One of the most critical decisions that a college student must make is to declare a major. Declaring your major is academic shorthand for the area of study on which you plan to concentrate. You just can’t take a bunch of classes on a bunch of random subjects. In order to graduate, you have a take a certain number of classes in a particular domain of expertise. Traditionally, you concentrate your study in one or two areas that you find interesting and that you hope will prepare you for future opportunities in a profession related to that subject. It is also expected that you declare a minor. A minor is a subject that may or may not be related to your major, and is usually an area of personal interest. For example, my son Malachi is majoring in Literature, with a minor in African American studies.

“What’s your major”? is a fairly common question that most college students either ask or are accustomed to being asked. But the truth is whether we attended college or not, all of us “major” in something. All of us have areas of focus, matters on which we concentrate, and domains of expertise in which we specialize. In some ways, life is like college: you can’t focus on everything; you can’t go everywhere; you can’t do everything. All of us have to major in something. And whatever we decide to focus on will determine the quality and the impact of or lives.

Over 2000 years ago today, a man made two decisions. One of the them was pretty major. The other was pretty minor. The man’s name was Pontius Pilate. He was the procurator of Syria, one of the territories in the Roman Empire. As procurator, his role was to oversee the political affairs of the various regions in that territory, and ensure that taxes were collected and peace was maintained. As procurator, he was the personal embodiment of the power of the Roman Empire, and was the sole decision maker in all matters of state. Over 2000 years ago today, Pilate was informed that a man named Jesus had been stirring up trouble in Israel, a crucial area of the Syrian territory. Jesus’ enemies accused him of subversion, and brought him to Pilate, requesting that he be sentenced to death.

After hearing the charges and conducting an inquiry, Pilate concluded that the charges were false, and wanted to let Jesus go. The scriptures repeatedly tell us that Pilate said “I find no fault in him.” However, Jesus’ enemies knew Pilate’s weak spot. They knew that his status was tenuous with the powers that be back in Rome, so they threatened him. They suggested that if he did not sentence Jesus to death, his allegiance to Caesar might be questionable. So against his better judgement, and against his conscience, and because of his fear of the people, he caved into the pressure and sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixtion.. That was the major decision.

It was Roman custom to print a sign that advertised the charges for which a man was being crucified, which would be then be affixed to the cross for all to see. The purpose of the sign was to send the not-so subtle message that “if you do this (the charge on the sign) , this is what will happen to you (you’ll wind up on a cross)” Pilate wrote on on Jesus’s cross, “King of the Jews.” When Jesus’s enemies discovered what Pilate had written, they feverishly complained and once again tried to get him to change his mind. However, this time, Pilate was unmoved and unwavering. According to John 19:22,

Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written,

That was the minor decision.

When you consider these two actions, it is striking that Pilate was umoved and unwavering on his decision on what to write on the cross. But he was uncertain and unsure on the decision of whether to follow his conscience. Violating your conscience is pretty major. Writing an advertisement is pretty minor. But Pilate was sure and certain on the minor thing, but unsure and uncertain on the major thing. He treated a major decision as it were minor, and a minor decision as it were major. Pilate majored in the minors.

Pilate is not alone. Far too many of us major in minors. The stuff that’s really important we ignore; we minimize, we rationalize. But when it comes to relatively trivial matters, we are confident and sure.. We major in minors!

Whenever you’re more concerned about style than substance, you’re majoring in minors.

Whenever you’re more concerned with popularity than purpose, yore majoring in minors.

Whenever you’re more concerned with fitting in than standing out, you’re majoring in minors.

Whenever you’re concerned about your reputation instead of building your character, you’re majoring in minors

Whenever you’re more concerned with pleasing people instead of pleasing God, you’re majoring in minors.

And whenever you’re more concerned with doing what’s popular instead of doing what’s right, you’re majoring in minors.

I completely understand why we major in minors. It’s easier! It’s easier to make the little decisions than it is to make the big ones. But Ladies and Gentlemen, the quality and impact of our lives really come down to making a few big decisions. And to be clear, not making a decision is still making a decision.

There are some big decisions that someone reading this blog has to make. And I am praying that you not do what Pilate did.

Bishop Kenneth Ulmer often says that there is no way easy way to do a hard thing. He’s right. And so in the face of hard decisions, most of us react like Pilate. We vacillate. We postpone. And we surrender our responsibility. Worse, we decide against what we know to be right or true because of the potential cost or consequences. It’s just easier.

But don’t take the easy way out. John Madden, the legendary football coach and announcer had a great observation about easy street:

The road to easy street goes through the sewer.

Easy street always stinks.