Silos to Spokes
January 18, 2018Many are familiar with the phrase, ‘live like there is no tomorrow.’ It may be helpful advice in some circumstances. Yet, I would not recommend this as a universal life philosophy. Surprisingly, the Bible says something similar which can be difficult to understand. In the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, “From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
While this may sound like we are to abandon our responsibilities and live freely, instead what Paul means is to incorporate all aspects of our life into our relationship with God. For example, Silos are used by farmers to hold one thing. How often do we segregate our lives into separate silos? Family, money, work, vacation, religion—each in their own separate container never to be mixed or comingled. In this passage, Paul invites us to bring our marriage relationships into harmony with our relationship with God through faith in Jesus, who is at the heart of all our human relationships. This way, our lives are more like wheels, with many spokes connected by a hub. Jesus is the only hub of the wheel of our lives that can hold together all our spokes in an integrated and fully functional manner. While it may be tempting to place something else in the center of the spokes, it never turns out well. God’s gracious invitation is to live life not as silos but as wheels—with Jesus at the center of everything. - Adapted from Concordia Pulpit Resources