Instruction

by Perry Hall

Horror of horrors, I faced a gut-wrenching decision: “Should I, or shouldn’t I” Often I choose wrongly. Occasionally I make the right decision; but then grow restless. Disquieting energy pulsates through my body. I’m accomplishing the goal, but not quickly enough…ahh the temptation of “now.” Impatiently I irrationally act; and then aggravatingly fail. Other times I too quickly jump into the fray, right into the middle of my ignorance. Pride is the culprit. Humility, or should I say humiliation, grips me. I give in to the previously known, but neglected, decision. Unhappy, my submission leads to impatience. Today, again it is decision time. Wise advice penetrates my thoughts… “When all else fails, read the instructions.” Yes, this entire time I have been discussing reading instructions.

Is The Bible An Instruction Manual?

Elohim is our maker (Genesis 1:1). All fail to glorify God (Romans 3:23). Jesus is our sacrifice, instructor, and example (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit led into all truth (John 16:13). Today we walk by that Spirit (Galatians 5:25). Scripture is filled, as is our lives, with needing, living and failing those instructions.

Preparing for His exodus, Jesus said, “You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am” (John 13:13). Christianity is a taught religion, starting with the Old Testament (2 Timothy 3:16); continuing with the incarnated Word (John 1:1); and finishing with the faith once for all delivered (Jude 1:3). This divine word is somehow more than words (Hebrews 4:12). So if the Bible is an instruction manual, it is unlike any. Then again, human beings are unlike any creation. Then again, Christianity – that the Creator would die for the created, to make the created like the Creator – is unlike anything humanly imagined. This is the purpose of divine instruction; fellowship with God by remaking us to His glory.

In the beginning, God created humans with emotions, thoughts, and physical experiences. New creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB) are to have controlled emotions, higher thoughts, while channeling our physical experiences to God. These traits need explaining and direction. “We” need explaining. God is our authority. Notice the prefix “author” in authority. God wrote our DNA. Starting with Adam, “at different times and in different ways” (Hebrews 1:1), God has communicated to His creation. Quaintly someone said B.I.B.L.E. stands for, “Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.” Basic instruction means nothing if not learned. So, “Be Informed Before Leaving Earth.”

So is the Bible an instruction manual? Read John 20:31; Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 1:13; Ephesians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:13, 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3; plus a host of others. After reading, it doesn’t matter whether we call the Bible an instruction manual or not, as long as we are willing to be instructed.

1. Why Does the Bible Instruct?

What are the goals of divine declarations? We could start with one of the first commands given, “You must not…or you will die” (Genesis2:17). Lovingly protecting life, both spiritual and physical, is one goal. Echoing God, Paul wrote, “Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land” (Ephesians6:2-3). Consider the instructions for a Rowenta iron: “Do not iron clothes on body.” Apparently someone learned that too late. How much of the Bible is ignored common sense that leads to suffering and death? What are God’ goals? Let’s focus on two: 1) We are instructed because we are not like God; 2) We are instructed to be like God. Another way of saying this is we are dead, and God wants us to live.

We Are Not Like God

Much is learned in Genesis 1-3. First, God defines sin; whether obvious or not, recognized or not, pleasing or not. Deity decides what is good and bad, right and wrong, wise and foolish (Jeremiah 10:23). So God-dependent are His creatures, we don’t and can’t know good and evil without help (Romans 7:7). Amazingly, He gifted humanity with some inborn insight, a law within ourselves (Romans 2:14); but such is God derived, matching His revealed word. Second, although in God’s image, Humans were unequal to God while enjoying His fellowship. Eve had this innate desire to be more God-like. Such sounds proper, but she wanted the knowledge of good and evil on her own terms, “right now.” Self-desire became the first idol in the form of knowledge. Selfishness is a distinct way we differ from God. Third, since God defines sin, and humans defy God, we rebel breaking fellowship. Our only hope is our Creator remaking us back into His image through salvation and sanctification replacing the garden with a cross (Colossians 3:10).

Unexpectedly, although dead, we are saved through death; Jesus and ours. Death is associated with baptism in our burial in Christ. But are believing, repenting, and confessing – leading to our baptism – also acts of dying and crucifying self? Believing, we trust Jesus; dying to self as trustworthy. Repenting, we change our way of thinking; dying to our own methods and thought patterns. Confessing, we admit Jesus is God’s Son and our Lord; dying to self being enthroned. All these lead to our baptismal burial, having crucified ourselves. Can we see how the first humans contradicted this?

The “most important” instruction received Biblically is the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3): “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). David Wenham writes,

“His highlighting of what might seem to be a relatively unimportant event (as compared to the death and resurrection) may simply be a lead into his following discussion of resurrection. But it quite probably also reflects the fact that the burial featured prominently in the passion traditions that Paul knew, as it does in the gospel narratives” (Paul, Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity, p.365).

Considering the inspired emphasis in these accounts, practicing “baptism” without immersion disparages or ignores the burial. If the Holy Spirit did not consider it “relatively unimportant” instruction, should we?

Finally, on being unlike God, and needing saving, returning to Paul’s description of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), we can ask why God’s manual commands us to believe, repent, confess and be baptized. These are the gospel in action. When the gospel is preached, what do we hear? The gospel! That Jesus Christ, the Son of God came down from Heaven to die on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then resurrected three days later. What do we believe? The gospel! That Jesus Christ, the Son of God came down from Heaven to die on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then resurrected three days later. Why do we repent? Because we believe the gospel! That Jesus Christ, the Son of God came down from Heaven TO DIE ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS, was buried, and then resurrected three days later. Why do we confess? Because we believe the gospel! That JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN to die on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then resurrected three days later. Why are we baptized? Because we believe the gospel! That Jesus Christ, the Son of God came down from Heaven to die on the cross for our sins, WAS BURIED, AND THEN RESURRECTED THREE DAYS LATER.

There’s only one way to know we are not like God, and need God. God tells us. Recognizing we are ungodly and wanting to reform on His terms is just the beginning.

We Are Instructed to be Like God

Too many end at the beginning, trying to live sans divine directives. How’s our prayer life? The disciples humbly seek answers (Luke 11:1). How are our parenting skills? Search Proverbs. Looking at narratives, Eli shows how not to parent (1 Samuel 1-4). How are we at being a son or daughter? For one particular situation, we had one child hand copy Proverbs. Grace was given for timeliness limiting the number of chapters copied. Similarly, Israel’s king was required to hand-write the law (Deuteronomy 17:18). How is our marriage? Song of Solomon is not a set of instructions, but it instructs. Problems overcoming temptations? 1 John teaches we overcome the world through loving servanthood. All these require reading God’s instructions. All these, and life, are about learning to live like God because God’s love is learned. God wants us to be “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16); so that “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).

By analogy, Christians are sheep. One of the most obvious characteristics of sheep is, well, let’s be honest, they are stupid. They need a shepherd’s guidance. By synonym, Christians are disciples. By definition, disciples are students. Jesus’ most common name for His followers in the gospels is disciple, found almost 250 times. The term Christ chose describing His followers had a long history, back as far as Herodotus (5th century B.C.). Kittel, surveying pre-New Testament usage of mathetes, discusses two competing notions of the disciple/teacher relationship among the Greeks (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol.iv, pp.416ff):

– One Who Lives Like His Teacher – The predominant idea pictures a disciple imitating his teacher, focusing on their personal relationship.

– One Who Learns From His Teacher – The Sophists saw their disciples’ roles educationally and economically, receiving the teacher’s information and paying for it.

Balancing learning and living is always challenging. Some sincerely say: “Stop trying to learn so much doctrine; just live like Jesus.” To others, doctrine is everything. They may not live what they know, but they are not ignorant. Jesus expected more than the accumulation of information. God’s instruction necessitates change resulting from imitation. Therefore in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Jesus’ sermon on fulfilling the law and prophets is about fulfilling God’s instruction leading to imitating God. Our goal is not keeping a law, but being like the law giver which leads to keeping His law. In the end, following rules failed Israel, and would fail us too. That’s why the Bible is more than a manual. Jesus teaching and living the Mountain Sermon shows how He fulfilled commands of God in His life by applying heart, mind, soul and body.

Instructed so that we may do and become is essential. But the instruction also comes in the form of what the new covenant is as opposed to the old; altering the focus from what we do or become, to what God does to us:

2 Corinthians 3:18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. Continue reading “Instruction, by Perry Hall” →

Objective Listening

By Bubba Garner 

Contrary to the popular thought in the religious world, discipleship involves discipline.  It is a commitment that demands lifelong training and instruction.  Jesus never tried to hide this fact but instead demanded, “If any man wishes to be my disciple, let him deny himself…” (Matt. 16:24).  That takes learning.  That takes conditioning and gaining control.  That takes spiritual discipline.

Discipline is needed in every area of the Christian’s life.  We should exercise control over our temper and our tongue.  We ought to train our mind to reject thoughts that are not pure or honorable or of good report.  We must develop a habit of personal prayer, staying committed when the things of the world compete for our time and attention.  These things are part of denying self and following in the steps of our Master.

Spiritual discipline is even needed when we assemble with our fellow saints.  Just because we are in the company of brethren does not mean that we will automatically remain in control.  Carrying out the acts of worship begins with preparing our minds before we arrive at the church building.  Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, especially when they are familiar to us, involves focusing on the words of each verse.  Concentration is necessary during the prayers and the Lord’s Supper to keep distracting thoughts from carrying us far away from what we are doing.  Unfortunately, some seem to think that the need for discipline ends as soon as the preacher aks the audience to open their Bibles.

It is one thing to hear; it is quite another to listen.  Hearing is the recognition of sound.  “Did you hear that?” someone might ask after a mighty clap of thunder.  But listening is hearing with attention and understanding.  “Are you listening to me?” is what the wife wants to know when her husband is reading the paper while she’s telling him what happened during her day.  Once again, it is discipline that is required for us to listen well.

When it comes to His word, God wants us to listen.  While Jesus was preaching by the Sea of Galilee, “the multitudes were pressing around Him and listening to the word of God” (Luke 5:1). That was what all of Jesus’ miracles and parables pointed to: spiritual truth.  God did not send His Son to break the back of poverty or to end world hunger but to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  That involved attention to His words.  Above all, He wanted men to “listen to Him” (Luke 9:35)!

In Martha’s house, Jesus announced that Mary had chosen “the good part” while her sister was distracted with preparations for the meal.  That doesn’t mean that Martha had chosen “the bad part,” for she was involved in such noble things as hospitality and service.  But in comparison, Mary was doing something that Jesus considered to have even greater value.  What was this “good part”?  “She was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet” (Luke 10:39).

Each time we study the word of God privately or hear it proclaimed publically, we are sitting at the Lord’s feet.  Our objective should be to take care how we listen (Luke 8:18).  What sort of things are necessary for this kind of listening?

The book of James is about discipline.  He wrote about the attitudes necessary to control the tongue, submit to God, and resist the devil.  He also cautioned his readers to be “quick to hear” (James 1:19).  And in the following verses of chapter one, he identified the characteristics of objective listening.

Listen with Responsibility

When we listen to gospel preaching, we are not just receivers but receivers of “the word” (James 1:21).  We are not simply hearers but hearers of “the word” (James 1:23).  That puts a serious responsibility on our shoulders.  These words are not the thoughts of our favorite author or the opinion of some motivational speaker.  They are the mind of God revealed to man.  Paul commended the church in Thessalonica for their recognition of this fact; “when you received from us from the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

We have a responsibility to listen with attentiveness.  Some give the appearance of little or no interest when the word of God is being read.  Others will pull out their phone the instant they hear the alert that they have received a message while going days without hearing a message from heaven.  Would we want our Father to hear our prayers with the same attentiveness we give to listening to His word?

We have a responsibility to listen for accuracy.  The Christians in the First Century were warned about the dangers of error and following false teachers to their own destruction.  How much more ought we to be watchful when we have the word of God so easily accessible to us.  We have every right to demand book, chapter, and verse preaching.  It is part of fulfilling our obligation to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

“Receive the word implanted.”  This word implanted is the same seed that Peter wrote was “the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).  And how did they receive it?  By fulfilling their responsibility as objective listeners.  “This is the word which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:25).

Listen with Humility

“In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save yours souls” (James 1:21).  It takes a humble heart to be a good listener.  When a sermon is preached on a sensitive topic, the easy reaction is the refusal to admit that we struggle in that area.  “That’s their problem,” we might say about the people across the auditorium.  Humility causes us to stop and consider how the passage applies to our own life.  It should motivate us to say, like Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:9).

When Paul gave his defense before Agrippa, he used it as an opportunity to preach about the death and resurrection of Christ.  Festus, who was also in the audience, replied, “Paul, you are out of your mind!  Your great learning is driving you mad” (Acts 26:24).  His response indicated the attitude of “I’m not the problem, you are!”  What he should have done was bow his knee in humble submission.

One of the greatest compliments the preacher can receive after services is for someone to tell him, “I needed that.”  That means they weren’t looking for someone to teach things “in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3).  Neither did they focus on his stage presence or admire his suit and tie combination.  It means that the word of God found its mark in a receptive heart, a heart that in humility received the word implanted.  Such is needed to be an objective listener.

Listen with Honesty

“Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22).  Those who are hearers only are satisfied only with hearing.  There is no effort to put into practice what has been heard.  They sit in the pew, follow along in their Bibles, jot down notes in the margin, and even give a hearty “Amen” to the sermon.  But that is as far as the message is able to penetrate.  It takes humility to receive the word; it takes honesty to make use of it.

The worst kind of deceit is when we deceive ourselves.  We might think that we have done our part simply because we have listened well to what God has said.  But our responsibility extends to applying that same message where it needs to go.  When Jesus identified the four types of soils in the Parable of Sower, He referred to the good soil as the ones “who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:15).  The alternative is the man who thinks himself to be religious “but deceives his own heart” (James 1:26).

King Josiah was one of the few bright spots in the history of the kingdom of Judah.  His honest attitude toward the word of God was revealed when Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law.  “And it came about when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes” (2 Kings 22:11).  What caused the king to respond in such a mournful way to what he had heard?  “Because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13).  May we, like the king, be willing to confess our sins when the word of God convicts us.  To do any less is to keep deluding ourselves.

Listen with Accountability

“But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25).  What will this “blessed” man do with what he has found in the law?  He will “bridle his tongue,” “visit orphans and widows in their distress,” and keep himself “unstained by the world” (James 1:26-27).  His conduct reflects his understanding that he is accountable to God for following His will.  “James does well to remind us that what is heard in the holy place must be lived in the market place – or there is no point in hearing at all” (William Barclay).

After the resurrection, Jesus revealed to Peter that being His disciple would affect not only the way he lived but the way he would die (John 21:18-19).  Peter’s initial response was to point to John and ask, “Lord, and what about this man” (John 21:21)?  Isn’t that typical of us?  If we’re going to sacrifice, we want to know what everyone else is going to have to give up.  Jesus would say the same thing to us that He said to Peter.  “What is that to you? You follow Me” (John 21:22)!  Be accountable for yourself.  You can’t listen for anyone else.

Jesus, who came as the Savior of the world, will one day return as the Judge of the living and the dead.  According to Him, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day” (John 12:48).  On that day, we will be judged by the standard of God’s word.  Not by what was politically correct, not by what a preacher said about the Scriptures, but by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God.  The book of our life should reflect not only a love of truth but a living of the wonderful words of life.  That fact alone should cause us to take care how we listen.

Conclusion

By being objective listeners of the Scriptures, our lives become a sermon.  People in the world can observe our behavior and develop their own hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Their first exposure to the word of God might be the conduct of those who faithfully follow the Lord’s commands.  Paul told the church at Corinth, “you are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:2-3).  Listening takes us from private study and the public assembly to evangelism in the world.  Let us develop the spiritual discipline needed for such a transformation.

From the book, 12 SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES, Click Here

FAMILY TIME TOGETHER IS ESSENTIAL

https://wordpoints.com/

On Being Glad That God Is Good

Gary Henry

Cookies At The Airport

A woman was waiting at an airport one night
There were several long hours to wait for her flight.
She hunted for reading in the airport’s gift shop
bought a big bag of cookies — found a place she could drop.

She was engrossed in her book, but she happened to see a man sat beside her — as bold as can be and grabbed up a cookie from the bag in between
which she tried to ignore — and not make a scene.

She munched at her cookies and glanced at the clock as the masculine cookie-thief diminished her stock! She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by Thinking, “If I wasn’t a lady, I’d blacken his eye!”

With each cookie she took, he took one or two.
With only one left, she watched what he’d do
With a grin on his face, and a nice nervous laugh
He took the last cookie and broke it in half!

He offered her half as he munched on the other
She snatched from him and murmured “Oh Brother!

This guy has some nerve, and he’s also quite rude He never showed even polite gratitude.”

She had never known when she had been quite so galled She smiled with relief when her flight — it was called. She gathered her stuff and marched to the gate.
(With not even a glance at the thieving ingrate.)

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought out her book which was almost complete.

As she reached in her bag, she gasped with surprise,

Her bag of cookies were in front of her eyes!

“If mine are right here,” she moaned in despair,
then the others were his and he was trying to share!

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!

Author Valerie Cox – From the book: A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

The Lure of the Fashionable

(Or, Duplicating Gruesome Reality)

Warren E. Berkley

| First Published in THE PRECEPTOR, 2001 |

One index of the reign of sin is the lure of the fashionable. “Conforming to this world” is often combined with “serving various lusts and pleasures,” (Rom. 12:2, Titus 3:3). The resulting behavior is offensive to God, harmful to people, destructive of individual influence and frequently, extremely juvenile.

It is remarkable how powerful worldly fashion is to those who are given to this dimension of human appetite. When you do something, without any mature motive or reason – simply because others are doing it, you are captive to the influence of fashion.

I thought about this a few days ago, as a result of something I observed. I came to an intersection and noticed an automobile next to me riddled with bullet holes. It appeared to me that the vehicle had been through a fierce gun battle. There was a sense of alarm at first, so I looked inside the car – only to witness normal occupants who seemed to be in good health. I concluded the necessary auto body work had not been done yet, but I was still alarmed at what had happened to the owners.

A few days later I drove into a parking lot at the grocery store, and here was another vehicle with a dozen or so bullet holes in the driver’s door. This caused me to think about the crime rate, the violence that must be growing in my community. What times we must live in, to see automobiles torn up and obviously penetrated by bullets! Terrible.

Then I went to auto parts store to buy an air filter for my truck. While waiting for the employee to find the part, I noticed a display of FAKE BULLET HOLE decals! I caught myself just before uttering the verbal expression of astonishment common in my grandmother’s generation: “Of all the thangs!!”

I suppose the explanation is  – if you can’t get your vehicle shot, you can buy these decals to make it look like you’ve been shot!! Then I went to WalMart yesterday, and the guy in front of me was wearing a shirt with bullet holes and blood (imprinted on the shirt to duplicate gruesome reality.)

It provoked me to think about what strange things people will do, simply because others do it. This is the lure of fashion, also seen in tattoos and body-piercing. I suppose an argument can be made in favor of custom and convention, or private opinion where no sin is involved. You can study that.

But it may be personally useful for us to stop and inquire of ourselves, before duplicating fashion: Why am I doing this? What good will be accomplished? What message will I send? What influence will I have? Would Jesus do this? Based on His revelation of Himself, what would God’s judgment be? Will a mind and conscience, directed by the example of Christ and the teachings of the Bible desire to give the appearance of violence?

Without any doubt, Christians must guard against the impulse and habit of conforming to the world.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Rom. 12:1,2

A Man Fell Into A Pit, And . . .

Warren E. Berkley 

(A number of years ago I found this story and have adapted it and used it often. As far as I’m able to tell, the original story was crafted by Kenneth D. Filkins in his work, The Wittenburgh Door. I’ve adapted it.)

A man fell into a pit, and couldn’t get himself out . . .

A subjective person came along, looked down to the man and said: “I feel for you down there.”

An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”

A Christian Scientist came along and said, “You only think that you are in a pit.”

A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into pits.”

A mathematician calculated the dimensions of the pit.

A news reporter wanted the exclusive story about the man falling into the pit.

A realist said, “Yes, that’s a pit.”

A geologist told him he should study the rock strata in the pit.

An evolutionist said, “You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle.” In other words, “you are going to die in that pit, so that you cannot produce any ‘pit-falling offspring’.”

The county inspector asked if the man had a permit to dig a pit.

A professor gave him a lecture on “The Elementary Principles of the Pit.”

An evasive person came along and avoided the subject of the pit altogether.

A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen the pit I fell into.”

A charismatic said, “Just confess that you’re not in the pit.”

An optimist said, “Things could be worse.”

A pessimist said, “Things will get worse.”

Jesus, seeing the man in the pit, said to him: Take my hand, trust me and do what I say, and I’ll get you out of that pit.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit. Out of the miry clay. And set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps,” (Psa. 40:1,2).

Good Books About Preaching:

Common Sense Preaching, Dee Bowman

Letters To Young Preachers, Edited by Mark Roberts & Warren Berkley

Behind The Preachers Door, Edited by Warren Berkley (Kindle)

Behind The Preachers Door, Edited by Warren Berkley (Paperback)

Preparing The Young Man To Preach, Berry Kercheville

Letters to young preachers free today (kindle) https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Preachers-Brent-Lewis-ebook/dp/B006LTB7T2

Treating Everybody

The Same Way?

Warren E. Berkley

On the surface and before any further discussion or context, we all probably agree with the above statement. We may have often said this. “We should treat everybody the same way.” It might be better to say, “we should treat everybody right.”

Consider what Paul wrote to Timothy: “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, the young as sister, with all purity,” (1 Tim. 5:1,2).

Timothy was to treat everybody right, but not the same way. Older men were to be treated with the respect that is due the older, experienced spiritual fathers. Timothy was to treat younger men as his brothers; older women as his mothers, and younger women as sisters, “with all purity.”

Christians are to treat other Christians with familial affection. We are a family and our treatment of each other should virtually duplicate the dynamics of family relationship.

In our treatment of people, we are to take into account where they are in relation to us in terms of age and gender. Our treatment must contain appropriate ethics and purity.

Matthew Henry wrote: “Respect must be paid to the dignity of years and place. The younger, if faulty, must be rebuked, not as desirous to find fault with them, but as willing to make the best of them. There is need of much meekness and care in reproving those who deserve reproof.” So, let’s treat everybody the right way, as God has treated us.

Reading Timothy’s Mail (Amazon)

Come Back Tomorrow?

(Prov. 3:27,28)

Warren E. Berkley

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you,” (Prov. 3:27,28, NKJ).

This is a call to generosity but it is written as a prohibition (“do not”). Here’s a little “secret” of good Bible study: When you read a prohibition, spend some of your study time focusing on the opposite. So when you read, “do not lie,” think of the value of honesty. When you come to “do not forget” God’s law (Prov. 3:1), consider how important it is to remember God’s law. Every prohibition has some positive opposite. The point of the prohibition is not only to keep us from sin, but to take us to that positive opposite.

In this case, “do not withhold good” is a call to generosity, sharing, benevolence. Whatever we have that is subject to sharing, we should be willing to give to those “to whom it is due.”

The hard part of this is figuring out “to whom it is due,” or (NIV), “those who deserve it.” To give profusely to undeserving recipients is apparently not wise. But it is often not clear. Seems that the line between deserving and undeserving is not always easy to discern. But I would say to us these things:

1. God doesn’t expect us to see everything He is able to see. God can look right through the externals to the internal motives, and God has in His perfect mind – Instant Background Checks on everybody. God knows that we have no such powers. So there is no expectation that we have perfect knowledge of every prospective recipient of our goodwill. We can only act on what we are able to know.
2. Never cancel a duty because it is qualified. Could be, we become so obsessed with the qualification (“those who deserve it”) we just cancel the duty, thinking the work is too imprecise or demanding. Generosity (as directed by God) involves the hard work of wisdom, discernment, good stewardship and prayer; that’s part of the sacrifice of giving.
3. Don’t let your experience with the undeserving lead you to deny the deserving. Most of us have heard people say something like, “I gave this guy some help, and he turned out to be a thief. So I just don’t help people anymore.” That’s reactionary, creates suffering for the deserving and puts you squarely against the will of God. Your experience should never be the basis of your generosity. The basis of all giving is, you are a recipient of God’s grace and responsible to obey Him.