Right and Not-So-Right

Do the Right Thing.
Good advice.
While I was training as a Centurion, mentored by such moral and theological giants as Chuck Colson, Glenn Sunshine, T.M.Moore, Kenneth Boa, and others, I often heard that phrase. It has become a catch phrase for Centurions as we strive to winsomely encourage others to develop and practice a Biblical Worldview.
I always assumed that, once the right thing was laid out in front of me, it would be easy to choose to act on it.
Not so true.
This past week, I was challenged, by my own sense of right and wrong, to act in a situation. It was definitely not something I wanted to do. But my sense of justice and fair play was shouting at me. Screaming at me.
I am a leader. I am a shepherd. I have responsibilities. To all my sheep...including the "black" ones.
Did I act? Not immediately.
I spent 2 sleepless nights...praying...studying the Word...begging God to show me what to do...pleading with Him not to allow me to chase off after "my own understanding", seeking to be released from this responsibility.  I sought spiritual counsel from 3 trusted Christian friends...without breaking confidentiality...which was not easy.
Here is what I did NOT do. I did NOT tell God what I had decided to do and then ask Him to tell me what He thought of it. I wanted to come to Him with a completely blank slate and let HIM tell ME what to do.
And He did.
And I didn't like the answer.
He wanted me to stand up for what was right.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to.
I knew that it was going to hurt.
And it did.
Taking action, as God led me, in this particular instance, was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life.
I call myself a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus. The Holy Spirit dwells in me. I practice the Spiritual Disciplines. I love God with all of my heart. I KNOW that I am saved by the Blood of the Lamb and that I will be in Heaven for eternity. I have read the last pages of the Book and I know how it all ends...and then begins.
And yet...doing the right thing was hard.
It was a complex situation. One in authority to me was not being supportive.
And there have been consequences.
There will continue to be consequences.
It is unpleasant.
It will continue to be unpleasant.
I am no longer "trusted".  Perhaps I never was.
I have a slightly deeper understanding of what a "whistle-blower" must experience...in trauma...pain...confusion...fear...repercussions.
It would have been much easier to cave in and do the not-so-right. 
So it has come to my mind...a thought...if it was that difficult for me to do the right thing...how much more difficult is it for those who are not grounded on the Rock?
A thought.

My and Our

 

Did you see the animated film where the seagulls chase their prey, yelling “mine! mine! mine!”?  “I”, “my” and “mine” are probably the most often used words in our language. It just seems to come naturally to us to use those words.

A while back, one of those funny-to-share emails made the rounds, about the child who says “all toys are mine…unless they are broken.” It was funny…and true. Sadly, it’s more often than not also true of us adults.

Do you speak of My Father in Heaven or Our Father in Heaven? Yes, I know…He’s a personal God. And that’s a good thing, especially when contrasted with the god-who-doesn’t-care (Allah) or the non-god (Buddha) or the 21^st-century-pantheons (fame, material goods, sex, political correctness, equality, choice, etc.)

I grew up in a church that did not recognize a personal relationship with a personal God. They worshiped God; they talked about Jesus, but there was no indication of making that connection with either of them. And then there was that spooky Holy Ghost. Going to church was a little like putting on those flimsy, plastic, color-coded sterile gloves. Worship from a distance, but you can’t get too close.

And then I learned to say MY Father, MY Jesus, MY Holy Spirit. The God I had searched for most of my life became personal. And that is a good thing.

So what is the “our” deal?

Jesus patterned prayer for us, and He said “OUR Father”. Why do you suppose He did that?

OUR God is all about relationships. He is in relationship with Himself, in the Trinity. Not easy for us to understand, but it is a basic truth. He wants a relationship with us. He sent His Son to prove it, and to show us how. And He wants us to be in relationship with each other. Sometimes we forget that. Hebrews 10:25: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…”

When we accept Jesus, the Son, then we have the right to call God our Father. John 1:12: “Yet to all who received him, (The Word, Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God__”

That’s right. We are all His children…and He is our Father. Jesus wanted us to remember that. We are a community. We are a fellowship. We are a family.

OUR Father.