Do I Speak Out?

Scripture:

James 2:1,5 My dear brothers and sisters,s how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble names you bear?

Observations:

It is amazing that these texts would come up today.  This is exactly the point I’ve been trying to make with my overseers. It appears that the educated, affluent, and apparently “put-together” people have more honor than the more marginal people of the church.  Those that hold positions of leadership, those that exhibit the least amount of brokenness, and those who seem to have the fewest problems are given more of a voice than the disenfranchised, the broken, and the marginalized.

And yet James tells us here that it is the poor who will inherit the Kingdom and it is the rich who oppress and slander the Lord’s name.

Applications:

Up until lately I have allowed myself to be put on the defensive.  I’ve tried to explain my actions and motives in a way that caused the least amount of push back.  I’ve tried hard to be politically correct and temperate in my words and actions.  However, about a week ago, I was impressed that I need to go on the offensive.  The scary part is that one begins to look like some lunatic fanatic.

But what great prophet of God hasn’t looked foolish?  What great prophet hasn’t experienced some great opposition, or been ostracized?  Virtually all of them have.  When the people of God have gotten so far off track that they required a strong voice to bring them back in alignment, the voice “crying in the wilderness” has often come from one who appears waaaay out there!

I don’t want to be that guy.  I just want to be a normal soul – I just want to walk in the shadows and not make waves.  However, this “gift” of discernment opens my eyes to the things around me.  I see the brokenness, I see the successes, I see the victories, and I see the failures.  I see the Spirit of God moving, but I see the mediocrity that has taken hold.  I wish I could keep my mouth shut.  However, God has also given me this gift/strength of Command (e.g. the ability to tell people what they don’t want to hear.)

Most of the great prophets of the Bible were willing to lose their lives over the messages God gave them.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son.  And here I am, worried about my employment.  It makes me feel weak and foolish.

Prayer:

Father God, just for today, give me the strength, courage, and wisdom to do the right thing.  Let me not overstep my boundaries and let me not understep them either.  You alone are the holder of Truth – in fact, you are Truth.  Please let me reflect You, Your character, and your Love in perfect balance – even though I am an imperfect vessel.

Forgive me for my failures, forgive me for my mediocrity, and forgive me for stepping out of line.  I love you Jesus.  Walk with me…

Psalm 62

1 I wait quietly before God,
for my victory comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will never be shaken.

3 So many enemies against one man—
all of them trying to kill me.
To them I’m just a broken-down wall
or a tottering fence.
4 They plan to topple me from my high position.
They delight in telling lies about me.
They praise me to my face
but curse me in their hearts.     Interlude

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.     Interlude

9 Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,
and the powerful are not what they appear to be.
If you weigh them on the scales,
together they are lighter than a breath of air.

10 Don’t make your living by extortion
or put your hope in stealing.
And if your wealth increases,
don’t make it the center of your life.

11 God has spoken plainly,
and I have heard it many times:
Power, O God, belongs to you;
12 unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
Surely you repay all people
according to what they have done.

Bondage

Scripture:

Judges 6: ¹ The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. ² The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. ³ Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, ⁴ camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. ⁵ These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. ⁶ So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

Observations:

This is not the first, nor the last time God has allowed His people to be subjected to captivity, oppression, and bondage.  The examples given in the Old Testament are often related to geographic, political, or physical bondage.  Whether it be the slavery of the Isralites in Egypt, or the jailing of Joseph – which may have been to correct generational curses, as opposed to personal sins – God always chastises and disciplines those he loves.

In ancient times they lost livestock and crops – or at least that is what was recorded.  These things were their more valued possessions.  Livestock and crops were more valuable than wives and children.

Applications:

Today, we live in spiritual bondage.  Jesus told us to be in the world, but not of the world – yet, we have drifted, spiritually, and have become of the world.  We live in the cities (like Lot and his family), we fail to see the corruption around us, and we are becoming more and more like them.  What sins have led us to this bondage?  Are they our sins, individually or corporately, or are they the sins of our fathers?

It wasn’t until they began to cry out though, that God sent a prophet to “rescue” them.  Are we crying out?

Prayer:

Father God, save us in spite of ourselves?  Give me the patience for you to harden pharaoh’s heart – not to do it with strength and might.

My Choices Affect Others

Scripture:

Judges 8:27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and 34 did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

Observations:

After Gideon (Jerub-Baal) captured and killed the enemies, he asked for a small token of the plunder, the earrings. This amounted to 43 pounds of gold. From this he made an ephod, which later was worshiped by Israel. After he died, the Israelites went back to their idol worship. Gideon had many sons through many wives and a concubine. It seems that Gideon’s weakness for women once again paved the path to idol worship in his people – especially through his son (via the concubine), Abimelech.

in the Hebrew Bible, Abimelech was a son of the great judge Gideon (Judges 9:1); thus his name אֲבִימֶלֶךְ / אֲבִימָלֶךְ can best be interpreted “my father, the king”. “Abimelech”, a name claiming the inherited right to rule, was also a common name of the Philistine kings. He was, however, merely the son of Gideon’s concubine, and to make good his claim to rule over Ephraim, he resorted to force. Aided by his mother’s relatives, he put to death all of his half-brothers, seventy in number, “on one stone,” at Ophrah, only the youngest, Jotham, escaping. Abimelech ruled just three years in Shechem after the death of his father (Judges 8:33-9:6).

He was an unprincipled, ambitious ruler, often engaged in war with his own subjects. When engaged in reducing the town of Thebez, which had revolted, he was struck on the head by a mill-stone, thrown by the hand of a woman from the wall above. Realising that the wound was mortal, he ordered his armor-bearer to thrust him through with his sword, so that it might not be said he had perished by the hand of a woman (Judges 9:50-57).

Applications:

I’d like to think that I am an island and that I can make decisions independent of others and that those decisions won’t affect anyone else. I’d like to think that my past mistakes, won’t affect my leadership today. I’d like to think that my present choices, especially the secret ones, won’t affect me (ha!), my family, and/or my church. I’d like to think that a secret cookie here, that no one else is aware of, will not lead my children to make poor choices now or in the future. I hope that my missed opportunities to be faithful will not affect my moral leadership of this church.

But, I know better. In fact, the Bible is full of examples like this one. Gideon, a great leader for God – and one of my favorite stories; fell far short of the potential he had. His multiple wives and lack of discipline in this area of his life, was a shining example to the Israelites. His concubine; his mistress; is monogamous prostitute bore him a son. This son went on to kill 70/71 half-brothers and led the country into spiritual prostitution.

If I have a secret cookie here, what secret sins will my kids adopt there? If I take a shortcut in my spiritual life here, how will that affect my church’s decisions there?

The fact is, I’m not perfect and I will make mistakes, but that doesn’t give me an excuse for submitting to temptation. Character is important. Every time I surrender to temptation (moral, ethical, health, relational, discipline, etc), I miss an opportunity to expand and improve my character. I may even tear down my character and harm it, depending upon the decision or issue. Every time I make the right choice, no excuses, I grow and thereby improve my ability to be a moral leader in my family and in my church.

As Bruce Springsteen once said, “No Surrender.”

Prayer:

Father God, give me the courage to make the right decisions and to surrender to you, not to temptation. Teach me to be disciplined and not lazy when it comes to making the right choices.

I love you too! gw