Assuming the Bad

 

On the day I wrote this there was a recall of food products for possible contamination. A major corporation was voluntarily recalling several types of drink products in one area of the country.

My wife was talking about it to a friend and when she said, "I'm glad they are recalling them, they just don't want to take the chance people are going to get sick." 

Her friend agreed but wouldn't leave it alone. I was heading out and in a parting comment I said, "And they don't want to be sued for millions."

The comment may in fact be true but so might my wife's comment. It could be that it is a combination of the two. However, what hit me is that what each of us said reflected far more about our attitude at the time than the reality of why the corporation did what it did. I wasn't feeling good and my attitude was poor (okay, it stunk) and my comment not only reflected my attitude but it was corrosive. It demeaned my wife's comment and threw doubt where none needed to be. Our attitudes weren't going to change this company's policies or make life better for the people in that part of the country. The only thing it could do is steal joy and plant the seed of doubt in someone else and help it grow in mine. 

Looking bad it was wrong of me so wrong. 

So why are they doing it? It doesn't matter, the right thing is being done. The dangerous thing is what is my attitude doing to me and those around me. The good news is that I caught my mistake just moments after I said it. This means I will be on guard and by now saying the right thing I can improve my attitude. Ultimately, it also means that in the future I will more than likely do what is right for the right reason rather than to avoid punishment. 

Side note: I'm not saying we need to put a positive light on everything and ignore wrong attitudes. We can't, we have to deal with them. However, if all we see is the dark in everything, we will miss the light that is out there, and what is scarier is we will become more like what we focus on. 

Don't focus on the short cuts.

Years ago when I was teaching our oldest daughter to drive I learned a valuable lesson. We were on the back roads and I thought I knew a shortcut to get us back to the highway. When one way wasn't working I tried another. Let's just say she got a lot more driving experience than she wanted that day and I really looked stupid. Sometimes what we think is a shortcut really isn't and all the time I spent looking for a shortcut didn't save us any time.  

There are two ways to get somewhere to follow the normal path or to find a shortcut. In the business world, some start small and grow big, others shortcut (I would say most use shortcuts of some fashion). Some shortcuts are ethical and encouraged and others are unethical or flat-out illegal. Schooling is a perfect example of an ethical shortcut as is coauthoring. Stealing copyrighted material, underpaying employees, and slander are unethical in the worst ways and at least illegal in others. 

The question that came to my mind though is am I too busy looking for the shortcut that I'm no longer traveling on the path to get to where I want to go. Now I realize there are times we do need to stop and consider which path to take. However, the issue I was asking myself and then posing to you is, have we quit moving on the path to success (whatever that may be) and instead focus on finding shortcuts? 

Consider lotteries are shortcuts, inheritances are shortcuts, theft is a shortcut, bailouts, and stimulus checks are shortcuts. I could go on but you can see there are good and bad shortcuts. The problem is when we stop working for our future and instead focus on finding the shortcut or demanding a shortcut. I live in a culture that is focused on the shortcut. The problem is most if not all of the people who got ethical shortcuts were moving towards their future and not waiting to find a shortcut. 

The concern about focusing on a shortcut is that if after a while you or I don't find an ethical one we might try to convince ourselves that any shortcut is good even if it isn't. We can and people have done unethical and even illegal things convinced that they had the right to because they couldn't get it any other way. It's wrong and I don't want to follow that path. I want what is legal and ethical even if it means I get no shortcuts. 

At the end of my life and yours, it will be the better choice. If a good shortcut comes while on the road then take it, but let's not stop moving to find something that probably isn't there. 

Photo by Ryan Porter on Unsplash

Big and Small Are A Success.

Bigger is better. More is the goal. I should have it all. People claim this attitude is the root of the problem with the American dream, but strange as it is many of those who say it want more for themselves, sorry, others (like themselves). I'm not going to specifically look at that but first, we have to admit this is the way most people think, American or not.

In the church world, it's bigger churches, bigger ministries, more saved, more involved and the like is what we see as succeeding. However, I look into the Bible and Isaiah was told (Isaiah 6) that when he was done only 10% would be left and the country would be destroyed. Ezekiel and Jeremiah were both told that their ministries would fall on deaf ears. Jesus had 5,000 men plus women and children but on the day of Pentecost, there were only 120. Paul went to places and saw no results. Saint Thomas was said to have gone to India and yet the nation didn't become Christian. So maybe, we see success in the wrong way. 

As I look at scripture, success in God/Christ comes from faithfulness, not from anything else. A church of a thousand in an area that is seeking the truth may be a failure to God, whereas a country church with 20 might be a success. To God. a book on the New York Times bestsellers list might be proof of faithfulness, just as much as a self-published book to a small community. On the other hand, both might be failures in God's eyes if the people aren't in obedience to God.

The difficulty of course is for those of us on the outside. We can't know who is faithful, we can guess from the fruit of their lives (Matt 7:16-20) but not by the results. Results are in God's hands. Ultimately, we have not to look at others but at ourselves and ask the question, "Am I being faithful?" If you can answer yes then don't let others discourage you.

Yes, it's hard. I understand that right now at the time of this writing. I ask myself the question and though I have failed at times I know I have done what I could. So the metrics we use may be sad, but God isn't and I need to remember that. 

Side Note: Metrics and measurement are important don't hear me say they aren't. However, God isn't going to pull up the metrics of human measurement. He has his own and they count our faithfulness and our willingness to ask for forgiveness. So big or small by our standards if we are doing God's will we have succeeded and can be pleased. 

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

A History In Names

As Bible Reflections enters the last year of its four-year plan, it will begin to look a 1 Chronicles. This book starts off with a multitude of geneologies. For me, it isn't the most exciting part of the Bible. Yet, I have to remember those names mean something. The names themselves tell a story. 

Consider these names placed together. What story do they tell?

1. Churchill, Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt, Stalin

2. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Biden

3. Lenin, Stalin, Malenkov, Khrushchev 

4.  Swart, Klerk, Botha, (I bet it changes everything if I add this name, Mandela)

5. Qing, Yuan, Han,  Zhou (careful these are a little different) 

So what stories do these tell you?

When you really know the history of the Bible as many Jews did, those genealogies gave the history of Israel
. 

(Post what stories they tell)

Nobody Knows

 

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

I am surprised about the number of pastors who see it as a bragging point that no one knows they are a pastor. Normally, I assume (and hope), this is because they dress like everyone else. However, I thought about other professions and put their words into it. No one knows I'm a police officer. No one could tell I was a doctor. No one could tell I was a lawyer (okay this might be a good thing). No one could tell I'm in the army. 

In other professions do they brag that no one could tell they are what they are? Well yes, in the police department if they are working undercover. The reason there is because they want to deceive people, which I can't see as being a solid foundation to bring people to God. 

So are we ashamed of being ministers? Personally, I think it may be. There is also some idea growing in the church that being different is a sin...

When I started thinking about the subject that came to mind I remembered the verse I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Yes, I disagree with those that brag about not being seen as pastors. However, these men and women are trying to serve God, so I need to be glad for them. They are living, I have to assume, as God has given them the grace to. If they aren't, then God will correct them or God will deal with them. It is not my job to judge. 

Yes, I have at times been judged for looking like a minister, but this is their problem, not mine. Mine, as is yours, is to live the life God has called us to. For me, at this time, it is by wearing a clerical collar to announce to the world and to remind myself, I am a slave to Christ. Much like wearing a wedding ring reminds me and the world that I have taken the marriage vow. Others don't wear collars or wedding rings and that choice is between them and God. 

Nobody knows what your real motive may be, but God does so I choose to let him be the judge, which isn't where my thoughts first started today but a good place to end.  

Photo by Alberico Bartoccini on Unsplash

Knowing So We Can...

 

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

I have quoted this scripture many times in my teachings as a reminder of how we are to react to each other when our circumstances don't match theirs. If we truly love those around us we can rejoice when things are going well for them even when they aren't for us. If things are going great then we should set aside our smiles and weep when those around us are weeping. 

This isn't trying to be fake or being a chameleon. What it is, is feeling for others. It's being honest, "Things are going good for me, but I care about what you are feeling." Personally, I think it is often harder to rejoice with people who are doing well because jealousy wants to sneak in. However, whichever is harder we need to work at both.

This is not what this blog is about.

I read 2 Corinthians 8:1 this morning in a devotional; "And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches." It then when on to ask what has God been doing in your town? 

I then asked myself, how can I know what is going on if I'm not asking? How can in light of Romans 12:15, rejoice or weep with them if I never see them? We may not agree on points in scripture but if they are believers in Jesus we should be more concerned and not ignore them. They are family, after all, maybe the strange side of the family but family. 

How can we live this out? Maybe just a call, or joining the ministerial association, or starting/joining a prayer group for pastors. Perhaps just listen a little closer when we hear updates from those around us. Whatever it is we can't act on what we don't know. So maybe we need to work a little harder on knowing? 

I'm not saying, we should put ourselves in partnerships we need to avoid or celebrate when cults are doing good, but we ought to try and know so we can live out this scripture. 

Let's be honest when the world sees we can rejoice when what they see as our competition doing well, then they will see Christ.

Getting Uneven

Richard Karn played Al Borland on the sitcom Home Improvement. In the show, if you wanted a handyman he was the guy. Later he wrote a book entitled House Broken: How I Remodeled My Home for Just Under Three Times the Original Bid.

I laughed when I read the title. I personally know what it is like to think a home improvement project is going to cost a certain amount and then having it cost me a lot more. Maybe I should correct that last statement and say I took on remodeling an entire home and it cost me more than I sold it for and cost me some of my health. It was a horrible investment. I had watched HGTV and Bob Vila so I could do it. In my defense, I also helped remodel a swimming pool into a house so I had some experience doing renovations. I was wrong. If I had talked to a real professional who had done a thorough examination of the house I wouldn't have got a bid, the pro would have said don't buy it or perhaps burn it to the ground. Long story, short I understood Karn's dilemma.   

I share all of this to say that getting even, getting revenge, or holding on to unforgiveness is like taking on these types of projects. They are going to cost you far, far more than you realize. I could write a longer post than this but let me sum up why it will cost you more.

1. The time you spend brooding on revenge steals time from other more constructive areas. This includes taking from self-care, family, and productivity for yourself and your community.

2. If you try to even the scale, you will look like the bad guy. Put in just a monetary example: A person does something which costs you $100 dollars. You spend 10 hours trying to get even. So if your time is worth $10 an hour, to make the person pay the full cost you need to get them for $200. Now you might think it is fair, but let's turn the tables and say what if you were the one who was charged $200 for a $100 mistake. 

3. Revenge tends to cost you in retribution for your retribution. Just look at the middle east and we can see this doesn't lead to anywhere good. 

4. It robs you of peace of mind and gives the wrongdoer power over your life. This in itself is a good enough reason.

5. It robs you of getting true justice (maybe in this world, but ultimately from God). 

If you are Christian it also means you are choosing to disobey God and that means you won't be getting many of His blessings. Always a bad idea in my mind. God says let go, it cost us less, and God will make it right in the end. Personally, I like things that cost me less, especially when they get me something better and forgiveness does.