Humility Redux: The Real 1% (Part 1)

A Tough Passage

Courtesy AMagill (Flickr)

Today, a passage I read long ago was brought to my remembrance.  It’s tough one.  I am referring to the verses found in Proverbs 30:8-9 (New King James Version)

⁸Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

⁹Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

I get stuck at verse 8.  Not the remove vanity and lies part.  It’s the “give me neither poverty nor riches” part that causes me pause.  This is where the Psalmist makes a God honoring request for financial well being, a request linked to his character.  I like to think of it as the “lead me not into (financial) temptation” prayer for the believer.

Verse 9 captures the reality that we are tested on the mountain (when full) and tested in the valley (in lack).  Poverty often leads desperate and lawless behavior especially in societies where so many seem to have more.  Wealth can lead to greed and abuse of power.

Getting More

Verses 8 and 9 speaks to the issue of the heart.  For someone to honestly pray these verses, they must be ready to receive what they deserve based on their character; character carved from their love obedience to God.  We do not want that.  The western Christian church wants favor and we want it now!  But God is greatly concerned with our character and how we gain wealth:

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. – Proverbs 13:11 (KJV)

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. – Proverbs 13:22

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. – Proverbs 18:11 (KJV)

God is not against the accumulation of wealth.  He gives the power to gain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18); He is looking for a pure heart to support (2 Chronicles 16:9a); the man who fears the Lord is blessed (Psalm 112:1-3).  God wants us to have things, he doesn’t want things to have us.

Desiring more is not wrong. It is natural to want more.  It is healthy to want more.  To take dominion over the earth, to explore the earth and universe, to invent new things, even the desire to seek God requires something in us that desires more.  However, like all of our desires, our desire for more can get twisted and we can be corrupted.

Praying for More

I wonder how many celebrities and pro-athletes are willing to pray Proverbs 30:8-9.  It will require humility, courage, and most of all, trust that God can make us happier than we can make ourselves.  Stay tuned for Part 2.  Enjoy Andy Stanley’s powerful message on the desire for “More.” First broadcast on InTouch by Dr. Charles Stanley.

Earthquake Embarrassment

East Coast Earthquake T-Shirt. www.zazzle.com

I was in my car, coming to a stop at a light, during the east coast earthquake.  As the car slowed, it began to shake.  I first thought I was running out of gas.  I looked down and still had two ticks on the gas gauge.  Then I thought it was my transmission, or an engine mount had gone.  I put the car in neutral, still shaking. I turned the car off and turned it back on, then the shaking stopped.  I was concerned and immediately drove to the auto shop to get it checked out.

I was the only customer in the shop.  I am standing at the counter watching two people talking behind the desk for what seemed like minutes.  I began to think, “Don’t they see me standing here?”  The gentleman behind the counter eventually turned to me to explain that they were talking shop and discussing the earthquake.  I said, “Earthquake? What earthquake? You’ve gotta be kidding?” “Really, an earthquake magnitude 6.0 just hit Richmond, VA,” he replied.  I looked at him incredulously for a second, then it hit me!  “Oooooh! That’s what that was! Man, I thought there was something wrong with my car!”  The event began to sink in.  We both laughed almost to tears.  I saved a lot of money and left the shop after a long conversation having made a new friend.

I got back in the car and reflected on the conversation.  Then, I was suddenly disappointed by my lack awareness of what happened.  I began to wonder.  If I thought something was wrong with my car during an earthquake, what would I be thinking if instead it was Jesus returning?  I know it’s supposed to happen “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, (1 Cor 15:52, NIV).  Now I am wondering, when the trumpet sounds, will I start reaching to adjust the radio?  Another level of embarrassment… Stop laughing west coast friends. God bless.

The Value of Love – Part 2: Preferences and Principles

Fork in the road. China. Courtesy i_yudai.

All of life’s choices fall into two categories, preferences and principles.

Preferences are values that are intensely held but are unique to the individual.  For example, your favorite color or favorite flavor of ice cream.  Preferences are derived from ones circumstances and experience.  Due to their subjective nature, it is not worth managing the consequences of standing on a preference.

Principles are values that are time tested understandings and wisdom. Examples of principles are those values based on our Christian faith, ethical operating systems, and (ideally) your goals.  The principles by which a person or organization will stand by will determine their legacy.  People are willing to manage the outcome and accept consequences of choices based on principles. People are willing to fight or even die for a principle.  The Bible makes it clear why we must be careful in Psalm 14:35

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – Psalms 14:12 (KJV)

Wooden bridge over Tarang River. Author unknown.

Let’s say you are a part of a group of people who want to build a bridge, a large bridge that would span several miles.  One of the engineers on the team is in love with wood.  His house is wood; his floors are wood; his walls are wood; he has wooden spoons — he loves wood.  Now he wants to build this bridge out of wood.  The others say no there isn’t a practical wood structure strong enough to hold today’s traffic.  Back in the day, when transportation was by foot or horse and buggy, a wood bridge would be fine.  If you built the golden gate bridge out of wood, it would collapse under the weight and volume of today’s traffic.

The argument gets heated and the group finally dismisses the engineer who wants to build the bridge with wood.  He is eventually called a fool.  Why? Because the group realized that he held onto a preference like it was a principle.  In spite of the principles that govern bridge building the person insisted on building the bridge with wood.  That person lost all credibility as an engineer.  Moral of the story:

Where ever possible, preferences should be supported by a principle.

When we are caught holding a preference as a principle we lose credibility in the sight of those who know the principle.

I am not saying that everyone is going to be perfect at this. But it is important to make sure that when you have a values conflict with someone, make sure you are standing on a principle when you make your stand. In that case, you can agree to disagree and keep your peace.  If you stand on a preference not supported by a principle, you and your value system will lose credibility and suffer unnecessary loss.

Continued… The Value of Love – Part 3: The Heart

The Value of Love by The Crucified Agenda is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at thecrucifiedagenda.wordpress.com.

The Value of Love – Part 1: Values

Based on a message I gave on July 10, 2011 – Egg Harbor Township, NJ

The doors of Sacred Heart Church. Omagh, Ireland. © Copyright Kenneth Allen

I have a little secret I want to share with you.  I love the Word of God and I love God.  But I used to be a person who thought God was an excuse for things we didn’t or we were too lazy to understand.  When I was a kid I would ask questions about God and Bible all the Christians and teachers I knew didn’t seem to have answers.  They replied, “You won’t understand.  All you have to do is have faith.” And I asked myself, “How can I follow a God that I can’t know?”  So I concluded the Bible was a lie and spent decades living my own way, on my own terms thinking Christians were narrow minded, slow-witted, substance-less people.  I had a low view of God and I disrespected His Word.  I was His enemy.  I deserved the fullness of his wrath.  But God was merciful.

I thought and prayed about what to speak with you about today.  I was concerned because some people want to feel good after a sermon.  But my pastor often says, “Feelings fade, when you know better you can do better.”  My mission today is to challenge us and help us to know better.

The scriptures for our time together come from Psalms 119:11 and Luke 6:45.  I will be reading from the New American Standard Bible:

“Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
– Psalm 119:11 (NASB)

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”  – Luke 6:45 (NASB) (bold emphasize added)

If I had to give this message a title I would call it, The Value of Love.  If had a subtitle, I would call it, The Challenge of Choice.

Our Value System
Life is a series of choices.  We are presented with challenges and we respond with choices.  Some choices are difficult, some seem automatic.  No matter what kind of choice you make, the engine behind the choice is your value system.  Everyone has a value system.  Black, white, or Asian, saved or unsaved, atheist or agnostic, you have a value system.  This value system is a collection of values that help you make sense of the world.  This system of values is what really drive and move you.

International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies. www.ifrc.org

Our values are what move us; our values cause us to feel, or to act.  Our values determine what we spend our money on, our values determine what causes we will support or social clubs we join.  Our values are the basis of our traditions and the reason why we really do the things we do.  Not logic, not reason, but our values are the root of our behavior.

For example, many of us have heard of The Red Cross.  The Red Cross is a non-profit organization that provides emergency aid to war and disaster victims around the world.  However, there are some parts of the world where the Red Cross is not welcome and would be killed if they attempted to provide aid.  In such places, only the Red Crescent is welcome.  Despite the need for aid, some people in parts of the world value the source of the aid more than the aid itself.  Values drive our behavior.

Values are defined as:

1. [Sociology]  “the ideals, customs, institutions, traditions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard.” – Random House Dictionary
2. “Something you hold dear and use to determine what behavior you will engage in during your life” – Kenneth Oosting

Clearly, not all value are bad. We must protect good values.  Good values need to be protected.  For example, Family reunion.  Protect that, keep that.  People need a place where they can gather, get love, get correction, get affirmation, get fellowship and just get that mid-summer reset, and know that everything is going to be alright.

Courtesy Tama Leaver. www.flickr.com/tamaleaver

Some values need to be re-evaluated and, if need be, changed.  For example, a daughter is in the kitchen watching her mother make the family ham.  The mother prepares the ham, adding the cloves, the pineapple, and the glaze.  The mother cuts off the back of the ham, puts the ham in the pan, and then the pan goes into the oven.  The family is in awe of the beautiful ham at dinner.  When the daughter grows up, she has a daughter and now she is watching her cook the family ham.  The mother prepares the ham just as mother did.  She adds the cloves, the pineapple, and the glaze.  She cuts off the back of the ham, places the ham in the pan and then places the pan in the oven.  The daughter noticed something and asked her mother,”Why did you cut off the back of the ham and throw it way?”  The mother replied, “I don’t know, it was something my mother used to do and the ham always came out delicious.”  The mother brings the ham out to the family dinner and everyone applauds.  Pleased with the outcome, the proud mother asked her mother (her daughter’s grandmother), “Why did she cut off the back of the ham before she put it in the oven.  The grandmother replied, “I cut the back of the ham off because my pan was too small!”  (Story adapted from Kenneth Oosting, The Christian’s Guide to Effective Personal Management )

Our values are formed by our experiences, reinforced through our talents and the things that we learned from our parents and friends.  They help us make sense of the world and provide a level of stability, however, values must be re-evaluated to see if they truly serve a purpose. Individuals, organizations, families and church should all check for meaningless traditions and habits that not longer serve a purpose. Pruning them will allow for growth.

Our values are formed in the early years of our lives are solidified around 5 years old.  Once established they are very hard and slow to change.

Exception
Our values can change rapidly due to trama, loss, or a conversion.

… continued in The Value of Love – Part 2

The Value of Love by The Crucified Agenda is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at thecrucifiedagenda.wordpress.com.

Bewitched Pt. II: “I lost my faith, now what?”

Courtesy Beverly & Pack, Creative Commons Atrribution 2.0 License

The pastors in my previous post, for one reason or another “lost” their faith in the Bible.  During their interview with ABC News, these pastors shared a profound common concern — fear.   Their comments revealed that their new found belief system is causing them to step off into a uncertain place that they already distrust.  For example, both pastors said that would not leave their congregations because they would “lose friends” and would not have a way to support their families.  These concerns are in contrast to what the Bible says the one should be prepared to do to receive God,

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  Matthew 10:35 (KJV)

Jesus said this to emphasize that your faith in Him may cause you to be in conflict with the traditions and values of your family.  If a person chooses not to believe in Jesus because of their family, that person is valuing the traditions of their parents more than Jesus.  And Jesus is saying that such actions are “not worthy of me.”  When a person comes out of their out of their situation to follow God, God always replaces what was “lost”, with what He wants for you.  For example,

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.   God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”  Ps 68:5-6 (NIV)

“²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” Matt 5:25-26 (NIV)

These are just two of the hundreds of promises in the Bible that assures those who step out in faith to follow Jesus that they do so with His favor before them.  Like Jesus, Christians occasionally fear what God may call them to do.  That fear can be assuaged by seeking and reviewing God’s promises in the Bible.  God does not call the believer to comfort, he calls us to obedience.  Abraham left the home of his father to follow God to a foreign land, the result was the nation of Israel and the Church.  Joseph dared to dream, was sold into slavery, later to save a the nation of Israel during famine.  Jesus took the form of flesh to become the sacrifice required to satisfy the wrath of God for sin.  No one called to obedience every found it easy to obey in their humanity. But,

“There is a blessing beyond obedience!” -Dr. Clifford Johnson

So what are these pastors, now besieged with doubt, stepping out to do?  One said, “he wanted to get his life started.”  The other was unsure because, “what was he was going to do with just a seminary education.”  These pastors are being led into a empty place, not outside of God’s love, but to a place where they seek to live life in their own strength.  A place where there are no promises; trusting only what they see and feel.  A hollow place where God is denied credit for anything, including their last breath.  They are seeking to revert to a state where they reconcile themselves to be no greater than animals — a place of unbelief.

If they no longer believe what they preach, these pastors should step down until they resolve their issues.  The faithful will continue to believe God.  For those who believe, also know that God is real and that He lives in our hearts.  Christians are not perfect, simply redeemed while navigating a fallen world.  The concepts that led these pastors astray are acting on behalf of the one that Jesus came to oppose,

^“10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

Please pray for these leaders.

Bewitched.

Atheists Leading the Faithful: Two Active Ministers Say They No Longer Believe in God but No One Knows (Getty Images)

On November 9, 2010, I caught segment on the ABC Evening News regarding two pastors who are having difficulty with their faith.  These pastors admitted they found fault with the Bible and portions of its contents and yet they continue to pastor their churches.  One pastor admitted to reading atheistic material in order to know what he wanted to address when he preached.  In the process of his study, he “lost faith” in the Bible.  There is truly nothing new under the sun.

While listening to their stories, I remembered the harsh words of Paul to the Galatians, (by the way, Paul was never one to mince his words so be warned),

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?” Galatians 3:1-4 (NIV)

Paul was emphatically reminding those believers who had genuine encounters with God, that they had too much history, too much evidence and overwhelming personal experience with God to be in a place of unbelief and to revert back to their old ways for survival.  It is our natural tendency to stray from God and it is easy for us to forget our last “Red Sea.”

The greek word translated in Gal 3:1 as ‘bewitched‘ has three meanings:

1. to speak ill of one, to slander, traduce him.
2. to bring evil on one by feigning praise or an evil eye
3. to charm, to bewitch

Attacks on the faith come in all of these forms.  Anti-Christian rhetoric often slanders Jesus with a vitriol intended to cause some to question their faith.  Others will attempt to charm with beautiful constructs of reasoning derived from “natural” laws.  Some will devise half-truths that redirect praise from the from author of the Bible.  For whatever reason, this is what has happened to the pastors in this report.

As I listened to these troubled pastors during their interview, I noticed a resounding common concern…  continued in Bewitched Part II: “I have lost may faith, now what?”

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
	Gal 3:3		Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
	Gal 3:4		Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if [it be] yet in vain.

Be the hose.

Everyone needs to be affirmed or appreciated at some time.  However, the inner desire for significance can run rampant in some people.  In this case, such people are motivated to achieve something just to hear an accolade.  Unfortunately, that motivation has a poor foundation.  It is flawed since it leads to the performance of more and more in exchange for personal praise.  Ultimately, the pursuit of praise will leave this person empty, unsatisfied and in a state of dissolution.  Perhaps there is another way to look at the situation.

Recently, one of our family members almost lost her house to a massive fire that was raging in some homes a few doors down.  One hundred and twenty firefighters arrived in time to save some of the adjacent homes.  The people whose homes were saved were very thankful that the firemen were there to put out the fire in time.  But what about the hydrant and what about the hoses?  Without the water, the adjacent homes would have been destroyed.  Without the hoses, it would have difficult or impossible to get the water to where it was needed.  The owners of the adjacent homes and the firefighters were thankful that everything was in place to save the remaining homes.  Here is the point.  

The next time you do something in the name of God (preach, teach, work, or serve in your giftedness) and receive accolades for it, redirect the praise remembering that you are just “the hose.”  Sure, the people are thankful you were there and in place to do the job.  However, someone had to aim the hose, turn on the water, and let the water do what it does.   To take credit for what God is doing through you is like the hose doing the press conference and taking credit for the firefighter.  The hose doesn’t seek credit, it’s just ready to do what it was designed to do – be the hose.