Articles

100 MOST TRUSTED PEOPLE

Some things are a snapshot of reality. A poll that appears in this issue of Reader’s Digest is such a revelation of where our society is. The poll is whom people of America deem as the 100 Most Trusted People. Top of the list is an actor—Tom Hanks. Next, is an actor. And next. It isn’t until fifth place that there is someone not an actor, Maya Angelou, a professor, author, and poet. Further down the list one encounters directors, show hosts, a few doctor/hosts, a scientist or two, and, oh, yes, the rich—Bill and Melinda Gates. There is also an economist, our First Lady, and, at number 18 another host, Ellen DeGeneres. Later in the list are former and current government officials, and, of course, some sports stars. Our president came in at number 65. I do not denigrate any on the list. The list doesn't say as much about the people on it as it does about the people that put them there when polled. A quick observation is that those on the top of the list and a majority on the list are people who are on television or in movies. Though I did not do the math to get an exact percentage, I believe the next largest group were doctors and doctor/hosts. Those who tell us about our bodies. My third observation—unless I just missed one, I saw no religious figures, moralists, etc. O.K., let me just say it, No preacher. People who entertain, make money, and who know about the body are trusted. People who could have something to say about the human soul, the way to life, eternity, don’t make the list. I think the poll shows where the people of America are right now in heart and mind. They are into entertainment and their bodies. If these are those that people trust most, are they actually trusting an actor with their souls?

A CAVITY IN YOUR LIFE?

One of the things Dad doesn't want to hear is "I think I have a cavity." Unless the family has good dental insurance, that statement is punctuated with huge dollar signs. Beyond cost, cavities also cause the possessor a lot of pain. Thus, the word cavity comes with a lot of negative connotation. The word cavity is generic enough. It just means a hollow place in the body; however, its use to describe the hollow place caused in a tooth by decay makes it an unpleasant word. I heard a preacher last night describing the need of an uncommitted Christian as, among other things, having a "cavity in your life." I had never heard it put quite like that before. Usually, the something missing in one's life is described as an emptiness, a void, a vacuum, etc. But, a cavity? He was right. Many people have a cavity in their life-they have a hollowness in their soul. And, usually the cavity, as a tooth cavity, was caused by decay. As certainly as bacteria eats a hollow in a tooth, sin devours the soul and inner life leaving a hollowness. Although we often view them as torturers and their tools as their instruments of torture, dentists do a great and helpful thing. They clean out the germs that are hollowing a place in the tooth and then they fill that hollow place. They clean and fill the cavity. So does God. He removes the sin that has eaten its way into our hearts and fills the emptiness it has left. He does it through the work of the cross. Perhaps, next time you think about a cavity you will think of the cross and not a dentist chair.

CONTENT WITH THE CONTENT?

Words are interesting to me. Good deal since what I do involves them so often. This week, for no apparent reason, I kept having a particular heteronym roil over in my mind. Words are heteronyms when they are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings. For example, lead (to guide) and lead (a malleable heavy metallic element). The first, as you know, is pronounced "leed" and the second, "led." The set I was thinking of was content and content. Content (kon-tent), the noun, refers to what is contained. Content (kan-tent) is an adjective meaning satisfied. We can put these together: With the content of his savings account he was content. The content of one's heart determines whether or not he is content. Content determines whether or not one is content. God has made our soul to contain Him. If we seek to fill it, our lives, our thoughts, our affections with something other than Him, we will never be content. It is when the content of our lives is what pertains to God that we are content. It is like the relaxing child who's content of his stomach is filled with Mom's cooking. He is content. He could have stuffed himself with cotton candy, fizzing soda pop, and bowls of ice cream and never been content. You can muse with other heteronyms: row, row; desert, desert. But, are you content with the content of your life.

PERILOUS TIMES

As I write this, in the background I can hear the newscast of the search for the second, living, Boston bomber. The reporter is announcing that the whole city of Boston and surrounding suburbs are under a lockdown. The remaining bomber on the lam could be outfitted with a suicide bomb. The news, I'm sure, will clear up and change some misconceptions by the time you read this, but right now the people of the City of Boston are locked into their homes huddled in fear around a news source. Within the same week the explosion in Texas leaves Americans asking, "What is going to happen next?" All of this leaves a phrase of Scripture echoing in my head: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." (2Ti 3:1). "Perilous times." The best definition of the original word translated "perilous" would be "difficult" and "dangerous." That does describe the days we live. Whether catastrophic effects of nature gone crazy, the psycho deranged roaming about, the plague of criminals, the proliferating terrorists, or the new, medicine-resistant, spreading disease, there are always current reminders that our world is dangerous and difficult, that we are not safe. Oh, we are constantly reassured that we are safe, that peace is coming, that things are getting better. But, that only directs our minds to another Biblical warning: "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1Th 5:3). The only safe place in perilous times is in Jesus. With both these calamities this week, there was also the march of destructive storms across the Midwest. One of my daughters told me that the tornado alarms where her family lives kept going off in the night and that they had to twice run to the basement and spent much of the night there. Perilous times. The disciples would describe that night on the Sea of Galilee, when that terrible storm that frightened even the veteran fishermen hit, as a perilous time. Yet, they discovered that when Jesus is on board, the boat isn't sinking and one will come through the storm. Jesus stilled the storm. They were safe with Jesus. So are we.

THE LIVING LORD OR THE WALKING DEAD

On Easter Evening the two top watched television shows were the Bible: Story of Jesus through His resurrection and The Walking Dead, a show about zombies. Each had over twelve million viewers. (Some reports had the Bible with a far greater rating than The Walking Dead.) The choice each has was as vividly revealed by those two programs that vied for top spot as it is stated in the Bible—Life and death. People chose which of those two shows they would watch. Some chose to watch the Resurrection; others chose to watch Zombies, death. One was about light, the other about darkness. There were other programs one could have chosen to watch that night. But, in the spiritual reality of existence, there are only these two choices, Life and Death. God said, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deu 30:19). The choice is easily defined: Life and Death. The outcome of each is inevitable: Blessing and Cursing. God’s desire for each is evident: Chose life. That is what God wants for all—Life. For all who chose it, He provides it. One can yet hear the grieving disappointment in His words, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (Joh 5:40). Implied is that they could come if they so chose. The decision Sunday night could not have been any starker. A Living Lord or the Walking Dead. I choose the Living Lord.

ONE DIES, THE OTHER LIVES

There are some decisions mere humans have had to make that are unimaginably tragic. Think of the husband whose wife is in labor: Complications develop. The concern is in the doctor's face and in the frantic movements of the nurses. The doctor arises from his stool, takes off his latex gloves and motions for the father to follow him. Outside in the hall, the doctor reveals that things have become critical. He briefly explains the medical crises and then drops the bombshell of the dilemma that demands an immediate decision: "We can save either the mother or the child but not both. If we let that baby be born alive, Mom is going to die. If we save Mom, we must take the baby right now, but the baby will not survive. You must tell us quickly." For the child to live Mom must die. When the day is done one died that the other might live. Even with the joy of a saved life, there is the awful grief of the loss of the other to death. It is true that Jesus died that we might live. But, it is also true that He rose from the dead. He died that we might live, yet He lives! What a wonderful truth. He died that I might live; yet, He lives. He did not say, "Because I die, you shall live." He said, "Because I live, you shall live also." Live, also! Live as He lives. He decide to die that we might live. Yet, He lives that we might live as He lives!

NO MUDDY VEHICLES

A sign I just saw on the side of a carwash cracked me up with its irony. It read, "No Muddy Vehicles." I realize that the sign is attempting, I am assuming, to discourage off-road vehicles, farm equipment, construction equipment, etc., that would be caked with drain-clogging, bay-soiling chunks of mud. However, I was struck with the seemingly incongruence of the posted notice, "No Muddy Vehicles," with the only reason for a car wash's existence. A car wash is a place for one to take a dirty vehicle and get it cleaned. The sign went against the purpose. May the Church never portray attitudes, make statements, concoct policies, exude unfriendliness, etc., that declare, "No Muddy People," "No Really Sinful Folks," "Nobody With Really Messed Up And Problem Filled Lives." That would insidiously and irrationally go against the very purpose of the Church. Dirty vehicles can leave a car wash bay a mess. Patients in an emergency room can likewise leave the treatment room a mess. But, that is why each exists. The car wash isn't closed because too many dirty cars have left things needing attention. The hospital doesn't shut its doors because the patients have soiled the linen, beds, and rooms. It is what each is about. And the Church is about sinful souls being washed and hurting people being healed. The sign on the car wash should be, "Bring All Dirty And Muddy Vehicles." The Church's sign must remain, "Come All You That Are Weary And Heavy Laden"-or rather, "Muddy Hearts Welcomed."

SMOKE OR FIRE?

This past week until Wednesday the cameras of the world were focused on a vent pipe in the Vatican. Cardinals were voting twice a day. Black smoke after a vote indicated no pope had been elected. White smoke would announce a new pope. The world awaited a new pope by looking for smoke. The Church of God should not be looking for smoke. It should be looking for fire. Fire announced the coming of the Holy Spirit. Fire also describes the effect the Spirit has in one's hearts. Smoke arose from that Vatican building to announce a new pope within. Fire came upon the hundred and twenty as described in Acts 2 to announce that the Spirit had taken up residence within. In fact, the original language presents the picture of a column of fire descending from heaven, and, once above the group, splitting into individual flames appearing over the head of each seeker. This was in continuity with God's previous comings to dwell among His people. When both the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple of Solomon's building were completed, God sent fire upon them to indicate that His presence would dwell in the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies. The fire said God was within. Likewise, the fire upon the church said God, the Spirit, was within. Smoke, the new pope is within. Fire, the Spirit is within. I'll take the fire.

THE CHURCH: Cruise ship or Battleship?

Now a cruise might just be really relaxing-being away from it all out on the deep blue, calling at exotic ports with unfamiliar sights, having no schedule, rocking to sleep by the yaw. Taking a cruise has become a sought after feature of the American life. And not that there is anything inherently wrong with taking a cruise (with the right company and for the right reasons), but the cruise ship has become not only reflective of the American life but the American church. A friend this morning told me of a sermon he heard years ago about the Church being, not a cruise ship, but a battleship. The main aim of the cruise ship crew and staff is to pamper the guests. Food is served everywhere. Towels are folded into animal shapes. Entertainment is free. Service is instantly available. However, I am sure the towels are not folded into animal shapes on a battleship. The passengers (the sailors) on a battleship are not there to be pampered and to relax. They are there in readiness to serve their country, protect their fellow citizens and to fight the enemy. In America today, many have come to view the Church as a cruise ship. They come to church to be pampered, to have their feelings massaged, their songs sung, their desires catered to. They are there for what it can do for them, what they can get out of it. But, the church is not to be a cruise ship. It is a battleship. It is a place where each true sailor has come to fill his station and do battle with the enemy for the benefit of others. Our lives for Christ are not to be spent on a perpetual cruise but on a tour of duty. I may be on a cruise on a cruise ship someday, but my life is on the battleship.