February 10, 2002
1Now let¡¦s talk about food that has been sacrificed to idols. You think that everyone should agree with your perfect knowledge. While knowledge may make us feel important, it is love that really builds up the church. 2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn¡¦t really know very much. 3But the person who loves God is the one God knows and cares for.
4So now, what about it? Should we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God and no other. 5According to some people, there are many so-called gods and many lords, both in heaven and on earth. 6But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.
7However, not all Christians realize this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8It¡¦s true that we can¡¦t win God¡¦s approval by what we eat. We don¡¦t miss out on anything if we don¡¦t eat it, and we don¡¦t gain anything if we do. 9But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble.
10You see, this is what can happen: Weak Christians who think it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating in the temple of an idol. You know there¡¦s nothing wrong with it, but they will be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been dedicated to the idol. 11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian,„T for whom Christ died, will be destroyed. 12And you are sinning against Christ when you sin against other Christians„T by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong. 13If what I eat is going to make another Christian sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live¡Xfor I don¡¦t want to make another Christian stumble. 1 Corinthians 8.1-13 New Living Translation
Croft Pentz once said, Of all creation, only man can say yes or no to God. This message is all about our freedom and the choices we can make as free persons.
Freedom from ritual and tradition is a wonderful and dangerous blessing. With it, our souls are liberated to experience Christ, and His power is loosed to work through us; we are also tempted to think we have no responsibility to put it to better use than just exhilaration and joy. In this chapter, Paul says that we are free from rituals, but not from our responsibility.
My generation was the 60¡¦s. We were going to change everything. All the rituals of the establishment had to go! The one thing my generation misunderstood ¡V just as today¡¦s anti-establishment groups miss the point ¡V is that, while we hated the establishment¡¦s rituals and were trying to change it all, we had our own rituals developing.
If you don¡¦t believe you¡¦re steeped in ritual, try this exercise: name one aspect of your day (today) that is not part of a ritual you¡¦ve developed.
For instance, which leg did you put in your pants first when you were dressing this morning?
On which side of the bed did you roll out today?
Do you brush first, or floss?
How about those shoe laces¡Kdid you loop over or under¡Kor did you opt for Velcro because you don¡¦t like laces?
And for you teenagers ¡V just the thought that an adult might have something here ¡V are you rolling your eyes up and to the left, or is it up and to the right?
We all have our rituals!
Several years ago there was a campaign to Throw the bums OUT! They wanted to elect everyone new to both houses. Even Thomas Jefferson, our founding father/author of the Declaration of Independence advocated regular revolutions of change. He said we should throw out all bills passed by Congress every 20 years and start over.
All those ideas sound radical; sound uncomfortable? The reason is because our rituals are tied to our routine ¡V those things which make our lives easier, simpler. We do them habitually, and without too much thought.
We don¡¦t like to change our familiar patterns; we get uncomfortable, irritable and resistant. If the routine itself is uncomfortable, it is because someone else is comfortable with it, and we¡¦d rather change it!
Our choices affect more than ourselves. That is why I call our freedom to make individual choices my loaded gun! Whatever I change will affect someone else. Whether it affects them negatively or positively, depends (largely) on which side of the barrel they stand!
Paul pointed to our freedom and responsibility all at once; and he repeated it twice in his letters to the Corinthian church:
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; 1 Corinthians 6.12a, 10.23a
Not all choices are evil or good. Some are good or better. The trick is not to let the good become the enemy of the best. I can, for instance, study my Bible ¡V that is good! I could also put down my Bible and rescue a child from drowning in the lake ¡V that would be best!
When making our choices in life, we must consider others; we must consider God¡¦s will, and the lives of other people. We can do that if we do as a Bishop once said to a friend who was weighing a [life] call: "If you are uncertain of which of the two paths to take, choose the one on which the shadow of the cross falls."
MAKING GOOD OR POOR CHOICES -- THE CASE OF ABRAM
Genesis 13
A man really wanted to help his son understand the importance of making right choices, obeying, and doing right. So, if his son made a bad choice or a wrong decision, he’d give him a nail, send him to a post out in the back yard, and have him take a hammer and put the nail in the post. And every day that he went through the whole day making good decisions, he’d let him go out and remove one of those nails.
As the boy grew up from the age of about eight years until about fourteen or fifteen, there were always 2 or 3 nails in the post, and he’d be nailing them in and pulling them out. But he got better, until finally all the nails were removed as he started to mature. When all the nails were removed, he felt pretty good.
Then his dad took him out and said, I want you to notice something about the post. The boy looked at it for a moment and realized that all the holes where the nails had been placed in the post were still there. His dad said, I want to tell you something, son, about bad choices. You may be completely forgiven; there are no nails left -- no problem there -- but you do have the remaining effects. That post will never be the same again.
That is a well-worn story that illustrates how our choices have lasting consequences. Unfortunately, those who are prone to poor or immoral decision making can see this story in an unhealthy way. The post is viewed as the decision-maker’s life, and the holes as being the ruined quality of that life. This is a natural, but sad, incomplete interpretation.
It is clear that when we make choices, they affect many lives, not just our own. A husband who decides to do drugs pulls his wife, children, parents, co-workers, neighbors and friends into hard circumstances. In short, the holes in the post represent not only our own lives, but the collective existence of all mankind.
A ripple never stops. The ripple concept helps us understand a very confusing Bible verse:
...for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Deuteronomy 5.9b
God doesn’t hate or punish children because of the sins of parents. There are too many indicators in Scripture that we each bear the responsibility of our own misdeeds. The sense here is the ripples. Whatever we do that opposes God will show up in the generations that follow, because we bear after our own kind. Those things you do in opposition to God’s will are a nail hole in the life of your offspring.
Abram (Abraham before his name change) made plenty of mistakes, poor choices, otherwise known as sin. We will look at some of the ripples -- the poor choices of his nephew, Lot. Lot observed Abram in Egypt, and all along the trail. Whatever Abram did was like a nail going in or coming out of the post.
GOD EXPECTS US TO MAKE WISE CHOICES
One side-road, however, we must be careful to never blame God for the ripples. Christians sometimes pray, asking God to give them special insight or change a circumstance when they¡¦ve directly disobeyed God¡¦s will. They fully expect God to do something mystical/magical to fix everything. That, my friends is almost worse than consulting Madame Sadie the Crystal Ball Gazer. God expects us to make wise, mature and Godly choices. You cannot do that if you don¡¦t live in His will, close to His side (see John 15.1-14).
In C.S. Lewis¡¦ Chronicles of Narnia there are many challenges to the peace. Aslan the lion represents Jesus, and he is not always present in Narnia (representing the Kingdom of God on earth). The human leaders of Narnia often have to begin the fight without the physical presence of Aslan; they don¡¦t know what he is doing behind the scenes either. In one such event (in Prince Caspian ¡V book #4), the evil Telmarines have surrounded the smaller army of Narnians, and the outlook is bleak. Peter, the High King of Narnia, tells Prince Caspian his plans to fortify the army and fight against Miraz the Telmarine king.
Some of Narnia¡¦s animals can talk (isn¡¦t fantasy wonderful?), and they express their fear over such a one-sided-looking battle without the presence of Aslan, their ferocious lion-king. Peter tells them to begin preparing despite their fears. ¡§Aslan may come now,¡¨ he says, ¡§or later. He will come when he pleases. In the meanwhile Aslan would have us do what we can do.¡¨
That is the sense of this side road ¡V Jesus would have us do what we can do too! We do not sit, praying God will drop a solution out of the sky. Every command in Scripture urges us to be involved in working for Kingdom results. Certainly we must pray and trust¡Kand act! But, we must act in accordance with mature, courageous faith in Christ, and in the will of God.
Simply stated,
...if we expect God to send solutions to our financial problems, we must act boldly, tithing and giving generously as God has shown us in His Word.
...If we expect God to send solutions to our problems with terrorists, we must act boldly, loving our enemies, praying for those who despitefully use us because of Christ¡¦s name¡Kand fearlessly rooting them out of the caves.
...If we expect God to send solutions to our health problems, we must act boldly, treating our bodies with respect, balancing rest, work and play with healthy attitudes.
...If we expect God to send solutions to social catastrophes like abortion, we must act boldly, proclaiming the Author of life, and being willing to provide alternatives, such as adoption.
Look at some of the results that happen when we act fearfully, and not boldly¡K
THE POOR WITNESS OF BAD RIPPLES
Genesis 13.8-13 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
BAD CHOICES ¡V LOT¡¦S FOOLISHNESS
Lot’s foolishness was based on several realities:
a. He should have deferred first choice to Abram.
b. He chose excitement over excellence. Sodom looked exciting, but God hadn’t ordained that land for the descendants of Abram.
c. He rationalized that the "good life" is an easy life. His own wisdom -- had he consulted God -- would have revealed the evil nature of Sodom.
d. He didn’t ask wise Abram for advice.
He saw Abram’s failure in Egypt, and supposed his uncle could never help him. The results of Lot’s foolish choices are well chronicled in the ensuing chapters. He pitches his tent toward Sodom, then moves into the city (14.12), and finally becomes one of them, and a city leader also (19.1). The downward spiral of bad choices!
ABRAM’S REWARD FOR CHOOSING WELL
Genesis 13:14-18 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
This promise to Abram is generally referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant, and will be fulfilled in the Millennial rule of Christ after His return to the earth. Modern archaeology has done nothing but confirm the existence of all the cities of the Abram story: Shechem, Bethel, Hebron, Haran, Ur, Nahor... Lot chose foolishly -- Abram chose wisely.
The difference is simply stated:
A choice in the flesh is a poor choice.
A good choice is a Godly choice.
Applying the principle
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A GODLY CHOICE,
RETURN TO THE PLACE OF YOUR CALL.
Friend, there is always a way back to God. Abram was saddled with guilt over his Egypt failure. He had just promised God at Bethel he would follow Him. Then he turned right around and sinned big time! It’s hard to mess it up any worse than that.
Abram went back to Bethel -- the place of his call. You can too. Even if you¡¦ve sinned big time; even if you feel as if there’s no use trying ¡V as if God’s done with you, go back to that point where you met God.
He used Abram after he fell.
He used David after he fell.
He used Jonah though he kept falling.
Remember, His mercies are new every morning!
ENRON ¡V GODLY CHOICES IN THE MIDST OF LOT¡¦S DESCENDANTS
The February 2 issue of WORLD magazine reports that Sherron Watkins never aspired to be a hero. And she certainly never imagined that there would be T-shirts reading "Thanks, Sherron Watkins, Our Hero." Watkins was an Enron vice-president who worked for the company’s chief financial officer. It was there that she became aware of the questionable accounting practices that Enron used to hide the extent of its losses and the lie about its bottom line figures.
Watkins was initially afraid to confront senior management about the irregularities. But after talking to a friend and her mother, Watkins drafted a six-page memo to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay. In it she expressed her concern that the company "will implode in a wave of accounting scandals." She went further calling Enron a "crooked company" whose profits were "nothing but an elaborate hoax." She expected to be fired and was surprised when she wasn’t.
Watkins not only had the courage to risk her job, she -- unlike other Enron executives -- refused to use her insider knowledge for personal gain. Despite seeing the company coming apart, Watkins never sold her stock¡K.Watkins’ behavior has made her, in the LONDON GUARDIAN’s words, "the toast of America." But as her Sunday school teacher told WORLD magazine, her Christian friends sometimes wonder what the big deal is. After all, she was only doing what a Christian should do. (*PreachingToday.com)
HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR CHOICES?
Do you examine your rituals often? Your routines largely determine your choices. Jimmy Hoffa is reported to have said, I have a lot of faults, but being wrong isn¡¦t one of ¡¥em. We need to remember that when life is too comfortable, there¡¦s a chance we haven¡¦t been moving forward enough to feel the wind resistance.
And, if you¡¦re making Godly choices, you¡¦ll be feeling the resistance all the time. That¡¦s what happens when God gives you freedom of choice and you choose to pick up a cross daily and follow Him.
