Legendary coach Bill Parcells made the statement “You are what your record says you are.” His point was, maybe you think you should have won a few more games and you think your team could have been better if a few bounces of the ball went one way or another. But at the end of the day, you are defined by your record.
Which leads me to this post by the Irish Calvinist. I think it is summed up best in the following sentence.
At the end of the day our true theology is how we live.
Let that soak in for a minute. He goes on to explain:
It is the picture of arrogance and hypocrisy to think that biblical Christianity is true and that you have got everything all figured out; we all have our blind spots and issues. We all need to grow. We need to reform. None on earth are glorified.
Therefore, we study and learn so that we might know, love and serve God better–not to just be affirmed, get a fat head, or intoxicate ourselves with self-righteousness.
There are also dozens of examples he gives. Here are a few that pop out:
We confess that God is loving and good but yet complain and bemoan circumstances.
We confess that God answers prayer but yet there is dust in our prayer closets.
I’m a firm believer in salvation through faith alone (not by works). With that said, I’m also a firm believer that you display your walk with God by how you live your life.
As a matter of self inventory, I really need to work on praying more. It is sheer laziness and neglect and there is absolutely no downside to prayer and all the upside in the universe.
Also, I think I do a good job of being non-judgmental towards other people but I often lack the follow through to reach out and love those same people. Is that my theology? My record says it is. I’m a lukewarm lover of my neighbor. I give them a polite nod and welcoming smile and some shallow conversation and move on with my narcissistic life. Lord give me more zeal to reach out to my fellow man.
I’d encourage you to follow the link and read through some of the examples yourself. Take some time to do some inventory of your own. What is your theology? What would you like it to be?
Pslam 60:1
You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry–now restore us!
God will never reject or turn his back on an individual that has put their faith in him. However, God has demonstrated that he can and will turn his back on a nation or group of people that have fallen away. The pattern in Judges is pretty clear: Israel sins, God gets angry, God sends prophet, Israel repents, Israel forgets, Israel sins again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
So the question that pops into my head (that I honestly don’t have a clear answer to) is this: Has God turned his back on America? Some preachers have pointed to everything from Hurricane Katrina, to the economic downturn, to the H1N1 virus as signs that God has become fed up with America and is handing us over to our sins.
I personally don’t think you can point to one thing and say for sure that God is using it to punish or forsake us. In the early 90’s there was a notion that God was using Aids to punish the homosexual community. A theory which I reject. We are not God, we cannot know what his motives or his ways are.
For the most part, I believe that hurricanes happen, economic markets go up and down, and strains of virus or disease cycle in and out of the greater population. These things have been happening for ages upon ages. Can God use them to carry out his will? Absolutely. Can we interpret these things properly without divine intervention? I don’t think so.
I’ve heard one pastor say that there is no mention of America in the Bible. No prophesy of a great power from the west. Nothing. Does that mean that the US will fall into a second rate afterthought by the end times? Maybe. But not necessarily. Again, consider the pattern in the Old Testament, this time in 2 Kings. God focuses on the way a King was or wasn’t faithful to the Lord. He skims over things our historians would write long books about. Take Jeroboam for example.
“As for the other events of Jeroboam’s reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Yaudi, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?” 2 Kings 14:28
Perhaps America isn’t mentioned in the Bible because for all our wealth and power and military might, we cannot earn God’s favor or salvation without humbling ourselves (individually) before the Lord. God cares about our heart, not our might.
This country was founded upon principles pulled directly out of the Bible. Have we fallen so far out of God’s favor that he has turned his back on us or does he have a plan for us that we are unable to comprehend because we are mere mortals and he is God? Or is it a little bit of both? I don’t know.
Thoughts and feedback are welcome.
I just recently watched a movie called The Soloist staring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. It was a pretty good film with a good message and some good acting. But what I enjoyed the most, and what triggered this post, was the way the movie captured a writer going through the creative process of writing.
Basically I’m a sucker for movies about writers. In the same way that an action flick makes me want to go out and save the world, a writing movie stirs me up inside and makes me want to write.
Here are some more of my favorite movies about writers or writing.
- Finding Forester: A writer who plays basketball, perfect! ”Punch the keys!” says Sean Connery.
- Shakespeare In Love: I’m a big fan of the Bard and the clever way they wove the Romeo & Juliet story into the film was great fun.
- Almost Famous: The scenes with Lester Bangs are just classic. ”The only true currency in this bankrupt world… is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”
Also, though these aren’t specifically about writing, I have to mention “A River Runs Through It” and “Dead Poets Society.” Both brilliantly done.
Are there any that I’m missing? Any suggestions?
I took a short break over the holidays but I will be back to posting very shortly. I might even change things up a little bit to offer some different posts (without leaving the Proverbs/Pslams theme behind).
In the meantime, please feel free to give me any feedback you like in the comments section. I’m not used to preaching from a pulpit. I’d much rather make this a conversation since I know I don’t have all the answers all the time. Thanks.
Pslam 59:1
Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me.
Yes Lord, deliver me from my enemies, …and as soon as I figure out who they are, I’ll elaborate more.
I don’t mean to be too flippant about this, but I think it shows just how sheltered and pampered a life I lead. I live in suburbia, I have a steady job, lovely wife and child, and I can’t think of the last time I felt attacked by someone on any level. Oh sure, there’s the occasional internet troll or perhaps someone cuts me off in traffic, but such things are forgotten faster than they occur and don’t really register on my scale.
I think the things I struggle with much more are the same two things that the Church as a whole is struggling with. Those two things are, as my friend put it recently, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Meaning ignorance and apathy. Ignorance, meaning I don’t know enough and I don’t work hard enough at studying the word to know more. Still, I wouldn’t consider myself my enemy, …well not usually.
So I suppose that leaves Satan. Now I’m not a big believer in blaming all of one’s woes on the devil. I think we all have a sinful nature that does a good enough job of tripping us up without devilish intervention. On the other hand, I cannot discount the fact that there’s a fallen angel out there who’s soul purpose is to fight against the Lord’s creation. In theory, he could be working to increase and promote ignorance and apathy in my life and in the Church as a whole. In fact, I wouldn’t bet against it.
So Lord, give me a watchful eye and protection against the devil. Help me be zealous and motivated to be more like Christ every day.
Pslam 57:8
Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
Everyone needs a pep talk now and then. I think it applies to one’s Spiritual life as well.
I woke up this morning just draaaaaging. I would have paid money to sleep another half an hour. I slept-walked to the shower and I barely remember shaving (the other day I missed the part under my left sideburn entirely – it was a good look). Sometimes my Spiritual life feels a little like this morning did. Foggy, hazy, going through the motions.
Sometimes you need a verse like this to wake you up. It reminds me of another favorite verse of mind – Ish 60:1 “Arise. Shine. For the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” That is a command. The Lord commands you to shine. You don’t have a choice in the matter, you can’t screw it up, you don’t even have the opportunity to fail. You will shine because the Lord said so (and he’s doing the heavy lifting anyway).
So re-read the verse and pray it. Say it out loud. Don’t let your soul be silent. Shake the cobwebs off your zeal. Sing, shout, dance, do whatever you can to worship the Lord. And keep doing it till you wake up the dawn!
Pslam 56:4
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
Reading the rest of the Psalm, you can tell that this man is being persecuted. He talks about being pursued and attacked. People are twisting his words and plotting against him. I think there have been times when each of us has at least felt like that.
Too often we respond by lashing out or shutting down. Either one is a failed attempt to regain control over a situation you never truly had control over in the first place.
Take gossip for example. How can you stop people from talking about you? You could be the most upstanding person imaginable and people will still find ways to spread some juicy rumor about you that drags your name in the mud. There’s no easy solution there. If you stand up for yourself, you risk looking combative. If you say nothing, you risk looking guilty. The best you can do is to live as consistently as you can, be humble, and look to the Lord for strength and guidance. In time, the rumor mill will move on to something else and your embarrassment will pass.
If you look at it from an eternal perspective (and I urge you to do so), what is truly important is how you deal with the situation you are in, not what they are saying about you or doing to you. The answer, as always, comes from the Lord. Does God, who knows all and sees all, judge you based on lies that are made up by biter, jealous, or malicious people? Of course not. Isn’t the Lord’s opinion the one that really matters?
Let me put it this way, if you were standing in a room with Jesus and any mortal person, who would you be more interested in pleasing? If you are a believer, the Holy Spirit (who is God and Jesus as well) lives in your heart and is with you everywhere you go. So in truth, you are always standing in a room with Jesus. So act in ways that please him (both in private and around other people).
I’m no expert on this (I’ve had a relatively easy life), but I believe that mortal man can make your life very difficult and very hard, but he can’t make it miserable unless you let him. Some of the most oppressed people in the worst positions can find joy in life in those situations. Some of the richest people in the world are extremely miserable.
So how can you find contentment? Setting your eyes on Christ and seeking to please him instead of yourself or the people around you seems like a good place to start.
Pslam 55:22-23
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.
I specifically wanted to quote the first part without leaving out the second part. God does care for the righteous – this is an easy message to tell. But he also stands up against the wicked. We should never forget that part. God is both loving and vengeful and he manages the balance between the two perfectly.
Still, the difficult questions beg to be asked.
What about good (righteous) people that suffer (fall)?
What about wicked people that prosper?
Do these things nullify God’s word?
Not at all. The truth is that the questions need to be asked from God’s perspective.
Has there ever been a person saved by Christ (made righteous) that he has let fall away? No. He saves forever. That doesn’t mean the righteous will not suffer trials, difficulties, or even persecution. In fact, elsewhere in the Bible these things are promised to believers. But ultimately we are never outside of the Lord’s grasp. He never gives us more than we can handle and he carries us through the hardest of times.
Has there ever been a wicked man that earned salvation on his own? Nope. If they somehow escape punishment on Earth, you can bet they’ll get their full sentence in the afterlife. In addition, we can’t see the ways in which the wickedness is tearing them down from the inside out. Sin always has consequences and the wicked are given over to their sin in such a way that they suffer because of it (regardless of how they show it).
So in short, the righteous will never fall and the wicked will be brought down. As it should be.
Pslam 53:2-3
God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Every story has a beginning. This is where the story of salvation begins, with a need.
Some people think they have everything figured out. Some think that they will figure it out eventually. Some think that they are “good enough” to be pleasing to God.
The Lord says that none seek him. None that truly understand what it takes to be considered holy and pleasing to God. Sure, some try. Some make it their life’s ambition to be “good.” But God demands perfection. Not because he’s unloving. Just the opposite.
Heaven is designed to be a place with no sin. No baggage. No bad habits. No shades of grey or hedging of bets. It is all good and perfect love. No mortal man is worthy of that. We don’t even know how to achieve that level of perfection. It is beyond our comprehension.
Understanding the futility of earning one’s own salvation is the first step to achieving that salvation through grace because you have to admit that you need help. Pride is striped away (sometimes painfully) and humility is born.
It is kind of a “darkest before the dawn” situation in that we must be humbled before we can be glorified (in Christ). Thankfully where we fall short, the Lord is abundant. So if you are feeling down or humbled or broken, do not despair. It might be God preparing you for glory. It could be the beginning of a wonderful story all your own.
Pslam 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
We were given a broken heart from birth. Our sinful nature always tainted it. But the Lord purifies it and creates for us a pure heart. Seems pretty straightforward. But even though the work is done from Christ’s perspective, we still have work to do. We have to sanctify ourselves by becoming more like Christ.
For that we need a “steadfast spirit” that seeks to maintain purity and seek out holiness. Nobody is perfect, which is why we ask to the Lord to “renew” that spirit in us. Sometimes when you feel distant from God or just in a dry place in your Faith, it helps to say that to God and ask for him to renew your spirit.
