Clutter and Clarity

Kelly and I had a striking experience any time we returned home from visiting either of our parents. Our moms were Depression-era kids, having spent their childhood during the severe austerity of the end of the Great Depression. So, they never threw anything away. Ever. The walls of their homes were always crammed full of various decorations, and rarely was there a theme or focus for them. Every. Square. Inch.

When we walked into our own home, it created a starkly different effect. We were still in school and had a few precious decorations for our small home. Even after we had finished and begun to decorate, the simplicity of our home was still radically different from the “full walls” of our moms’ homes. One decorator who visited our home once called ours a “clean” style. (Kelly asked, “Is that code for undecorated?”) When I came home from a visit to our moms’ homes, I walked into the door and took a deep breath, feeling relief from the claustrophobic clutter.

I have often wondered if that was what Paul had in mind when he talked about forgetting what is behind and pressing forward. I’m sure he didn’t have the same framework I have on that, but Paul was greatly aware of his past mistakes and assumptions. He wrote the Philippian church and said this:

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

The walls in our home were usually focused on one piece of art or photography, or they were intentionally themed to focus the eyes on something meaningful or beautiful. We didn’t want a picture of the cliffs of Italy to be competing with lesser things. That focus was our hope. And for Paul, his background as a Pharisee, the days when he was trolled by the Judaizers, or the many sufferings he had faced could have been great distractions. Yet, he was very intentionally forsaking the clutter of these details and allowing his heart the clarity to pursue Christ’s calling on his life.

It’s hard to have that clarity when we cram so much into our calendars. We say “yes” to so many things, it leads us to say “no” to Jesus when He presents opportunities before us. We each choose clutter or clarity.

Will you take Paul’s example to heart? Will you seek to look forward to God’s great reward with eager expectation?