“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:28-34 (NIV)

But what did Jesus mean?

Out of the context of both the surrounding verses and the New Testament, we can go down a rabbit trail. Context is everything. To quote this section of Matthew to those who have no food or clothes as a solution is not only wrong but it lacks the love and compassion of our savior. As a matter of fact Jesus later on in Matthew 25:36-40 says: “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (NIV) To imply that Jesus is saying the necessities of life are of no consequence to those who follow Him is not the right interpretation of Jesus’ words.

To give context to any scripture we must…

…understand the audience and the surrounding words of the speaker. Jesus is addressing people who would have found their identity as children of God mixed in with the pagan society of the day. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (NIV). It is about who/what we pursue. The pagans would have seen food and clothing as signs of achievement and even ways to define existence as human beings. The words of Jesus correct that assumption. We are told to seek God first, to seek His righteousness, not to make the things of this world the most important thing as we cannot worship God and money. Money translates into the things of this world. Almost everything is a purchasable commodity that requires currency.

As we search for God’s call for our churches,

the things of this world can become the markers for success. The size of our congregation, the ownership of a building and the budget of the church can all become worries that we slip into worshiping. Matthew 6:33-34 is the starting point for everything at your church if you truly seek to follow God and His plan. Seek first God and His righteousness and the way we must go to acquire what we need the rest of what we need will be provided by God.