Under what standard will you walk

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

Confucius said if he walked with two men, he'd look at the positive example in one of them and imitate that behavior, while seeking to eliminate the negative behavior he observed while walking with the other man. I daresay that is a dangerous way to live our lives because choosing any 'standard' other than God to base our decision about what character needs to be built in our lives is living by a 'low standard'. We can see the negative traits or behavior in another and seek to eliminate similar behavior in our own, but no one is made 'well' spiritually by just eliminating what is negative and embracing what they see as positive.

God called Israel to choose to serve him - to not set their standard of living by the culture they were immersed within. They would have been in cultures where false gods were erected and worshipped. They would have seen many pagan practices that were sometimes quite vile and unwholesome. The question Joshua put before them on that day was one of 'choice' or what some of us have come to call 'preference'. Will you prefer to serve the one true God, or some other form of 'god' created by human mind and hand? It is a question of what we will hold as our example - man or God himself. 

Put away forever any other standard other than God himself - choose to serve him and him alone. This is the instruction. Too many times, we hold up examples of 'goodness' and 'evil' around us, thinking we could emulate the behavior of one and eliminate the behavior of the other just by our own power or inner will. The matter is a bit more complicated than that - for our examples are all a bit flawed when we choose any example other than Christ. Yes, we can learn from positive examples, and even observe negative ones and choose not to walk down that path in our lives. We might just lack the 'know-how' to live as God wants us to live, though.

For that, we need what is written in God's Word - just as the nation of Israel needed God's instructions so many years ago. There is no true measure by which we can see the good or evil as well as that which we find contained within the Word. We might find ourselves following a 'lower standard' than God desires for those who would choose to serve him if we choose any other standard than his Word. Just sayin!

What are you tolerating?

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace. (John Wesley). Have you heard that before? Have you stopped to consider just how true this statement actually is? Think about the days gone by, regardless of your age. I was born in the late 50's, so I have seen a bit of change around me. I have seen dress lengths go from mid-calf to just a tiny bit under the backside. I have watched as pant legs have gone from baggy to form-fitting, flared to skinny, finely tailored to ripped and torn. Hair styles have gone from bobbed to flowing length, coiffed weekly to wildly out there, grey colored at all costs to grey added at a bigger cost. TV became the thing in the 50's - today there is one in every room, streaming services abound, and the need to go to a drive-in or indoor theater no longer exists. We've gone from well-disciplined students in classrooms to all manner of disrespect to teachers. We've moved from respect for our laws to questioning each and every one of them. It amazes me how a small 'tolerance' of some particular behavior will result in the acceptance of that behavior as the 'norm' in the next generation. 

Where to societal norms really begin to change? In our children. They see what is modeled, but then they also observe well what isn't modeled. They see what is tolerated and where the envelope can be pushed a bit. They are keen to discover the chance to be just a little bit more daring than we were as kids. No wonder God tells us to get his Word into their hearts and minds. It isn't that we cram 'religion' down their throats - it is that we model relationship with Jesus and let them know exactly how much they need their own relationship with him. It isn't about hours reading the Word of God to them - it is about them beginning to discover how to use it to make right choices in their lives. It isn't about the endless hours in church services - it is about the times of simple sharing of our hearts with them in open abandon. It isn't that we tell them they should not struggle with obedience - it is that we admit how hard we know it can be to be totally obedient. God isn't asking for us to increase our tolerance level as much as he is asking us to decrease it. There is no greater threat to our families and society as a whole than to lower our tolerance levels for what is right. To fail to clearly define right from wrong will introduce the opportunity for one to define their own 'right' and 'wrong'. This is why he tells us to get the Word into our homes - into our daily lives - into our moment-by-moment decisions. It is so we will always be reminded of what he defines as right and what he will not tolerate because it is clearly wrong. Just sayin!

The standard by which we live

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. (Henry Ward Beecher)

I have a small sign in my office that was given to me some years ago. It was given as a way of reminding me of my importance as a leader in healthcare. I was actually being honored by my peers when I received it, but it has been with me ever since because it reminds me of a very important fact - we lead by example. The sign simply says, "Every time we walk by the violation of a standard, we set a new standard." I believe this is a derivation of what Lieutenant General David Morrison said when he is quoted as saying, "The standard you walk past is the standard you accept." There are times we 'set new standards' because our behavior doesn't match the past standard we had come to follow, aren't there? When we drift from a standard, what is one of the most common things we do? Don't we attempt to cover it up by making an excuse for that violation of the standard? Rarely do we find ourselves acknowledging our variation in standard as a path we should not have taken in the first place. Whenever we do acknowledge that 'wrong path', we aren't setting a new standard, we are finally sharing that we aren't willing to accept excuses for our wrong behavior.

If you excuse yourself, saying, “Look, we didn’t know anything about this,” doesn’t God, who knows what you are really thinking, understand your motives? Isn’t your Protector aware of why you aren’t protecting the innocent? Will He not repay you in kind? (Proverbs 24:12)

Behavior is somewhat based upon the situation - at least that is what we'd like to tell ourselves. If we can 'blame' the circumstances for our behavior, we don't have to shoulder the blame ourselves. The problem with this type of action on our part is that there will always be some 'circumstance' that we can blame! We will never shoulder the blame, or make the right course corrections - we will never be observed adjusting our behavior 'back to standard' if we are always shifting the blame. The standard is declared in the Word of God - it was modeled in his Son's life while on earth - and it can be seen in the lives of others who adhere to these standards themselves. We are not without positive examples of how to behave - we just might turn a blind eye to those standards! Our true heartfelt motives are often revealed in the worst of times. I'd have to say that things are kind of tough right now for our nation. We are having to adjust to business and school closures, a lack of income for some who are forced to 'not work' during the shutdown, and even a lack of supply for others as the demands seem to be escalating all around us. How we face these 'circumstances' right now might just reveal a little bit of our underlying motives.

If we are honest with ourselves, we can oftentimes find the places where we have allowed a new standard to be set in our lives. Stop for just a moment to consider the last action you took in terms of what you said or did for or toward another individual. Was it honorable? Was it done from a right motivation? Did it build up? Did it meet a need? If we perhaps snatched up the last bag of dried beans or package of toilet paper off the shelf when we already have a stockpile at home, we might have to acknowledge the action was neither honorable or with the right motive. If we then took those beans and toilet paper to a shut-in senior who cannot find a way to the grocer right now, we might say those actions built up and provided for a real need for that senior. Our actions speak very clearly of our motivation - they also reveal the standard by which we live. Just sayin!

Emptiness demands filling

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy.  (Philippians 4:8 VOICE)

Is it just possible some of the awful things which happen these days are because we have filled our minds with things not so very beautiful and/or truthful?  What lies do we believe, simply because we were told them and we didn't do the work to validate them?  What untruths do we propagate simply because we repeat them, not really thinking about what could be at the root of what we are repeating?  What sinister plans do we have in mind when we do some of the things we do in the name of this or that cause?  I start today with a bunch of questions because I think we don't do a very thorough job of asking the questions in life which help to perpetuate the beautiful or the truthful! Maybe we need to ask those questions of ourselves - and we definitely need to ask those questions when we see, hear, or sense things from others which may not quite pass the "sniff test" upon closer examination!

In order to have "filled minds" they must first be open to being filled.  I can place an empty capped jar under water for a long time and it will remain empty despite being immersed fully.  As with the jar, whether it be truth attempting to get in, or some manner of untruth, it cannot penetrate the empty space allocated for memory or thought processing because it can remain completely closed. If I slightly loosen that lid on the jar, it is quite possible while remaining immersed in that watery condition long enough, some of the water may seep into the space inside that jar, but it can take a long, long time.  A similar thing happens to us almost unnoticed when it comes to our minds and thoughts.  We can be so immersed, slightly open to receiving new ideas, when over the course of time those ideas begin to work their way into our minds without us hardly noticing.  It is the result of space being available and a means of entry being created (even though it is quite slight).

Maybe this is why it is so easy for us to become affected by ideals not really all that "correct" or "right" for us to embrace.  It isn't so much that we went after those beliefs, standards, or activities as much as that we were eventually affected by them because we allowed ourselves to be immersed in them without filling the empty space with the right stuff in the first place.  Paul reminds us to fill our minds - a continual process - with the things which will help to guard against the stuff which shouldn't find any inroad into our lives.  These are the things which are honorable (worthy of respect, creditable, of the highest quality, upright) and right (in accordance with what is just and good).  They are the qualities and attributes, standards and beliefs which are pure (straightforward, unblemished) and lovely (of the highest moral standard).  These are the things we don't want just "seeping in", but rather coming in with a gush until we are filled to the brim and then overflowing with the stuff!  Virtuous and praiseworthy thoughts emanate from lives filled with these things.  Just sayin!

Labels Aren't Reliable

Don't judge wine by its label,
   or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—
   the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.

(Proverbs 23:31-32)

I am not a connoisseur of wine, so I know very little about what makes a good bottle of wine.  You could show me one bottle right after another, and I would probably do what anyone who knows wine would cringe at - I'd pick it by the pretty label or the nice bottle!  The one who consumes the product in the bottle is the one who knows it best!  

This passage speaks a lot more to me, though.  I think we do a whole lot of "label" reading, even a little look inside, then come to the conclusion that whatever we are examining looks good.  It isn't until we have consumed it fully (or it has consumed us) that we understand just how lousy the thing was!  We are left with a really bad taste from the experience of "consuming" what it was we were judging by nothing more than a label or pretty facade!

I am a "label reader" - I confess it!  I look at the outside of the box of cereal, the outside of the can of tomatoes, the outside of the non-dairy creamer.  Sometimes, okay, quite often, I have been very disappointed by what "appeared" to look good on the outside, but once I got into it, I was faced with something entirely different from what it appeared to be on the label.

I think that is the meaning of our passage today - we often think it is okay to entertain certain ideas, simply because they were labeled "Christian".  For example, we might believe that old adage, "God only helps those who help themselves."  In truth, if you were to look at the origin of that saying, you would find it comes from one of Aesop's Fables!  It actually reads, "The gods help them that help themselves."  Did you catch that?  The "gods" - not God!  The phrase was coined by Benjamin Franklin later in his writings "Poor Richards Almanac".  What most don't know about Mr. Franklin was that he was a firm believer in the idea that if man could not help himself, then man was hopeless.

Here's what the Bible says about helping ourselves:

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26)

Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh
   and whose heart turns away from the LORD.  That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

(Jeremiah 17:5-6)

So, the adage doesn't hold up under investigation!  Those that actually find that they spend their efforts on what they can accomplish find themselves labeled a completely different way than they might have imagined - fools!  To draw our strength from what we can accomplish is a foolish thing.  We are not able to do all things!  Only God is able to do that!

We need to be wise about the "labels" we believe.  We cannot simply accept them as "fact" because someone we admire wears the label.  We must become wise to the "influence" that the "label" makes in our lives.  Just as wine may produce a "buzz" and leave us feeling pretty poorly the next day, believing a wrong belief can mess us up!  Don't become consumers until you become wise to what the Word of God teaches about what the "label" really affords!

Who are you relying on?

But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God.  Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start.  It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe – Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.  (Galations 3:25-27)

We arrive in style at our final destination in Christ – in an adult faith wardrobe.  In direct relationship with God, we are “more than washed up” for a fresh start.  We are completely transformed.  There is an exchange of character – although we may not immediately see the evidence of it in our daily lives, it has been accomplished.  Through our daily pursuit of his presence being cultivated in our lives, we come to recognize the changes already accomplished.  Paul describes our position in Christ as being in direct relationship with God - having no compromising or impairing element that would keep us apart from a holy God.  Close logical relationship because of the accomplished work of Christ in our lives – with no intervening agency needed.  In other words, the “rules” of the law were made void.

Let me show you the implications of this.  As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave.  Though legally he owns the entire inheritance, he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation. That is the way it is with us:  When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our lives. (Galations 4:1-3)

A tutor is charged with the guidance and instruction of another.  He has guardianship over that person – he’s responsible for the direct care of that individual.  It is important for us to recognize that as we go through life each and every day, we WILL be tutored by someone or something.  We can choose to be tutored by the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit, or we can embrace the tutelage of a rough and cruel world.  We are never free from influencing factors that affect our choices.  Those influencing factors affect our focus and ultimately, they challenge the integrity of our inner man (creating or filling the cracks or flaws in our inner man).

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!”  Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child?  (Galations 4:5-7)

You can tell for sure that you are fully adopted – not just “sort of” in the family, but fully embraced as a member of the family with full rights to the inheritance of our Father.  By the privilege of intimate conversation, we can be assured of our new standing in Christ.  We have complete access, complete freedom, and complete transparency with a holy God – not just a system of works that appeases our conscience.  As I am writing these words this morning, I am listening to a worship CD.  The words of the song that are echoing deep in my heart are those of an everlasting love that draws, assures, brings rest, and gives ultimate fulfillment that is not to be found anywhere other than in quiet trusting relationship with our heavenly Father.

Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you, but their motives are rotten.  They want to shut you out of the free world of God’s grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important.  (Galations 4:17)

All the world offers is a system of approval that is fleeting at best.  The next time that someone beats our time, improves upon our design, outdoes our profits, or any similar accomplishment, we are no longer standing as “approved” by the world's standards.  It amazes me how easily we follow worldly, self-seeking leaders, seeking their approval and direction, only to be disappointed in the end.  We have been provided one tutor – the Holy Spirit.  To turn to man for our approval or direction is to exclude God from his role.   The question I pose today is simple: What is your tutor teaching?  As you make daily decisions and face daily challenges, you will do well to subject the teaching to the Word, the wise counsel of mature believers, and the checks and balances of your conscience.

Anytime we try to do by our own effort what was fully accomplished by grace, we place ourselves in a position of bondage to the rules.  Paul wanted his readers to know that they can be free of this bondage.  Our trust in a finished work of Christ in us brings clarity of vision, centering of purpose, and deep, intimate fellowship with our God.