“Project Mode”
Early on in our marriage, there were tons of things to build and repair around our place. I had confidence I could do most things myself to save a few bucks so in the evenings and weekends I’d gather the supplies and get to work.
When I worked, I’d often get laser focused on the task and little could deter or distract me until it was complete. If my wife would try to get my attention or talk to me about something else in the middle of the job, it would go in one ear and out the other.
She grew to understand that I couldn’t be bothered during these moments. And there was one visual dead giveaway that I was to be left alone—a pencil tucked in my ear.
She would come into the garage, see the pencil, sigh, and mutter, “Project mode”, and walk away.
This is a trait almost two decades later I sadly still possess. My mind can easily fixate on a task, project, an item I’m hoping to purchase, or some other goal I’m trying to attain. My mind is occupied and not many important things can fit into the same space until it’s complete.
(My former pastor once told me that I spend 80% of my time making things 10% better. He’s not wrong)
It’s the curse of being uninterruptible.
The gospel of Luke tells me I’m not alone in the struggle.
Two stories in the same chapter talk about this mental stronghold.
In Luke 18:15-17 the disciples "rebuke" those trying to bring little children to Jesus. They adopted a false but common cultural assumption that children were lower on the scale of social significance and they closed their eyes and hearts to the possibility that Jesus might think differently.
Just a few paragraphs later, in verses 35-43, the same thing happens, except this time to a blind beggar trying to get Jesus' attention as He's passing through. The disciples assumed their destination was more important than anything that could pop up along the way and "rebuked" this man for trying to "interrupt" Jesus' journey.
They, too, had pencils in their ears.
In both cases they overlaid their own agendas and projects on top of Jesus', trying to dictate His schedule and priorities based on their assumptions.
As I'm sitting here in bed, reading these two passages early in the morning and writing my thoughts, my 9 year old son, Levi, is "bugging" us. He's trying to talk and cuddle and play when we're just waking up and opening the Bible to think, read, and pray. And....we kindly rebuke him! How dare he interrupt our quiet time!
Oh how history repeats itself.
I'm beginning to believe how interruptible we are is a barometer of our discipleship.
Jesus was astonishingly interruptible.
And it was one of His most endearing and grace-filled characteristics.
Every moment was a moment for Jesus to bring the Kingdom. Not just his "on stage" moments, not just his "pre-planned" moments, but in every in-between moment.
If Jesus lived among us today no doubt He'd still be available...
...in the line at the grocery store
...on the sidelines at the soccer fields
...ordering his coffee
...in the middle of his morning walk
...on his vacations
...at the gym, airport, and Costco
Henri Nouwen once said,
“I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted; then I realized that the interruptions were my work.”
The kingdom often arrives disguised as an interruption.
To walk like Jesus is to refuse to let hurry blind us from these moments.
The disciples kept missing the Kingdom because they were too focused on where they were going. Jesus kept revealing the Kingdom to whoever was in front of Him.
A child wanting attention.
A blind man crying out for mercy.
A conversation in a grocery store.
A neighbor at the mailbox.
A son climbing into bed before sunrise.
The older I get, the more I’m convinced that discipleship is not just about learning to follow Jesus in the big moments. It’s learning to recognize Him in the interruptions.
Jesus, help me put the pencil down.