Taking God seriously?

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. (Micah 6:8)

On occasion someone will announce to me that they aren't sure what they are supposed to be doing with their lives - they are not certain God is using them, where he wants them to be or go, or that they are 'in his will' in a particular situation. Truth be told, all we have to do is ask God's direction and he is sure to let us know. If we explore scripture, we see examples of both what we are supposed to do in this life and the things we are not supposed to be pursuing. Live honestly - forsake anything dishonest. Avoid the green-eyed monster - be humble and gracious. Don't steal - work for a living. Avoid self-dependence - trust in God's plan. Do - Don't Do - given to us all throughout the scriptures - we only need to look deep enough to find our answers.

The example given to us today is that of doing what is fair and just to our neighbor. It seems we have a different standard of fairness and justice today than we might have had fifty years ago, or even twenty years ago. It is as though fairness and justice have become moving targets. Fairness and justice cannot be separated - they are equal partners in this verse. Justice carried the meaning of personal accountability for one's actions. That seems a little different than how we use that term today, doesn't it? It also carries the meaning of not giving preference to one individual over another - fairness. In the first reference, there is a penalty for an infraction; the second carries the idea of equal measurements. There is an overarching responsibility for community - to live well with others, be at peace with them, and never seek to 'outdo' the other.

I suppose the most 'telling' part of justice and fairness is the idea of being merciful in a generous way - not just on occasion, but continually extending mercy to others. Compassion and loyalty in our love demands this type of 'generous grace', doesn't it? Providing for the needs of others is what God had in mind here. It might be we begin doing this by practicing fairness and justice in all our actions - it extends into our giving of ourselves, our talents, and our provisions to others. We meet the needs of those within our community - spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Is it possible that in making the choice to live in such a manner we begin to take God seriously? Just askin!

Bless me more!

Toby Mac says, "Life may not be fair, but God is always faithful."  It is not unusual for us to seek "fairness" in life.  As a child, how many of you were challenged to "share" your toys or snack with another child?  The lesson parents everywhere have been teaching us is that of "fairness" - it is not okay for one of us to enjoy the toy or snack alone - both should partake.  Then came the dilemma of just how long you let little Johnnie or Susie play with that toy or how much of the snack you actually shared!  Too short of a time to enjoy the toy or too small of a piece of that snack brought on the onslaught of tantrum from the other person proclaiming you weren't being "fair" in your "sharing"!  Parents would try another tactic - such as making us divide the snack in two and give the other person the "first pick" of the divided snack.  They were trying to get us to share sacrificially or "without measure", but we were more concerned with sharing "equally".  Yep, life isn't always fair - even when we try our best to "equal out" whatever it is we are going through!

O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies, who is mighty like You? You are completely faithful; that’s why we trust You.  (Psalm 89:8 VOICE)  

Let your heart overflow with praise to the Eternal, for He is good, for His faithful love lasts forever. (Psalm 136:1 VOICE)

In our normal "mode of operation", we seek fairness in the dealings of life.  We don't want to bear a higher tax burden than the next guy, or spend longer paying off debt than the other guy simply because our "credit" may not be deemed to be as good as the other guy's.  We want "equality" - that is probably one the biggest ways we interpret life as "fair" in society today.  I was raised on sports - loving to play softball, dodge ball, four-square, and all the other sports of days gone by which entertained kids into the dim hours of late evening on hot summer days.  We never played to lose!  We played to win - giving it all we had to see that last hit bring those runners in, the ball just graze the inside of the line, or the narrow escape of the direct hit from the red rubber ball hurtling through space toward us.  Did the game have to be "fair"?  No, in fact, sometimes we chose "teams" which gave one side of the field a little bit of an "unfair" advantage!  

I think we may have just done an injustice to our kids when someone invented this new form of "sport" in which no score is kept, everyone gets a trophy or ribbon at the end of the season, or limits are placed on just how many "runs" you can get in an inning before the other team gets a chance at bat.  We have shifted from each of us playing hard for the success of the team toward each of us contributing a little and all of us getting the same reward.  Truth be told, life is rarely "fair".  Women with young children receive the bad news of terminal breast or ovarian cancer which will take them away from their children way too soon.  Men work hard at a career, saving for retirement, only to suffer a heart attack or stroke just short of enjoying those "golden years".  Kids don't expect to endure chemotherapy or the loss of limb to the hungry cancers consuming their bodies.  Life isn't always "fair", but God is always FAITHFUL - maybe this is the lesson we should be teaching the clearest and the loudest these days!

Even when "bad stuff" happens, God's faithfulness isn't daunted, his love doesn't wane, nor does his "carefulness" over our lives slip away.  Yep, the "win" isn't always going to be there for us - sometimes we actually lose a little, but gain a whole lot more in the loss than we would have in the win.  The struggle doesn't lessen the blessing.  The trial doesn't mean there won't be any redeeming thing to come out of the hard road we travel.  What we can count on when all of life seems a little "unfair" is the faithfulness of God.  Some of us might just think when life seems a little "unfair" that God loves the other guy or gal just a little bit more - because they don't have to deal with whatever it is we are dealing with.  Nothing could be further from the truth - God's love isn't distributed to some in greater proportions than it is to others.  That would be impossible for God to do - as it is contrary to his character!  God loves us equally, supports us through trial equally, but he brings his blessing into our lives in different ways.  Rather than saying he is "unfair", we need to remember his consistency and his never-ending grace!  Just sayin!

Turn the other cheek! What?

If you have ever felt like retaliation was the best means of attack in a particular situation, you are probably not alone.  Many of us struggle with responding as Jesus instructed - turning the other cheek.  What does that actually mean anyway?  How on earth does turning around so another blow can come your way seem fair anyway?  Ahhh...there's the ultimate question - why should we do it - it isn't FAIR?  Guess what?  Not everything in life is FAIR!  I figured that out by my fifth birthday and it is a lesson I have had to keep reminding myself of ever since!  The truth is - God doesn't look at how "fair" the circumstances are, he looks at how we treat another when the circumstances aren't going our way!

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.  (I Peter 3:9 NLT)

Fairness deals with sets of judgments - on our part and the part of everyone else involved in the situation.  We each have our own "perception" or "perspective" on what we see as "fair".  For some, fairness is when everything seems to be equitable - a WIN-WIN situation.  For others, fairness seems to be determined by them getting the biggest piece of the pie because somehow they see themselves as "deserving" it.  It is a reward for something they have done!  All of these views of "fairness" are just a little off the mark, though.

In God's economy, we are told not to judge.  Fairness is based on "judgments" we make all the time.  You get the bigger piece of pie - that isn't fair.  You get the raise when we have all worked on the project - that isn't fair.  You get the last word in - that isn't fair.  We go along making all kinds of "judgments" about what is fair without really having the right perspective to make these judgments.  Truth be told - only God knows the whole story, so we should let him figure it out!

In all of life, God calls for us to not live by the rule of "fairness", but by the rule of "grace".  We are to live grace-based lives - giving others better than what they deserve - better than we may have received ourselves.  This is tough work!  We are constantly having to battle against allowing someone else's behavior to dictate how we are going to act or respond!  Whenever we allow another's behavior to dictate our response - we are no longer operating in "grace".  

Are you someone who "keeps score"?  You know, you get the smaller piece of pie two nights in a row, and you keep score of just how often it happens.  In time, you form some type of little root of bitterness based on the fact you always seem to get the smaller piece!  In time, the little root gets to be a big problem!  If we were to be honest, we keep score because we don't want anyone else getting away with things!  Thank goodness God doesn't keep score!  I'd never make it if he did!

If I can say anything which may set us free from this whole issue of keeping score, always trying to figure out whether life is fair - it would be this:  Jesus is after our OWN issues and attitudes - not the other person's!  That may hit us smack between the eyes, but it is the truth.  We have a lot to learn about this "grace-based" living, but we have a great model to follow - Jesus. Relationships are at their best when we put something into them, not when we are always trying to get something out of them!  Jesus always focused on those around him, not himself.  

I am grateful for the grace of God in my life.  In fact, I hope to replicate that grace in others.  The one thing we can do to accomplish this "grace replication" is to allow God to dictate our attitudes and actions in the face of what seems "unfair" or "unjust" to us.  Instead of constantly keeping score, we let it go.  Instead of responding in like kind as we have been treated, we love and respond in kindness.  It will confuse the other guy entirely when you respond in this way, but it will delight Jesus immensely!  Just sayin!

What's your trademark?

Have you ever stopped to consider what a trademark is?  It distinguishes something from all the other "somethings" which are in our midst, right?  You think of the red soda can with the white little swirl and what immediately comes to mind?  Coca-Cola, right?  If I were to have you picture a red sign with a huge yellow "M" on it, you'd immediately recognize it as McDonald's restaurant.  We distinguish something by its trademark - it sets it apart from the rest.  What happens when someone changes their packaging of their product?  People go nuts trying to find it!  They don't recognize it even though it is right on the shelf in front of them because the "remembered" symbol is no longer there!  This is why most manufacturers don't mess with a good thing!  Have you ever stopped to consider what God's trademarks are?  What is it which sets him out from the rest of the "gods" we could serve in life?  What is it which makes him "distinguishable" in our lives?

“Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom.  Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits.  Don’t let the rich brag of their riches.  If you brag, brag of this and this only:  That you understand and know me.  I’m God, and I act in loyal love.   I do what’s right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things.  These are my trademarks.”  (Jeremiah 9:23-24 MSG)

According to what God told Jeremiah, loyal love, doing what's right and fair, setting things right - these are his trademarks.  Now, it may not seem like much, but if you want to really get to "recognize" God from all the rest of the voices you hear in your head, you might just want to get to know his trademarks!  The little voice which tells you to respond with unkind words is not his - it is yours!  That little voice which tells you to pick a fight is not his, its yours!  The little voice which encourages you to compromise just a little is not his, it is yours!  What God says will always be consistent with his character (his trademarks).  

We "brag" on a lot of things, don't we?  We get a new car and for about the first month or so not one piece of bird poop can be found on it, the inside is immaculate, and the wheels shine with the high gloss of new rubber.  We take everyone out to the garage to show it off - pointing out all the bells and whistles.  We "brag" on it a little.  When our child brings home a 4.0 grade average, perfect attendance, and exemplary comments about his/her behavior toward others, something happens inside us, does it not.  Those mom and dad chests just push out a little further and we get all kinds of giddy over having such a wonderful child.  We even proudly display the bumper sticker on our new cars which lets he world know we have a "champ" of a kid!

I wonder how many of us actually brag about knowing God and what it is he has done in our lives?  We brag (boast) about the stuff which has no real permanence in our lives, but often neglect to even speak of the things which will never leave us wanting.  Look again at the list of what makes God "boast-worthy".  First, he has this tremendously loyal love.  If you have ever loved someone, you know it has some ups and downs, right?  Most of the time when the things are going "good" in the relationship, we'd say we'd never change things in a million years.  Let some rough times and difficulty come in the relationship and our love is put to the test.  Sometimes it doesn't fair too well.  Why?  Because we haven't learned the loyalty of love - it goes beyond the usual and normal into the realm of the consistency of commitment.  Commitment has a sticking power.  God's love is committed love - it goes through the rough places with us, knowing full-well the good places will come again.

Second, he has this way of setting things right.  Not just right, but fair.  Do you think that is an unusual combination of words to describe how God deals with his kids?  I don't because God knows what we see as "right" we may not always see as "fair".  We are always making judgments about what is "right" and when we see something as "right" we usually say it is fair.  Truth be told, sometimes what is right may seem a little "unfair" to us!  But...God is all about both - fairness and setting things right.  When we don't get what we deserve (grace and mercy), he is setting things right, and he is being "fair".  In other words, he won't let an injustice be done when it comes to his kids.  We are placed in the position of being made right, and in turn, he also puts us in a position of favor.  That is what fairness has to do with God's grace - it puts us back into a place of favor.

It may not seem like much, but getting to know the trademarks of our God's love is pretty important.  It helps us filter out the voices which are not really pointing us toward loyalty in our love, fairness in our dealings, or excellence in our standing.  Wouldn't it be nice to reflect his trademarks in our lives?  Just sayin!