Simple & Hard vs. Complex & Easy

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Thursday, January 30, 2020

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?  Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.  Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.  Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.  Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.  Such people will stand firm forever.  Psalm 15:1-5

From this Psalm there is a wealth to be learned about integrity.  And God makes it abundantly clear integrity is required to be accepted by your Creator.  What’s at stake is whether God will hear a single word you speak, or approve a single movement, word, or thought from you.  The tipping point is integrity.

The word integrity means integrated, defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.[3]  It’s a simple concept, matching your behavior with Godly principles.  Old sayings abound about being a person of integrity:

          ·      Say what you mean; mean what you say

          ·      Actions speak louder than words

          ·      The distance between truth and deception can be a fine line, about as wide as the Grand Canyon. 

OK that last one’s not old; I just made it up now.  But you get the drift of how integrity is an easy thing to understand.  It’s just easier understood than undertaken.  That’s a matter proven by a little phrase David throws in the mix at the end of verse 4 about people who …keep their promises even when it hurts.  

It’s a fact that sometimes telling a lie is just easier than telling the truth.  A Sunday School teacher was holding forth with her 4^th graders and wanted to make a point about lying.  She asked, somebody tell me, what’s a lie?  Nobody spoke-up, so she turned to the one little girl who was her star pupil.  Margaret, do you know what a lie is?  Margaret thought for a moment, wanting to please her teacher and wanting her answer to be Bible-sounding, so she said, a lie is an abomination before the Lord, and sometimes a very present help in time of trouble. 

I think Margaret may have opened the can of worms for us.  The hardest thing to do sometimes (even though it is always the simplest thing) is to tell the truth.  Telling lies is easier in the short run, but the complications down the road can, and in fact always are, blistering!  A lie will have to be supported with another one, and another…until you’ve got Watergate syndrome…so many lies to cover the previous ones nobody (including the liar) even remotely remembers what the truth was in the first place.

And, of a matter of course, you have the pain of a pile of lies.  When truth takes a vacation, people get hurt.  Relationships deteriorate under the strain of broken trust.  People who were counting on other people have the rug pulled out from underneath them because a lie made it easier for somebody to shirk their responsibility, to hold up their end of a bargain.

Lies are easy and complex; truth is simple but sometimes hurts.  That is explained in two simple verses.  The first is Jesus speaking to deceptive religious leaders:

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44

The second is Jesus speaking to his disciple who wanted to know:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  John 14:6

For You Today

Easy, complicated lies, or hard and simple truths…it all depends on whether you want a relationship with God or God’s enemy.

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

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

[2] For another post on this Psalm 15 read Welcome?

[3] Oxford Dictionaries© Oxford University Press

The Cost of Truth

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Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!”  At that point they picked up stones to throw at him.  John 8:31-32, 58-59a

The TRUTH is always in opposition to everything else, lies particularly, but it’s also in opposition to near-truth, variation, point-of-view, imagination, cultural correctness, expediency, end-justifying-the-means idealism, and the list goes on quite extensively! 

And, expensively!

There is always quite a cost to sticking with the truth.  It can cost you your career.  It did that with my Dad, who, in the 1940’s and 50’s worked in an aircraft factory and served for a brief time as the union representative for a crew working on fighter jets.  The foreman had been notified by upper management that he had to lay-off some workers.  He created the list, but it was my Dad’s sad task to notify the workers.  Layoffs always began with the least-seniority, which was by union rule, and common sense.  The name of a young woman who had only started working a few months prior, and therefore should have been one of the first on that list, was not on the list, while several senior employees were being let go.  My Dad went to the foreman to call attention to this so-called error, knowing it was no error.  It was common knowledge the foreman and this young woman, both married to other people, were having an affair.  Dad knew the risk involved with holding to the truth; my Dad had a mortgage, car payment and four mouths to feed.  But he also had a conscience to keep him awake at nights if he shed the truth for a paycheck.  When he pointed out the foreman’s oversight, the man waved his hand and said, hey, you’re the union rep, and that’s the list; do your job.  Dad pointed out the seniority rule and the foreman wouldn’t budge.  He told the foreman, if that woman’s name isn’t put on the list, you just add my name to it.  Which is exactly what the foreman did.  Long story short, things got a little tough over the next few months at the Brownworth house as my Dad hunted for a new job.  But, more importantly, he slept just fine every night!  

By comparison, my father’s cost of living with truth long ago was tiny compared to the eventual cost Jesus paid.  The crowd Jesus talked to were a bunch of his fellow Jews who were believers.  But when they began to realize the monumental changes that would take over their lives if they actually went past the formality of acknowledgement of Jesus…all the way to becoming disciples of Jesus, staking their time, talent, tithes, and their eternity on him…well, that was too much.  They picked-up stones to put an end to the truth, so they could be comfortable in their religious self-righteousness.

Sometimes people are not willing to pay the cost truth demands.  It is an unfortunate, and unwise choice, however.  When you opt for anything but truth here is what Jesus says about you:

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does.  He was a murderer from the beginning.  He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44

For You Today

Consider whose family you choose when you part company with truth.

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

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Spectacular

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Friday, March 29, 2019

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.  God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.  Are we commending ourselves to you again?  No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.   If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God.  And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.  Either way, Christ’s love controls us.  Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.  He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves.  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  2 Corinthians 5:11-15

As an apostle of Jesus, Paul had seen and done things that would’ve gotten the attention of the talent scout for Barnum and Bailey’s circus.  Those who are interested in the spectacular are always looking for that which is more titillating than the last show.  It’s always about the show, because a mesmerized audience is defenseless to hold onto their rent money!  Sounds a little like politics, eh?

In Paul’s ministry everything was about giving glory to God in the name of Jesus.  To those who were career braggers, simply looking to grab the spotlight, it was about self-promotion.  Motive is always the dividing line between spectacular and sincere.

The meaning of “spectacular” as with “beauty” is in the eye of the beholder.  And there are as many possibilities as there are personality types.  To the introverted among us, spectacular is to be kept at a distance; we just want more quiet.  To the engaged Type-A extrovert, spectacular is like light to a moth.  To the naïve, glitzy    three-ring circuses are a narcotic.  To those who are cynical the reaction is envy, greener than a St. Patty’s Day parade.  In sum, it’s what Forest Gump’s mama used to say:  Spectacular is as spectacular does!

I like this passage, because it lands it’s blows to the inflated ego right where it can accomplish the most good.  There are a lot of religious “shows” that happen in some big circus arenas every Sunday, and even on TV throughout the week.  Some of the circuses travel (they’re billed as “miracle-revivals” that show up on the circuit under spiritually-leaky tents).  If you contrast the glitz, hype, sleight-of-Scripture, and promotional gimmicks against what happens at the average local church, it is no wonder why the market share of Bragging Rights International is emptying the local pews more than ever before.  Pastor Joe (non)super-Christian-average servant of Jesus, finds it hard to compete with that 32-plastic teeth perfect smile promising a Lexus in every driveway, as the TV cameras dance in-and-out, complete with background image support and staging.  

P. T. Barnum, founder of the Barnum & Bailey circus is quoted as having said, there’s a sucker born every minute.  Even a cursory reading of his life story will verify that about summed up the goal, substance, and ethic of his life…getting the cash out of every back pocket he could reach while dangling the spectacular in front of your eyes to distract.  For those who are not easily-distracted from Scripture’s admonition to keep our eyes on Christ[iii], you can’t miss that Barnum operated a franchise designed, approved, and fully-supported by the father of lies[iv]; it’s all spectacular fizz and giggle, and designed to amaze while your entertained brain slips away from giving glory to God. 

Scripture[v] concludes that people who live this way, grabbing the glory for themselves, instead of giving glory to the Father, have their reward…the praise (and pocketbook) of humans.  That reward will be a different kind of spectacular!

For You Today

If you listen to the hype that glorifies the spectacular you won’t hear the still small voice of God.

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

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

[iii] 1 Corinthians 2:2

[iv] John 8:44

[v] Matthew 6:2, 2 Peter 2:13, Revelation 16:6

Hanging-In

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Friday, August 17, 2018

And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters.  Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught.  Stay away from them.  Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests.  By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.  But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord.  This makes me very happy.  I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong.  The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  Romans 16:17-20^(NLT)

There is a distinction between persistence and stubbornness.  And though that line appears somewhat thin, particularly at a first, casual glance, the driving forces behind the persistent person are far-removed from the one who is just stubborn. 

Here are three of those differences:

1.     Motive

Paul tells us a stubborn person is interested in his own agenda, not serving Christ.  Stubborn people want what they want, and really don’t care what they have to do to achieve their personal gain.  There is little integrity involved…only achieving a desired outcome. 

I once had a church leader look me in the eye and inform me that the church would not follow me because I was an outsider.  He said:  Preachers come and go; we hire and fire them, because we are the church here…not you. 

We must be careful not to judge motive too closely; we are not equipped to look inside another person and understand his or her darkness.  That is God’s purview alone, along with deciding on what kind of correction is needed.  So understanding the driving force of what motivates a stubborn person from within is given here to help us keep a check on our own reasons for hanging-in, not judging or controlling others.

2.     Method

Paul holds up to the Roman believers the chief ingredient of how stubborn people achieve their success – deception.  Paul got this from Jesus, whose “discussions” with the religious leaders hardly ever went well.  Their motives were selfish and controlling, and their method was deceptive; Jesus finally had enough of it, and this is what He said:

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does.  He was a murderer from the beginning.  He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44^(NLT)

A persistent person won’t lie; he hangs-in with truth, no matter how tough it might be.

3.     Result

The result of selfishness-driven stubbornness, as opposed to unselfish persistence in the truth, is as far removed as East is from West.  Stubborn people, living in ignorance or deception (and ignorance is a kind of self-deception) always create division.  They might use sweet-sounding words of cooperation and unity, but that kind of manipulation, coupled with a selfish motive always divides.

On the other hand, persistent, truth-holding, truth-living people are faithful; this is the result which comes from people you can count-on to mean what they say, and do what they say.  There is a confidence that comes with persistence in truth which builds trust and strength in those they serve.

So, persistence and stubbornness are not even distant cousins!

For You Today

Does it seem sometimes like you just can’t hang-in for much longer; like giving up is getting to be that corner you’ve been dreading?  That’s ok; it’s one of the marks of people who walk by faith, and don’t try to manipulate just to make things easier.

Hang-in, my brothers and sisters; He may not be on your schedule, but He is always on time!

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

Idle Tales

Friday, April 25, 2014

Mary had trouble getting the apostles to believe her resurrection tale.  They figured she was telling a story.  I’ve gotten the same look from people when I tell them I know a dead man that got out of a tomb.

I love the story about the little boy who just couldn’t manage to tell the truth.  His mother got so frustrated she called the family’s preacher.  The preacher decided he’d tell the boy a whopper so the little boy could see how silly you look when you’re lying.

“Son, I was in town the other day” began the preacher.  “And this old yellow dog came up to me – at least I think he was a dog.  He had a head like an alligator and a tail like a duck.  His feet were like a chicken, but the dog actually talked like a man.  He told me a story how he went to Chicago one day and then flew (Oh yeah…he had wings too), he flew alongside a Boeing-767 to Paris for the night and the next morning he raced a Concorde flight back home; he said he won the race.  While that yellow dog was tellin’ me this an elephant passed by and the dog ate him.  Durndest thing I ever saw.  What do ya think about that?”  “Preacher,” the boy said, wide-eyed, “that was my dog.”

We live in a culture that is dominated by untruth.  According to research reported by The Discovery Channel[1] lying first begins around age 2-3.  Mostly it is for the purpose of avoiding punishment (I didn’t take that cookie…even though there are crumbs lining the lips that are denying the heinous crime!). 

The truth about lying is that it tends to metastasize, grow like cancer.  In 

psychological studies 4 year-olds fibbed about once every two hours; it only takes 6 year-olds 90 minutes to tell a lie (on average).  But, in a 10 minute conversation between strangers, adults lie (on average) about 3 times.  If you do a bit of simple math that’s 18 times an hour!  At that rate the average adult, in just two hours of conversation a day, lies between 12 and 13,000 times a year! 

That’s a lot of talking yellow-dog-alligator-chicken-ducks!

How did we get this way?

The “idle tales” of human discourse have a root, the father of which is named in Scripture:

When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44b (NRSV)

Jesus was debating with the religious leaders when he said this, and he was referring to Satan as the father of lies.  That is in contrast, of course, with the characterization of Jesus as truth ^{(John 14:6).} 

So, to do another little bit of simple math here, the more you lie, the closer you are to your father in hell; the more you live in truth, the closer you are to the Father in heaven.

When you lie you’re close to home, but is it the home you want?

Today…for you

If, in your pilgrimage through this life you want to draw closer to walking with Jesus, you’re going to have to walk in truth.

What will it take for you to move away from the culture of lies and cling to the bedrock of Truth?

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[1] http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/average-person-tell-lie