False Advertising

 

Helmut Thielicke was a German theologian and prolific author in the 1900s. He once told the story of a time when, as a college student, he was riding through town on his bicycle. Having skipped breakfast that morning, Thielicke was hungry as he pedaled his bike. When he saw a large sign in a store window that said “Hot Rolls for Sale,” he had to stop in. 

 

Thielicke said the sign made him realize how hungry he was, and as he parked and made his way to the store, his mouth was beginning to water in anticipation of filling his empty stomach. Once inside, it dawned on him that he was not in a bakery or diner at all, but had actually entered a print shop. The sign in the window was not advertising hot rolls; it was advertising the company’s ability to make signs.

 

Helmut was bitterly disappointed. He entered the store under false pretenses. The sign got his hopes up, but it did not deliver what he felt it promised. How many churches do that same thing every Sunday? There is a big sign out front that indicates it is a church, but once people go inside they discover it is anything but. The music is entertaining but it has nothing to do with the Lord. The message is well delivered but it isn’t based on the Bible. There might be great multimedia, interior decorating, and activities for the kids, but there is nothing of redemption or sanctification. 

 

To quote Erwin Lutzer in We Will not be Silenced, “Our churches may advertise the gospel, but once inside, you might find an extension of the culture around us…what you might not hear is a word from God. You might hear a lot about grace but nothing about sin; you might hear how to get blessed by God but nary a word about how to withstand the cultural pressures that are destroying our children and silencing our witness.”

 

Our churches must be churches, preaching the gospel and being the hands and feet of Jesus. But it starts with the individual church members being the people they are called to be. If you are expecting hot rolls, it is disappointing to wind up in a print shop. If you are expecting a New Testament church, it is disappointing to wind up in a shallow service. And when you meet someone who claims to be a Christian, it is disappointing to find out they are living like the world.

 

Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” It is refreshing to meet a Christian who lives out his faith, and when we live right, we are a tree of life to those who need it. We might not produce hot rolls, but we do produce fruit. Because each person has a God-shaped void in their life, they are looking for something, and we can provide it for them. No false advertising; we must live up to our name. 

 

Choose Your Words Wisely

 

President Calvin Coolidge was known for being a man of few words. His preference for not speaking earned him the nickname “Silent Cal.” His wife Grace told a story about a White House dinner party in which a young lady was seated beside the President. She told Coolidge that she made a bet with her friend that she could get him to say at least three words during dinner. 

 

“You lose,” Coolidge said, without even looking up from his plate, and he didn’t speak another word during the course of the meal. Talk about choosing your words wisely! Coolidge didn’t say much, but when he did, he tried to make his words count. 

 

Some speak more than others, but on average people say about 7,000 words a day. Whether you are on the top end of that number, or whether you are closer to Silent Cal, you should still choose your words wisely. That is what David wanted to do. He once wrote, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).” 

 

A great question to ask is, “Are my words acceptable in God’s sight?” Sometimes we deem things as unacceptable. A parent tells their child their behavior is unacceptable, or a teacher tells a student the assignment they turned in is unacceptable. I would hate to know that God found my words to be unacceptable. That assessment is probably true of all of us from time to time, but for some their overall speech patterns are unacceptable. 

 

Crude words are unacceptable, and Paul said, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification…(Ephesians 4:29).” Dishonest words are unacceptable, and Solomon said, “These six things the Lord hates…a proud look, a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-17).” Blasphemous words are unacceptable, and Moses wrote, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (Exodus 20:7).” 

 

Some might wonder what the big deal is. How can words uttered into the air really be a problem? For starters, our words reveal a heart issue; if we are losing our temper and saying angry things, those words are just symptoms of a worse problem. But another reason to choose our words carefully is that they are a reflection of the God we serve. If we are liars, the world will not trust us when we tell them they need Jesus. When we are crude, they will not think they need Jesus if Jesus hasn’t cleaned us up. When we blaspheme, they won’t think Jesus is special to us. 

 

The words we say matter to God because they can turn people off to Him. You don’t have to be Silent Cal, but please choose your words wisely. 

 

Laziness

 

Are you a lazy person? I’m not talking about enjoying times of rest; we all need that. But rest is actually a break from activity. The lazy are inactive, so they cannot actually rest. The lazy are the people who would do anything to never have to do anything. When there is work to be done, they cannot be found. 

 

Solomon had nothing good to say about the lazy, and nothing but good to say about those who work hard. In Proverbs 6 he uses a loathsome insect as an object lesson, writing, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest (v.6-8).” Solomon was right; as far as we know, ants have no overseers in the field making sure they do their work, yet off to work they go. To the best of our knowledge, there is no recourse for an ant not doing his job, but you will never see one lounging around with his feet up. In fact, ants can be seen carrying an astonishing fifty times their own body weight with just two arms. No wonder Solomon pointed to the ant as an example of work ethic.

 

Turning his attention back to the lazy person Solomon continued: “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man (v.9-11).” Ants always have plenty to eat because they work for it, but if the sluggard isn’t careful, he will walk to his pantry and discover its shelves to be bare. Poverty will come upon him like a bandit, and he will have no one to thank but his own inactivity. 

 

What have the lazy ever contributed to society? I have never walked through a museum and heard the tour guide say, “And in this room we have all the accomplishments of lazy people.” I have never seen a monument erected to honor a lazy person. There are no museums or monuments for the lazy. On the other hand, we honor people like George Washington and his men for crossing the Delaware because they were exhausted and low on rations. We honor people like Thomas Edison for not letting his earlier failures keep him from perfecting the lightbulb. When the going got tough, they pushed through. 

 

If you want to do something significant then you can’t be lazy. Aside from the fact that laziness is a poor testimony for Christians, it reduces our lives to insignificance. God made us on purpose for a purpose, and He expects us to work. If He was done with us He would have already called us to heaven, so as long as He leaves us here, we need to be busy. 

 

 

Two Different Paths

 

In his classic poem The Road not Taken, Robert Frost described stopping at a fork in the road as he took a walk through the forest. The poem begins this way:

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 

We often come to similar forks in the road in life. We can choose the worldly life, described in Psalm 1; this is the man who stands in the path of sinners and takes his seat among the ungodly. We can also choose the Christian life, where we put on the full armor of God and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. The choice is completely up to us. 

 

Proverbs 5 mentions different paths. While giving advice to his son Rehoboam, Solomon told him to avoid the path of the adulterous woman because “her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell (v.5).” That word used for path in Hebrew refers to that which is movable, and has been translated elsewhere as slippery. Today we speak of something as a slippery slope, meaning that if Rehoboam began to spend time with this woman, before he knew it, he would be slipping and sliding down the path that would ruin his life. 

 

Sometimes in a store or mall I see signs posted, alerting shoppers that someone has recently mopped and the floor is still wet. That is what Solomon is doing here. He is putting out one of those yellow wet floor signs for Rehoboam, warning him that he is certain to fall if he isn’t careful. Instead of bruising his tailbone, Rehoboam could lose his life. 

 

At the end of that same chapter Solomon wrote, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths (v.21).” This word paths is different than the one in the fifth verse. This Hebrew word describes the path made by wagons and horses where there were no paved roads. This word came to speak of a person’s habits because following the same path over and over would develop grooves in the ground. A person’s paths were the things he did repetitiously. The warning is clear: do not follow the slippery path of the adulterous woman, because the Lord knows your paths. God knows full well the patterns in our lives. 

 

Jesus mentioned two roads—one broad and easy to traverse, and the other narrow and difficult. Many, He said, meaning the majority, travel the broad road, and few—the minority—travel the narrow.  

 

Frost concluded his poem this way:

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

Few people choose the straight and narrow road. It is unfortunately the road less traveled by, but choosing it makes all the difference. 

A New Puppy

Our children have been asking to get a dog for a while a now, so yesterday we got them a puppy. She is eight weeks old, and a beautiful Aussie/Winnie mix. Since we are a Star Wars family we named her after the iconic Princess Leia. My wife and I talked through all the pros and cons of getting a dog before we made the decision, but there was something I overlooked. I forgot how hard the nights are with a new puppy in the house. It has been a few years since we had to get up with our babies during the night, so we weren’t used to having to get up and take out a whimpering puppy. 

We got her on a Saturday, and that night from about 1:30-4:30 we were up with our new dog. Even when she was asleep I was still worried about her. I felt like a zombie trying to preach the next morning. While I have never considered myself to be a lazy person, I do require a certain amount of sleep in order to function, and that first night I didn’t get it. Some people toss and turn at night, and it isn’t because of a puppy. Some haven’t slept well in years. There may be a medical condition, but it also may be spiritual. The Bible seems to associate restful sleep with being at peace with God. 

In Psalm 4:8 David said he could lie down in peace and sleep because the Lord allowed him to dwell in safety; in the previous psalm he said could lie down and sleep because the Lord sustained him (3:5). Proverbs 3:24 says the person who keeps God’s commandments can lay down and sleep in peace. Even Job’s friend Zophar encouraged Job to repent of his sins (even though Job was innocent) so that he would be able to once again sleep in peace (11:18-19). Isaiah had a similar thought, saying that God gives peace to those who trust Him: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you (26:3).”

I believe that is why Jesus was asleep in the boat during an unusually violent storm. The disciples—many of whom were professional fishermen—were terrified, but Jesus was sleeping peacefully. It was His way of showing those young men that He was at perfect peace with the Father. We too can be at peace with God. Many can’t sleep because of the guilt they carry over their actions. Many can’t sleep because they know deep down they need to make some changes. Many can’t sleep because they know they aren’t right with their Maker. But those who are living right, who are at peace with God and man, can sleep soundly. I hope Leia allows us to sleep better tonight. Maybe your better sleep will come if you make peace with God. 

Dream Big

As Christians it is important that we never stop dreaming about something big God can do through us. Perhaps one of the most famous dreamers in the modern era was Walt Disney, who created an empire that brings joy to millions of people. His theme parks are arguably the most famous in the world, and his productions include some of the most beloved characters and movies of all time.

None of what Disney created was by chance. He dreamed big, risked it all, and was able to see his dreams materialize. Mickey Mouse is a perpetual reminder of Disney’s dreams. At the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the opening of Disney Land, Disney’s friend Art Linkletter told of a conversation he had with a friend. The friend commented that it was a shame that Disney could not be there to see what Disney Land had become, and Linkletter replied, “He did see it. That’s why its here.”

Disney looked into the future, then took steps in the present to get there. Too many people like the idea of experiencing something big, but they play it safe, never doing anything to make their dreams become a reality. Others never dream at all.

I would encourage Christians to dream. Think about something big God can do through you, a way to impact His kingdom. How can you show someone the love of God? How can you feed the hungry, care for the sick, or visit those in prison? What can you do to take the gospel to people in the third world? What can you do for your local church?

As we begin a new year, dream about what God can do through you. He may lead you to risk something or get outside of your comfort zone; that’s ok. Life is too short to play it safe. Pray for God to lay something big on your heart, and when He does, see it through. Picture it now, then see it again when it comes to pass.

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Proverbs 16:3

Lending to the Lord

If Jesus needed to borrow twenty bucks, would you lend it to Him? It is hard to imagine that any Christian would turn Him down; even if I didn’t have the cash on hand, I’m sure I would exhaust every means to make it happen. If Jesus needed $20, I’d loan it to Him in a heartbeat.

What if a homeless person made the same request? A classic Christian line is, “He’s probably just going to buy beer with it, so I’m not giving him anything.” While I don’t want to use my money to invest in the alcohol industry, that line is often a copout, an excuse to make us feel better for our stinginess. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.”

If we would loan (or give) Jesus our cash, but not the homeless person, there is a problem. The Bible equates the two, saying giving money to those in need is like letting Jesus borrow it instead. The next time you have the opportunity to help out someone who is struggling, think of that person as Jesus. They may never be able to pay you back, but Jesus will make sure you are reimbursed. Somehow, in God’s economy, we will be rewarded, even if not until heaven.

The New Testament weighs in with a similar thought: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2).” It may just be that the person we help was not a person at all, but one of God’s messengers. If an angel came and asked for $20, I’m sure we would hand it over, so again, we need to be generous as often as we are able to do so. Obviously not everyone is able to give away money, but if we adopt an attitude of generosity, we can all find ways to spread the love of Jesus to other people, and that is really what it is all about. Lets all look for a way to lend to Jesus this week.

Herbs and Calves

I love to eat. Food is a passion for me. Some people eat merely for sustenance, but for me eating food is an indoor sport, and on really nice days, an outdoor sport as well. I enjoy all kinds of foods, and the bolder the flavor, the better. Occasionally I will order a meal at a restaurant and the plate looks as if I ordered from a kid’s menu. I like to eat, but I prefer to be full afterwards.

Proverbs 15:17 says, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.” Given the choice between the two, I’d take the fatted calf every time; I’d even take a skinny calf over a dinner of herbs. I enjoy a good salad, but that should be the first course, the precursor to the calf. If the proverb only said herbs are better than calves, that would not make sense to meat-eating Americans. However, this proverb is less about what we eat than whom we eat with.

The first part of the proverb reminds me of our days as newlyweds. Living in our apartment in Fort Worth, Texas, my wife and I had a weekly rotation that included chilidogs, Chef Boyardee pizza, sandwiches, and on Friday night, chicken casserole. We were poor and in love, and those simple dinners were some of the best meals I have eaten. Conversely, some live in affluence, dining nightly on caviar and fillet mignon, but with love lacking in the home. That fatted calf leaves much to be desired if it is seasoned with hatred.

The greatest thing we can do outside of loving God is loving our neighbor as ourselves. With that in mind, even if you live alone, find someone to love on and share a meal with. Even if herbs are all you can muster, serve them with a side of love, and everyone will be full.        

Ordinary Superheroes

You get up every morning and go to work; you take the kids to school, to lessons, to practice; you eat a quick dinner and go to bed, only to do it all again tomorrow. You may not feel like your daily routine is important. You may not think it all amounts to much, but it does. What you may not realize is that you are a superhero. While you may not don a cape or a mask, your home is your Gotham. Your orders are simply to make a difference.

One way we are ordinary superheroes is simply by raising the next generation, be they our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, or kids at church where we volunteer. When we faithfully, consistently bring them up in the way they should go, we are doing more than just raising kids; we are making disciples.

Another way we can be superheroes is when we are at our place of work or school. When we are good, honest, hardworking employees that make the most of our opportunities, we get to represent Jesus in addition to our company. Instead of putting on your work uniform, imagine yourself putting on your costume and springing into action.

We are also heroic when we fulfill our obligations at church. Things like keeping the nursery, working with youth or children, taking up the offering, passing out bulletins, running lights and sound, driving vans, teaching a class, or serving on a committee help the church service come together. There would be no choir without choir members; there would be no music without musicians; there would be no church without church members. Keep using the spiritual gifts with which you have been entrusted, and your local church will be blessed.

Finally, we can be heroes when we live our lives in society “as we are going.” The man who owns the store should say Christians are his best customers; the lady who owns the restaurant should think Christians are the best tippers. The sheriff should say he never has to cuff Christians. The principal should want more Christians on campus. The mayor should recognize the positive impact we make. We should start revivals, not riots. As church attendance rises, crime should fall. Divorce rates should drop. Abuse should reduce. Budweiser should go bankrupt, and the Playboy Mansion should go into foreclosure.

Every day there is a call to action, and we must respond. Though we may be tempted to sit it out, the world cannot afford for that to happen. Lives and souls are at stake. Mom, Dad, grandparent, employee, church member, citizen: you are an ordinary superhero.