I've spent the morning doing something I abhor! I cleaned and organized my office. I found things I didn't know I had. I found things I wish I didn't have - dust bunnies are vicious creatures! I don't have the worst office in the history of offices, but it was bad enough. The orgnaizational piling system (YES I mean piling system) I've been using finally got out of hand and I couldn't get to my desk without stepping over my piles. It was time to clean. I tried to justify the chaos by saying I've been so busy and I've had so much to do and I've not had time to clean etc.... Does any of that sound familiar to you? I bet it does.
Each of us has a tendency to put off until another day those things that we don't want to do today. The problem with that philosophy, though, is that ultimately another day does come and you eventually have to do what you don't want to do. Procrastinators all are we! We don't like to face the difficult unlovely tasks of everyday life and if we don't like to face the unlovely in the realm of reality I bet we don't like to face the unlovely in the realm of spirituality. Just like reality there are things, often times undesirable things, that we have to address, file, trash, correct, etc... in our spiritual lives. In truth, our ability to manage reality often mirrors our ability to handle the spiritual. Now, it's not a pure science and neither is it a one to one comparison. So...the next time you see your co-worker's desk or your friend's living room, don't automatically assume their spiritual life is just as messy as their carpet or desk.
Having given the disclaimer, though, there is a mirror we see through when we compare our management of day to day things and in our management of our spiritual development. If we are prone to let the stuff pile up, we are probably neglecting spiritual things too. Maybe spring cleaning wasn't just something those gals in funny dresses on the plain used to do. Maybe they understood the importance of a properly ordered life - spiritually and otherwise. During this springtime day, why not take the time to do an inventory of your spiritual condition and, if needed, do a little spring cleaning. I'm sure you'll function a lot better without those spiritual dust bunnies weighing you down! Who knows? You might even need to take this springtime day and clean your house, too!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Why Do Good People do Bad Things?
We've all heard the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?", but not many of us have considered why good people do bad things. Before we can answer this question, we have to examine the premise of the question. The basic premise is that there are good people who can do bad things. The Bible debunks that premise in dramatic fashion and in many ways. First the Bible communicates in its direct teaching that there is no such thing as a good person. Romans 3, quoting from the Psalms, gives a running commentary on the status of man. It says things like, "there is no one good, not even one" and "no one seeks after God, not even one". David said in the Psalms (Psalm 51) that he was brought forth in sin and in sin he was conceived. Paul tells us in Romans that all sin (3:23) and we all would rather do wrong than do what's right (rom. 5-7). Jesus refers to people as children of the devil and with a host of other adjectives clearly dispells the myth that there is any one good. There simply is no good person!
When we live with the lie that there are good people, we operate in the fairytale world of knights and dragons and witches and wizards and we constantly wait for the good ones to overcome the bad ones. When one of the "good" ones blows it, then we all feel a sense of betrayal and question the powers that sustain the fairytale world we seek to live in. By leaving the fairytale world behind and coming to grips with the reality that there is no one good, not even one, then we can understand, even if our understanding is limited, how a "good" person could do a bad thing.
As pastor of a church, people have a tendency to create a characiture of me based on the sound bytes or visual images they have of me. Of the congregation members I stand before on a regular basis, very few of them know me in any substantive way. We're all busy and folks don't hang out with the preacher like they used to and the preacher doesn't have time to hang out with everybody like he used to and so we content ourselves with knowing what we want to know about one another. We see what we want to see in one another and so on... Did you know that I, as a pastor, am but one decision from doing some terrible thing? I'm one decision from murder, rape, lying, stealing, etc..... As shocking as that may be to you, you, too, are but one decision from doing the worst thing you could ever think of. Why? Because there is no such thing as "good" people!
So what about the good things people do? Well, here is what you need to understand. I have been forgiven of my sins by Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. He died on the cross in my place and by the power of God was raised from the dead and because I have turned from sin and toward him, he has saved me from my sin. I'm very grateful for that. In that salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in me and among his various works, he restrains the desire to do bad things that occasionally rises within me. So, anything good that I do (or any other person does) is a direct result of God's work in my life as a Christian or the result of God's providential care in the lives of unbelievers. The only good thing in me is Jesus Christ. I'm not some spiritually bi-polar battle ground for the forces of evil and good. I am the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and he teaches me how to overcome evil in my life and in the world. He is more powerful than any evil force or spirit that could ever tempt or torment me (I John 4:4). So, why do "good" people do bad things?
Usually, a person who does something bad is someone who has willfully rejected Christ Jesus and has no desire to surrender his will unto that of the Lord's or he is someone who has been disobedient and fed the flesh rather than the Spirit. This may come as a surprise to you, but Christian people sin! Inevitably, Christians sin because they yield to temptation and fail to surrender to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That is all too common an event. When it happens, the offender should repent or turn away from his wrong behavior as soon as possible and ask the Lord to forgive him (I John 1:8-10). When a brother or sister sins those of us who are walking with the Lord should reach out to the errant brother / sister in an effort to encourage and, when necessary, confront or rebuke the errant brother / sister with an eye toward leading them back into fellowship with the Lord (Galatians 6: 1). This is what the Christian life looks like in reality.
Christian people do bad things sometimes. When they do, other Christian people need to grow up and step up to the plate and do what the Bible teaches us to do in confronting, encouraging, rebuking and correcting those who yield to temptation. We should do these things all the while remembering that we ourselves might fall into the same temptation and become the very next "good" person who does a bad thing.
When we live with the lie that there are good people, we operate in the fairytale world of knights and dragons and witches and wizards and we constantly wait for the good ones to overcome the bad ones. When one of the "good" ones blows it, then we all feel a sense of betrayal and question the powers that sustain the fairytale world we seek to live in. By leaving the fairytale world behind and coming to grips with the reality that there is no one good, not even one, then we can understand, even if our understanding is limited, how a "good" person could do a bad thing.
As pastor of a church, people have a tendency to create a characiture of me based on the sound bytes or visual images they have of me. Of the congregation members I stand before on a regular basis, very few of them know me in any substantive way. We're all busy and folks don't hang out with the preacher like they used to and the preacher doesn't have time to hang out with everybody like he used to and so we content ourselves with knowing what we want to know about one another. We see what we want to see in one another and so on... Did you know that I, as a pastor, am but one decision from doing some terrible thing? I'm one decision from murder, rape, lying, stealing, etc..... As shocking as that may be to you, you, too, are but one decision from doing the worst thing you could ever think of. Why? Because there is no such thing as "good" people!
So what about the good things people do? Well, here is what you need to understand. I have been forgiven of my sins by Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. He died on the cross in my place and by the power of God was raised from the dead and because I have turned from sin and toward him, he has saved me from my sin. I'm very grateful for that. In that salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in me and among his various works, he restrains the desire to do bad things that occasionally rises within me. So, anything good that I do (or any other person does) is a direct result of God's work in my life as a Christian or the result of God's providential care in the lives of unbelievers. The only good thing in me is Jesus Christ. I'm not some spiritually bi-polar battle ground for the forces of evil and good. I am the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and he teaches me how to overcome evil in my life and in the world. He is more powerful than any evil force or spirit that could ever tempt or torment me (I John 4:4). So, why do "good" people do bad things?
Usually, a person who does something bad is someone who has willfully rejected Christ Jesus and has no desire to surrender his will unto that of the Lord's or he is someone who has been disobedient and fed the flesh rather than the Spirit. This may come as a surprise to you, but Christian people sin! Inevitably, Christians sin because they yield to temptation and fail to surrender to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That is all too common an event. When it happens, the offender should repent or turn away from his wrong behavior as soon as possible and ask the Lord to forgive him (I John 1:8-10). When a brother or sister sins those of us who are walking with the Lord should reach out to the errant brother / sister in an effort to encourage and, when necessary, confront or rebuke the errant brother / sister with an eye toward leading them back into fellowship with the Lord (Galatians 6: 1). This is what the Christian life looks like in reality.
Christian people do bad things sometimes. When they do, other Christian people need to grow up and step up to the plate and do what the Bible teaches us to do in confronting, encouraging, rebuking and correcting those who yield to temptation. We should do these things all the while remembering that we ourselves might fall into the same temptation and become the very next "good" person who does a bad thing.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Diapers, Da Bible and Daddy
In all of Scripture, emphasis is given to the family. Within the family, leadership is given to both husband and wife with final vote casting authority given to the dad. It is in the family unit that the truths of God's Word are to be taught and observed by children and by those who are not immediate family members. It is one thing to teach your child to share, it is another thing for your child to see you share. It is one thing to teach your child to give, it is another thing for your child to see you give. Likewise, it is one thing to profess through marriage and word and deed that you love your wife, it is another for the people around you to witness your love for you wife. What I'm saying is this: It is one thing to say something, it is quite another to put into practice that which you say. In other words, One should practice what he preaches.
The Bible teaches us that Children are a BLESSING from God. Most people read that and immediately think of that cute cuddly little joy-bundle. I have four boys and what I think is diapers, diapers, diapers, diapers, diapers, etc... I didn't realize, until recently, what the blessing of children really is. Jesus taught us that a disciple must be willing to deny himself everyday and take up his cross everyday and follow him everyday. There is a continuing nature to what a disciple does and it continues everyday. Children are an everyday responsibility. Everyday they have to be feed. Everyday they have to be nurtured. Everyday they have to be taught. Everyday they have to be corrected. Everyday they have needs that must be met. And, everyday, every single day, you have to meet those needs. If you're sleepy and want to go to bed, their needs have to be met. If you're hungry, their needs have to be met. If you want to watch the game, their needs have to be met. What I'm saying to you is this: Regardless of what you want, they have to come first.
This is the blessing of children. They teach you to deny the self on an everyday basis. They teach us to place others before ourselves. They teach us what Jesus longed to teach his disciples - self denial. Dad, this concept extends beyond our relationship with our children to the relationship we have with our wives. We are to deny ourselves for their benefit and to meet their needs. By investing in our relationship with our wive, God teaches us, again, in profound ways the benefit of self-denial. I would encourage you to consider the cost of leadership in your home. Either you lead well by example and reap the benefit of it or you lead poorly and reap the consequence of it. Either way there is a cost. Will you pay on the front end by taking the initiative to deny yourself or will you pay on the back end by reaping the consequences of your selfish lifestyle?
The Bible teaches us that Children are a BLESSING from God. Most people read that and immediately think of that cute cuddly little joy-bundle. I have four boys and what I think is diapers, diapers, diapers, diapers, diapers, etc... I didn't realize, until recently, what the blessing of children really is. Jesus taught us that a disciple must be willing to deny himself everyday and take up his cross everyday and follow him everyday. There is a continuing nature to what a disciple does and it continues everyday. Children are an everyday responsibility. Everyday they have to be feed. Everyday they have to be nurtured. Everyday they have to be taught. Everyday they have to be corrected. Everyday they have needs that must be met. And, everyday, every single day, you have to meet those needs. If you're sleepy and want to go to bed, their needs have to be met. If you're hungry, their needs have to be met. If you want to watch the game, their needs have to be met. What I'm saying to you is this: Regardless of what you want, they have to come first.
This is the blessing of children. They teach you to deny the self on an everyday basis. They teach us to place others before ourselves. They teach us what Jesus longed to teach his disciples - self denial. Dad, this concept extends beyond our relationship with our children to the relationship we have with our wives. We are to deny ourselves for their benefit and to meet their needs. By investing in our relationship with our wive, God teaches us, again, in profound ways the benefit of self-denial. I would encourage you to consider the cost of leadership in your home. Either you lead well by example and reap the benefit of it or you lead poorly and reap the consequence of it. Either way there is a cost. Will you pay on the front end by taking the initiative to deny yourself or will you pay on the back end by reaping the consequences of your selfish lifestyle?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
