Choosing To Do The Right Thing

“A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’”

Luke 14:16-20

Priorities.

People often speak of having priorities. People will criticize others for having misplaced priorities. People will defend their actions by pointing to their own priorities.

There is no doubt but that priorities matter.

Obviously, I have my own priorities. On Saturdays, a priority of mine is writing my weekly sermon for Peter’s Proverbs.

Yet that is not my only priority on Saturdays. Periodically I will participate in various group sessions on Saturday mornings, and so I will not sit down to write until later in the afternoon. On Saturdays where I do not have such engagements I will write in the morning.

Does that make Peter’s Proverbs less of a priority?

During the week a clear priority of mine is developing commentary and analyses for All Facts Matter.

Yet during the week I will have meetings and appointments which I make and which I must keep. I will then delay scrutinizing major news events and writing about them in All Facts Matter. That delay might even preclude my writing about a particular event for want of timeliness.

Does that make All Facts Matter less of a priority?

Should Peter’s Proverbs be more of a priority for me? Should All Facts Matter be more of a priority for me?

While my weekly sermons are simply my own thoughts on Christian living, if I truly believe that we are called to share our faith with others, and to be God’s light to the world, surely that means that Peter’s Proverbs is important—and should be important. Surely if this is a calling from God it is not merely good but imperative that I make Peter’s Proverbs a priority.

To what extent does measuring up to the particulars of my faith influence where I put Peter’s Proverbs in my Saturday priority list? To what extent should that influence where I put Peter’s Proverbs in my Saturday priority list?

All Facts Matter is part of how I generate my monthly income. It’s not the only thing I do to earn money, but earning money is part of the motivation for writing the articles and producing the video podcasts.

To what extent does generating an income influence where I put All Facts Matter in my weekly priority list? To what extent should that influence where I put All Facts Matter in my weekly priority list?

By the same token, much of what I do earn from All Facts Matter comes from monthly subscriptions. In a very literal sense, I have made a commitment to my subscribers to generate content on a fairly regular basis. In a very literal sense, I have made a commitment to my subscribers to generate quality content.

To what extent does my commitment to my subscribers influence where I put All Facts Matter in my priority list overall? To what extent should that influence where I put All Facts matter in my priority list overall?

This much is certain: in any given moment, only one thing can be my number one priority. In any given moment, only one thing can be my most important and most compelling obligation. What that most important and most compelling obligation is will change, but by definition there will never be more than one most important and most compelling obligation. That is the nature of priorities. Regarding priorities, that is the order of things.

This much is also certain: what is a priority to me may be more or less of a priority to someone else. A commitment I make to someone may seem like a trifling matter to me, and be extremely important to them. Alternatively, a commitment someone makes to me may be extremely important to me, and a trifling matter to them.

No extraordinary reasoning is needed to understand that if I ignore that commitment which to me is trifling but to the other person is important, that other person is going to be highly offended. I would be highly offended—and with reason—if someone ignored a commitment to me that I deemed important.

I would be even more offended if the other person dismissed the commitment as a trifling matter. I would view such a dismissal as a dismissal of me, and a casual disregard for my own human worth. When that has happened in the past I have viewed such a dismissal as a dismissal of me, and a casual disregard for my own human worth.

To be dismissed and disregarded does not feel good.

To dismiss and disregard others is not something we are ever called to do.

Yet because we can only have one most important priority, and because that priority will often be different than what others will presume should be our most important priority, our priorities are going to put us in conflict with others. Whether or not we want such a conflict, whenever there is a difference in the priority people place on something, conflict is inevitable.

Whenever there is a difference in the priority we individually place on something, each of us is faced with the possiblity of being dismissed and disregarded, or being the one to dismiss and disregard.

How do we resolve such conflicts? How do we avoid being dismissed while at the same time avoid being dismissive?

While we cannot control what priority others place on something, we do choose the priority we ourselves place on that same thing. As with all our choices, we do well to choose our priorities wisely.

Are we choosing to make a priority of whatever calling God has for us?

Are we choosing to make a priority that which is in keeping with God’s Law?

Most of all, are we choosing to make a priority of doing the right thing, whatever that right thing is?

Are we clear in our own minds what that right thing is?

As we are called by God to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, it follows that we are never called to intentionally choose conflict, and so we are never called to choose to make something more or less important to us than it is to our neighbor.

As we are called by God to love God with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds, it follows that we are never called to simply pander to others, and especially not called to subordinate whatever God has laid before us to the whimsy of others.

It must therefore also follow that, in choosing our priorities, we do well to seek to find that intersection where our priorities acknowledge God’s calling for us as well as God’s calling for us to avoid unnecessary conflict with our neighbor. We do well to focus on doing the right thing, but not get so caught up in our own actions that we cease to be mindful of others, and of what is important to others. We do well to realize that where we can balance that which is important to others and what is important to ourselves, we are called to seek and sustain that balance.

That balance is easy to mention. It is not always easy to achieve—and yet it is what we are always called to achieve.

My prayer for myself is always that I will be mindful of all those things which are a priority to others. My prayer for myself is always that I will be mindful that part of my priorities is being mindful of those priorities held by others. My prayer for myself is always that I will find that balance between my priorities and the priorities of others, that I may avoid unnecessary conflict.

My prayer for you is always that you will be mindful of all those things which are a priority to others around you. My prayer for you is always that you will be mindful of the priority of being mindful of those priorities held by others. My prayer for you is always that you will find that balance between your priorities and the priorities of others around you, that you may avoid unnecessary conflict.

In any given moment, we can have only one most important priority. In any given moment we can have only one action which is most important to do.

Yet in every moment, we are called to choose that action which balances what is a priority to us and what is a priority to others. In every moment, choosing that action is how we avoid unnecessary conflict. In every moment, choosing that action is how we love both our neighbor and ourselves, and thus how we love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.

In every moment, that is how we choose to do the right thing.