The Hub Of The Wheel | Philippians 1:20-21

Opening Remarks:

Last message: When a tool becomes a chain

Sometimes the hard things in life can turn into good things in life

I hurt my ankle at camp last month, but good things came from it.

Primarily, it kept me laid up in my room, which kept me from getting sick when the rest of the camp came down with Montezuma’s Revenge.

Paul sits bound to a Roman guard, his words make it clear that he believed God could use those chains to become something positive.

He says in Vs. 12 that the “things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.”

In spite of his chains:

1. The things which happened to him opened more doors to point people to Christ:

Being a Roman prisoner gave him access to the lost. He was chained to a guard 24 hours a day.

2. Second, being a Roman prisoner also gave him access to important people in the palace. His chains opened doors to witness to people he never would have otherwise.

3. Third, being a prisoner allowed him to be an inspiration to others like the Philippians. They thought, “If Paul can be faithful in prison, I can be faithful in my situation.”

All of us have things which have happened unto us. We can either view them as chains that bind us or tools we can use for the work of the Lord.

So how do we do that? What gave Paul the ability to have that kind of perspective?

I submit to you that he was able to keep his perspective because of what he was focused on. Maybe I should say WHO he was focused on.

Philippians 1:20 “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”

Vs. 20 – I want everything I do, from living to die, to be all about Jesus Christ. I want people to see Jesus in everything I do.

Every word

Every look

Every attitude

Every Facebook post

CHRIST IN EVERYTHING!

You talk about having the right priority. Paul served the right way for the right reasons. He was dealing with difficult circumstances (in prison) and difficult people (trying to add to his suffering), and yet He could maintain joy and the right perspective.

How? How is that even possible?

If you’re like me, when things are tough I don’t feel like having joy. “Joy” sounds like party, but the only party I want when things are hard is a “pity party.”

I want to stick out my poochie lip and have people feel sorry for me. But Paul was able to have joy and the right perspective in trouble because he was focused on Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Paul’s priority in life was Jesus Christ.

We hear a lot about establishing priorities, but the plural word “priorities” is actually a contradiction.

The definition of “priority” means “most important.” In other words, there can only be one “most important” thing in your life. Until the last 100 years or so, priority was a singular word. The origin of the word “priority” suggests that it means “coming first compared to another thing; the state of being prior (first).” Maybe the concept of having multiple priorities morphed as we desired to get more done or become more productive, which I don’t fault. But it is still true that only one comes in first.

Illustration: Jase playing soccer as a 5 year old…being confused about getting a trophy… “But everybody didn’t win.”

Even Jase knew there’s only one first. It’s a recent cultural phenomenon to declare multiple winners. It has come around the same time that people decided “priority” could become “priorities.” To add an “s” is a contradiction based on the very definition of the word.

There’s only one “priority.” There can only be one first. There can only be one “most important.”

Illustration: I’d like to visualize this by using a wagon wheel. There are three parts to a Wagon Wheel: the RIM, the SPOKES and the HUB.

IMAGE #1

The Rim is the part that touches the ground. In our lives the rim is the part of our life that other people see. It may be visible to others and it may seem like the most important part, but there are other pieces causing it to move. It is a passive component in the process of movement.

The Spokes are what connects the Hub to the Rim. The spokes are the different important pieces of our lives. These are the things that matter. Any of the following things can be on the spokes:

IMAGE #2

“PRIORITIES”

1. Jesus Christ

2. Family Life

3. Friendships

4. Relationships

5. Career

6. Education

7. Health

8. Finances

9. Hobbies

As important as all of those things are, only one can be Most Important. There can only be One in the middle.

So that’s what the Hub represents – the Hub is the most important thing.

· It’s the part of the wheel that attaches to the axel. The power to turn the wheel comes through the hub.

· It’s the part of the wheel that attaches to and moves each spoke.

· The Hub is The One Most Important Thing. The Hub is the priority from which everything else comes.

Only one thing can be listed on the Hub of your life.

Look at that list. Any of those things can be listed on a spoke, but since there can only be One Most Important Priority, we have to decide what comes first. For many it’s family - Family is so very important. It ought to be prioritized.

For many, especially young people, it’s friendships.

It could your relationships.

Maybe it’s your career.

For many it’s their education. Nothing matters as much as that does right now.

Health is very important, and for many it consumes their thoughts and schedules.

Finances is the priority for many, especially in our culture. It’s all about the bottom line.

For some, the priority is their Hobby. That’s on the hub of their wheel.

None of these are wrong. All of them deserves attention and and essential parts of life.

But understand, if any of the things listed from #2-#9 are on the Hub of your heart, then Jesus Christ is just another spoke.

That’s a problem because it means that Jesus Christ (the Creator, God’s Son) is just another piece of the wagon wheel. He’s just one among many. If He’s just a spoke, that means He’s equal with…

Your Career

Your Finances

Your Friends

And all this leads to another problem: If I label all of these things as priorities, then I am in a constant battle choosing between them, because there can only be one. So if I’m trying to choose between nine and there can only be one I will live in constant and continual frustration. I’ll be trying to balance what matters the most, and if Jesus Christ is on the same level as everything, He could be treated like anything else on the list.

So that leads to the obvious question: What’s in the middle? What is listed on the Hub of your life? What is the most important thing? Because whatever’s in the middle will affect everything else.

If your family is on the Hub, I commend you for prioritizing your family. We need more husbands and fathers and wives and mothers who will see the value of the family like God sees it. But should family come before Christ?

Now understand, I’m not saying that Family isn’t important, but Husbands, you can love and lead your Family more effectively and in a more godly way if Christ is on your Hub. Your highest calling as a man is to love your wife as Christ loved the church. You could never love her the way you ought to without Christ’s example and enabling. So putting Christ in the hub will make you a better husband.

Moms, I know you love those kiddos and you want to nurture and protect them and see them become all they could be, but if your own walk with Jesus Christ isn’t first, you won’t be able to model the kind of traits they need to see in order to be like Jesus themselves. In short, mom and dad, you can love and lead your children so much more effectively if you are first who you ought to be as a Christian.

As important as Family is, it has to remain a spoke and Jesus Christ has to be the Hub. That means the things that pertain to Jesus Christ and your spiritual life must be the priority. That’s why every family needs to be invested in a Christ-honoring, truth proclaiming, scriptural, NT church.

As important as a spiritual home is in raising godly children, families are increasingly bypassing God’s plan for their spiritual lives by diminishing the importance of a church family. But Christ loved the church and gave Himself it. You can’t ignore the priority the NT places on the local church.

And you can’t ignore a verse like Matthew 10:37 when Christ said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Our families are extremely important. The family unit is the building block of a church family. But as important as family is, Christ should be first in our families. We must not confuse that message as we raise our children.

Contrary to what is seen in many Christian families, parents should raise their children understanding that their spiritual lives are more important than:

Sports

Or education

Or getting a job

We have to recognize that our priorities will impact the next generation. If our Hub has the wrong label, we’ve just lowered the likelihood that the Hub of our children’s lives will say “Jesus Christ.”

Whatever is on our Hub will make our decisions for us:

Career instead of Christ – That means you’ll be willing to move to a new city to take a new job based on money and location without first considering whether or not there’s a good Bible preaching local church there. The Hub that says “Career” and that turns the whole wheel.

Education instead of Christ – That means a Christian will pour themselves into the books and homework and getting that degree at the expense of a walk with God. I know so many college age Christians who get so into their studies that they detach from anything spiritual for four years and by the time they’re done, they are essentially complacent about spiritual things. Jesus Christ, for many young adults, isn’t even one of the spokes on the wheel anymore.

Relationships instead of Christ – That means we’ll do whatever it takes to build and keep a relationship, whether or not the other person loves the Lord or helps our walk with God. Prioritizing the wrong relationship can turn our hearts away from Christ. The only name on the Hub of our wagon wheel ought to be Jesus Christ.

What’s in the middle of your wagon wheel?

Only one thing can be listed and right now, if it’s anything other than Jesus Christ, then that’s the wrong priority. Here’s what your wagon wheel should look like:

IMAGE #3

This is the label on Paul’s Hub, based on what he wrote in vs. 21.

So complete this sentence. “For to me to live is ______________ and to die is _____________.”

If yours is, “For me to live is money,” we are living for something temporary.

If yours is, “For me to live is my job,” that job won’t last forever. Most people don’t say, on their deathbeds, “I wish I had worked more.”

If yours is, “For me to live is my family,” you are limiting how much you can love and influence your family spiritually by putting them above Christ.

If you live to be liked in your relationships, that won’t prepare you to stand before Jesus Christ at the judgment.

Conclusion: What’s in the middle? What is on your hub?

What One Thing makes your decisions for you?

What do you wake up thinking about?

What do you spend your money on?

What gets the most time in your schedule?

Here’s a different way to examine your priorities based on what Paul wrote:

“Do I allow difficult people or difficult circumstances to rob me of my Joy?”

If so, that’s a sign that something other than Jesus Christ is written on your Hub.

Paul could say what he said because of Who was the focus of of His life.

Christian, the only way to have genuine Joy in life, no matter what, is to have one priority: Jesus Christ.

What or Who is in the middle of your life?