Sweet Spot of Truth

 

Friday, November 17, 2023

…we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  Ephesians 4:15

In his book Talk the Walk, pastor and author Steve Brown writes:

A number of years ago, John Whitehead – an attorney, author, and The Rutherford Institute’s founder and president – gave me a bumper sticker that read in big bold letters,

[1]

When you’re anywhere near the line dividing left from right, you’re holding some things (at least) in the middle.  I’ve followed pastor Steve Brown’s teachings for about twenty years, and I can say with no hesitation, he finds that place which removes one from being identified…politically.  For a Christian, that is what golfers refer to as the sweet spot – that place on your golf club where the club face ought to strike the ball for the best distance and accuracy.  The further right or left you move takes the Christian witness and message down a notch or two.

News media love to exploit events to attract advertising revenue; that’s their sweet-spot, a settled business fact.  You cannot pay your employees without selling soap!  Last week in Charlotte, videos went viral of a woman being subdued by police with obvious physical force, for allegedly smoking marijuana in public. 

Immediate responses were typical; the politically-left side immediately crying the foul of police brutality, while the politically-right side cited the police use of force as appropriate peace-keeping.  The third response, one I say at the risk of putting words in pastor Steve Brown’s mouth, is:  Let’s wait for the investigation before we burst a right or left blood vessel.

Another preacher, a very good friend and close associate of Jesus, named Apostle Paul, executed by the Roman government took that third (and less-traveled) road of giving truth a chance to come to the winner’s circle.  Paul was no stranger to mob violence.  According to Acts 14:19 he was stoned, dragged out of town, and left for dead.  Still, Paul counsels speaking the truth, as did Jesus, and letting truth set whatever wrong to the right. 

Slinging slogans around is a political club.  Those who shout:  Speak truth to power are presenting only half the case; we should also speak truth to the powerless.  Truth is for all, and that will set anyone free, if they will place the matter in the Master’s hand, and give it time.

For You Today 

If you lean left, or lean right, try to keep in mind that leaning is the next step in falling…falling prey to the enemy’s invitation to his side.  Better to rest in the sweet-spot of truth with Godly longsuffering, than hitting your last ball of free-will out of bounds!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Steve Brown, Talk the Walk, (Greensboro, NC, New Growth Press, 2019), p.13

Communicating...Sorta

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Disclaimer:  Gentlemen…Mother’s Day is at hand….there…you’re warned!

But there is one thing I want you to know:  The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.  1 Corinthians 11:3

It is my belief that men really do want to communicate; contrary to the stereotypes that you see, where the husband has the newspaper up over his face at the kitchen table.  Everything the wife says to him, he grunts a response.  Men aren't that way deep down.  This is a stereotype produced by ignorance.  But, sometimes it shows up in our character, and then in the funny papers.  Leroy and Loretta Lockhorn are walking down the street, and he says to her:  Let's go some place noisy where we can't hear each other.  I don't believe men are really like that; I believe men want to communicate.  Men realize the importance of communication.  The tricky part is doing it! 

Communication is not an exact science.  Women communicate differently than men.  The Bible says we must speak the truth in love.  I believe that to be a bit of Apostle Paul’s advice that applies to both male and female.  By that I mean men and women both believe it; they just practice it differently.  The men relate to the part that says speak the truth.  The women concentrate on in love.  Men are interested in logic, the right brain problem solving mechanism.  Women, however, don't just want truth and problems solved; it must be in a loving way.  Women want to talk about things.  When I arrive home from a day at the office, if my wife has a problem, she wants to discuss it.  There is something therapeutic for her in sharing.  I am a problem-solving machine.  She states the problem, I immediately have a six-point program, complete with intermediate reporting steps and accountability factors to fix that puppy!  And I think I'm doing real well...man I'm communicating!  After dutifully listening for several minutes, my wife loses interest and busies herself in making dinner.  I wonder what in the world I did to make her mad.  Lack of communication. 

We were talking about the same event, but I was bulldozing it out of existence, while she wanted to squeeze every last drop of meaning from the depths of all relationships involved.

In Brewer, Maine, the police got a phone call one time about a woman who was very disturbed.  She was talking to a lady friend of hers on the phone.  After a while the phone just went quiet and all she could hear was gasping breaths in the distance.  She couldn't get her friend to respond.  The police sent a patrol car.  The cop knocked on the door, but could get no response.  She went around to the side and looked in the kitchen window.  There was the woman, spread-eagle on the floor, with the phone next to her.  She thought:  Oh my gosh, she's had a heart attack and died right there!  She was going to break in the door, but knocked just in case there was another family member in the house somewhere.  When the door opened, it was the woman who was laying in the kitchen.  She explained, I'm so sorry.  I guess we were talking too long on the phone.  I laid down on the floor to rest a moment and fell asleep while Hattie was talkin' to me.  (As a preacher I can relate!)

For You Today 

Men need to practice communicating, not dictating orders, solving everybody's problems, being the general in the house.  If a man desires to be called head of the house he will take the time to learn how to communicate with his wife.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   No Cannoli  and  A Misunderstanding   

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

A Treasure of Common Sense

Friday, May 20, 2022

For the Lord grants wisdom!  From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.   Proverbs 2:6-7a

Solomon would have known a thing-or-two about wisdom; Scripture informs us there was not a wiser man on planet Earth.  Following the reasoning of Proverbs here, the wisdom of God, granted an honest person, is a treasure of common sense.  Common sense is defined as:  sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.[1] 

A decision which is “sound and prudent” is my kind of joy.  Most of us have made more than enough of the other kind of decisions, the less-than-sound, and woefully-imprudent.  That kind of decision usually gets one in trouble. 

Now, having stated the (painfully) obvious, let’s unpack the source of common sense…how to move towards being a wise person.  It arguably begins with truth.  Solomon[2] tells us it is to the honest person that God grants a treasure of common sense.  So, that would be a starting point for developing into a person said to possess a treasure of common sense.  Sadly, in the 21^st century world that would be a sparsely-populated starting gate.  James Russell Lowell’s famous line, truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne, has never more accurately described a culture that populates this world as now.

Whoever first said honesty is the best policy may have been a Solomon reader.  And she or he was right.  If not just because of some lofty aspiration to be noble or admired, but to rightly understand one can be neither without pure and discerning judgment.  And to be such a person requires an ongoing, absolutely intimate relationship with knowing truth, and speaking truth, all in the context of love.  Paul urged the believers at Ephesus to do just that:

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  Ephesians 4:15

For You Today

You could go to graduate school at the most prestigious universities in the world for the next 20 years to study ethics and the workings of honesty.  You might come out with a PhD of this world’s approval, and high-sounding theoretical philosophy.  And the world would probably buy your books.

Or you could sit at the feet of the One who said:  I am the way the truth and the life[3], and begin to experience the common sense treasury’s flooding your soul with what really matters. 

Your call.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Merriam-Webster Dictionary

[2] Author of much of the Book of Proverbs, probably chapters 1-29

[3] John 14:6

Anxious Moments

[1]

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”  Psalm 46:10^(NLT)

Yesterday’s devotion on patience revealed how “anxious” a control-freak pastor can get when stuff happens to turn a worship service on its ear.  I’d like to revisit that today for a few moments to pull back the flap of an introvert’s quiet, control-loving insides.

That thing the Psalmist wrote about being still is something that comes naturally to me.  Introverts prefer – uh, change that to love, crave, and would sometimes actually consider killing for – quiet!  Well, not really, but you get the picture.  My traditional response to seeing high-energy interactive opportunities is to grab a book and head for the nearest quiet corner!

The difference between “type-A” and “type-B” (extroverted vs. introverted) personality types is well-documented.  The A-types crave interaction and being with as many others as can fill a noisy room.  Type-B’s prefer one-on-one, and a much quieter experience. 

Some research about pastors indicates there are many more introverted pastors than the other.  Strange, isn’t it?  You know that old saying about the pickup line in a bar:  What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?  It applies here:  Hey, pastor, what’s an introverted book worm like you doing leading a frenzied mess we call church?

Now that may say two things:  the first is that you don’t choose ministry; it captures you when God taps you on the shoulder and says:  Saddle-up, bucko…it’s time to ride.  The other thing has to do with God’s sense of humor; only God would choose a quiet-loving person to be a pastor, where he has to stand in front of a crowd, and stand-up even in the awkward moments to push for the right thing to be done.  You gotta love God’s sense of humor!

Now, it’s not that introverts can’t function in a crowd; we just prefer the quieter ways.  But when we do find ourselves in the fast lane, we will hunt the quickest exit ramp.  That’s because socializing really takes the energy out of an introvert’s batteries.  After the ball is over it takes a lot longer to recharge our batteries than the average extrovert.

So, what does that mean to the introverted pastor who wants to obey God’s call to share the Good News, but still maintain sanity, relevance, and transparent integrity?  In short, how can I still be who I really am, if I must continually work against the natural tendencies I was born with?  I’m quiet by nature, but I must speak up.  I’m shy in social situations, but I’m called to engage anyway.  I prefer thinking, but am expected to talk.

Well, it IS a problem, but, before we gavel the Russell pity-party to order here, let’s take a look around.  What other kinds of “natural” tendencies do we see that God seems to want us to “overcome” in favor of something opposite? 

·      What about tempers popping-off at the slightest offense? 

·      How about gluttonous appetites going back for a fourth time at the buffet line at the annual homecoming dinner on the grounds? 

·      What about the anger that crushes a spouse’s hopes and dreams, or even her eye socket and collarbone? 

·      What about the tendency to give up on people or even church? 

·      What about the child learning to go through life as if everyone else is unimportant…only to be screamed at if you don’t get the toy you wanted? 

·      What about striking-back when the world has done you dirty?

·      And, lest we forget the current ruckus in which the United Methodist Church is embroiled – sexuality issues.  What about our tendencies to do, (and be) what we want – the way we were made…work out all that animal lust our way, and not God’s way?

In the same way this introvert, flawed, sometimes petulantly quiet and moody, needs to get a life, put on a smile, shake a hand, and give a hug to someone who needs it, all of us need to keep our natural tendencies under the influence of self-discipline. 

God calls all of us to that!

For You Today

Paul told the Ephesian church this about their natural tendencies that made them selfish and less than Kingdom stars for Jesus:

We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church.  

Ephesians 4:15b^(NLV)

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

When Tolerance Grows Up into Spiritual Maturity

[1]

Friday, December 15, 2017

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.  But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.  Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.  If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.  But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.  Philippians 3:12-16^(NLT)

Paul takes the humble position of allowing for his own human fragility.  In one of his other letters (to the Corinthian church) Paul stated it clearly that when he let go of having to control everything – letting God do what God does – his weakness became the effective mighty power of God.[2]

Rather than trying to be “strong” in his own abilities, Paul desired to put the past behind and focus on what God was doing.  Henry Blackaby’s Bible study Experiencing God calls that mindset locating where God is working and cooperating with Him.  

The important point is that Paul understood, even in a wonderfully vibrant fellowship like the church at Philippi, there were going to be disagreements; that is inevitable with human beings!  What Paul wanted to stress was that even in the most controversial of differing opinions genuine spiritual maturity will not lose sight of the goal.

Tolerance has been an overly-accepted word in our vernacular the past several decades.  It hangs like a Behavior Storm Trooper over the entire culture.  We are expected to tolerate others’ viewpoints; in fact, we are expected to surpass tolerance to the degree that all people’s ideas and values are considered equally valid.  That may be high-sounding, but it is dangerous.  For instance, the person that holds an idea that thirty-five cents in his pocket is enough to buy a new car is going to have a huge problem when it comes to the Mercedes dealer allowing him to drive a $63,000 E-Class SUV off the lot for that price; not all ideas are equal!  There will be conflict…if not arrests!

Tolerance can also tip the scale toward arrogance.  Check into a discussion between a Christian conservative and a Christian progressive and you will not have to wait long before the accusations and tempers begin to fly.  The same holds true for liberal and conservative political discussions. 

What Paul suggests is spiritual maturity.  Hear it again from the apostle:

If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.  But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. 

Holding on to the progress already made is a matter of not losing your Christian cool!  It means being willing to be weak personally so that God’s Spirit can be strong in the middle of strengthening relationships.  It means in spite of a disagreement you’re willing to wait for God to make things clear.  A dear friend of mine made that point with me after he’d witnessed my prolonging a heated discussion with another believer.  He said:  You know, Russell, you don’t have to have an answer for everything!

This is the essence of spiritual maturity – when you refuse to take personal offense over a disagreement.  When someone wants to get in your face and turn up the volume, you can turn the other cheek and offer graciousness; if not, you disown the opportunity to build-up the person who disagrees with you. 

And if you’re simply (and arrogantly) tolerating someone’s ideas (because in your humble opinion he or she is an idiot) your attitude towards them can only bring deeper separation and fuel the angry fires of misunderstanding.

So, as Paul also said:

…but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts.  We are to grow up and be more like Christ.  He is the leader of the church.  Ephesians 4:15^(NLV)

For You Today

Growing-up into the likeness of Christ – keep that in focus!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] 1 Corinthians 12:10

When "Saying Nothing" Isn't an Option

[i]

                                                                                                Friday, September 30, 2016

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.  Stop being angry!  Turn from your rage!  Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm.  For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.  Psalm 37:7-9^(NLT)

Recent and increasing outbreaks of violent confrontations that end in death for black persons are more than a cell phone video phenomenon.  It is a sign of just how grossly-divided Cain and Abel can get.  

Our culture may congratulate itself on granting “rights” to everyone, because we are the land of the free; but if that is so, why the rage?  Why is it that the African-American community feels so disenfranchised and powerless…so much so that the push-back turns deadly?

I wish I knew.  And I wish I had a pill for fixing that would actually work.

I’m white because that is how I was born, and I grew up in the lower middle class.  I’m not a political-science guru, but I watch what happens; I listen and think, long before I get involved.  So, I’m an introverted observer who cares that all people be treated fairly, and do have not a clue as to how to make that happen. 

But, because I don’t want to be complicit in the perpetuation of racism, for me the idea of saying nothing is hardly an option.

The key is to not say too little or too much, neither too softly nor too loudly; many a well-intentioned word, because of anger or impatience, has turned evil because it was not carefully spoken as the truth in love[ii].  As the Psalmist cautions we must stop our anger and turn from our rage, even in the midst of racial outrageousness we witness on the evening news.

Outrage and anger speak from both sides of the firing line.  Black Lives Matter has a strong case against unwarranted brutal treatment at the hands of those charged with the responsibility of protecting people and their rights.  Blue Lives Matter correctly defends the innocence of officers acting appropriately in bad situations.  Some, on both sides, have touched-off more violence with hasty intemperate words. 

It is a flaming mess!

God’s Word cautions us not to take vengeance. [iii]  That is God’s purview, and we are not good at it.  The Psalmist tells us to trust God to do whatever “punishing” needs doing.

But that still doesn’t speak to what we must do in speaking against the evil of racism which threatens to destroy both those who are targets of racial bias, and those who unwisely give racism an undeserved validity with their rage and violent pushback.

Dr. Martin Luther King was a pacifist without question.  If there was to be a protest marking the unfair treatment of people, he was ready to do so without the kind of rage we see boiling-over in our streets today. 

Of course Dr. King was human with all the potential for error and sin that each of us possesses – but I believe he got this right.  We cannot let rage and anger destroy us…and that’s what it will do if we don’t dial it back!

For You Today

Take time to get to know someone with whom you disagree; you might find more common ground than you ever imagined!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image: By Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Ephesians 4:15

[iii] Romans 12:19