Taking Sides

Wherever two or three people are gathered together, there is likely to be division. It is in our nature to choose up sides. For a great many of us, the side we choose is called "right" and all the other choices are called "wrong." Now, there are those who say that they don't judge and they don't take sides. There are also those who say that every choice is "right". But, if you listen carefully to some of the other things these people say, it's clear they too have chosen a side and are as harsh on those who disagree with them as is any one else.

I am a Christian. I have reviewed the evidence presented to me of Jesus' divinity and I choose Christ. I say that with no sense of accomplishment because before I chose Him; He chose me. Before He said, "go ye into all the world," He said, "Come unto Me." The call to salvation rests squarely on Christ; it is a personal invitation to be on His side and no other. Jesus didn't call me to a building with a certain name above the door. He called me to Himself; to a place where he that is not against us is on our part and he that does not gather with us scatters abroad. It was a call to take sides. Christians may disagree on how particular things should be accomplished, but there should be no doubt whose side we are on.

There are those who say it doesn't matter what path we take; all roads lead to God. In a sense, I have to agree. Every man, woman and child will one day be gathered together to stand before God. The books will be opened and we shall give an account of every idle word we have spoken. From these words we will be judged; not as to guilt or innocence, the sides have already been chosen. We will be judged as to how we played the game.

"Who is on the Lord's side, let him come to me."    

Blessed Man 5

      "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

     Through meditation on the word of God, the blessed man taps a source of life and renewal outside himself. Like a tree growing on the river bank his roots grow deep into life giving water. The nearer the river the tree grows; the more reliable and plentiful is his supply. The seed that was planted has only a spark of life and will not grow to maturity unless it reaches the water of life. Fed from the river the seed becomes a tree and when it reaches a full age, the tree is a conduit of life; transforming life within the seed and the water into that which others need. This is also true of the blessed man. He receives the word of God by contact with the Divine and transforms it into living faith; fruit to feed others. 

    Jesus taught His disciples that the surest way to know a man is to look at the fruit he produces. The blessed man produces spiritual fruit. These are not good works per se, but spiritual traits that manifest themselves in all a man does and says. Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

     The blessed man knows some things about fruit. First of all, fruit comes in seasons. The tree branches are not constantly drooping with ripe fruit. There is a time and a season for every thing, and that includes spiritual fruit. Moreover, fruit does not appear on the branch fully formed and ripe. It begins as a tiny bud and grows in stages into mature fruit. Finally, when all is said and done, some trees are just more productive than others. This does not diminish the quality of the fruit a tree produces--the very fact that it produces is proof enough its roots are in the right place.

     Like the tree, the blessed man does not live in a vacuum. He lives in the real day to day world of rain and sunshine. Until Jesus comes again, men will live by the sweat of their brow. Life is a struggle against the ravishes of sin that have scarred our life and our planet. Droughts, disease, wind and cold will come. Their effects will show in the branches, leaves and fruit. The blessed man is not always riding the high places of heaven or sitting on top of the world. However, he is always fed by the water of life so that even in drought he rejoices in God.

      Which brings me to what it means to prosper. God is not opposed to wealth; neither is poverty a ticket to sainthood. Just as His people come in all shapes, sizes and colors, so they also vary in economic and social standing. Paul said, "...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." It is a sad truth that some do not know how to suffer need and hold their salvation intact. Others do not know how to abound and stay grounded. There is no treasure greater than one's soul. Paul was saying that he could weather any condition because of the strength he drew from being rooted in Christ. To be rooted and grounded in Christ is in, and of itself, true prosperity.

Blessed Man 4

It is not natural for the law of God to produce a sense of delight in the heart and mind of man. The natural or “carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Bringing the natural man into subjection to God is like trying to saddle and bridle an unbroken colt. The subject will buck and kick in an effort to throw off his restraints and run away. The difference is that God will not force men to accept His rule. That day is coming, but it is not here yet.

David says of the blessed man, “ But his delight is in the law of the LORD...” What causes a man to abandon his natural inclination for rebellion and delight in submission to God? I believe it is a realization that he is more than an incidental arrangement of amino acids or a random firing of neurotransmitters. Man has instincts, but he is more than the sum of them. Man's intelligence has lifted him above the animals, but an honest man knows it does not lift him high enough.

We tell each other that nobody's perfect without admitting the explanation for our shortcomings makes no sense at all. If we are all as God made us, where's the imperfection? Are we not then exactly as designed? We know that we are not. We know there is more to us.

There is that “ought” we all should be. I tell the truth most of the time, but I ought to always tell the truth. I ought to think kindly of my neighbor even if he is a moron, but the truth is, I don't. Without God, man is forever less that he ought to be for man ought to be like God. We are made in God's likeness and image. We are made to the specification--be ye holy as I am holy; be ye perfect as I am perfect.

The law of God reveals the truth that is already written in our heart and soul. Knowing the truth; that we have somehow gone wrong, allows us the opportunity to change course. The law offers direction back to God where we find what is lacking. Changing course from the bitterness of the natural life to the peace of God that passes all understanding is pure delight. It is not easy. It is not all rejoicing. But, the end of the course is all of that and more.

Blessed Man 3

 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the consul of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” There is no time in our life that is unimportant to God. He did not drop us off here and will be back for us later. He is with us always. God is concerned with our rising up and our lying down. The manner of our walking, standing and sitting matters to Him. We are important to God because He loves us.

Sitting, as God sees it, is not the passive activity we suppose. Where we chose to sit speaks volumes about how we see ourselves. Jesus criticized the Pharisee's for their love of the chief seats in the synagogue. It wasn't the seat that was evil. It was the intent and inflated self-view of he who sat there.

Let's jump ahead a couple thousand years and slide into the modern seat of the scornful. You know the place. It's just above four wheels and behind another. The Pharisees loved the driver's seat and so do we. Think about that for a moment. When you're behind the wheel of your car it quickly becomes clear the world is full of reckless idiots and ponderous dimwits.

 The idiots are the people riding your back bumper and the dimwits are those clogging the road in front of you. Now, that guy on your bumper may indeed be a reckless idiot, but that is immaterial. In labeling him, we are not evaluating his driving skill; we are expressing our attitude toward him. Attitude is everything. Idiot or not he deserves our forgiveness and hope that he will saved from his wicked ways.

Why is he entitled to salvation and forgiveness? Because that's what we want for our self and this is the point of the second great commandment---love your neighbor as yourself.

We do not want scorn heaped on us and so we must refrain from scorn for others; no matter how unskilled they may be.

One real danger of the seat of the scornful is that it is so comfortable. It lifts us above the crowd. Unfortunately, it does so by stomping on everyone else. We will never rise in God's eyes by climbing over our neighbor. We get there by lifting him up. Where we walk, stand and sit influence who we become in God's kingdom. The blessed man avoids the seat of the scornful. 

The Blessed Man 2

     I don't know if parents still insist that "because everybody else is doing it" is a lame excuse, but in my youth it was fashionable. Parents back then wondered aloud that if everybody jumped of a cliff, their children would follow suit. Of course, this sense of wonder often lead parents to come right out and ask about their chilren's stance on the issue. I vividly remember the first time I heard myself asking the question of my children. Judging by the way diversity has come to mean walking in lockstep with current fashion, I have serious doubts parents are least bit concerned these days. 

     My father was a big believer that legality conferred only society's permission. It did not make a thing right or true. He taught me that I should study and decide for myself rather than parrot the thoughts of others. He knew that the world is a take sides kind of place and it matters whose side your on. Moses once asked Israel, "Who is on the Lord's side?" The answer mean life or death. It still does.

     The psalmist said a man is blessed if he "walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners." Taking a stance against sin doesn't necessarily require verbally striking out against it, but it does mean we're not to cozy up to its fire. A refusal to join or partake is often a more powerful blow than denounciation.  

     How many of the moral cliffs you once stood atop have you jumped off in pursuit of approval? Popular opinion is the new morality seeking to supplant God's word. It is at work in the church and many have fallen under its sway. However, the blessed man knows to seek God ways and forsake the of sinners.      

The Blessed Man 1

     "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly..." Contrary to the notion of modern men, the scriptures are still the best source of direction for a blessed life. Recently, I set out to buy a washing machine and a dryer for our new house. I visited a few showrooms packed with the latest and greatest technological wonders of the laundry world. It is rather amazing what these new machines are reported to do. Problems arose when I put down my money to buy. The stores are all showroom and no warehouse. They have wonders to show and talk about, but when it comes to delivering the goods--they have none to deliver.

     It is the same way with the advice of ungodly men. They talk a great deal and put on a sparkling show, but within they are dead men's bones.  The storeroom of their heart is somewhere far away and they cannot produce the goods when needed. The ungodly will take your riches on a promise which they have no ability to deliver upon.

     This is not how the Kingdom of God operates. What God promises; He delivers and that just in time. The life and power that God says rests in Him is laid up nearby and ready to deliver. You may take God's goods home with you. There is no better, more relevant advice than that of He who created us. We are designed to live and run on Him and all else will fail to deliver the goods.

Love One Another

     The evening before His crucifixion, Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another as He had loved them. He then said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." He was looking not only ahead to the sacrifice of His physical being, but also calling them to remembrance of their fellowship and ministry together. From the moment Jesus called to them, He had been laying down His life on their behalf. His every word, every lesson, every deed were aimed at the hearts of His disciples.

      When He upbraided them for their unbelief or the hardness of their hearts, it was to replace corruption and emptiness with godly love. When He spoke in parables, it was to illuminate the practical lessons of love in the real world. The scripture tells us that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost in the hope that it will blossom and grow to fruition. Jesus laying down His life for His disciples didn't just happen two thousand years ago--it is still going on. Neither has His purpose changed; "the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscious, and of faith unfeigned."

     I don't believe God is looking for people to work miracles, nor is He seeking those to do great deeds. God is looking for those who love enough to set themselves aside. When He finds them; miracles will follow. That a man loves to the point of self denial may be the greatest miracle of all.

     Love will transcend the boundaries of  culture, race, and gender. Love can bridge the gap between species. Love can heal the land. The one stream love cannot bridge is self interest. In little ways everyday we come to that shore and chose whether to serve our own interest or lay aside self in favor of love and kindness.

     The example of Christ is clear. "God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."