Honest Living

Years ago I heard a story told by a man who had a job that required him to frequently work with politicians. He told me of one particular politician who had been in office for multiple terms and was very well respected by the folks back in his home district. Each election year he would win his district fairly easily thanks to his good reputation. His reputation came out of the fact that he was not only good at his job but he had also managed to position himself as being the type of person people would want to have representing them. He was thought of as being a faithful husband, a loving parent, basically a moral church going humble guy. While he was all of those things, most of the time, there were times when he would lay aside his morals, his faith, and other convictions that seemed central to his public persona. This was in a different time when the lives of public people was not so public so his indiscretions went unnoticed by most. The reason that I was told this story, however, had less to do with this politician than it did with his secretary. His secretary was a woman who had worked with him for many years and felt no need to gain or keep his approval. She was a faithful employee, and probably even considered herself a friend, but she had no intentions of crossing her own boundaries. The man telling me the story shared a time when he had to go speak with this secretary in order to do a story on her boss, the politician. He was needing some basic resume type stuff and she quickly pulled out a standard press release. She handed him the paper but before letting completely go of it she pulled it out and said she needed to do something first. Then, she took out a magic marker and began to cross through the references to church and other faith type of organizations that the politician claimed to be a member of or active in. “He has not been active in his church for awhile,” she explained as she handed the altered resume back, “nor has he been to a Bible study in I don’t know how long.” It was obvious that it was important to her that she not be a part of conveying something that was not true, even if that untruth was about her boss.

We live in a day when people try to portray themselves as something that often they are not. When the truth comes out those very people are very quick to dismiss this conflict between their “image” and the reality of their “life”. We see this with politicians, celebrities, and sadly even with ministers. While politicians and celebrities as well as the cause or organization they are associated with, those connected with the faith community seem to be given far less grace. Churches that have a minister who has acted in an immoral and unBiblical way often find that even without that minister they have a difficult time getting past the actions of this person. Hypocritical sin can have a far more devastating impact on the faith organization than on the actual sinful person.

In Numbers 8 we see God begin to put the work in the Tabernacle in action. The place and the people have been prepared but now we see that it is time to get to work. The lamp stands are to be lit and the light is to begin being revealed. God is very specific about the light but just as specific about those who handle the light, they are to be lights themselves. The Tabernacle is to be above reproach in every way.

God calls us to the same things today. We are the Tabernacle and Christ’s light is to shine in and through us. How is the light shining in and from you.

Today’s ReThink Reading: Numbers 8

Programming/DeProgramming

I knew a lady that was a fourth grade school teacher. She had a set of twins who were adorable except for every other Monday. It took her awhile to figure out why it was that every other Monday these, otherwise adorable, boys would be unbearable. She finally was able to gently ask the mother what could be the reason for this. The mother was completely unconcerned about being gentle in her response. “It is their dad’s fault,” she answered. The teacher soon learned that every other weekend the boys would stay with their father who had a lifestyle drastically different than what they experienced when they were with their mother. While the mother had boundaries, the boys were in church on Sunday, and respectful behavior was the norm. At dad’s house pretty much anything and everything was fair game. There were no boundaries, no church, and the attitude of the dad was anything but respectful. The boys would come home every other Sunday night having picked up all the habits and attitudes that they had encountered at the dad’s house over the weekend. The mother would then spend the next week attempting to deprogram the boys.

The people we are around and the environments we are living in have a huge impact on us. These influences have the ability to change our beliefs, our personality, our habits, our respect, our relationships, everything……if we are not careful. The Israelites were going through a time of deprogramming. They had been in Egypt for a long time and had picked up many bad habits and wrong beliefs. They had been living with a people who did not know the true God and therefore had unwittingly adopted many of the faith beliefs and customs of these people. They had to be taught what was truth and what was false. God now has them on a journey to realize what is truth and what are the falsehoods of the world. While God is teaching them truth, He is also teaching them how to avoid falling into this same trap again. God is teaching them how to realize what is going to corrupt them, what is “unclean”. They were headed into a new land where they would again encounter people and nations that lived and believed differently than they.

What unclean environment are you living in and being impacted by? How can you prepare yourself to face this challenge?

Today’s ReThink Reading: Numbers 7

Hiding Out

Ruth Eisemann Schier was the first woman to appear on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Schier was added to the list in 1968, for participating in the kidnapping-for-ransom of land heiress Barbara Jane Mackle in a plan concocted by her boyfriend, Gary Steven Krist. Krist was arrested two days later while Schier, who had separated from Krist after a botched initial attempt to collect the ransom, escaped and was apprehended in Norman, Oklahoma 79 days after the kidnapping. She pled guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison. (Wikipedia)

I can remember when this event took place. My family drove by the campus third floor apartment where Ms. Schier had lived thinking she was safe from being found (the apartment house was soon bulldozed and made into a parking lot). Our prisons are full of people who think they have gotten away with something but soon find that they have been discovered.

Our sin does not go unseen or undiscovered as well. In today’s reading we see God addressing those sins that are not seen or discovered by others. Sin is sin regardless of if it is seen by anyone else or not.

Today’s ReThink Reading: Numbers 5-6

Knowing God

One Saturday night my junior year in college a group of friends and I had decided to go bowling. Julie, who was a part of the bowling destined group offered to drive. We all piled into her car and headed to the bowling alley that was north of town. Near the bowling alley there is a series of hills and as we were about to reach the bottom of one of the hills a police car came speeding by with its lights but no siren on. Not far behind this police car was another car, this one, however, did not speed by, it stopped us. We knew we were not speeding because Julie was the dictionary definition of law abiding citizen so the stop was very confusing. We soon learned that Julie was being cited for not pulling over for the first police car. She put up a very good and respectful argument explaining that she had not pulled over because she was unaware of the police car since he did not have his siren on and she was on the wrong side of the hill to see his flashing lights. Although the argument convinced all of us in the car it did not have any sway with the policeman. She, of course, chose to fight it and a couple of weeks later I went to the Stillwater traffic court to show my support for Julie and her unjust persecution. She had done her homework and presented the case in a way that I could tell impressed not only the judge but the city attorney and police officer that had originally cited her. As impressive as it was it still did not get her out of the ticket. The judge commended her on her character and commitment but still told her that she was responsible to obey the law regardless of her ability to see the approaching police car. His basic comment was that it was her responsibility to be watching and ready for a moment such as had taken place. She very politely said thank you, paid her fine, and the two of us left the courthouse having learned many lessons.

God had an expectation on the Israelites; He expected them to not sin. This applied even if they were not aware that something was a sin or that they were doing that which was a sin. This probably sounds unfair but the basic truth is that God expects us to get to know Him. Remember one of the three reasons God created mankind in the first place?.....To Relate to God. Although we come to God based on the sacrifice of Christ, God still desires that we would get to know Him. How well do you know Him?

Today’s ReThink Reading: Numbers 4

A Plan

Andrea sat one night at a dinner seated next to a gentleman who is the founder and director of a highly respected youth ministry accredited training program. She looked forward to learning more about his program as a discussion began over the meal. She was soon very thankful that she was sitting next to him and not across so that he was less likely to see the look of horror on her face. When he was asked what type of curriculum they used in the training his response was that they do not use any type of curriculum but they just use life. While this sounded very interesting at first she soon realized that this was a program that did not look at adolescent mental, physical, or even emotional development; it was not even an effort to train in ministry programming or vision casting. It soon became apparent that this was a program that did little training but attempted to hide behind religious mystical talk. Later in the discussion he also explained that he never locked the doors to his home because he and his wife felt that if they had anything someone else needed that they should have it. Andrea, being an extreme realist, sat in shock imaging the dangers that he exposed his children to.

God gave us brains and the ability to allow our brains to work in conjunction with the Holy Spirit to look realistically at the world we live in. We have the ability to plan how we interact with other believers and the ability to do the same as we encounter a non believing world. We see this as God gives the people instruction on how to set up their camps and living situation in or reading today. God led Moses to do careful counting and calculating of the people and to strategically place them in places and positions that best suited the whole. God led and the people followed. Sometimes such following takes more work but when led by God it is worth it. What is your planning?

Today’s ReThink Reading: Numbers 1-3

Thanks

Shortly after I had finished seminary I had the honor of baptizing an older lady who had only recently come to know Jesus Christ. She had begun attending our church only months earlier just for something to do and had ended up discovering Christ in a way that impacted her eternity. Because of her health I can remember us discussing if it was wise for her to be baptized but she had been very determined to show the world her newfound relationship with Christ. It was a very special time for her and I can still remember her excitement. A couple of weeks later I found an envelope in my office mailbox. Inside the envelope was a very sweet note thanking me for baptizing her and a fifty dollar bill. The following Sunday I found her and thanked her for the note and attempted to explain to her that the money was unnecessary and that it was my privilege to baptize her. She would not hear of taking the money back and insisted I keep it. Later I consulted with another pastor on our staff about what to do and he explained to me that this was her way of expressing her thanks and her joy in her newfound salvation. He explained that it was actually something that she needed to do to be able to express what was going on in her heart.

This is basically the idea behind the concept of the “votive” offering. It is an offering that does not fit into any specific category but is necessary to express thanks. In some traditions the votive offering is the lighting of a candle which is where “votive” candles get their name. I have known of people who have given special financial offerings for a specific ministry they are thankful for. It is an offering that does not fall into their regular offering but for some reason they feel a need to give. It is an offering that is from the heart; an offering that means a great deal to the giver but may be tougher for the world to place a value on it.

Leviticus 27 addresses the idea of “special thanks” or votive offerings. The passage instructs the priests in how to handle the offering but also addresses the giver. The offering, even if it is given as extra, is still an offering of respect to God. Sometimes people who give votive type offerings do so more for the recognition of others than for the opportunity to recognize God. What do you have to give a votive offering for?

Today’s ReThink Reading: Leviticus 27

Remembrance

My neighbor treats her lawn like as a treasure. Twice every year, at exactly the right time, she overseeds the fescue grass. During the warm months she has the watering down to an exact science. She has a young man up the street mow her lawn each week and midway to the next mowing day she remows. If she is going to be gone she makes a deal with Caleb to water to her exact specifications. She reads her lawn like a book and can tell when and where fertilizer or any other helps are needed. She can remember what she has already done to her lawn, what has worked, and what has hurt the growth of her grass. She has taken the time to nurture her lawn by remembering and respecting every aspect. Her lawn is beautiful and my family is quick to point this fact out to me every time we look at our lawn.

The trick is that she has taken the time and made the investment. It is much the same with personal relationships. We have to respect and remember. We celebrate the milestones, we nurture the growth, and we pay attention to the needs. We don’t do that which will harm or hurt the relationship and we take care to be sensitive to the factors that need special attention.

God points out to His followers that this same truth is in play in our relationship with Him. We have to remember what He has done, we must respect Him and be sensitive to those things that act as barriers in our relationship with Him, and we have to pay attention to those things that can destroy our relationship. In Leviticus 26:9 God points out that it is this very truth that keeps His promise alive and working in our lives (not that it keeps it alive but that it keeps it alive in our life). What attention are you giving your relationship with God?

Today’s ReThink Reading: Leviticus 23-26