In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)
The conjunction “therefore” connects this passage to the previous one (Matthew 6:19-24). Christ finished instructing His disciples concerning good stewardship. Instead of piling up their earthly wealth and possessions, believers must invest more in heavenly treasures. Being focused more on spiritual riches and pursuits, we Christians must grow not in our standard of living but in our standard of giving for the kingdom and purposes of God.
We must serve God rather than earthly wealth.
Given this call for Christian stewardship, Christ directs the conversation to the issue of anxiety. He already knows what could be running in the minds of His hearers.
“If I should give more for the gospel ministry, what about my needs? If I give more for the church or the poor and needy, how can I sustain my family?”
Of course, Christ didn’t mean we should give it all away for the missions. He didn’t mean we sell everything and give all the proceeds to the church—at the expense of our survival. That’s an extreme and wrong interpretation of prosperity-gospel churches today.
Discussing stewardship is beyond the scope of this article, but the point is that believers must be good stewards by meeting their needs while being generous for the needs of others too.
So Jesus addresses this right away, saying, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious…”
What does Christ mean?
What Anxiety Is
To be anxious is to be apprehensive, fearing that something bad may happen.
In Psalm 127:2, it speaks of “anxious toil.” The Hebrew word for anxious here carries the idea of having pain and hurt, and it applies both to the body and the mind.
To be anxious is to be unduly concerned.
When Christ visited Mary and Martha, Martha was busy serving their guests while Mary was listening to Christ’s teaching. Martha then said to Christ, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion…” (Luke 10:40-42).
Jesus knows the value of using our gifts to serve and benefit others. He must be grateful for Martha’s hospitality. But she was doing it out of anxiety. Instead of having joy and a sense of fulfillment, she was troubled. There’s pain and struggle within.
And Luke tells us, “Martha was distracted with much serving” (verse 40, emphasis added). The problem is not her act of service, but it was too much, way beyond what’s needed. The problem is not her concern for their needs. It was the “many things”—as Christ said—those many other details that consumed her and distracted her from what’s most important.
So, to be anxious or worried is to be unduly concerned and fearful of a bad turn of events. When we’re worried, even while our body is at rest, our mind and heart are toiling and travailing within. We get tired imagining what bad things could happen to us, our family, our jobs, our business, our ministry, and everything else—even if those bad things are not happening at all.
Then, it becomes a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual distress. And when we’re anxious, we do things out of frustration—sometimes even resulting in financial loss.
Christ doesn’t say we shouldn’t care at all. He is not promoting a deterministic mentality, a “come what may” attitude, or the Filipino version, “Bahala na si Batman.” As moral beings, and especially as Christians, we must be responsible and careful for our lives. We study and plan before making decisions. We ensure there’s food on our tables. We find ways to grow our businesses and improve our ministries.
But let’s not care for our lives with fear of the worst. Let’s not be unduly concerned beyond what is necessary. Let’s not think and plan while our hearts are troubled, to the extent of losing sight of other more important things.
The Clear Command
“Do not be anxious,” Christ says.
Take note: It is a command. Christ is not giving suggestions or advice we can either take or not. It is God’s will that His children should not be anxious.
Let’s admit it. We tolerate anxiety as a respectable sin. It’s minor compared with other sins. It’s normal. We’ll talk more about the sinfulness of anxiety some other time. But let it suffice for now to say, “anxiety is a sin.” Since Christ commands us not to be anxious, being anxious and staying anxious is a sin against God.
We must recognize it as such. Otherwise, we will not address it or overcome it.
Have you been anxious lately? Are you a serial worrier?
Then, let us confess it to God and ask for forgiveness. We can take comfort that it’s one of the sins Christ also died for on the cross. The Bible says if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from all our sins and unrighteousness—including anxiety (1 John 1:8-9).
When we recognize our sin of anxiety, and seek God’s help, He gives us grace and wisdom to understand anxiety and the strength to overcome it.
Now, after giving the command, Christ identifies those things we often worry about and how we should think of them. And that’s what I hope to discuss next week.
**Featured Image by Alessandro Danchini from Pixabay
