focus

I'm reading a business book entitled "Focus" by Al Ries. In it, he argues at length that companies need to narrow their objectives and product lines. He provides a multitude of examples of companies that either became less focused and less profitable, or more focused and more profitable.

This focus notion easily applies on the individual level. Am I spread too thin? Am I going in too many directions? Are there too many things competing for my time and other resources? And am I ineffective as a result? These are the questions I've been asking myself.

Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll recently pinpointed a good example of someone who was very focused: Jesus.

In the past, I've taken Jesus' ministry to be something a little more on the unfocused side. The way the narratives read makes his destinations and interactions with people seem without pattern. But when Driscoll brings up a passage in Luke 4, I realized I was wrong.

Jesus has just finished a full days' worth of ministry, healing people and exorcising demons. It had been going on all night and was now morning, and he tries to withdraw to a "deserted place." Yet the crowds of people follow him and beg him to stay. Jesus response is one of focus: "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent" (v. 43). He had the chance to do more good in Capernaum, but realized it didn't fit into his personal mission; and, beyond that, when he realized it he said no.

I need to get to that level of focus.