Jesus Says What Our Priorities Should Be

Matthew 6:33 has, for many years, been a foundational scripture for me, not just because it demands the kingdom be a priority in my life, but because it frames a balance as well. Jesus states that Christians are to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness.  In other words, Christians should be focused on two things: 1) the expansion of the kingdom of God on earth; and 2) personal sanctification.

What it Means to Seek the Kingdom of God

If the kingdom of God is the reign of Jesus–and I’m pretty sure it is (see e.g. Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 19:11-27)–then seeking the kingdom of God means seeking to fully submit to the reign of Jesus in our lives and persuading others to submit to Jesus’ reign as well.

When Jesus issued His Great Commission, instructing His disciples to go into all the world baptizing and teaching people “to observe all I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20), He was commanding them to persuade others to voluntarily submit to His reign. Seeking the kingdom of God then means seeking the expansion of Jesus’s reign in our lives and the lives of others, whether through evangelism, discipleship, or any other way in which people, places, and things come under voluntary submission to the benevolent reign of Jesus.

What it Means to Seek His Righteousness

Seeking God’s righteousness means seeking to become like Him. God is righteous, and Jesus is the incarnation of the person and character of God in human form. Sanctification is the process by which we are conformed to the image of Jesus. The arc of our lives should be one of justification (being born again), sanctification (the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus), and glorification (the time when we enter eternal life and are given glorified bodies). Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:33 about our priority on earth is that we be sanctified.

The Balance of Sanctification and Kingdom Advancement

The priorities of pursuing kingdom-building and sanctification are the point of Jesus’ statement, but implicit in Jesus’ words is that we should not seek one to the exclusion of the other.

If Christians focused on the expansion of the kingdom of God and ignored sanctification, they would quickly become seen as dominion-seeking bullies. If Christians focused only on personal sanctification to the exclusion of the expansion of the kingdom, they would become ineffective pietists. Jesus makes it clear both are to be a priority to the exclusion of neither.

Kingdom-building and sanctification are not an either/or but a both/and proposition.  Keep these two at the very top of your list of priorities and you will be neither a bully nor a wimp, excessive nor ineffective.  GS