Humbly Performing My Good Deeds Before Men

"I stand before you a humble man...all choked up with humbleness and humility."

~ Barney Fife

Chances are that if you actually are humble, other people have already recognized it and you have not. If you are verbally acknowledging your own humbleness, then it is unlikely that you are truly humble. While it is amusing for a fictional character like Barney Fife to perform such lines, we realize that it isn't actually funny in real life.

The same concept holds true for other aspects of our life as a Christian; John tells us in 1 John 3:18 not to love in word or deed, but in action as well. Generally speaking, we don't walk around spouting our love for our brethren (although there are times when this is both acceptable and genuine), but we show that love through various methods (see context of 1 John 3). If we follow the context of that passage and we do the things that we as Christians are commanded to do for one another, we do not then go ahead and talk about how wonderful and loving we are to have done them. Rather, we have done them because they are the right thing to do. We have done them because we have that love for one another. We do not do them in order to receive the praise of men, nor to make sure that everyone around us knows how much we have done for someone else (Matthew 6:1-4). There is a difference between others knowing that you have done a good deed because it was for them or they happened (note: HAPPENED) to witness it, and ensuring that everyone is publicly informed about your good deeds.

There are many things in this life that we can do that are "good deeds" that lose their goodness if we do them for the wrong reasons. In 1 Corinthians 13:3, Paul says, "...though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." The concept is that he could go through the motions and do the "right thing," but it would do him no good if he did it for the wrong reasons. Do we seek to please God with our actions and to genuinely benefit the person we are helping, or do we seek the praise of men? Perhaps we should ask ourselves this question when we are doing a "good deed": What if NOBODY, including the person we are doing it for, knew that we were the ones helping them?

Would we still do it?

While we should not agree with the doctrine of the man who made wrote the following excerpt, he does make a good point concerning humility.  Prentis McGoldrick writes:

Christian books and Church Conferences are filled with young pastors who are growing churches at alarming rates. Those of us who are more plodders that sprinters flock to these books and conferences. We would all like to grow our churches so that we could be writing books and doing conferences just like these guys.

 Now, here is something that I have noticed: Many of these young guys put a fine wrapper of humility around their pride. They will begin their books or conferences with something like: "I am so humbled to be the youngest pastor of the fastest growing church in America."

 What has he just said? He is letting the audience know that he is the pastor of the fastest growing church in America. You might say, "Well, of course he said that. If he didn't the person who introduced him said it." Does anyone get what is going on? This is pure pride which God has said He is opposed to!

Again, there are other issues with what he has written (a young pastor, for instance...please review the term in the Bible and see if it is possible for someone to be young and a pastor), but he makes an excellent point concerning humility and self-praise.  A self-complement is still a complement, no matter how we disguise it or claim that it isn't.  Those that actually are as busy as some claim to be aren't constantly talking about it and making sure that everyone knows how busy they are (McGoldrick makes this point as well).  Those that are actually doing good deeds for others for the appropriate reasons aren't making sure that the entire world knows about it.  

If we are honest and place ourselves and our own works up against what God has done for us, we have no room for bragging.  We still do those things for our brethren because we care for them and because they are the right things to do, but we don't do it so that we can "humbly brag" about what we have done.  Because it all comes down to this: Christ gave His life for us...have we given as much for Him? 

What Hast Thou Given for Me?

Recently, I was reading Exodus 20:3 while preparing for a sermon and it struck me that I had, perhaps, previously been reading this passage in the wrong manner.  Here, God says through His commandments, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  It seems that many people in the religious world, and even within the church of Christ, subconsciously take this mean that we can have other gods, literal or metaphorical, as long as God is “first.”  Few make this assumption consciously, but for many it seems that this subconscious reading is the application that we make in our lives; meaning, we allow a great many things to be “gods” before the true God, whether it is work, school, entertainment, etc.  However, it struck me as I read that passage the other day that God meant that the Israelites were not to bring any other gods into His presence, not that He had to be “first among the gods.”  Their devotion was to be to the one and only true God, as our devotion is to be.  This devotion is exemplified by many righteous servants throughout Biblical history, a few of which are Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel, and Elijah.  Each of these men (and many others like them) faced idolatry under the most dire of circumstances and yet refused to yield to the followers of these false gods.

In Daniel 3, the people of the Babylonian Empire are given the decree by Nebuchadnezzar that when the instruments play, they are to bow down and worship a golden image set up by the king.  The consequences of disobedience were well known to all, including Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: death.  And yet, their devotion remains strong to the Lord.  Nebuchadnezzar, upon hearing of their disobedience, grants them a second chance and threatens them again with death, but to no avail.  Rather, these servants of God say, “…let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve our gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (3:18).  They fully accept whatever God’s will is in the matter, whether He chose to save them or to allow them to die at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (3:16-18).  Consider what these men have just done: they have defied the ruler of Babylon and blatantly, yet respectfully, informed him that they serve God over men.  Further, Nebuchadnezzar, in his fury, commands that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than it was normally heated.  It was so hot that it killed the guards that were instructed to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire before they could reach the furnace door.  Consider for a moment what this meant for the servants of God; their guards are dead before they are actually thrown into the furnace, therefore they had to continue into the furnace of their own accord.  And yet they do.  Their devotion to God is apparent through their actions and not just their words.  How does our own devotion measure up to the devotion of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

Similarly, we have the example of Daniel himself in Daniel 6.  Out of envy, Daniel’s fellow governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel because he had by the grace of God distinguished himself before King Darius (Daniel 6:1-5).  Their plot was to convince Darius to decree that everyone in the kingdom was to pray to or petition only the king for thirty days, and no other gods and definitely not the true God.  Daniel, knowing as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew, that the consequence for disobedience was death, did not quietly shut himself up in order to pray to God, but continued in his tradition of opening his window and praying to the Lord. Daniel put his whole faith in God and accepted whatever God’s will was in the matter.  Like his friends, Daniel did not know whether God would choose to spare his life at this point or to allow the hands of the wicked to take his earthly life (although it is interesting that in Daniel 6:16 Darius states that Daniel’s God would save him). How does our devotion measure up to the devotion of Daniel?

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defies Ahab and Jezebel, two of the vilest and wicked leaders that Israel ever had.  Here, Elijah stands with God by his side, but with no other men, against the king, queen, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, and yet his faith in God does not waver.  Instead, as the prophets of Baal and Asherah are dancing around and calling upon their gods during the contest, Elijah actually mocks them and their gods by saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27).  Imagine the faith in God that Elijah must have had to not only to mock these 850 men, but to even suggest such a contest to begin with.  Then, Elijah shows even more faith in the power of God by drenching his sacrifice in water before praying to God.  Imagine what would have happened if God had not responded the way He did? If God had chosen NOT to completely consume the sacrifice? And yet, Elijah prays but one time to the true God and God answers; there was no dancing, screaming, and cutting, only a prayer.  The sacrifice, the alter, the water, and even the dust surrounding Elijah’s sacrifice were all consumed in the fire sent by God.  How does our devotion measure up to that of Elijah?

 Today, our devotion often falters under much less strenuous of circumstances.  We are devoted to God until our employer tells us we have to work Sundays, then we say that we have to provide for ourselves rather than remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 6.  Our devotion to God is so strong that we pick and choose whether or not we will attend services and Bible classes.  Our devotion is so strong to God that we disrespect both God and our fellow brethren by not showing up on time or at all.  Our devotion to God is so strong that we constantly need someone to prod us in order to make us work for God.

There is a line in a hymn that many Christians often sing that we ought to consider closely and often.  The song is entitled “I Gave My Life for Thee” (#340 in Hymns for Worship Revised) and the first line is as follows:

                   I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed,

                   That thou might’st ransomed be, 
                   And quickened from the dead;

                   I gave, I gave My life for thee,

                   What hast thou giv’n for Me?

It is this last line that ought to strike us, each and every one of us, hard as Christians.  Christ came and gave His life on earth to teaching and gave His physical life up on the cross for us.  He left Heaven in order that He might do this for us.  What have we given for Him? What are we telling God when we allow this world to be gods before Him? What are we telling God when we choose our jobs or our entertainment over Him? Does that measure up to the examples we have in the Bible? And we must remember that the examples we have in the Bible are not of super-humans, but of men and women just like us (James 5:17-18). 

If we are all honest with ourselves, we each need to ask ourselves about our devotion to God.  Being honest with ourselves is, perhaps, harder than many other things we’ll have to do as servants of God.  And yet, it is necessary.  Considering these examples and asking ourselves whether or not we measure up to that level of devotion is a humbling and difficult question to ask; it can be a painful question to ask.  It does not need to a discouraging question to ask, however.  Consider Hebrews 12:3-11 where we are told that those that the Lord loves, He chastens.  In fact, the Hebrew writer instructs us to look to the horrors faced by Christ in order not to become weary and discouraged, because we have not yet resisted to bloodshed.  While “no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). 

Rather than being discouraged by having to ask ourselves such painful questions, we should endure the chastening of the Lord and allow it to make us stronger, more devout servants of the most High God.  As way of conclusion, ask yourself the following question: Christ gave Himself for me, what have I given for Christ?

Mutually Exclusive Concepts

People often try to make concepts in the Bible "mutually exclusive"; thus, if you have grace, you cannot have works...and if you have works, then you cannot have grace. Nowhere in the Bible is such a concept stated or implied, but rather both are necessary parts of the equation.

However, there are other concepts that Bible clearly states are mutually exclusive...and many people deny that they are.

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5:16-17)

According to the Apostle Paul, righteousness and lawlessness are mutually exclusive.

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin IS lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:4-9)

God and the devil are mutually exclusive.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

We cannot serve two masters.

"...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

Have the same courage that Joshua had...make the decision to practice righteousness and not lawlessness...make that decision every day of your life.

The Wrong...Fire?

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, we are told that the events that we find in the Old Testament are written to us as an example. We are to look at those examples and glean the principles set forth by God for our edification. With that in mind, turn to Leviticus 10:1-7.

While we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority since we now have the revelation of the New Testament, we certainly can use it to establish the need for such authority. Leviticus 10 provides us with one of the clearest examples of the need for proper divine authority. In this example, we have two men that were correct in their authority for most of their duties before the Lord and only did one thing contrary to what God had commanded them. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (the brother of Moses), were the correct men for the job, they had the correct censers for the job, and they had the correct incense for the job. However, they used fire "which He [the Lord] had not commanded them" (10:1) instead of the proper fire obtained from the alter of the Lord (16:12). What we learn from this example is that God does have all authority and that He does have requirements for our service to Him. Also, we have to have everything correct in worship, not just partially correct! In this case, the penalty for their disobedience of God's authority was physical death, whereas our penalty could be spiritual death!

As previously stated, we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority, but it is there for our learning (Romans 15:1-5). Does it make logical sense to look at an example such as this (Or to look at any of the examples used in 1 Corinthians 10 for that matter) and say that God no longer cares what we do in our worship to Him? That He only cares that we worship Him, but not how? We need to be careful to do ONLY what we find authorized and NOT what we think might be good or might improve our worship to Him!

What Does Your Online Profile Say About Your Spirituality?

(Original Posting - July 1, 2013) 

This past Sunday afternoon after our worship services, my family and I were in the process of returning home when we passed a local denomination.  In the parking lot of their building, a group of younger people were standing around and talking.  My wife and I both noticed it at the same time; they were all dressed in clothing that was unbefitting of Christians (1 Timothy 2:9-10), especially when you consider that they had just left their own worship service! The girls were in tight and extremely short shorts, and the guys were wearing shorts and tank tops! Now,  my first reaction was not to think about how spiritual those young people were, but rather about how worldly they were, and I was disappointed in both their dress and their behavior! Consider: did their dress and behavior show any distinction between themselves and any worldly person driving down the road? Did it denote any change in their spiritual lives? (Note - there would obviously be other doctrinal differences between us and I am NOT equating this denomination with the true kingdom of God). 

Many Christians will argue for the right to dress immodestly based on the idea that the Bible does not define specific lengths, but the question I want to pose is this: when you see a woman dressed in a bikini or a man dressed in a tank top (or no shirt), is your first thought about how godly and spiritual they are? Are you immediately impressed with their service to God? Please, take a moment and honestly ask yourself what your first thought is that goes through your mind.

This specific experience caused me to begin to think again about our influence in this world and how even some of what we deem to be the "little things" that we do can either make or break our spiritual influence with our friends in the world.  With the obvious rise in the use of social media in the modern world, we need to be particularly careful about our online persona! While we may find some things to be amusing, we need to consider what our "likes" say about us and our spirituality.  Most especially, we need to think about what our personal photos say about us!

There have been many instances in which I have seen faithful Christians "share" or "like" an image, saying, or joke on Facebook (or some other social media platform) that was connected to a website or Facebook page whose name contains a swear word or sexual innuendo.  While my first thought is to be lenient towards that Christian and to believe that they have not noticed that, does a non-Christian use such leniency? Are non-Christians seeing us as being careful and not participating in such things, or are they seeing us "liking" or "sharing" such things and assuming that it must be ok to do so? Or are they perhaps seeing no difference between our activities and their activities, and wondering why there is no difference? 

Unfortunately, there are also many photographs of Christians floating around the social media world in which they are dressed immodestly, are in spiritually compromising locations (such as bars), or are in compromising physical positions that are intended to be "funny."  Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 where Paul writes, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (KJV) and ask yourself if these types of photographs and actions are doing that? What do your photographs say about your spirituality? 

Recently, I read an article that made an excellent point concerning what picture we paint of our children online; we often post pictures of our children in just their diapers (or nothing at all!), in the bath, or in clothing that disrespects them.  We often forget that once something is posted online, it is there forever (even if deleted, it can still be found somewhere).  Consider Ephesians 6:1-4 and Proverbs 22:6; if we post these types of things about our children, are we truly respecting them?

Let us take that principle a step further; many Christians will even run down their spouse by posting inappropriate stories, inappropriate pictures of their spouse, and even inappropriate pictures of themselves.  Does this depict the attitude in Ephesians 5:22-33 that a couple is to have concerning one another? It is "funny" or does it just harm the relationship between you, as well as the influence you have on the world?
 It is probably fair to say that every single one of us needs to be more careful in this area.  Remember that we do not always know who may be watching us and seeing how we act before they consider becoming a Christian! It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but only a moment or a post to ruin it (Ecclesiastes 7:1; 10:1-3; Proverbs 22:1).