September 1, 2002
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
2 Samuel 12.7a (KJV)
Andre’ Agassi is a world-class tennis pro. He is less than a world-class role model for Christians. In a television ad that was popular a dozen years ago, he wore extravagant clothes; he strutted and grunted to a rap song background, and finally peered into the camera lens over the top of his $800 sunglasses and announced, "Image is everything."
This young man has claimed to be a believer; he may have conquered the tennis world, but he has light years to go to understand the basics of Christian witness or living. But that is not unusual in today’s image and status-dominated society.
In such a world have you ever longed for someone to be genuine? Have you ever wished you could have friends that would tell you the truth, folks that would be real? In psychological jargon they call it "wholeness". It is where the things that people say is what they actually do. It is the world in which your parents and grandparents lived where a person’s word was accepted and trusted.
Today there is a desperate need for wholeness in the church, home, and everywhere. The definition of genuineness, or wholeness centers (in part) around the matching-up of values and actions. The following chart describes the different levels upon which human beings operate:
PERSONALITY (I show)
EXPRESSION (I do)
ATTITUDE (I feel)
BELIEF (I know)
VALUE (I am)
The chart represents different component parts of how a human being relates to the rest of his world.
On the most basic level is value (What I really AM). We are beings who have a basic interest in sex, power, and health, because those are basic to survival.
The belief level is our system of thought about those values that we have developed over the years. In the Judeo-Christian ethic, we value sex as good, but our belief restricts, and narrows that to say that sex is good for those who are married to each other. These two basic levels occur entirely within.
Then there is the attitudinal level. This is affected by outside stimulus. It is what we feel (perception) about what others do. We value sex...We believe sex is for married couples only...We observe a society that is sexually promiscuous, and our feeling level develops an attitude.
The expression level is what we actually DO about what we value, believe, and perceive. These are our actions.
And finally...the heart of the problem....the personality level is the extent to which we actually allow others to observe what we do.
Follow it all the way through. I have, let’s say, a basic value for power, or control. I believe, deep down in my "knowing" level, that control, or power must be exercised over a church committee, or they will do God some irreparable harm. I see Brother Charlie starting to voice an opinion in the committee meeting that conflicts with my exercise of control over the committee. On the feeling level, my attitude says, "Oh shut-up, Charlie, I have better ideas than you ever dreamed of; besides, I’m in control, don’t you see that?" So far, those words are only feelings, deep down. But this is a church committee, and I’m not allowed to speak like that, so it comes out, "Brother, we’ll take that under advisement....next order of business, please." What I have done (expression level) is shut Charlie up!! What I have displayed (show level) is a personality of condescension, without coming right out and reveal my REAL agenda, controlling others.
Now, if the chart is like a pile of bricks, with level laid upon level; then what I have just described is a bunch of levels that have shifted. My basic values and beliefs are not in line with what I do and show. What is bound to happen with a building built like this? It would seem that it is destined to fall. But, like a true "architect of pride", none of us allows that to happen. We stick a prop out there to shore-up the leaning tower.
In the example I just gave about the committee meeting, Charlie feels like he’s been side-tracked (which he has), and he pipes up, "Hey, I had a good idea here, let’s discuss it. You can’t just shut me up, fella." What has happened? Charlie has dug thru my personality level, and gotten right down where I live -- And now I’m not only losing control, my real agenda has been unmasked, and I’m in danger of having my extreme value for controlling others exposed.
Bells go off..Whistles sound...(inside my neatly concealed inferiority detection avoiding device - pride protector), and immediately a prop is sent to aid in the battle..."Oh, Charlie, dear friend, I certainly wasn’t trying to bypass you. By all means, we want you to share your ideas. Suppose you bring that up at the next meeting. My expression of false respect for Brother Charlie is only a façade, covering-up my attitude of disrespectful controlling of someone who threatens me. It’s a prop on my teetering building!
With this understanding as a background, let’s look at a man who allowed his actions to venture far away from his values. David is a man who built prop after prop to avoid getting detected; he is a man who became a target for God’s Prop-knocker...
David built his wall of props
1And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 11.1
At a time when David should have been in the fields leading the troops in battle, he became lazy and stayed back at the palace. This was the first departure from the values and beliefs that David held. He was a leader, and knew he should be encouraging the men in battle instead of hanging-out at the banquet circuit.
And we note that when he departed from his values and beliefs it isn’t long till the emotions (the "feeling" level) took over.
2And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
2 Samuel 11:1 - 4 (KJV)
David lost touch with reality, and his emotions carried him away. David had a real problem. It didn’t take long to surface that Bathsheba was pregnant. And so it was time to build some props to cover the consequences. In v.6-9 the prop is chosen.
6And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 8And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
2 Samuel 11:6 - 9 (KJV)
David decides he will preserve this image of the king, prop-up his reputation. And so he sends for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and encourages him to spend time with his wife while on furlough. The plan is that if Uriah spends time at home no one could blame the pregnancy on David.
Good plan! But the problem was that Uriah wouldn’t buy it, saying that his men were enduring hardships at the war, and he wouldn’t take it easy while they couldn’t. Even a full head of wine (v.13) couldn’t make Uriah sway from his resolve. Someone has said that Uriah was a better man drunk, than David was sober.
David was franticly attempting to cover his sinful tracks. And so he goes for the cement and brick props. He writes a letter to Joab, his general at the front, and sends it with Uriah. The letter instructs Joab to place Uriah at the front of the worst part of the battle, and when the enemy surrounds, to withdraw support from Uriah. Joab complies, and Uriah is killed. And thus, the shepherd boy who became king, the man after God’s own heart, becomes an adulterer, a liar, and a murderer; prop upon prop!
Nathan - God’s Prop-knocker
In chapter 12 we find that God sent Nathan to David to be the "prop-knocker". Nathan tells the king a story (v.1-4) that parallels David’s behavior.
1And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd,
to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2 Samuel 12:1 - 4 (KJV)
Even though this story parallels David’s own behavior, he is so warped with his props, he misses the point. David gets angry at the rich man who represents himself in the story (ever wonder why some folks get angry over a sermon?)
5And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
2 Samuel 12.5 - 7 (KJV)
Nathan simply says, "You are the man! David, you are the one I’ve been talking about." David had the kingdom, God’s approval, wives, riches, power. He had it all. And Uriah had only his good name, and one wife.
David; and broken props
My, how it hurts to have the props knocked-out from underneath. David had done his sin in the shadows and built his props to cover his sin by the cover of trickery. But God was going to expose it for the entire world to see by the light of day.
12For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 2 Samuel 12.12 (KJV)
It was the worst possible scenario. All David’s previous service to the Lord, his leading Israel to greatness, the battlefield victories - even the times he had patiently waited on God’s timing - all of it was gone in an instant. David’s reputation and usefulness as a king over Israel were just a memory…All that stood was the picture of his sin with Bathsheba, his cover-up in having Uriah killed - the deception, lies and utter depravity. David’s life reached ground zero. He was blown away like the twin towers.
And then we see the most amazing thing rise out of the ashes of David’s life, the broken king confesses.
13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.
2 Samuel 12.13 (KJV)
How very incredible! Imagine the great king David, with his royal guard standing round the throne room. Nathan stands, one man, before such a famous and powerful ruler; and he names the sin. In a spirit of humility unseen in this day, David says "I HAVE SINNED!"
David had the power to kill the prophet. He’d gone to great lengths already to cover his sin. But David makes a return to the Lord...a public confession of his sin, and dependence on God. And the story tells us that David, with his actions now in line with the values of his God, is restored (see Psalm 51).
Our props and revival
Every man, woman and child in this building has built his or her props. The least perfect person in this church family is probably the pastor, and I know the props I’ve held onto have been legion.
But I’ve also had the props knocked out from time to time. And I’ve discovered that when you fall, you fall into the hands of a loving God Who wants to heal you, and help you rebuild the building of your life. We have all been "the man".
What are the props - they are those things we all do to shore up our reputation as a good person, but they’re not real…only cover-up for what’s really going on.
A religious façade - you’ve never been saved, but you try to act good so you can be thought-of as Christian…Deep down you know it’s a prop.
An unkind word or action to cut someone, covered in "Christian concern."
Failing to do right when you know better, then hiding or lying about it.
Choosing the easy way, when you know someone else will pay the cost.
A flirtation at the office.
And so on…
Advice: Deal with these props now.
How, preacher….what do I do?
How to Deal with the Props in our Lives
If we go back to the levels of our inner workings, recall that the first is value, or "I am" level, followed by belief, or "I know". These are so very basic. If you want to deal with props, sometimes you have to go back to the basics of your wall. Go to the foundation.
Know what you believe (your values); Make certain that you are a child of God, a believer in Jesus Christ, who has knelt at the cross as a sinner, asking for forgiveness. That’s the basic core value…you’re not acceptable until you admit to Him that you’re not acceptable.
Once you’ve done that, begin to allow your belief (faith in Christ) to govern your behavior.
This is the matter of discipleship. It is the daily committing of oneself to following Jesus Christ, no matter the circumstances or cost.
My role today is not "prop knocker". God’s man in the pulpit is just an instrument of the REAL Prop-knocker. He has been called many things throughout history, "Moral influence", "Conscience", even "Mother Nature". His real name is Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God searches the hearts and minds and lives of men for those props. If God’s people across the land and around the world were to allow this Seeker of props to speak; if we were as bold as a king to publicly ask for forgiveness for our sins, Oh what revival - Oh what a spirit of renewal would sweep our land. How the face of the Holy One would smile once more on our world. And that renewal can start right here this morning. It can start with me, and with you.
What happens when you deal with the props? David found out when he confessed to God. Psalms 51 records the manifold confession of David, as well as the restoration he experienced in fellowship with God:
Mercy (v.1)
Forgiveness and cleansing from sin (v.1, 2, 7, 9, 10)
Joy and gladness restored (v.8, 12)
Right spirit renewed (v.10)
Close relationship with God (v.11, 12)
Ability to share God with others (v.13)
Ability to worship genuinely (v.15)
All of that and more was David’s, because of his genuine confession - his willingness to be exposed to the mercy of God. A broken and contrite heart, sorry for sin, willing to be forgiven by the act of God’s heart.
Do you want that?
