Judah Smith says he wishes more preachers would say “It doesn’t really matter.” His remarks—based on the book of Ecclesiastes—come as part of a sermon series at his church, Churchome, about the things he wishes more preachers would say.
“How many things if we could add them up just in this room, let alone people watching on the app or in Seattle right now, can you imagine—[are] there 10,000 things that really don’t matter collectively that we are all worked up about?” Smith asks. “I just wish more preachers would tell people in the church, ‘Hey, I’m really sorry you’re worked up about it. It doesn’t really matter.’ I don’t think that’s going to go over well. I don’t think preachers—they may not be liked. But I wish Christians would tell Christians more, ‘Hey, man, it doesn’t really matter.'”
Smith says that while there are plenty of meaningful things in the world—people, namely—the book of Ecclesiastes points out that there are also many meaningless things in the world. It reminds us that while we will live forever, our life here on earth is fleeting and short-lived at best. Because of that, many of our fears, desires and dreams are ultimately meaningless from an eternal perspective.
“The world has beauty, but the world has meaninglessness,” Smith says. “We have to face it. Maybe we don’t have to preach on Ecclesiastes every time we get together, but there are times it is important for us to say ‘This is what the world is.’ Furthermore, it helps us. Ecclesiastes is there to help us understand how God intended us to relate to this world. Furthermore, it sheds greater light on why He put us in this world.”
So how then should we live? Smith explains in this sermon. Watch it here.
