Archive for Scripture
Sticking to Your Word
Posted by: | CommentsAs recently as last week, Jerry Jones was quoted as saying that Wade Phillips would finish the season as the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Yesterday, Phillips was fired by that same Jones.
This serves as yet another example of how difficult it is for someone to actually say something and stand by it, no matter how difficult it may be. Or to carefully consider what to say in the first place. Now, after the Cowboys poor start and horrible performance the other night against the Packers, I can understand why Phillips was fired. However, I think we should all be frustrated at the actions of a man who says one thing and then goes on to do another. Clearly, Jones has shown that he is a man who, like too many of us, thinks it is no big deal to say something and do the opposite one week later. His yes is not really ‘yes’ and his ‘no’ not really no.
Lest we go on pointing the finger and Jones and feeling all good about ourselves, however, we are wise to recognize that we too often are guilty of the very same thing. We are careless in what we say. We make commitments we don’t intend to keep. Or that we intend to keep, but aren’t very diligent in carrying out. If we are Christians, we might even say, “I will pray for you” in a careless fashion and never follow through. Or we are incessantly late. Or generally unreliable.
This should bother us more than it currently does. Jones’ carelessness should make us face up and hate our own. Not only that, but from my perspective as a Christian, a story such as this should make us long for the day when everyone will say what they mean and stick to it. And lead us to more diligently seek to live that way now.
So how should Jones have handled this situation? As far as I see it, here were some central options. We can learn from at least 3 of them.
1) He could have been more careful in what he said in the first place. Something like the following may have sufficed. “I really don’t like to make a coaching change in the middle of the season, and I certainly don’t want to do so now, but if things get worse and it seems to be in the best interest of the club, it is a move I won’t be afraid to make.”
I see absolutely nothing wrong with saying something like that. It is fair and understandable to everyone involved. We should take notes for our own personal situations.
2) After coming out with his statement that Wade Phillips would finish the season, he could have stuck by it at all costs and set an example of being a man of his word. He could even have said this week, “You know what, I wish I hadn’t said what I said last week about Wade Phillips remaining head coach for the rest of the season, because I want to fire him after our poor performance against the Packers, but I do not want to go back on my word, so no matter how bad it gets, he will remain our head coach for the rest of the season. I realize that many people may be frustrated with me for this decision, and I understand, but I am willing to accept the consequences and feel that no matter how bad they are, they are better than me going back on what I said.”
I am not holding my breath for that one, but again, we should take notes.
3) After his statement of last week, he could have made the decision to fire Phillips, while offering an apology for being careless with his words last week. “I have decided that I was foolish and careless with my words last week and that it is in the best interest of the club to fire Phillips today. I realize now that I was trying to manipulate the situation in hopes that the team would rally around Phillips. I wasn’t honest and I publicly ask for forgiveness from Phillips and everyone else for essentially lying.”
What a breath of fresh air that would be huh? Can’t see it happening, but why can’t we do something like that?
4) He could have fired himself as General Manager of the club, a move, it seems, that would be quite popular with Cowboy fans. “Even though this is kind of weird, as the Owner of the Cowboys, I have decided to fire myself as the General Manager. After all, I hired Phillips and had a huge say in each player that is on this team. I accept the fact that the position of General Manager may be beyond my ability and humbly terminate myself! The fact that I was careless with my words last week was the last straw, so effectively immediately, So-and-So is taking over for me at the General Manager position.”
I am not sure how we can apply that personally, but it would be a fun story. At the very least, such humility would be well-received by many. At least I hope.
All in all, this story should remind us that what we say and how well we stick by what we say is more important that we often realize. Jesus said, “Let your Yes, be Yes and your No, no. Can you imagine a world in which everyone did just that? I can’t wait and pray now that I would better preview that coming day by saying what I mean and sticking to it. Or humbly repenting of my failure to do so. Or, if necessary, humbly repenting and firing myself.
Shalom: The Way Things Ought to Be
Posted by: | CommentsBelow is one of my all-time favorite quotes- from anyone. In his book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, Cornelius Plantinga writes,
The prophets knew how many ways human life can go wrong because they knew how many ways human life can go right. (You need the concept of a wall on a plumb to tell when one is off.) These prophets kept dreaming of a time when God would put things right again.
They dreamed of a new age in which human crookedness would be straightened out, rough places made plain. The foolish would be made wise and the wise, humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would flower, the mountains would run with wine, weeping would cease and people could go to sleep without weapons on their laps. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect. Lambs could lie down with lions. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder; all humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood; and all nature and all humans would look to God, walk with God, lean toward God and delight in God. Shouts of joy and recognition would well up from valleys and seas, from women in streets and from men on ships.
The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.
If you think about it, we all hold some unwritten standard of the way things ought to be. The question we ought to ask ourselves is where does this unwritten standard come from? Who is its author? How has it been informed? Usually, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we have just decided the standard ourselves. We pick things up here and there and then set our views up as ultimate and well-informed.
From a Christian standpoint, however, this is arrogance. Humility dictates the need for a source outside oneself. An authoritative one. This is where the Bible and the need for us to study it with diligence comes so clearly into view. For though many read it and see incoherence, when rightly understood and studied, a unified story emerges. And not just any unified story, but the ultimate unified story, indeed, the only unified story that can tell us how things ought to be, and what has been done to assure that Shalom will come to pass.
This line of thinking is about as practical as it gets. For no matter the topic, understanding how life ought to be is central to how you ought to think and act now. When thinking about sports or the environment or politics or marriage or whatever, apart from an authoritative standard, you thinking will be far from clear. Theology is incredibly practical.
I could say more, but that is enough for now. Suffice it to say that if what I have said really is true (especially if you are a Christian), you ought to do all you can to understand Shalom, or the way things ought to be. In subsequent posts, I will make a few book recommendations.
Valuing Perseverance
Posted by: | CommentsI enjoy the Olympics. Though I am not sure I would watch any of the Olympic sports at any other time, I thoroughly enjoy them every four years.
One of the things that comes with every Olympics is personal stories of perseverance. It is inevitable and, it seems, constant, during the Olympic broadcasts. Every athlete has a story. And many of the athletes have a particular setback that they were able to overcome or endure in order to make it to the Olympics. An injury, a death in the family, failure four years ago, etc.
While watching one of these stories the other day, it hit me…I thoroughly enjoy these stories of perseverance, yet I don’t really want to be one of those folks who have to persevere and endure such difficult things.
That goes for most of it doesn’t it? We are inspired by tales of overcoming difficult obstacles, yet we tend to despise the obstacles in our own lives, the very things that can make us people of perseverance. We seem to simply want little more than everything coming easy. We are content with being inspired, when we could become inspiring.
According to Scripture, God is jealous to make His people people of perseverance. We are even told that Christians should count various kinds of trials joy because they are used by God to make us people of maturity and perseverance (James 1:2-4). While watching the Olympics, I am wise to use the plethora of perseverance stories to remind myself that I should not despise the means God ordains to making me a man that, just maybe, can inspire others and not just be inspired. Maybe you can watch and be reminded of the same.
Cultivating a Holy Longing
Posted by: | CommentsIn his book, The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges writes,
Generally speaking, believers who have the least benefits of this life have the most vigorous hopes of heaven.
He’s right, right? I believe so. After all, if you have nothing here and God promises you a New Heaves and New Earth in which perfect righteousness dwells, you should have easier time focusing on the future. If all is going well for you here, your relative blessing oftentimes will obscure the perfect blessing that is soon to come.
So what do we do if life is going along quite well? If we are enjoying the benefits of this life in greater measure than many others, must we forgo them in order to long more for heaven?
Lest we think it doesn’t matter whether we long for the life to come, check out Hebrews 9:27-28,
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Did you catch that last part? ‘To save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’ That’s no joke huh? Though salvation is solely through faith in Christ, those who faith will eagerly wait.
And yet, we are so apt to feel quite at home here. Life gets going and we think little of the perfect life to come, where those who believe in Christ will live with Him and enjoy life as it ought to be and a thousand times better.
So back to our question: what do we do if our life here is pretty nice? Here’s two suggestions I have probably mentioned before.
1) Read the Bible and good books until you figure out what Heaven is really like and going to be like. Most of us aren’t as clear about the life to come as we may think we are. Do you think Heaven is singing hymns in the clouds with angels? Well then, you are way off and need to read up. Heaven by Randy Alcorn is a great place to start.
2) Cultivate a holy longing for the life to come by diligently seeking the Lord and asking Him for it. Word and prayer. It’s tough to get too much of these.
There is more that we can do, no doubt, but that is a good place to start. For no matter where we are or what is going on in our lives, we will do well to cultivate a holy longing for Christ and the life to come. Believe it or not, it will enable us to live much better here.
Guilty Yourself
Posted by: | CommentsI am currently reading the book of Job. For those who don’t know, the book of Job fits into the ‘wisdom’ category of Scripture as it tells the story of one’s man intense suffering. What happened, why it happened, how he responded, how his friends responded, and then, how God responded to all to them.
After more or less losing everything, four of Job’s friends come to comfort him. But after Job gives vent to his internal struggle, his friends can’t help but speak. And what they have to say ends up bringing anything but comfort.
After Job responded to the first of his friends to speak up, essentially defending himself, another one of his boys, Zophar, speaks. And more or less, Zophar tells Job that the fact he is suffering so much is a clear indication of his great sin. And the fact that Job doesn’t think it is his sin at fault (which it is not), makes it all the worse.
At one point, however, Zophar says,
“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven- what can you do? Deeper than Sheol- what can you know?” (Job 11:7-8)
And on and on he goes, telling Job that he shouldn’t pretend to know the purposes of the Almighty. But here is the ironic thing: Zophar is guilty of the same thing! After all, he is the middle of telling Job the reason for his suffering. He is pretending the know the purposes of the Almighty. He is arrogant enough to think that he has the answer.
Before we look down upon Zophar, however, let us recognize that we do the same thing. All of us. Particularly when we are found frustrated with another’s actions or words, or when we stick up our noses at someone else for their failure, we are Zophars. We are guilty of whatever we are frustrated with in another. Maybe not as obviously, but guilty nonetheless.
Romans 2:1 says, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”
Some folks out there might not believe it, but if you look carefully at your attitudes and actions, you will recognize that whatever you are apt to criticize in another, you are guilty of yourself.
So what are you frustrated with today? Take note and be sure to count yourself guilty before you do anything else. It will either give great humility and wisdom to your words or keeping you from saying something very stupid.
