2-11-07 message by Pastor Rich Doebler
There are some strange laws on the books...
- In Carmel, New York, a man cannot be seen in public while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match.
- In Ottumwa, Iowa, it is illegal for any man to wink at any female with whom he is "unacquainted."
- In Zion, Illinois, it is illegal for anyone to give cats, dogs, or other domesticated animals a lighted cigar.
- In Lehigh, Nebraska it's against the law to sell donut holes.
- In Idaho you can't give someone a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.
- Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.
- Chewing gum is against the law in Singapore.
- In New York State, it is still illegal to shoot a rabbit from a moving trolley car.
- In Wetaskiwin, Alberta (1917) it is against the law to tie a male horse next to a female horse on Main Street.
- In Riverside, California, an old law makes it illegal to kiss unless both people wipe their lips with rose water.
- In Baltimore, Maryland, it is illegal to take a lion to the movies.
- In Staten Island, New York, you may only water your lawn if you hold the hose in your hand.
- In Los Angeles, California, it is not legal to bathe two babies at the same time in the same tub.
Some rules don't make much sense. There may have been a reason for them at one time, but times have changed. If the rules don't keep up with the times, they sound goofy.
What are rules for, anyway? Who says we have to floss our teeth every day? Who says we have to look both ways before we cross the street? Who says we have to put things back where we found them? Who says we have to share our toys? Who says we have to drive on the right side of the road? Rules establish boundaries. They give us a sense of order so we can live together in a civilized way. Laws can keep us safe. They protect us from irresponsible or dangerous people—sometimes even ourselves.
In the late 1960s, a group of hippies living in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco decided that hygiene was a middle class hang-up that they could best do without. So, they decided to live without it. For example, baths and showers, while not actually banned, were frowned upon. Writer Tom Wolfe was intrigued by these hippies who, he said "sought nothing less than to sweep aside all codes and restraints of the past and start out from zero."
Before long, the hippies' aversion to modern hygiene had consequences that were as unpleasant as they were unforeseen. Their problems led them to get help from the local free clinics. Wolfe writes: "At the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic there were doctors who were treating diseases that had disappeared so long ago they had never even picked up Latin names, such as the mange, the grunge, the itch, the twitch, the thrush, the scroff, the rot." Throwing off the rules caused a lot of itching and scratching!
Step by step, the hippies had to rediscover for themselves the basics of modern hygiene. Wolfe refers to this as the "Great Relearning." [Christina Hoff Sommers, professor of philosophy at Clark University, excerpted from her October 1997 speech at the Shavano Institute for National Leadership and printed in IMPRIMIS, the monthly journal of Hillsdale College. http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-g007.html
Some old rules don't make much sense because times have changed. But there are some absolutes that never change with time. There are absolutes so basic and so foundational that we can count on them for all time. They apply to all of life everywhere for everyone.
What happens if everybody made up their own rules? There would be chaos. People would get hurt. Society would disintegrate.
In Words We Live By, Brian Burrell tells of an armed robber named Dennis Lee Curtis who was arrested in 1992 in Rapid City, South Dakota. Curtis apparently had scruples about his thievery. In his wallet the police found a sheet of paper on which was written his own personal code of rules:
- I will not kill anyone...unless I have to.
- I will take cash and food stamps--no checks.
- I will rob only at night.
- I will not wear a mask.
- I will not rob mini-marts or 7-Eleven stores.
- If I get chased by cops on foot, I will get away. If chased by vehicle, I will not put the lives of innocent civilians on the line.
- I will rob only seven months out of the year.
- I will enjoy robbing from the rich to give to the poor.
This thief had a certain sense of morality, but it was warped. Flawed. When he stood before the court, he was not judged by the rules he had set for himself. Instead, he was judged by the higher law of the state. In the same way, when we stand before God, we will not be judged by the society's values or the code of morality we have written for ourselves. We'll be judged by God's perfect law. [Craig Brian Larson, Choice Contemporary Stories and Illustrations (Baker, 1998), p.181]
A lot of people today say it's okay to make up your own rules. They say it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you're sincere. However, it's possible to be very sincere and still be wrong.
I remember when my son was about six years old. He was so excited, he called me at my office. "Dad, you'll never guess what! I got a letter in the mail today!" On the envelope was a statement printed in big, bold letters: "Micah Doebler, you have won 20 million dollars." He was as sincere as a trusting, 6-year-old could be. But his sincerity did not make him a winner.
It's one thing to get suckered into an advertising promotion. But the results are far more serious if we bank our lives on a lie.
Several years ago a nurse in a large hospital changed an oxygen tank for one of her patients. She sincerely believed there was oxygen in that tank, but the next nurse to check on the patient found him dead. The tank had been wrongly labeled at the warehouse. It contained nitrogen, not oxygen. The nurse was sincere. She had a lot of faith in that tank, but the nitrogen still had terrible consequences for her patient.
It's become politically incorrect in our culture to take a clear stand on truth. To say that some things are right and other things are wrong. Our culture says it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. Our culture says believe whatever you want as long as you're tolerant of other beliefs.
The problem is that some matters are so basic and foundational that it DOES matter what you believe. Tolerance—ignoring or dismissing certain things—can be fatal. The nurse who puts her trust in a mislabeled oxygen tank discovered that sincerity wasn't enough. Believing it was oxygen didn't make it oxygen.
Believing you can be made right with God and find eternal life any way you want doesn't make it so. Our beliefs—to do any good—has to line up with what is true. We need to stand on something solid. We need firm footing so we don't drift with the culture's anything-goes philosophy.
I remember what happened to me at the Walker Marina on Leech Lake many years ago. We were going out in a 26-foot cabin cruiser, and my Dad said, "Richard, untie the boat and cast off." So I went around the front of the slip, untied the rope and threw it on to the bow. But I didn't toss it far enough, and it slipped over the edge and dangled into the water. So, without thinking, I leaned out to pick up the rope and flip it up on the bow. As I did, I placed my hand on the bow of the boat, and reached down for the rope. I didn't get it all on my first grab, so I reached down again. Before I realized what was happening, the boat had drifted away from the dock I was standing on. Now, when you're leaning between a firm dock and a drifting boat, you reach a point of no return where you cannot push yourself back onto solid ground. You're in-between. You haven't committed to the boat, but you can't get back to the dock. That's where many people are right now in our society. They're trying to live in-between: they want to be tolerant of our drifting culture, but they can't get back to firm footing. Let me tell you, based on my experience, you can't stay in-between for very long.
What are the absolutes we can be sure of? What is the firm footing that will keep us stable?
Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Peter told religious leaders: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
Jesus said: If you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins. John 8:24
Jesus prayed: ...this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
Jesus said: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life... John 3:36
John wrote: He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12
Paul wrote to Timothy: ...there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ...I am telling the truth, I am not lying—[I was appointed] ...a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. 1 Tim 2:5-7
These absolutes come from God's Word so we can say with confidence that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Someone asks, "Why God wouldn't accept into heaven a good Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist?" What do you say? What about decent people who have a different view of Jesus that we do? Would God really condemn them? Will our good and decent neighbor or co-worker be eternally lost without Jesus?
The short answer is "yes." Decent people who reject Jesus will not come to the Father.
C.S. Lewis tells us in one of his books that we should learn to see every person around us—the clerk in the store, a co-worker, a fellow student, a teacher, the mechanic who fixes our car—as eternal beings. Every individual is an eternal being, headed for an eternal destiny. The person you see is headed either for an eternity with God or an eternity without God. Every person is significant to God.
Missions is a high priority at our church. Every year, thousands of dollars go through CGT accounts headed toward various ministries and missions around the world. Why do we think mission outreach is important? Because we believe the Bible is true.
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). In other words, there is only one way for sinful human beings to come to God. There are no alternate routes.
There is no "Plan B." Acts 4:12 says there is salvation in no other name. The Bible says there is only one God and only one mediator between man and God. There is only one way.
Our society does not like to hear Christians talk like this. "This is so narrow-minded," they say. "It's very un-PC. What gives you the right to force your narrow views on others? You're not being tolerant of others."
In a sense, they're right. I am being intolerant. When I say Jesus is the only way to God, I am, in fact, making a judgment about other beliefs.
That doesn't mean, however, that I have to be judgmental, belligerent or mean-spirited. If I'm combative about my faith, I'll be ineffective—I won't have a chance to win people over.
We can turn people off not just by what we say but also by how we say it. We can undermine our message when our actions don't match our words. When someone says your actions speak louder than your words, he's usually not too impressed with your actions.
Does Muslim terrorism make you think favorably about Muslim beliefs? Just remember, you don't have to kidnap and behead someone to turn people off to your beliefs. Some people are prejudiced against all Christians because of angry, judgmental, so-called Christians.
How can we stand up for the truth without being thought of as just another kook or radical? How do we overcome society's misconceptions about the church, about Christians, and about the Bible?
1. Respect others, even as we explain what we believe and why we believe it. It's a good thing to dialogue, but that means we have to listen. Respect others enough to let them have an opinion. Give them the freedom to make their own choices. Be like Jesus, who told the rich, young ruler what was wrong—but also gave him the opportunity to walk away.
2. Watch your words. Watch what you say and how you say it. Colossians 4:4-5 says that we should be wise in the way we act towards outsiders—that our conversation should be "seasoned" with salt, i.e. that it should be pleasing and tasteful to others. Like the commercial says (Bet you can't eat just one) our words should be compelling so others will want to hear more.
3. Share your life. God has given you the gift of eternal life! Sharing what you believe and why you believe it is not intolerance—it's an act of caring. It's the loving thing to do. And it's being honest about your experiences. Sharing the truth that has saved your life is being consistent with your convictions. You'd tell someone about a great movie you saw. Or a good car mechanic. Or a great sale at a store...
Jesus said we're to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We're to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). If we make Jesus Lord of our lives, people will notice—and then we're to be ready with an answer when someone asks us why we live as we do (1 Peter 3:15).
4. Take a stand. Our job is not to force people to change. God simply calls us to take a stand and to be faithful to the truth. We're to speak the truth even if we can't answer all the questions.
Our culture says the Bible is an ancient book with nothing relevant for our times. They believe it is out of step with today's complex social and ethical issues. Because it was written so long ago, they argue, the Bible cannot address contemporary matters that did not exist back then—things such as: abortion, stem cell research, organ transplants, in vitro fertilization, genetic engineering, birth control, drug use, environmentalism, global warming, government welfare, government lotteries, and so on.
Others argue that the Bible has been left in the dust by our society's enlightened understanding. Civilization has progressed far beyond Bible times. They say people now are too educated and sophisticated to find any real value in the Bible; it may have once served the needs of ancient, superstitious, naïve people—but it's not for us. They don't see how it can be relevant for 21st-century lives. They say it uses myths and fables to teach morality.
We should study so we do "not need to be ashamed and [can] correctly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). But it does no good to study if we don't take a stand.
5. Don't quit. One thing we cannot do is to ignore the issues. We cannot say, "It doesn't really matter" or "As long as you're sincere" or "Do what feels right to you." The world needs us to stay involved. The stakes are too high. The eternal destiny of people is at stake.
Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through me." Acts 4:12 says there is salvation in no other name. We have a choice. We cannot ignore it. What will we believe? What will we do?
In Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer tells of his harrowing experience climbing Mt. Everest. On May 10, 1996, Krakauer made it to the top. He paused only for a few minutes before heading down, his muscles exhausted, his limbs frozen, and his brain oxygen-deprived. As he descended, some clouds drifted up and enveloped him. Soon, thunder, lightning, and a snow storm threatened to disorient him, but he was close enough to base camp number 4 to get to the sheltering tents before the full force of the storm hit.
Four climbers arrived at the summit shortly before Jon but did not have time to get to the camp before darkness. The storm caused them to lose their way. Exhausted and lost, they simply lay down to wait out the night. When they awoke in the morning, they found they had lain down just one step from the 4,000 foot precipice of the South Wall. They had slept the night on the edge of a cliff in the middle of a snowstorm.
Our culture can disorient us with the winds of relativism and the darkness of unbelief. Many people are unaware that they sleep on the edge of disaster. The light of the gospel reveals our position and points the way to safety.
This is why it's important we know what is true and that we have the courage to speak the truth. Our culture is sleeping on the edge, unaware of the danger. The truth of the gospel offers hope for eternity as well as hope right now for the age we live in.