Favorite Christmas Songs

 

"What's your favorite Christmas song?"  I asked my children.  This was part of my 'Dad Polls Initiative' to understand my children's tastes.

"I don't know," Vincent said shortly.  He may have a favorite Christmas song, but he certainly wasn't going to reveal it to a Dad Pollster.

"Mine is 'Good King Wenceslas,'" Elliot said.

"That's not a Christmas song," Vincent said.  "It's a Feast of Stephen song."

"I guess it can be your favorite Feast of Stephen song," I said.

"Mine is 'What Child is This,'" Victoria put in.

"That's my second favorite one,"  Elliot said.  "If Good King Wenceslas doesn't count then I guess it is my favorite Christmas song."

"What's your favorite song, Elise?"  I asked our two year old.

"Favorite song!"  Elise said.  She is good at repeating things, even when she doesn't understand the question.

"What about you, Anna?"

"I don't know," she said.  "Something fast, I guess -- like 'Carol of the Bells.'  Definitely not 'Silent Night.'  I'm so tired of that song."

It is Christmas time which means, among other things, Christmas music.  Everyone has a list of favorites and an even longer list of songs which annoy them.  The problem is that by the time you reach the end of the five-ish weeks between Thanksgiving and the Feast of Stephen (December 26th) most of us are pretty burned out on Christmas music.

I suppose I could share a top ten list of Christmas songs that irritate me, but I'd rather not.  Instead I'll share the lyrics to my favorite Christmas song, In the Bleak Midwinter, by Christina Rossetti.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom Cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom Angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and Archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

It's a pretty inaccurate song.  There certainly wasn't a thick blanket of snow covering everything around Bethlehem, nor was the water frozen.  In fact, it couldn't have been too cold or the shepherds wouldn't have been in the field that night at all, but rather home in the sheep fold.

There are two things, in spite of the inaccuracies, that come through to me.  First, is the enormity of Christ's gift to us.  He is the ruler of the Universe and yet He humbly stooped to earth to be born into a poor family.  

It speaks of the mind of Christ that Paul spoke of in Philippians chapter 2, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."  Jesus chose to become a servant, though He was greater than the greatest lords of the nations.

Second is that this wonderful gift should inspire something in us -- something in me.  We need to give something back to the Savior who did so much for us.  

It is easy to imagine that others have so many more gifts that are worthwhile.  We don't have the talents or the finances that many others have.  If I were only a millionaire I would give a million, if I were a billionaire I would give a billion or two.

But Jesus did not come for us to give Him gold, frankincense, or myrrh.  All that He desires is a gift that everyone of us can afford and a gift that costs all that we are -- our hearts.

Never Too Much

 

“How was your Thanksgiving?”  The dental hygienist asked me as she lined up the instruments of torture on a tray.

“It was pretty good,” I said.  “We had plenty of food and good company.”  I always want a hygienist to be in the best mood possible when she is working on my teeth.

“Almost all of our leftovers are gone,” she said, as I opened my mouth.  I grunted what I hoped sounded like an interested noise.  I have found conversations in dentist’s offices to be surprisingly one sided.

“You know what leftovers we never have enough of?”  She asked me and once again I made my attempt at a grunt.  This time I hoped it sounded like “I dunno.” 

She paused then said dramatically “Gravy!  Gravy is what we never have enough of.  I’ve discovered you can never have too much gravy!”

I couldn’t imagine this state of affairs.  There are many things in this world that I appreciate more than gravy.  Gravy is just something you put on other food, like meat or mashed potatoes, to enhance its flavor.  It’s like saying, “My favorite food is ketchup!”  (or ranch dressing or horse radish sauce).

I know that there are foods that our family can hardly have enough of.  At the end of the summer there is never any extra okra left over.  We never seem to have extra Mint Oreo Ice Cream (or any other flavor of ice cream for that matter).  I don’t think I’ve ever had apple pie too frequently either -- I'm sure it could happen, it just hasn't so far in my relatively short lifetime.

I wonder about what things we can never have sufficient of in our lives.  I’m afraid that too often our focus is on things that are relatively unimportant. 

Some statements that simply aren’t true:

“You can never have too many kitchen gadgets."

“You can never have too many followers on Instagram.”

“You can never win too many arguments on Facebook.”

Most of the things this world values are transitory and of little value and yet, they feel – they feel -- terribly important.  Influencers take the stage for their 12 and 1/2 minutes of fame and a short million likes later they get dumped by the way side.  

The things that really endure and make a difference can’t be seen with our eyes or held in our hands.

Over the last year, people have tried to store up a variety of things that were in short supply at the beginning of COVID -- these included toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  Now, I can definitely see the importance of toilet paper and appreciate its presence in our home, but there are things even more important than that.

If there is one thing that is in seriously short supply and everyone should stock pile, it is kindness.  Simply put, kindness is thinking about others and their feelings and needs and then making the conscious decision to say the right thing or act in the best way to meet those needs.

Our world is full to the brim with technology.  We can order anything online with the click of a button and yet, the most important things are both free and priceless.

Making the effort to be kind our dealings with others makes the world a better place.  Kindness is taking time to listen.  Kindness is sitting down and writing a note of thanks.  Kindness is smiling at at the frustrated woman with acting up kids in the grocery store and letting her go in front of you in line.  Kindness is choosing not to comment on a Facebook post that riles you inside.

You can have too much Mint Oreo Ice Cream.

You can even have too much gravy.

You can never have too much kindness.

Ministering to the Depressed

 

"Dad!"  Victoria said.  "I do not want you to pour syrup on my pancake!"

"Why not?"  I asked.

"Because I want Mom to," she said.

"Mom is getting ready for church," I said.  "It will be a little while before she'll be downstairs to pour your syrup."

Anna arrived on the scene.  "I will let Anna spread peanut butter on my pancake and pour syrup on it,"  Victoria said, like a queen giving a land grant to some faithful noble.

"OK," Anna said.  

As Anna began to spread the peanut butter, Victoria began to critique her effort.  "You missed some spots!"  Victoria said, referring to the peanut butter.  Then, Anna poured the syrup.  "Anna, none of the syrup stuck to the pancake,"  Victoria wailed.  "It is just in a puddle around it."

So the distressing breakfast meal continued.  Few of our children are "morning people."  They do tend to gain a little more positive outlook later in the day.

Even for short bursts, it is discouraging to deal with this sort of attitude.  My mind works in strange ways and I began to ask myself what the appropriate way is to respond or encourage someone who is dealing with Depression.

Fortunately, I was teaching a Sunday School lesson from the second half of the Book of Ruth.

Naomi is one of the main characters in Ruth.  She was a woman from Bethlehem who journeyed with her husband and two sons to Moab because of a famine that was ravaging Israel.  There in Moab she buried her husband and sons.  After about ten years, she returned to Israel with her son's widow, Ruth.

Even though Naomi never came to my office for an evaluation to see if she met the DSM V (the psychiatric manual for mental illness) criteria for Major Depression, I feel pretty confident she would have met these criteria.

On her arrival back in her hometown, Naomi told the women there, "Do not call me Naomi [Pleasant]; call me Mara [Bitter], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty."

This was a time before counselors, antidepressants, and psychiatrists.  I think it is instructive to read how Ruth responded to her depressed mother-in-law.  Maybe we can learn how better to love friends and family who are dealing with mental anguish.

Ruth Accepted Naomi's Suffering as Real

There is a real tendency to think you can change someone's mental outlook simply by talking to them and sharing truth about their situation with them.  Ruth could have said, "You know, Naomi, things aren't so bad.  God has given you a lot of blessings.  In fact, some of our neighbors are a lot worse off than we are."

This doesn't work.  When people are struggling with Depression, they "know" that there are people who are worse off than they are.  In their heads, they know that God is good, but their heart is so full of tears that they can't move off of that feeling.

I suppose I could keep in my office flip books of images from Concentration Camps or photos of malnourished children from the horn of Africa for people to look at to treat their depression, but that wouldn't move their emotional meter.

When we respond in anger or condescension to people who are dealing with mental anguish, we only succeed in driving a wedge between us and them.  We will not provide the healing that they desperately need.

Ruth Chose to be What Naomi Lacked

Ruth never told her mother-in-law, "I will take the place of the husband and sons you lost."  Ruth was wise enough to know that nothing could take the place of Elimelech or her deceased husband, but Naomi didn't really need a replacement for these dead men.  She needed something else.

On the way back from Moab, Naomi told Ruth and her other daughter-in-law, Orpah, to return to their families' homes.  Naomi had a number of reasons that she listed why they should leave her, but it all added up to her telling Ruth and Orpah that Naomi didn't think she was worth staying with.  Naomi had no future or value, why would they tie their lives to her?

When someone with depression tells you to go, they are actually giving you a plea to stay.  "Tell me that I am worth staying with," is the unsaid message.  Ruth understood this and responded with her famous statement, "Intreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee..."

Depressed people fear loss and abandonment.  They need to clearly hear from their friends and family not only that they will not be left alone.  They need to hear that they are worth staying with.

Ruth Worked at the Relationship

Maybe Naomi worked at maintaining her relationship with Ruth, but it sure looks like Ruth was doing most of the heavy lifting.  This is not surprising.

People who are dealing with depression do not initiate things.  They hardly have energy to do the bare minimum of activities that are required of them each day.  They will not pick up the phone and call friends and they definitely don't schedule lunch dates.

This doesn't mean that they don't want contact.  It simply means that their friends will need to be the ones to initiate it.

That's what Ruth did and what we should do as well.

Ruth Continued to Include Naomi in her Life

Ruth didn't know anyone in Bethlehem, when she arrived, except for Naomi.  It wasn't surprising that she spent most of her time with Naomi.  Over time she met lots of other people, particularly the man she ended up marrying, Boaz.

Despite her new acquaintances, Ruth continued to include Naomi in her life.  Depressed friends can be a bit draining to spend time with and so it is easy to neglect including them in our lives.  That is the opposite of what they need from us.

By the end of the book, Naomi seems to have found joy again.  This recovery happened because of a faithful friend and a God who used all of the events in Naomi's life for good.

There are other things I could mention that aren't found in Ruth.  People need to be encouraged to seek treatment.  Short term (or even long term) medication is far better than a lifetime of mental anguish.

We must not jump to the conclusion that there are sin issues in someone's life.  I am not sure why people are so quick to identify mental health issues as being divine punishment.  Wouldn't uncontrolled diabetes or severe COVID be just as likely to be the result of moral failures?

Perhaps the most important thing to learn from the story of Naomi is that God was always working in her life.  When healing came, it was not the result of miraculous events, but rather through God's use of human instruments.

In the same way, God will use us, as His instruments, to bring healing into the lives of suffering people, if we just let Him.

Samson Syndrome

 

"What are you studying, Dad?"  My six year old daughter asked me.

"I'm going to teach Sunday School about Samson," I told her.  "Do you know who he was?"

"Yes," Victoria said.  "He had really long hair -- as long as a girl's -- and he knocked a temple down."

"You're right," I agreed.  "He had long hair and he knocked a temple down."  What I didn't say was, "You know, Samson had a lot of issues that his strength couldn't cover up."

As I pondered on the story of Samson, I became convinced that his life was emblematic of greater issues that men (and probably some women) face.

The story of Samson is the story of a narcissist.  It is the story of a man who used his strength to hide his weakness.  It is a story of unrealized potential.  Most of all, it is a story about God using someone despite their flaws.

The Story

Samson was a special child from the beginning.  The book of Judges tells us that his his parents weren't able to have children.  At some point, his mother was visited by an angel who announced his birth, along with instructions that he was never to drink wine or cut his hair.

Samson lived in a time when the people of Israel were oppressed by a neighboring people, the Philistines.  As he got older, he began to pick fights with them and killed many of them.

Eventually, after 20 years, Samson fell in love with a Philistine name Delilah.  She convinced him to reveal the source of his strength.  Once he told her that his strength came from his long hair, she cut his hair (the Philistines had promised her a lot of money for this information).

A weak Samson was captured.  The Philistines put his eyes out and made him grind grain in a prison.

At the end of his life he was brought to a temple to be ridiculed by the Philistines.  As he stood by the temple's supporting pillars, he cried out to God for one last burst of strength.  He pushed the pillars over, destroying the temple and killing himself and many Philistines in the process.

That's a thumb nail sketch of his life as found in the book of Judges chapters 13-16.  It is a story of stupendous strength and amazing weakness.

Samson was Special

Samson's parents had wanted a child for a long time and had been unable to have one.  When an angel showed up to announce that they were going to have a child, they were beyond thrilled.

Samson grew up knowing that he was special.  Unfortunately, this knowledge led him down the path of narcissism.  

Every one of us is special.  There is no doubt this is true.  God had a purpose in mind for each when He created us.  Focusing too much on our "specialness" is pretty dangerous.

When we believe that the world revolves around us, it leads us to behave arrogantly.  It also causes us to be have in ways that destroy or limit the depth of our relationships with others.

The only thing worse than loving a narcissist is being a narcissist and not understanding why no one in your world loves you enough.

Samson was a Loner

Samson achieved amazing feats of strength.  He killed a thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey, he killed a lion with his bare hands, and he carried the gates of Gath 36 miles to a hill near Hebron.

As amazing as these episodes in his life were, it is easy to question what he could have been if he had chosen to work with others.  Other men in Judges, like Gideon, were not successful because of their great strength, but because they worked with others and had God's blessing on their lives.

We live in an individualistic society.  It is a society that values the uniqueness of each person and encourages men and women to find their own path.  While there may be some value to this, there is much greater benefit to individuals to find and work in community.  Each one of us needs a community that values our unique aspects, but also strengthens our weakness.

Humans need community.  We need at least a couple of people who will be willing to share truth with us that we don't want to hear.  We need people willing to pray for us when we are not strong.  We need others to stand beside us when the battle is too much.

If life is about achieving our potential, we will never reach that when we live in isolation.

Samson Lost the Important Battles

Even in the midst of the glory of his strength, Samson was losing the important battles.  Samson never achieved victories over his own lusts and desires.

It seems as though Samson's life was spent chasing fulfillment of his own desire for pleasure.  Even as he succeeded in this pursuit, he was an abject failure.  His whole motivation was a mixture of a desire for sexual gratification and anger at those who stood in his way.

While God was able to use this flawed man to inflict great losses on the Philistines, there is no doubt that Samson's greatest enemy was not conquered for the majority of his life.  That enemy was Samson.

In the same way, there have been people who spoke before great crowds and seemed to be doing great works for God -- at least until revelations came out that showed them to have serious moral failings in their lives.  

No man can win the war until he gains the victory over himself.

Samson Used His Strength to Avoid Consequences

Reading the brief narrative of Samson's life we find Samson visiting a prostitute in Gath and then escaping with the gate of the city on his shoulders.

Even in his encounters with Delilah, Samson skated on the edge of disaster.  Three times he escaped from the Philistines because of his strength.

This was the worst thing that could have happened.  The only thing that Samson learned from these episodes was that he was strong enough for every situation.

The human tendency is to use whatever is in our power to shield ourselves from the consequences of our behavior.  No one wants to suffer and so people use their strength, deception, or influence over others to live consequence-free lives.  When we can do wrong with impunity, it only leads to much worse things.

Eventually everyone reaches the point where the rewards of their behavior cannot be held off any longer and the results are brutal.  

It is better to feel pain from bad behavior than to continue on a highway bound for disaster.

Samson Never Understood the Source of His Strength

As a child I always understood Samson's strength as coming directly from his long hair.  It is understandable that I thought this.  Samson never had his hair cut and was always victorious.  Delilah cut his hair and he was weak.  Judges tells us that while Samson was in prison his hair grew and he became strong one last time.

Certainly, this is what Samson believed for most of his life.  He could do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't have his hair cut, he would be victorious.

The author of Judges tells us something more.  Samson's power came from God's spirit.  It says about him that when he went out that last time to defeat, "He wist not that the Lord was departed from him."

Samson's strength came from God's Spirit's presence in his life.  Because he did nothing to maintain that relationship, he wasn't even aware when its tenuous connection was finally severed.  When Samson's strength returned, it was not because his hair had grown, but because he chose to cry out to God for the strength that he didn't have on his own.

Often we are not aware of the source of our strength.  While we give lip service to God's blessing on our lives there is a tendency to believe that it is our own hard work and dedication that has helped us to achieve our success.

Maybe it isn't surprising how many of us struggle with weakness and defeat when we don't work to maintain the source of our strength.

True strength only comes through God's blessing, those who forget that will suffer defeat in the important areas of their lives.

Conclusion

There are a lot of men that are quick to identify a "Jezebel spirit" in women.  Many of these men are afflicted with "Samson Syndrome."

These men are focused on their own desires.  They are loners and lonely -- even as they are surrounded by communities that would be easy for them to access.  They are doing nothing to maintain a relationship with God.  They are blind as to the reasons that they struggle with weakness, emptiness, and defeat.

There is no pill that cures narcissism.  In fact, it is hard for people who are dealing with this to do anything about it.  More than that, people on the path of narcissism do not listen to outside input.  Narcissists don't believe they are the one with the problem.  It is everyone else who has issues.

The saddest thing about Samson was that his story is one of wasted potential.  He had such strength and could have been a real leader if he hadn't constantly fallen to his desire to please himself.  God used Samson in spite of Samson.

I wonder how many men through history have never achieved simply because they were not willing to do what it took to gain mastery over their own desires.  They had some superficial appearance of success, but their potential was wasted because they did not understand either what was really important (not themselves) or where true strength comes from (God).

The path for success is simple and yet it is hard to follow for people who believe themselves to be strong and self-sufficient.  This route begins with honesty and vulnerability and its journey lies through the Land of Service.  It is this land that produces all great men and women.  It is this path that creates leaders who are worth following.

They are great because they serve.

A Reason for Gratitude

 

"It's getting a little cold for me,"  my patient said.  "I don't really like it when the temperature gets below 75 degrees."

"I guess it is getting a little chilly," I said.  Truthfully, I'm not usually bothered till the temperature stays below single digits for a week or two.

"It sure is!"  The older lady was warming to her dissertation on dropping temperatures.  "All I want to do mornings these days is stay under the covers."

"Well," I said.  "Thanksgiving is next week."

"I guess it's normal for the temperature to go down this time of year," she said with a sigh.  "It was colder than this when I was a girl, but somehow I dealt better then."

I actually hadn't meant that it was normal for the temperature to get cooler in November, although of course, depending on your latitude, it is quite usual.  I had meant for her to consider the fact that it is the time of year where we should indulge in excessive gratitude.

I have been thinking about the story of Ruth in the Bible lately.  Naomi left the town of Bethlehem with a husband and two sons.  She returned, some ten years later, having attended the funerals of the three people she loved most.

I suppose it is not surprising that when she returned, she told the townspeople of Bethlehem to call her "Mara," or bitter.  "I went away full," she said.  "|And I have returned empty."  Naomi had left more than her heart in the land of Moab.

At the same moment, Naomi still had much for which to be grateful.  For one thing, she had a jewel of a daughter-in-law (Ruth) who had committed to caring for Naomi, come what may.  More than that, Naomi was serving a God who was guiding her steps, even in her darkest hours.

By the end of the book, Naomi's heart and arms are once more filled with unexpected joy because of the birth of Ruth's first son, Obed.  It all happened because of God's faithfulness.  If there is a message in the book of Ruth, it is that God uses all things in our lives, even the things we struggle most with. 

Maybe the key to thankful living is realizing this simple fact.  If we can only remember that Someone who loves us is caring for us, we can have a spirit of gratitude, whatever trials we face.

Even if we happen to live in days when the high temperatures are in the 40s.

The Church Hospital

 

It seems as though hospitals have been around forever.  As long as people have gotten sick, they have needed care during those periods of their lives.

It turns out that hospitals are actually a pretty recent invention.

Up until 300 years after the death of Christ, all care of sick people was given to them in their homes -- or the homes of their family members.  With the exception of soldiers on the battlefield, doctors visited patients in private dwellings and the treatments, such as they were, were administered to them there.

In AD 325, following the Council of Nicaea, hospitals began to be built across the Roman Empire.  Every town large enough to have a Cathedral also got a hospital.  Over time, these facilities for healing spread and are now present throughout the world.

The church is a hospital.

The church is a place where hurting, ailing people can go to receive comfort and healing.

Everyone in the church has a role in this endeavor.  Everyone is either someone who is providing healing or receiving care.  Many of us, have found ourselves at various times in both roles -- encourager and one who desperately needs uplifting words.

Churches must have a primary goal to meet the needs of those in need.  Regardless of who they are, what needs they have, and what they look like, our aim must be to minister to those needs as Jesus would have.

If there are two roles in the church -- those who need healing and others who provide that restoration, there are some who have decided to introduce other occupations.

In a hospital in the United States, you have no sooner walked through the door of the ER with your arm dangling by a thread when someone descends on you to get your insurance information and have you sign a bunch of forms (with your good arm).  In just this way, I am afraid there are some that see their purpose in the church as "gatekeepers."  These are not healers, but rather they are people that identify those that are unworthy to receive care in this particular church setting.

I have been particularly impressed lately with the Google Doctors that show up to critique the care that their friends and family are receiving in a hospital setting.  They don't actually have a medical degree, but they certainly are able to see all the things that are being done wrong.  These same people are present in the church too.  They don't do a whole lot of healing there either, but they are exceptionally good at critiquing the programs the church offers, the ways in which things could be done better, or simply how the church is ignoring the needs of their "core members."

Our goal as Christians is not to identify people who are not worthy of care.  Our desire must be to identify people who need loving and give them what they need most.

Hospitals should be a place where hurting people can receive healing with the knowledge that people who are filled with care are exerting every effort on their behalf.

Churches should do no less for the people in their communities who have needs.  Not all will be healed by our efforts, but Jesus did much more for us, we must do the same for others.

Two Kinds of People

"There are two kinds of people in this world, morning people and evening people."

I have read many of these sorts of quotes.  "There are two types of people, those who are optimistic and those who aren't."

Or maybe, "There are two groups of people in this world.  Those who can extrapolate incomplete data."

"There are two groups of people -- those who divide people into two groups and everyone else."

I read over the different quotes and thought about it.  From a Christian perspective, there really are two groups of people.  I think many would sort them into those who have prayed a "Sinner's Prayer" and those who haven't.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25 about the Day of Judgement.  He said that all people would be divided into two groups -- sheep and goats.  One group would be rewarded and one judged, based on their actions.  He never mentions a special prayer or acknowledging His lordship.  Instead He brings up feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison.  He finishes saying "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers or sisters you were doing it to me!"

I don't understand all of what this means, but one message comes clearly through to me -- it doesn't matter what we say, if we aren't ministering to the needs of those who are lacking, there is a disconnect.  Our actions must demonstrate that we are Christ's servants.

I am afraid that many today believe that serving Jesus involves voting the right way or maybe posting the right meme on Facebook.  I think it has to mean more than that.  Serving Jesus means looking at people in need and seeing the face of my Savior and treating them like I would treat Him.  

Nothing could be simpler.  

Nothing could be harder.

When Jesus looks at this world and sees two groups of people, I know which group I want to be in.  Which group are you in?

The Marks of a Wise Person

 

“Dad,” my son said to me.  “I hope I’m as wise you are some day.”

“I hope you are wiser than I am,” I said.  Truth to tell, I don’t feel terribly wise most of the time.  Although I suppose to a ten year old, I would seem to have a lot of answers to the questions that he is facing in his life.

In the book of I Kings, the story is told of a dream that Solomon, King of Israel, had.  In it, God appeared to him and offered to give him whatever he wished for.  Solomon humbly told God that he did not feel worthy of the throne of Israel.  In his humility, Solomon asked God to give him a “discerning heart to govern” the people. 

In reply, God told Solomon that He would give him a wise and discerning heart.  In addition, God said He would give Solomon many other things that he had not asked for, like wealth and honor.

Wisdom is something that is crucial.  The Book of Proverbs spends a lot of time telling us how to achieve wisdom and some of the qualities of a wise man or woman.

Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding.” 

I checked at Walmart and they don't have a wisdom section.  Maybe your local big box store has some in stock, but it seems to be in short supply these days.  I thought that it might be helpful to note a few of the characteristics that wise people show in their lives so that we can emulate these things and also identify people that are worth listening to.

Wise People Fear God

Proverbs 9:10 says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

This isn’t an obvious place to begin learning wisdom.  It seems as though wisdom would begin with training in the right Universities or at a minimum, spending time apprenticed to a sage who would instruct in the intricacies of discernment.

Wisdom begins with a basic knowledge of Who is in charge and ordering the Universe.  Without this foundation, the rest of the house is going to fall apart.  Understanding that God is in charge and we are His servants provides the context for every other decision we make in our lives.  Those who do not have this understanding will suffer as a result.

When a person learns to read, they begin with learning letters and the sounds that they make.  Without some basic understanding of phonics, as well as exposure to sight words, you can’t read Dr. Seuss, much less Shakespeare.

I am afraid that too many people have lots and lots of knowledge and yet never reach wisdom because they start at the wrong place.

Wise men and women build on this foundational truth.  They know that they are only the humble servants of the ruler of the Universe.

Wise People are Humble

Proverbs 11:2 says, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."

Humility is not particularly valued these days.  The people who are listened to the most speak confidently and frequently about their own abilities and knowledge.  Even the people who claim to be humble seem awfully proud of that humility.

I have lived long enough to know that God has a way of humbling those who think a lot of themselves.  Maybe we could say that those who are arrogant tend to humble themselves, because they are seldom the person they believe themselves to be.

I feel like I am constantly reading opinions of people who are over stating their credentials.  No one says, “I was a B and C student and really struggled with Pathology in Medical School, but here is what I think…”  Instead, they claim to have been part of Harvard Medical School because they once took a medical conference there.  Maybe they claim to have invented the internet because they once voted for a bill that helped fund its start.

These sorts of claims usually fall apart under scrutiny.  It is better to be humble.

More than that, wise men and women are willing to learn from those around them.  They may be the smartest person in the room, but they are still willing to sit down, listen, and learn.  This is a big reason why they are wise.

Wise People Appreciate Criticism

Proverbs 9:8 says, “Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you.”

I don’t suppose any of us enjoy criticism.  The person giving the critique is seldom perfect.  The criticism often is not worded in a way that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.  None of this changes the fact that if we are wise, we will listen to criticism.

I can’t say that I feel good when people come to me with things I could and should be doing better.  I feel like I’m doing my best, what more can they expect? 

Wisdom is not only realizing that we aren’t a finished product yet, it is attempting to figure out better ways to do the tasks we are called to do.  Wisdom listens to the words that others speak into our lives and attempts to turn them to something positive.

Finding the truth in the criticism is crucial.  Unfortunately, most of us only find things like irritation and anger there.

Reproof is never easy to take.  Wisdom understands that it is the beginning of something better, if we only listen.

Wise People Surround Themselves with other Wise People

Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

We become like the people that we are with.  This is something that can be good if we spend time with people that encourage us and are full of wisdom.  It is something that can be harmful if we spend our time with individuals who aren’t deep thinkers.

This is not an IQ issue.  We don’t become less intelligent when we spend time with people who have lower IQs.  The issue is that when we spend lots of time with people who deliberately choose not to use discernment, we become like them.  We begin to believe things with little foundation in truth.  We doubt things that we used to know to be truth.

If we spend time reading news from websites with questionable journalistic credibility, two things will happen.  First, we will begin to think that the opinions that they layer on top of the actual news are factual.  Second, we will be less tolerant of real factual news and expert opinion.

Therefore, it is crucial that we surround ourselves with people who have true discernment and are craving a deeper understanding of both secular things and the things of God.  These are the sort of people that will push us towards true wisdom.

Wise People Say Less

Proverbs 17:27 says, “A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even tempered.”

Wise people tend not to share much.  Maybe this is for a few different reasons.  First, wise people know that they don’t know everything.  It is easy to speculate on things that we are still learning about, but it is seldom wise to do so.  Second, is that unsolicited advice is seldom appreciated.  If a patient of mine indicates that they are not interested in quitting smoking, I usually tell them that if they decide they are ready to quit, they should let me know and I can try to help.  Continuing to badger them about it doesn’t tend to work.  A final reason is that wise people know that they will need to retract fewer things that they have said if they have said less and speculated less.

I think most of us struggle a bit with this.  All of us have opinions on most subjects out there, even if we don’t have a lot of knowledge to back up our opinions.  It is wiser in these situations to be quiet or simply to say, “I don’t know.”

Wise People Change Their Minds

Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”

It is wisdom to change your mind as you receive more information.  As already mentioned, the wisest thing is to say nothing until you are absolutely certain of something, but many times we are called on to speculate on something. 

If my mechanic says to me, “Sounds like a fuel pump,” but then when he investigates further decides there is a much cheaper fix, I am glad.  I would rather have him change his mind than to replace a part that is working just fine.

With COVID, we have been learning many things over the last year and three quarters.  Some of the things we thought were true last March and April have turned out to be inaccurate.  Is it flip-flopping to change one’s mind?  Maybe, but it is also a sign of wisdom.

I have discovered over the last year that people value confidence and credentials a lot.  These look good on a resumé but are not things that indicate men and women who are wise.

Rather we should ask some other questions to see if we are trusting the right people.

Does this person fear God and is it evident in his behavior, the ways in which he discusses people in authority, and the language he uses?

Does this person display humility when interacting with other people, particularly those of opposing points of view?

Does this person listen to criticism?

What times has this person shown themselves willing to change their mind about a subject which they were committed to?

I know that these sorts of actions and behaviors do not generate a large following. 

People seem to follow brash, self-confident, and self-important individuals with lots of hot takes – even if they don’t really like their personalities.  This is not the sort of person Christians are called to be, nor is that the sort of person that we should trust or spend time with.

We are called to have hearts of understanding and discernment.  We are called to humility.  Most of all, we are called to wisdom.

CDED

 

In the United States, we just passed the holiday, “Confident but Deluded Explorer’s Day” (CDED for short), more popularly known as Columbus’ Day.  It is not a holiday at my workplace, but I guess government and bank employees get a day off to spend time with their families.  Truthfully, Columbus has too many issues for me to want to celebrate his “achievements.”

When people think of Columbus, they think of a man who spoke truth to power.  He stood up to the idiot scholars who believed that the world was flat.  He courageously sailed into the west, even as his sailors were quaking in their boots believing that at any moment they would sail off the edge of the world.  He was a man ahead of his time.

There is only one problem with this picture of the explorer.  It simply isn’t true.

Just like today, there were some people in the 1400s who believed in a flat earth, but most of the scholars knew the earth was spherical.  Even the ancient Greeks had known this and had calculated its circumference.  

The reason that no one tried to get to India or Japan by sailing west was because they knew that the distance was roughly 11,000 nautical miles.  No ship of the time could hope to carry enough food and supplies to travel so far a distance.

When Columbus traveled around, discussing his plans with various royal families of Europe, he confidently told them that he estimated the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan was only 2,400 nautical miles – a long way to be sure, but something the boats of his day could handle.  In a sense, Columbus was the ultimate irrational-confidence man.  He was someone who was willing to risk his life and the life of his crew on calculations that were dead wrong.

When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to fund his voyage, it was in spite of the objections of their scholars.  Columbus’ confidence and charm had won their support.

I feel as though little is different today.  People choose their pundits, not based on the factual nature of those “experts” say, but rather based on their confidence, charisma, willingness to inflate their own credentials, and general smoothness of delivery.

It bothers me because truth is deeper than any of these superficial qualities.  While I do not have the know-how to calculate the circumference of the globe, I would do well to listen to those who can and have done so.

Trusting a confident but wrong explorer may have worked out for King Ferdinand, but most of the time such trust is disastrous.  We would do better to find wiser men and women in whom to place our faith.

Doodling?

 

"I want to be a doodler when I grow up!"  Victoria announced grandly to the rest of her family.

"You can't be a doodler," Elliot objected.  "That's not a job."

"She means an artist," Elaine put in.  "She'll draw pictures."

"No," Victoria said firmly.  "I like doodling better than drawing."

I found this whole exchange to be very amusing.  I suppose that the difference between art and doodling is a mixture of vision and intentionality.  Doodles are thoughtless and while some art appears random, there is some planning and preparation that goes into each painting or sculpture.

(I must confess that I cannot always discern the difference between doodling and some modern art, but that is probably due to some weakness in my character).

It is certainly easier to live life without either vision or intentionality.  In fact, this seems to be the path that many people are inclined to take.  They simply do the things that have to get done and react the best that they can to the trials that they face.

Ephesians 5:15,16 says "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."  Wisdom is seeing the path in front and making decisions based on where I want to be in the future.  Wisdom is choosing art over doodling -- even if art is harder.  

It is more rewarding to live with a vision in mind and intentionality about reaching that vision.

Our lives will be filled more than a few squiggles a long the way.  There will be times we are no longer working on Plan B or C and are actually working on Plan M.  In fact, more often than not we will not be working from our original plan. 

Don't let that stop us from thinking about the future and planning for it.  That is the thing that will keep us on the right path and away from the category of "World Champion Doodler."

She Leadeth Me?

 

"Come on, Aria!" I told our growing Lab puppy.  "Let's go for a walk."

I attached her leash and pulled her along towards the woods behind our house.

As we walked along through the woods, my doggie kept pulling away from me.  She kept trying to drag me along little scent trails through the trees.  Not being endowed with a dog's sensitive nose, I had no idea what she was trailing.  

Every so often she would dart around a tree and come back to me. As I struggled to untangle her leash from its looping mess.  Aria looked at me as if to ask the question, "Why are you so slow?"

I quickly came to the conclusion that I wasn't taking Aria for a walk.  Aria was taking me for a walk.

When we reached the end of the trail, she stared happily at me with her tongue out.  "That was fun!  You should take me on more walks!"

I think about my prayers at the beginning of each day.  "Dear Lord," I often say.  "Please go with me today.  Bless me and make me a blessing too."

It's not a bad prayer, but maybe it misses something.  I don't really want God to go with me on my day, I want to go with Him instead.

I want to be able to pray, "God, I know you have something for me today.  Let me take your hand and follow you, even if it isn't the path I would initially choose.  Help me to be willing to stop and listen instead of charging ahead.  I think I know where I am going, but I don't know the people I will meet or what their needs are.  Please help me to understand how I can be your hands and feet in every situation.  Just lead me!"

I want to do better at listening to my Father's voice.  I want to take my Father's hand and follow Him.

It may not seem as interesting as the little rabbit trails in the woods, but God has something special for me each and every day.  I just need to remember that He isn't walking with me.  I am following Him -- wherever the path leads.

Lots of Lettuce

 

"Wow, you sure got a lot of lettuce!"  I said as I was carrying in things from our minivan.  Elaine had just gotten a pickup at Sam's Club and there were many things that needed to be carried in as a result.  Five growing children do take nourishment on a semi-regular basis.

"Only what we usually get," my wife said breezily.  "It takes a lot of groceries to feed our family these days,"

At this moment our oldest, Anna, appeared.  "Mom, there's tons of cucumbers in the van!"  She said.

Elaine started to figure out something wasn't quite right.  "How many cucumbers are there?"  She asked.

The answer seemed to be 12 cucumbers -- and 24 "Hearts of Romaine" heads of lettuce.  Somehow she had pushed extra numbers beside those items on her order.

"I see a lot of salad in our future," I said prophetically.

There's an odd saying that "When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade."  This statement, of course, assumes that you have access to plenty of sugar.  Beyond that, there are plenty of times when God sends heads on heads of lettuce our way and we don't even like salad that much.

What do you do when you come home with too many ingredients that don't seem to go together?

These days, with the internet it is relatively easy to type in the list of ingredients that we have and come up with some sort of weird dish that includes cucumbers, lettuce, and granola bars.  In the rest of life it isn't so easy.

Many times it seems as though we are given ingredients that just don't go together.  Worse, we are given foods that we simply despise.

I remember the story of the Israelites traveling through the desert of the Sinai peninsula.  Every day held the same food choice -- manna.  It was nutrition filled and well balanced.  It even tasted good -- the first eighty times they ate it.

Joy comes when we are able to trust that the Cook has gotten the right ingredients for our lives.  God is the Master Chef who somehow is able able to take the disparate ingredients and make something worthwhile of them.

Even 24 heads of lettuce and 12 cucumbers.

Source of Blessings

 

“Most of your blood work looks really good,” I told the middle aged man sitting across from me.

“You know, I try,” the man was emphatic.  “I’ve been eating a no meat diet for a long time!  I walk a mile and a half at least five days a week.  It’s not surprising that my blood work looks great.”

“Well,” I said.  “I was getting to the part where your cholesterol is up a little bit…”

“I don’t see how that can be,” he said.  “I’m doing everything you’ve told me to do.  I even take some supplements that Dr. Oz mentioned last year that could help.”

“I don’t know that it is something that you are doing or aren’t doing,” I said.  “For some people high cholesterol just runs in their family.  Genetic tendencies are really some of the hardest things to deal with.”

I'm afraid this is true.  Two people can eat basically the same diet and have vastly different blood work -- mostly because of who their parents were.  This can lead to discouragement or to a false belief that you have a significantly healthier lifestyle than your neighbors. 

I am afraid there is a real tendency for people to believe that they have earned the blessings they receive.  God is rewarding them for their wonderful service to Him.  The fact that they are healthy and have sufficient food for every meal is simply proof of their own goodness.

There are plenty as well who believe  that they have made their good fortune.  These are self-made men and women who eat healthy, exercise regularly, and follow Dave Ramsey’s financial rules to perfection.  They know that while God may have a hand in their success, it is their own hard work and perseverance that has really made the difference.

I really see this when it comes to health.  Recently, with COVID, there are many who believe that because of their healthy living, supplements, and research, they have been able to beat COVID without much difficulty.  I am sure that these things don’t hurt, but much of what decides how well people do with COVID has to do with age (which we don’t control), access to health care, and genetic factors.  Quite simply, if you are young, live in the United States, and have the right parents, you will sail through your experience with COVID.

If on the other hand, you live in India, are 60 years old, have genetic tendencies towards a bad COVID response, and your local hospital is out of beds and oxygen you may die. 

We don't need to feel bad for the benefits we receive, but we must not feel smug about them either.  I believe these God given gifts bring with them two responsibilities.

First, we need to share freely with others.  To whom much is given, much will be required.  There are many who are less fortunate.  Many people live in war-torn countries, suffer from ill health, and wonder where their next meal will come from.  As God gives to us, we need to give to others.

The second thing is that we should feel gratitude for the blessings we experience.  We didn’t pick our parents.  We didn’t decide all the opportunities we would have in our lives.  We didn’t choose to be born into communities that allow us to worship without persecution.

Many in this world do not have these things and still manage to be grateful.  We can do no less.

The biggest problem with self-made men and women is that they have a fallible creator.

It is much better to realize our smallness and our absolute dependency on God.

These gifts come to us, not because we are special, but because God is good.  Taking credit for them is simply ingratitude.  In a world full of sickness and war, it is vital that the people of God share with others and point to Him as the source of their blessings.

One Apple?

 

The fall is here, which means apple harvest at the Waldron household.  We have three apple trees and two of them are quite large and so you can imagine how long it will take to harvest all the fruit.

There will be apple sauce and pies and jams.  There will be apples aplenty for school lunches.  Who knows what all the glorious things we will be able to do with our harvest?

Or, maybe not...

You see, on all three of our trees, there is only one, solitary apple.  

There's a picture book that I always enjoyed that is called, "Who's got the apple?"  (by Jan Loof).  It revolves around the apple of a store keeper who is raising a single, beautiful fruit on a little apple tree in his backyard.  The apple has many adventures until ends up in the hands of the man in the striped suit.

Unlike that store keeper, our (my) plan wasn't to have only one apple.  Further, this isn't any kind of amazing or special apple.

Each year, I have tried pruning our trees and fertilizing them.  I read books about improving apple harvest.  I even prayed that my apple trees would shape up and do better.  Nothing really has helped a whole lot and every year we get between one and three apples.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

I look at the world around me and I don't see many of these fruits exemplified.  It seems as though kindness went out of fashion in the late 19th century and gentleness about a hundred years before that.  Few are joyful and don't get me started about self-control.

In the church, where these things should be ever present, I am afraid the harvest these days is pretty scanty.  "Oh yes," we say.  "I was patient last week.  I think.  And then, there was that time when, if I wasn't totally joyful, I was kind of happy.  And my kids ate the oreos before I could get to them, so that was kind of self control."

Maybe we Christians have too much in common with my apple trees.  The harvest just isn't what either it could or should be.

Should a Christian be satisfied with a harvest that happens once or twice a month?  Is God satisfied with an output like that?

Whatever our harvest is today, our focus must be on increasing it.  We must listen to the Spirit and let Him prune and nourish our lives till we are bearing everyone of His fruits and lots of them.

The harvest isn't scanty because of the Spirit.  He is the same as He ever was, willing to work wonders in our hearts.  It is the fault of His people who no longer are focused on listening to His voice and doing His will...

Or, even bearing His fruit.

School Days

 

"Are you excited to go back to school?  I asked the four of my children who were starting back to school.

"Yes!"  Victoria said, very loudly.

"No!"  Elliot said, just as loudly.

Regardless of what they thought about going back to school, they went back to classes this last week.  I can't say that their mother was totally displeased with their return to school.  

They went back to the normal things, school books and teachers, lessons and lunches, and back to the gentle grind of learning.

Most of us were glad when we reached the age where we were done with school.  It was a blessing to reach the point where we received a diploma and could finally begin to receive a paycheck as well.

Though we graduated with the highest marks, hopefully, that was not the end of our learning.

Learning in the school of life is not easy.  The Book of James tells us to "ask for wisdom."  When I was younger, I imagined that God would just appear in a dream, as He did to Solomon and just give it to me -- maybe when I turned old, like 32 or some age like that.  Then, I would know when to tell people to cut babies in half and stuff like that.

That isn't really the way that we learn or gain wisdom.

Romans 5:3-5 says, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Each day I awaken in life's school room with a challenge.  I must identify the lessons before me and then learn them as perfectly as I can.  More often than not, those lessons will involve some sort of trial.

I find these lessons harder than even the hardest days in Medical School.  They are no longer just about learning about a new disease process, enzyme, or medication class.  Now, I find the learning to be in areas like kindness, gentleness, and patience.

Unlike with the times tables, these are not easily learned and applied.  Instead, I feel like I am constantly learning and re-learning these lessons.

I am not excited to study these lessons, but I know that I will not graduate from this school until it is time for me to "go home."  In the meantime, my goal must be to become more and more like my Master, one learning filled day at a time.

Messages From the ICU

 

"He was pretty sick," the nurse told me.  "He kept telling me that he was in his 50s and that he was pretty healthy except for a little blood pressure and so he had thought he'd be fine.  We started on him on dexamethasone, Remdesivir, heparin, and oxygen."

"How was his family?"  I asked.  

"His wife and daughter were pretty upset, but they all thought he'd be OK.  He felt pretty bad and kept telling us that he wished he'd gotten vaccinated."

She paused for a second then began again.  "Then, he crashed.  We had to paralyze him and intubate him.  We proned him -- did everything we could and by the next morning he was dead."

"It was really terrible for his wife and daughter.  Just so quick, you know?"

The sad thing is that this story is not a solitary one.  There are many stories about very sick people in the ICU telling their families to get vaccinated and telling them not to get COVID, that it is worse than they thought.

The interesting thing to me is how easy it is for people to discount these accounts.  Perhaps they believe that they are made up by the media, or that there was something really wrong with the patient that made them so sick.

Regardless, the messages from the ICU often fall on deaf ears.

I've been contemplating the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  This parable is simply the story of a wealthy man (given no name) and a poor man (named Lazarus).  We know virtually nothing about them except that they lived close to each other and they both died.

Lazarus after dying went Paradise, while the rich man went to hell.  There, in hell, he had a conversation with father Abraham where he begged Abraham to send Lazarus back, "For I have five brothers -- so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment."

Abraham denies this request, telling him that his brothers have Moses and the prophets (the Scriptures) to warn them of how they should behave.  

Still, the tormented man persisted.  "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent."

Abraham's reply was simple.  "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they convinced if someone should rise from the dead."

It seems a strange thing.  Maybe Jesus was telling His disciples that many would never believe in His resurrection.  Perhaps He was speaking of people's unwillingness to hear voices that ask them to change their lives.  Change comes from within, not from outside forces.

I don't know why it is that people are so quick to discount good advice.  This really has nothing to do with COVID.  It has everything to do our desires and even the hardness of our hearts.

I see it all of the time.  People plan what they are going to do and then seek out counselors who encourage them in that path.

If you look hard enough, you can always find someone who will encourage you to continue to live dangerously.

Far better are those who listen -- to Jesus, the law and the prophets.  They will be blessed, both now and in the future.

Recruiting for the Kingdom

 

"Try Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire!"

I was listening to a podcast and this advertisement interrupted the podcast about history that I was listening to.  Since I'm not currently recruiting for new members of our family, I tuned it out.

Later, as my mind began to turn this ad over and over again, I began to think of God and how He recruits people to His service.  Certainly, He doesn't use Zip Recruiter or Linked In or any of the other normal internet job posting sites.

Isaiah 6 reveals a vision that Isaiah had at the beginning of his career as a prophet.  He saw God with all His might and glory, seated on a throne.  Then, Isaiah heard "The voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send and who will go for us?'"  In response to this, Isaiah said, "Here am I, send me."

God is still looking for people willing to serve Him.  The problem is that so many of us believe ourselves over qualified for the positions that He has available.

It is a sad day when you are too big and important to work for the Creator of the Universe.

What would an internet board job posting for God's kingdom look like?  Maybe a little bit like this:

"In search of:  a man or woman who is willing to be small enough to listen, patient enough to stay, brave enough to go, and focused enough to remember who he or she is serving, regardless of what situation they find themselves in.  Willing to give up a lifetime of personal glory and accolades.  Short term anguish guaranteed.  Lifetime heavenly rewards waiting as well."

This posting is for all who follow Jesus.  It is not dependent on our talents or amazing abilities, but on our willingness to be small enough to be used.

The only real response to such a call is the one Isaiah made.  "Here am I, send me!"

Christians and Branding

 

"Is your nose a little stuffy?"  my wife, Elaine, asked our oldest son.

"Well, Mom," Vincent answered.  "I do feel the need to use a Kleenex now and then."  

He paused a second, then said.  "I'm sorry.  I should have said, 'tissue.'  I really don't want to advertise for companies when I am talking."

"But what do you say when you are talking about off brand Legos?"  Elaine queried.

"Maybe you could call them 'Legos that aren't Legos,'" Elliot suggested.

"That's way too long," I put in.  "Part of the point of names to have shorter ways of referring to things than long descriptions."

"The right term for them, Dad," Vincent said with great conviction.  "Is 'Bricks with Studs.'  That is what people should call them, because that is what they are."

"Maybe so," I said.  "I think the real thing the word Lego has going for it is that it is short."

The world is full of brands.  In the south, most soft drinks are referred to as "Coca cola."  An insulated mug is a Yeti and a vacuum flask is called a Thermos.

The reason is that these companies have impacted the marketplace.  Their products stood out in some way that ended up sticking their names on all of the other subsequent, similar products that ended up on the market.

I think about the term "Christian" in the same way.  It has been nearly 2000 years since the first believers were called Christians.

In the beginning, the apostles and those who followed on their heels called themselves "Followers of the Way," but at Antioch, people who were not believers called them Christians.  Over the years since then, the term Christian has come to mean many things, some of them good and some of them very bad.  

I am afraid that when we tell people around us that we are Christians a mental picture is conjured up.  That image is not always a good one.

Perhaps, non-Christians think of the political stances that many Christians take on social media.  Maybe they remember the time they were waiting tables and a man with a WWJD bracelet short changed them on a tip or, got angry with a manager.  Maybe they think of a Christian pastor who was revealed to be having affairs or involved in pornography.

Those of us who are branded as Christians cannot change that past narrative.  The only thing we must be certain of is that as we speak into other's lives our impact is for good.  

Every action we do will speak to others of what it means to be a Christian.  Let those actions be filled with love and purity.

By our actions we can show people who a Christian really is -- someone who behaves like Jesus in every situation, every time.

Even on the Internet.

Top Ten Sins?

 

"List of the Top 10 Presidents," the caption read.  "Number 5 will shock you!"  I didn't bother clicking on the link.  The only thing shocking to me would have been if turned out that "Number 5" was Manuel Noriega.

I am often amazed at humans need to rank things.  They seem to ask themselves constantly what basketball player was the greatest of all time or, (if their interests lie in a more cerebral direction) what chess player was the greatest grandmaster of them all?  I'm not sure what purpose these questions and arguments serve.  It may be an interesting argument to rank Gary Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen ahead of Bobby Fischer, but since they never played each other in their primes, it is meaningless.  The same if you rank Kareem Abdul Jabber ahead of some more recent players.  Your answer to these questions says more about you than it does about the players.

These sorts of list aren't something new.  We know that a couple of hundred years before the time of Christ guidebooks had listed the Seven Wonders of the World.  They listed things that travelers of the ancient world couldn't miss -- things like the pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

I have seen a concerning trend among American Christians to rank sins.  I'm not what the impetus behind this is, but often they seem to identify serious immorality or abortion as some of the worst offenses against God.

I think it makes sense.  First of all, these sins just seem really bad.  Even better, they are activities that most Evangelicals are pretty safe condemning.  They fall solidly in the "Someone Else's Sin" category.

Jesus never said what the greatest sin was, but He did say what the greatest commandment was.  He said, when asked, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37,38).  The second commandment doesn't even come into the Ten Commandments, but is to "Love your neighbor as yourself."

It follows from this that the greatest sin is a violation of the command to love God.  Pure and simple, the one thing that God despises above all else is idolatry.

Of course, Christians today do not make idols of wood and stone and bow down to them.  They do put many things in the place of God -- political figures, money, work, entertainment, and even themselves are all things that I have seen Christians vault above God in their pantheons.  They would never say that they value these things more than their relationship with God, but their actions tell a different story.

The Bible is clear that even if we worship God more than other things in our lives, that is not enough.  Not only is God not willing to be in second place, He is not willing to be the greatest God among many gods.  If we have any other things in our lives that we serve, even a little bit, this is sin.  God will either be our only God, or He will not be our God at all.

This is a challenge.  We live in a real world.  We have to work.  We need money to eat and to do many basic functions.  We need times of rest and enjoyment.  These things must never slip into the category of a god.

I don't think it is helpful to rank the Commandments.  They should all be done, but done because we love and worship the God of the Universe.

If we never kill, never covet, and never commit adultery, but do not love God with all that we are and our neighbors as ourselves, I am afraid it is all meaningless.

This world has lost its love for the important things (if it ever had it in the first place) and it is not surprising as a result that there is darkness upon the face of the deep.

Rather than focusing on behaviors, the church needs to start at the beginning.  We need to recapture a love for God within our own hearts.  Then we can teach this world to love.  Nothing else will change the church.  Nothing else will heal this world.

A Stopped Clock?

 

“Vincent,” my younger son said to his older brother.  “You know that even a stopped clock is right twice a day?”

I have heard this sort of statement before and while it is a kind thing to say about stopped clocks, it doesn’t seem to mean much – particularly not in the digital age.

“Yes, Elliot,” Vincent said.  “But unless you also have a clock that works, how would you know when your stopped clock is right?  I don’t think it really matters that it happens to be right two minutes out of the day.”

These days there are a lot of people who are free with their thoughts and opinions on things ranging from the COVID to vaccines to the economy.  Working through the ideas contained in the various memes and posts that bombard me every day that I open Facebook has brought a few things clearly into my mind.

It isn’t enough to be right occasionally.

A stopped clock is right twice a day.  There are still 1438 minutes out of each day that it is incorrect.

I think about this in terms of COVID.  A year ago there were people posting about how H1N1 was worse than COVID and criticizing the people who were predicting hundreds of thousands of deaths. 

Flash forward 12 months and there have been 550,000 deaths from COVID in the United States and while hopefully the worst is behind us, I wonder how many people have owned up to the fact that they were wrong -- dead wrong -- about how bad things would get. 

I have been writing about COVID over this last year and honestly, if I read over the different things that I posted, I think they have aged fairly well.  Certainly COVID got worse than I expected, but the things I shared are still correct, even though I have at times been attacked for sharing them.

I don’t say this to “take a victory lap,” but simply to say that we need to be careful what we share and whose words we repeat.  Some sources are wrong more than they are right.

We cannot be experts on everything, but the Internet is an easy place to do a bit of research on things we post and share.  It is worth making that effort.

There are simply too many "stopped clocks" on Facebook and not enough that are consistently accurate.

It is dangerous to use “God” language.

“The Word of the Lord came to me…” is a scary way to begin a statement.  I don’t say many things with this sort of preface.  If I say that God revealed something to me, whatever words that follow must be the truth, nothing more or less.  Even if I do not initiate a post that says this sort of thing, if I repost something that claims to be the Word of the Lord, I am putting my stamp of approval behind that prophecy.

It is OK for me to be wrong.  I have been before, I am sure I will be again.  It is not OK for me to put words in the mouth of God which prove false.  “God is not a man that He should lie…” 

I read a few too many messages before and since the election that claimed to have divine inspiration for events that did not come to pass.  Those who posted or reposted these things fit the category of false prophet.  We know that the judgment for false prophecy is harsh.

The focus of our message should always be healing, not foretelling.

I am afraid that many read through the prophets in the Old Testament and conclude that they were a group that focused mostly on predicting the future.  When I read these writings I do not see this at all.

The prophets were focused on justice.  They were intent on seeing the rifts that had developed between God and His people healed.  They wanted to see the people of Israel behave towards the poor with love and mercy.

They did bring messages of judgement, but that judgement was almost always conditional.  “Turn from your wicked ways and I will heal this land,” was the message that they carried to the people.

The fact that judgement finally came does not change that the prophets were focused on seeing that those ways change and judgement averted.

In the same way, the goal of what we share should be to see mercy and justice prevail.  Our ultimate goal must be to see the hearts of men and women turned to God.

It is important to share truth – even when it doesn’t jive with our own biases.

All of us have biases.  In our hearts we have ideas about things that work in our society and what things don't work.  Websites know this and they serve up a beautiful buffet of opinion and "fact" pieces specifically tailored to our preconceived notions.  This is not enough.

It is important that we listen to others and hear the truth they share about their experience, and are willing to accept it as valid.

More than that, we must be willing to share things that speak truth into our lives, even when that truth shakes our world view.

Our focus must be on God more than ourselves. 

If there is one thing that is clear from the lives of the prophets, it is that they were not focused on themselves, but on the One who was giving them messages.  They were not in it for the image they would gain or money they would make from the career of prophet.  The true prophets suffered in both of these respects.

These days, everything is different.  Everyone who shares something seems to be getting something out of it.  Maybe they are gaining money from clicks on their page.  Perhaps they are getting the opportunity to write a book expressing their views or profit from speaking engagements.  Sometimes they are pursuing the transitory “fame” that comes from having a post seen by a few thousand people.

We call these things “ulterior motives.”  Very few people are honest about why they are sharing the things they do.  

It is important for each of us to evaluate why we post and share things.  It is worth the effort to stay positive and bring hope and love to other's lives.

All of this is a long way of asking each to think about what sort of messenger they are.  We must speak truth and listen to others who speak truth.  We need to speak that truth with love and focus most of all on the One who gives messages.

Only then can there be healing in our society and the world.