Focused

For two weeks, the nations of the world gather in one place and engage in friendly competition. Flags fly high and people become unusually proud of their heritage and history. Some people have trained for years just for these moments. Other people spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles just to stand on the sidelines. Others move their family dinners into the living room and turn on the television every evening just to watch the representatives of the places we call home. Individual athletes' stories are told and their victories and losses shared by all their viewers. I love the Olympics. 

Tonight during the men's figure skating, I saw a special feature on one of the competitors - the Russian favorite. They said he's a hero in Russia. As they showed him walking into the Olympic arena, he looked too preoccupied to even smile and wave at the cameras. He was in the zone. In an interview later, he commented, "I'm just focused on myself right now. I apologize for not greeting anyone."

Uh oh, I thought to myself. I love the heartwarming stories about the athletes who compete for their families and loved ones, but something bothers me about the cocky ones who are wrapped up in themsleves. It's a dangerous place to be when you are only focused on yourself...so much that you don't even take notice of others.

Sure enough, in the warm-ups, this Russian star fell and injured his back. In sight of thousands of his fans in an Olympic stadium in his home country, he withdrew from the competition for medical reasons.

The thing is, when you focus on yourself, you will end up disappointed. When you rely on yourself, you will only fall short. Pride comes before a fall. No pun intended. 

I look at my own life and see examples of this. When I was diagnosed with an eating disorder, I set out to prove the doctor wrong. I had a plan: I would just eat more, gain weight, and get healthy enough to run track again. In all that, I relied only on my own self-motivation and dedicated effort to achieve health and healing. It didn't work. I quickly realized I was failing because I was trying to do it on my own. I was focused on myself.

Maybe that's why Jesus compared our relationship with him to a vine and branches. He is the vine, the source, the strong support, the center. We are the branches, just hanging onto him for life and nourishment. Remain in him and bear much fruit. Apart from him we can do nothing.

Jesus knew that we, like the Russian figure skater, would be tempted to get wrapped up in ourselves. But when we turn inward and only rely on ourselves for strength and success, we detach ourselves from the vine. And we wither and fall.

So what's the alternative? Hebrews 12 says, "Fix your eyes on Jesus." What if we switched the wording of that Russian skater just so slightly and said, "I'm just focused on Jesus right now." What if we said that to ourselves? When we have an argument, we stop and say, "I'm focused on Jesus right now." When we hear bad news, we stop and say, "I'm focused on Jesus right now." When we are running late and spill our coffee and forget our wallets at home, we stop and say, "I'm focused on Jesus right now." How different would life look? 

I wonder if we'd spent less time falling and more time worshipping. Less time fighting and more time loving. Less time frustrated and angry. More time enjoying and loving life. 

And when we focus our attention and affection on Jesus, we will begin to see others, too. The Olympic skater was so focused on himself that he failed to see and greet others. The exact opposite is true. We take our eyes off ourselves and we are able to look at our lives more clearly and notice the people around us, even greeting them with a smile and a wave. 

We may not be Olympic athletes on national television, but we do live in a watching world. When eyes are on us, we must realize that we represent Jesus Christ and his kingdom in the world. Let's look into their eyes and say, "I'm focused on Jesus. And because of him, I see you and will love you with his love so that you can know him, too."

I can't imagine how disappointed that poor Russian figure skater and all his fans were when he had to back out of the competition that he worked so hard to get to. But isn't that what happens when we choose to get all caught up in ourselves? "I was so focused on myself," he said, and he left utterly disappointed. But Isaiah 49:23 says, "He who hopes in the Lord will not be disappointed." Can you imagine that? Never being disappointed ever! We can absolutely live a life without disappointment when we take our focus off ourselves and fix our eyes on Christ. Like branches on a vine.