Life Group Discussion Guide for January 22, 2023
Resolute: A Focused Study of Luke
1.22.23
Can I Have Your Attention Please?
Luke 10:38-42
Dinner Table Questions
“In 2015, a study commissioned by Microsoft and discussed in Time magazine found that the average attention span was in fact only 8 s…it was reported in that same Time article that goldfish…have an attention span of 9 s…” Neil A. Bradbury
Granted the truth about human attention spans is more complex than that jarring stat…but what is your guess…have our attention spans increased or decreased since that study in 2015? What do you think keeps us from having longer attention spans? What are the disadvantages of shorter attention spans? Do you find yourself personally having a difficult time focusing for an extended amount of time?
Open Bible Questions
Read Luke 10:38-42.
– Before looking a bit deeper, on a quick reading of this story, what seems to be the point of Luke writing this story down? What is the simple idea associated with this encounter between Jesus and these two sisters?
– The word translated in the NIV as “distracted” in 10:40 comes from a word that literally means to “draw away.” Martha is “drawn away” by the preparations she is making as a host for Jesus. Imagine for a moment Martha making those preparations without a gas or electric oven, or microwave, or dishwasher, or blender, or…. Think about the innovations that have been made since this moment recorded by Luke. These innovations, well beyond kitchen appliances, increase our efficiency enormously allowing us to do much more with far less effort. So we should be LESS “drawn away, ” right? Are we? What gives?
– Notice that in this encounter, as Luke writes it, Mary never says a word. What do you make of that? What has Mary chosen that is “better?” Why is it better?
– If you have made up your mind that Jesus is the reveler of truth, what does it look like in our day to choose what is “better” when we do not have the ability to sit at his feet in the flesh the way Mary did? How do we learn from him? How do we give him our attention?
– It could be said that many followers of Jesus, and many followers of anyone or anything else for that matter, largely live out of a mostly unconsidered worldview and an under-developed faith informed by scattered and pieced together sound bytes rather than serious engagement and deep consideration. Do you think that is true? The more difficult and vulnerable question is…do you think that is true of you?
Monday Morning Questions
What simple and tangible step could you take this week toward choosing what is “better” by giving Jesus your attention?