Truth, Integrity & Jesus

Mickey Anders tells a story about a salesman who finally got his chance to make the Really Big Sale. He was going into the final interview on the biggest contract he had ever written.  As he was ushered into the office of the executive buyer, an assistant brought her coffee and left. The atmosphere was cordial, and he knew he was giving his best presentation ever.   

Then the assistant tapped on the door, re-entered the office and spoke briefly with the executive.  She stood and said, "I apologize, but I have to tend to a matter.  I'll just be a minute or two." And she followed her assistant out of the room.

The sales representative looked around the beautifully appointed office.  He saw her family pictures on her desk.  Then he noticed a contract on her desk.  She had evidently been studying a bid from a competitor. Leaning forward, he could see the column of figures, but it was obscured by a diet soda can.

He was tempted to move the can and see the bottom line of his competitor's bid.  What harm possibly could there be in reading her private information?  After all, she had left it out in plain sight, almost.  After wrestling with himself a while, he finally decided to take a peek.

As he lifted the soda can, he discovered that the can wasn't filled with soda at all.  Instead it was a bottomless can filled with 1,000 BBs which gushed out, and ran all over the desk and cascaded onto the carpet.  His attempt to short-cut the competition was exposed.

As a culture, we have a problem with the truth!  Beyond that, we really have an integrity problem!  In fact, in many ways it’s so bad that we actually come to expect it. 

Politicians spin the truth.  Salesmen wheel and deal to get you to look the other way from the truth.  Family members and friends massage the truth to their advantage. 

You get the point.     

And we are all guilty to one degree or another.

But it shouldn’t be that way for Christians and it doesn’t have to be!

Jesus addressed this very subject in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:33-37.  He knew that many in His day, like many people in our own, tried to back up their truth claims by “swearing.”  We swear on Bibles.  They made vows in God’s name.  It was the same concept. 

But Jesus had a different standard. 

The standard for His followers was absolute integrity and honesty!  They wouldn’t need to “swear” by anything because their word could be trusted.  Their integrity would be unimpeachable.

What would this really look like in our world?  Here are a few suggestions:

• We would be people of our word.  We wouldn’t lie and we wouldn’t even deceive by omitting the truth.
• We would be people you can count on to keep our commitments.
• We would be people who confess quickly when we are wrong and repent with sincerity.
• And we would be people who commit to speaking and acting in the Jesus way in the small things as well as the BIG.

And one thing is for sure . . . we will never have to worry about experiencing a BB moment like that salesman did!

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

Imagine being in the 6^th grade with all of the adjustments and problems of growing up and at the same time having to deal with the fact that your Mom abandoned you and your Dad and you just found out you are probably going to have to have major surgery soon . . .

That is the story of one of Abby’s (our oldest daughter) friends from school.  I remember dealing with name calling and all the other harassment that happens to kids at that age, but I didn’t have to go through anything that significant!  Imagine all the questions you would ask yourself.  Imagine all the emotions from sadness to anger and everything in between that you would go through. 

As a Dad and a Father I cannot even begin to think of all the questions and emotions I would be going through if I were in the same position.  The weight is unbelievable!

As far as we know they are not Christians and are not connected to a church in any meaningful way.  This means they have no connection to the eternal kind of hope that we have as Christians.  It also means that they have no spiritual family to hold their hands and walk with them through this most difficult time.

Sadly, the likelihood that they will just get up one morning and decide to go to a church on their own is next to zero.  It’s not because they are against the church or angry with God.  It’s just that they would never think that the church has any real help to offer them.  Their attitude towards the church would be the same as their attitude about the Lion’s Club.  They just don’t see any helpful connection to where they are living.

As followers of Jesus we know that isn’t so, but what are we to do?  I am sure all of us know situations like this with people we work with, go to school with, live nearby, etc.  It’s everywhere.  What are we to do?

Jesus said we are to be “salt” to a world that is tasteless and “light” to a world that is dark (Matthew 5:13-16).  Paul said this to the Colossian church, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5). 

Abby is making every opportunity to try to be a witness for Christ with her friend, but there is a rare opportunity coming up that she hopes to take advantage of:

The Power Team will be visiting our church Tuesday May 20^th at 6:30.  It’s going to be quite a show as men do all kinds of feats of strength to entertain the crowd, but also to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This will be an opportunity that will plant and water lots of seeds amongst people who would never otherwise come to a church. 

We hope to make the most of this opportunity and challenge you to do the same!  Abby’s friend and her Dad are just one of those families we are inviting.  How about you?

Don’t say anyone’s NO for them.  Invite early and invite often and let’s see what God will do!

Should we be pragmatic or biblical? Can we be both?

I don’t know about you, but I often run into situations that demand a clear, simple answer to very murky, complex questions.  Sometimes the Bible doesn’t directly address a situation.  What am I to do then?  Other times the Bible is very clear, but it is unclear how to apply it to a specific situation.  Now what?  Still other times I feel a pressure to act on something or to take a stand about an issue, but I am simply not sure what steps to take. 

How can I move forward in a way that pleases God?  Can I be pragmatic and biblical at the same time? 

Don’t know what I am talking about?  How about issues like: abortion, ethics in business, divorce, civil disobedience to the government, jobs Christians can take or not, relationships Christians can be involved in or not, how to act in a way that honors Jesus in an environment filled with sinful actions outside of your control, etc.

John Wesley came up with a way to address these kinds of issues and his method has been dubbed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.  Here is how it works.  Wesley understood that whenever we face tough questions we must filter our decision-making properly or we will likely make a mistake and go in the wrong direction.  For him that filter comprised four “authorities.”  Each one of them are important, but they don’t carry the same weight.  Here they were:

1.       Scripture.  This is the obvious foundational authority for our faith and practice as Christians.  We want the whole Bible to speak into our lives and inform the way we think, speak and live.  When the course of our lives comes up against the teachings of the Bible, the Bible must speak to us and change us, not the other way around.  Everything must submit to this authority.  It is the central cog of the wheel for us.

2.       Tradition.  We don’t know everything and even though we may enjoy advances far greater than earlier generations, we are not the pinnacle of wisdom and knowledge.  Previous generations of Christians need to speak into our present context.  How the Church has lived with the Bible, spoken into the culture, practiced its faith, taken stands for justice and holiness, etc. throughout history matters a great deal.  While God continues to work and speak in fresh ways, we must be informed by our spiritual mothers and fathers from the past and how God worked through them as well.  In other words, we don’t act in isolation from the rest of God’s people.

3.       Reason.  It is true that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight” (1Cor. 3:19).  It is also true that, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1:25).  Our perspective is simply limited.  As Paul said, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).  Our reason and our ability to reason will be limited on this side of Heaven.  However, God has given us minds to use and we must use them.  We must reason through problems and questions with the best wisdom and discernment available to us.  In the end, though limited, reason is our friend and, when collectively embraced by God’s people, a very strong ally. 

4.       Experience.  We cannot forget what we live through in our day to day walk with God.  We each have a unique and dynamic experience with God that informs us.  Our journey with Him is real and it is directive for us and for those we have influence over.  The text is alive and speaks to us.  The traditions of the Church are alive and inform our individual walks.  The wisdom of God’s people is alive and broadens our worldview.  Quite simply, what we experience shapes us, either strengthening our resolve, breaking our spirit or steering our lives. 

These “authorities” are real.  They must be brought to bear in every question that we must answer as Christians.  They must be used to filter through all the possible options in order to come to the most God-honoring solution to our problems.  In short, I think when we do utilize them properly we can find the best answers and the clearest direction possible.  Will we always be absolutely sure?  Probably not.  That is why we must live and speak with humility.   However, we will have a much greater clarity and confidence as we move forward.

What do you think about these filters?