if we really lived by the Golden Rule. Our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and the world would be different. It takes effort and imagination to live by the Golden Rule. We need to consider how we want to be treated and treat others that way. This means I need to care enough about myself and others to put us in the same boat.
Seeking Him and His Righteousness
When Jesus says, “Be perfect,” Lewis explains that Jesus is saying, “You may want something less, but I will give you nothing less.” (2) We are made in God's image. God’s vision for us is great.
Learning to mature in Christ is a process. “The good life, the flourishing life isn’t something you experience as a command. It’s something that has been incorporated into your very being.” (5)
It happens as God transforms our hearts. It happens as we seek him and his righteousness. It happens as we become like Christ in character and love. It happens as we trust God and surrender our ways to his.
To seek him and his righteousness is to want more than what is possible in and of yourself. It is to press on to perfection. It is to live by the Golden Rule. It is to live as one whom God treasures. It is to live as one who treasures God. It is to become new - to want to be hatched and fly.
If you want to go deeper…
Read Matthew 6:25-7:12
Consider - Do the people who know you best see that you have matured in your faith? How so?
Consider - Am I truly seeking Christ alone and his righteousness?
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A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of Christian Maturity: Flourishing in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
John Mark Comer, Practicing The Way: Be with Jesus, Become like him, Do as he did.
Thomas G. Long, Matthew: Westminster Bible Companion
Miroslav Volf, “Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf”, A Bit of Optimism: A Podcast with Simon Sinek.
