Here we are still
licking our wounds from the previous chapter.
Now we are supposed to focus on the virtue that is there. Is this the same world we were just reading
about? The world that is full of
trickery? Absolutely! We are often found in that place where we are
seeing the bad and focusing on the bad while there is good around us. We find ourselves hyper focused on the
negative that we are unable to see the good.
To our great loss, we have a history of just this behavior in the
various areas of our lives. While the
world is full of trickery and pride, we are called to be the stabilizing force
in our families, work, schools, and churches.
This stabilizing force is found in the unconditional love that has been
given to us through Jesus Christ. Lest
we find ourselves thinking we have done this or that, we are told to not be
proud. How can we accomplish this
balancing act?
In the world the business as usual method
is to build bigger, more profitable businesses at any cost. So, while those in this managerial style are
focused on the end numbers, the people are non-existent. The management may send out a congratulatory
email or company newsletter to those “little people” there is little pride in
their work. Rather, the pride is in the
end goal: profitability. This chapter
isn’t about the money. This chapter isn’t
about personal or corporate power. This
chapter isn’t about bigger and better.
This chapter IS about thankfulness and working for the best good. Love is not proud. What is the opposite of
not proud? Those in the world would
probably say “pride”. In the world they
would be right. But in the Christian
world this isn’t so. Taken in context and in the Spirit, that breathed the
Word, love is humble and yet strong. So,
the virtue we should see is humility.
Love is humbleness. Why should
Christians be humble in their calling?
After all, haven’t their talents have been given to them by God? Were there not people through the Bible that
were heralded as great, intelligent, successful? The difference was in their hearts. These men and women knew that anything good
that came from them had its origin in God.
The highest and most needed agenda in
every aspect of life is that our every deed be an expression of our
relationship with God. Thus, living the
Gospel and bringing unbelievers to the saving grace of Christ. It’s all about focus. What do I want people to see in me? What do you want people to see in you? Here is where it gets messy. We tend to live hypocritical lives. We are one person when we are amongst
Christians (like at church). We are another
person when we are Christians at family gatherings. We become yet another person when we go to
work (on the road, in the elevator, with our secretary, in the board meeting,
etc.). Finally, we are yet another
person when our emotions fluctuate. Yes,
we are all hypocritical. Yet, we
tolerate this worldly behavior in others as we say to ourselves that it isn’t our
place to point out what is wrong. We
encourage this behavior when we do the same thing we know is wrong in another
person’s walk. What is the question? The question is; “Do you want to follow
Jesus?” The answer in the world range
from yes to maybe to no. The answer for
the Christian is to be simply and humbly, “Yes.”
Have you ever been in the place where you
have spent time making friends with a person at work? You have gone to lunch together, maybe had a
drink after work together, and exchanged emails and calls to one another both
during work and in your off time. After
a significant event; you learn that she/he too are Christian. We almost immediately do a check list to see
where we might have not provided the Christian image in making the friendship,
having lunch, drinks after work or communicating beyond work. Do you think that, like me, you found
yourself asking, “What did I do that showed I was a Christian?” or “Do they
think I am a Christian?” Both are
excellent questions. They could be a
moot point if we truly were just who Christ made us to be. This “act” of being Christian is never an
“act” at all. Being a Christian becomes
“first nature” in all of our lives. When
we begin to compromise that image, we begin to walk away from the blessings of
God. The Christian life is not about
compromise. The Christian life is about
consistency.
I have a very clear memory of when I gave
my life to Christ. The event is stamped
in my memory as if it happened yesterday.
My life was transformed by the grace God gave me. I had begun the day as one man and ended that
day as a different man. My choices,
behaviors and desire went from that of the world to that of God. My friends thought I was nuts, but I didn’t
give in. My relatives thought I was just
going through another phase, but I didn’t give in. My boss respected my decision and told me to
keep it to myself, but I didn’t give in.
I had chosen to love God and consequently love mankind with God’s love. I wish that were still the story and that the
story was always happy. After several
years of being a Christian there were choices to be made and I made them. Those choices moved on to become choices
where I was with others (some Christian) who were doing wrong. It was a short road to my then participating
in worldly behavior and abandoning my Christian calling. Psalm 1:1 lays out this devastating pattern
as it moves through our lives. First, we
entertain the thought. Then we stop
doing what we were doing (following Christ) in order to be with he/she in what
they are doing. Finally, we become
participants and we have stepped away from the will of God. It was my choice. No one made me do it. I knew it was right/wrong and I chose to do
it. With the one word, right/wrong, we
make the choice to humbly be what Christ has called us to do or we choose to do
that which he doesn’t want us to do.
There is resident sadness in me for all of the times when I have chosen
to not do what God wanted me to do.
There is humiliation that I carry with me in my memory as I look at the
number of people whom I’ve not witnessed to in any manner. This is even truer in that I participated in
the ungodly acts.
This is where our Christian life gets a
bit tricky. There is that word
again. The one enemy of God is
Satan. Our one enemy as believers is
Satan. There are those who do not
believe in Satan and call themselves Christian.
“Tricky” has as part of its definition “to deceive.” Have you ever felt you were deceived? Perhaps when someone confessed to you their
sin against you? Have you ever deceived
anyone (usually for your benefit)? The
world if full of trickery and it surfaces in one manner as deception. So we rationalize and justify in order to
call our choice anything but sin. We
pawn our actions off as for the bigger good.
We say that by doing this instead of that no one gets hurt. We learn that as in the world not getting
caught is a good thing. Shouldn’t we be
focused on the behavior we don’t have to rationalize or justify? Then we don’t have the burden of keeping a
full stack of excuses as to why we didn’t do what God has asked us to do. White lies aren’t white. A little fudging isn’t little. They won’t know shall know. When our house of cards collapses where will
we be found? What will be revealed about
me? About you? About your family? Even about your business/job?
They/we
are in very dangerous predicament outside the will of God. As a soldier and later as a policeman one of
the lessons learned was to always be on the lookout for the enemy/crook. I once had a ride-along citizen in my police
car for an evening shift. In preparation
for the night and her safety I told her that “everyone you meet tonight will be
a criminal.” She, being a Christian
herself, exclaimed; “I don’t believe that!”
When we finished the shift, she said to me; “You were right. They were all criminals.” Here is why they were all criminals. Just like a bank teller is trained to see
counterfeit bills, I too was trained to spot criminals. So, when I would hit the street for my shift
I looked for criminals. It’s not that
there aren’t non-criminals any more than there are no good bills at the
bank. There were good people out there. There is good money there. The good people don’t need me to see them
because they aren’t doing or about to do evil/criminal acts. The good bills don’t need to be thrown away
with the counterfeit bills for the same reason.
It’s the same with our Christian witness. I’ve had criminals say to me; “Aren’t you a
Christian.” I would say yes and they
would follow up with “Then why are you being so mean to me.” No manipulation, rationalization or
justification going on there!
Despite
what we see out there; we can also see the opposite or good that surfaces. We’ve been using the various words that
describe what “love” is and is not according to the Bible. We will need balance if we are to not be
deemed proud in a sinful way. We know
that there is a great need for upstanding men and women of God to be witnesses
to their world. We know that we all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We know that we are all too human and lacking the ability to be
perfect. So how does this all work in
our being Christian and called to bring glory to God? Let’s look at the words “virtue” and “pride”
as they present themselves to us. Virtue
is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality
deemed to be morally good. Pride is a
disagreement with the Truth. With a negative
connotation, pride refers to an
inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a satisfied sense of
right toward our own choices and actions.
Love
is not proud. In its negative
connotation, the love we believe and act upon is not what God’s love is within
us and the world we live in. It’s something like this statement. “Don’t say you are going to tell me something
in Christian love. Just say it and I
will know if it’s from God or not.”
James 4:17 states “If we know what is right to do and don’t do it; we
sin.” The opposite of God’s love is sin,
death and destruction. We can take pride
in what Christ is doing through us by giving Him the praise. We can be proud of our kids when they choose
to tell the truth. We can be proud of a
job well done when it’s done unto God.
The Christian who lives a surrendered life is continually presenting
Christ to their world. A world where
there is no space for the enemy or self.
It’s all about our choice of where we are in the surrender process and
the expectations of that process. We can
fight it and dodge issues and people, or we can engage life’s process and
minister to those around us. The more we
make the right, Godly, decision, the easier it becomes to be more like
Jesus. And, yes, there will be trials
and tribulations as the enemy tries his best to derail you on your walk with
Jesus. The Bible tells us that Satan is
like a roaring lion going about to consume the people.
The only positive response we would like
to hear from God is “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” As we enter the
presence of God. Knowing that we are
doing what he expects of us in His power should be enough. Love is a verb that should be moving through
us and into the lives of others. That is
true from your church service to working in a foundry. If you don’t feel this taking place in your
life; look for what is blocking that movement.
My guess is that you, like I, will find the blockage in our pride
preventing us from being humble. The
Bible tells us that pride comes before the fall. Look around you or just examine your own
lives. Have you fallen? Are you starting on a path that will lead to
a fall? Are you participating with those
who are heading to disaster? Are we full
of ourselves or are we full of God?
There is no room for both and God is a gentleman who allows us to choose
who resides in and directs our path. It
should go without saying that God can do a better job than we can. Yet, we cling tightly to this or that part of
our lives and rationalize and justify our choice. It’s what I do. Some days more and some days less.
Here
we are looking at ourselves and wondering what to do. At least I am there. We know what to do but we choose to not do
it. We know what to not do and, yet we
do that very thing. What is going
on? What’s going on is that we choose to
act in a manner that fits our desires.
We disobey when the cost leads us where we are uncomfortable. We become uncomfortable when we are
confronted by the truth. When the truth
is presented we know in our spirit and hearts that it is the truth. The next step is crucial. We know that there are two choices in front
of us. We can choose the positive or we
can choose the negative. We can choose
to allow God to be our life or we can choose to keep ourselves the god of our
life. One way leads to separation from
God while the other remains in the grace of God. When we are outside the will of God we open
ourselves up to the attack of the enemy (Satan) and his minions. When we choose to remain in God, we are
protected by God and the angels of heaven.
We know who wins between God and Satan.
Are you going to choose to disobey God and take back the throne of your
own life? If you do take that choice,
remember that you are only one step away from God. Ask for forgiveness and
place yourself under the love of God.
This is so simple that we make it hard just so we can say we can’t do
this.
Don’t
be blind to the virtue that God has given you. There is virtue. You might be
wondering how you can know this is true.
You need to know that the Bible says it.
You need to know that there are others who express virtue. You need to listen to the Holy Spirit telling
you this very thing right now. What does
would it look like manifested in you?
There are great examples of men and women in the Bible, in history, and
in our lives today who have held dear to their reliance on God. We need only look at the ministry they have
been called to and how that calling has made a profound impact in the lives
around them. Are people happy to see us
or do they avoid us. If they oversee
their lives they will definitely try to avoid the Christian. But to those who are in Christ, approaching
them there is almost a magnetic drawing that takes place. Why is this?
Here is the answer. We are
attracted to whomever we are like. If we
are doing God’s work, we are attracted to those who show his love. If we are not doing God’s work, we are
attracted to those who do not show his love.
Is your life crowded with people who have a marginal relationship with
Christ? Maybe you are part of an
unbelieving group and you are hiding your salvation. Maybe you have chosen these groups so that
you can remain only partially surrendered and thus partially obedient. It’s your choice. Live with blessing or live without
blessing. “Oh!” you say, “I want the
blessing too.” But there is a problem
here. You say you want it while your spirit
says you won’t surrender so that God can bless you. Your actions are so loud that the words mean
very little or nothing.
Look! Stop focusing on the negative. Start focusing on the positive. Even if you cannot see the positive you know
it’s out there. God is positive. He’s so big you shouldn’t miss him. Perhaps you want to start your own religion
where you make the rules to fit your beliefs?
That is the reason we have so many denominations today. They are organized and classified so that
they can bring people to their type of believer. Some are so busy pleasing the desires of
Satan that they don’t see their salvation slipping away. Even if you are blind, you can see. Even if you are deaf, you can hear. Even if you are paralyzed, you can feel.
There is no excuse for not enjoying the blessings of God.
Living
a surrendered life in Christ is a blessing.
The love given by Christ is not one of lordship over you. His love is not proud. Because of how he first loved us, we can now
love Him. Would you surrender yourself
to Christ today?
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