Climbing Up Higher!

There’s a joke about mountain climbing that asks, “Why do mountain climbers tie themselves together? The answer makes complete sense to me — “So nobody can turn back.” My aim in this little article is not to talk about mountains or mountain climbing per se. It is about a teaching of Jesus that, like mountain climbing, requires determined and sustained effort to go up higher. The teaching has long been known as “The Golden Rule.” Found in Matthew 7:12 it reads this way — “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Luke 6:31 states it this way — “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (New International Version). That principle is easy to understand but not always so easy to practice because some people just seem bent on doing to you what they jolly well please. So what does the Golden Rule have to do with mountain climbing? To quote one preacher, “The Great Commandment is probably the most universally praised statement that Jesus ever made. It has been called ‘the topmost peak of social ethics ... the Everest of ethical teaching.’ ” Why would anyone make that comparison? You may or may not know that Mount Everest, part of the Himalayan Mountain range on the border between Nepal and China, is the tallest mountain peak in the world (29,032 above sea level). Even pictures and videos of its height evoke awe and wonder that any sane person would dare try to climb it! Successfully reaching the summit of Everest is viewed and praised almost universally as the pinnacle of achievement in mountaineering.

 

Back to the words quoted above. The Golden Rule is “probably the most universally praised statement Jesus ever made.” In similar words, David Roper said, “Almost everyone admires these words — even people who do not live by the precept admire the principle.” But that’s precisely the problem, isn’t it? It’s one thing to praise Jesus’ teaching but quite another to practice it. Some 8.1 billion people now share space on Planet Earth according to recent United Nations estimates. It is abundantly clear that if life is to be livable and doable human beings must observe certain rules of behavior toward each other. Jesus squeezes the grand solution to interpersonal relational problems into the few words of the Golden Rule — “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The following will illustrate. Ed called his mother one week after moving into a new apartment to complain about his neighbors. He said, “I can’t believe it, Mom. I’m surrounded by people with problems. One woman cries all night, another lies in bed moaning, and then there’s the guy next door who screams and just keeps beating the wall.” Ed’s mother advised, “You better keep away from them.” Ed said, “I do. I just stay inside and play my tuba all night.” There’s a right time and place to play a tuba — but I’m pretty sure playing it all night in your apartment is not loving your neighbor or practicing the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule has never tarnished. When observed, it changes the world and makes it more kind, forgiving and loving. Edwin Markham said, “We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.” You may never attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But you go up higher anytime you do to others as you would have them do to you.

 

  by:   Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Real McCoy Christians!

The phrase “The Real McCoy” is defined by idiomsthefreedictionary.com as “something that is genuine, authentic, or exactly what it is claimed to be; the real thing.” They add that the origin of this phrase is not definitively known. We might also note many people use the phrase to describe a person who is of high moral and ethical character. A synonymous phrase would be that something or someone is “the real deal.” That is, not a fake. Harry Truman said, “Always be sincere, even if you don’t mean it.” I wonder if he really meant that, or was he faking it? Truman was President, of course, and his quote brings to mind the little girl who asked her dad, “Daddy, do all fairy tales begin with, ‘Once upon a time’?” He replied, “No, sweetheart. A whole lot of them begin with, ‘If elected, I promise ...’ ” Ever hear the term “fake news?? The words are used to describe false or misleading information presented as news. It is often created to influence political views or as a joke. The term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information presented as news. Fake news reduces the impact of real news by competing with it. The Bible’s words for “fake” include words like “deceive, deceit, guile, false,” etc. We don’t have space to refer to many Bible passages, but a very famous one by Jesus warns in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” He was talking about religious leaders who advocate false doctrines / teachings. Fake gospels? Religious fakes? Even fake preachers and fake Christians?! Say it ain’t so. But the evidence is in — and sadly, it is very true.

 

The topic we are thinking about here is character, and perhaps a little more precise, integrity. Things like honesty, truthfulness, goodness, sincerity, purity, etc. The Bible has many statements about integrity and the difference that it makes in a person’s life. Proverbs 11:3 states, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Again, Proverbs 19:1 declares, “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.” Jesus was talking about integrity when He first met Nathanel and said in John 1:47 (New King James Version), “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” The King James Version uses the words “in whom is no guile.” Nathanel was not a fake! He was “the real deal.” He was “the real McCoy.” The take home point in all this is Christians should always “keep it real.” Have integrity. Be honest. When the apostle Paul reminded Christians at Thessalonica how he and his companions Silas and Timothy behaved while in their city, he used these words — “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ” (1 Thess.2:1-6). The character Paul personally claims should describe every Christian — no pretense, no attempts to fake others out or teach something false or do a cover-up. As a Christian, just be a “real McCoy.”

 

 by: Dan Gulley,  Smithville, TN

Are We Too Slow To Go?

You are about to read a preacher’s story. Be advised it may be fictional (!!). Three turtles in the forest decided to have a cup of coffee. Rain started to fall, so the biggest turtle said to the smallest turtle, “Go home and get an umbrella.” The little one replied, “I will if you won’t drink my coffee.” The other two turtles echoed together, “We won’t.” Two years went by and the little turtle did not return. The big turtle said to the middle-sized turtle, “I guess he isn’t coming back, so we might as well drink his coffee.” At that, a little voice called from behind a nearby bush, “If you do, I won’t go.” Talk about slowwwww to go! What was he waiting on?!!

 

A goofy story, but I want to use it to make a very serious, sobering point. That turtle was waiting when he should have been going. After all, A slow go is better than a no go. In 1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 the apostle Paul makes a most interesting point about waiting. He is pouring out praise for the way these Christians had responded to the Gospel. The passage reads, “so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” If read carefully, Paul’s words stand our common notion of what it means to “wait” on its head. Dictionary definitions of the English word “wait” read like this — “stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.” It’s definitely okay to wait in some situations. Like when you ring a doorbell. Or sitting at a 4-way stop when another vehicle got there first. But there are times when waiting is not only not good but very bad. Like if you discover your house is on fire. Or for that matter if you discover your neighbor’s house on fire. Now re-read the description of the church at Thessalonica cited above. Paul describes them in verse 10 as “waiting” for Jesus to return — but his earlier words in verse 8 make clear they did anything but stay where they were or delay action until something else happened! Instead we read, “For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth .... in every place .... Your faith toward God has gone out.” This church was on the go with the Gospel even as they waited on Jesus to return! They were not “silent saints.” Far from it. Why were they so bent on “sounding forth” the word? Why did they want their faith toward God to “go out?” They no doubt knew, as we should know, Jesus commands the church to go with the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20 * Mark 16:15-16). But the naked and uncomfortable truth is too many of us in the Lord’s church are too mum about Jesus. Instead of a “go, stand and speak” approach,(Acts 5:20), we are frozen in place, standing still and delaying to go, under the grip of a “come, sit and listen” approach. Here’s a vital, sobering question — are we “sounding forth” the word while we wait on Jesus? Or are we been too slow when we know the Lord says go? Just asking.

 

by: Dan Gulley,  Smithville, TN  

Do You Not Hear?

Listen to this question from the Bible in Galatians 4:21: “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?” Galatians 4:21-31 is clear the apostle Paul addressed that question to Jewish teachers who in fact where NOT hearing the law, at least not accurately. An elaborate argument follows verse 21, and Paul completely turns on its head the way the Jewish teachers heard the law. They heard it teaching the Jews alone were God’s favored people because they physically descended from Abraham. Their preconceived, long-held way of viewing and hearing the law left them unable—or more correctly, unwilling—to hear it saying that the Gentiles, too, could be favored by God, not by being physical descendants of Abraham, but by being Abraham’s spiritual descendants through a trusting and obedient faith in Christ (see 3:26-29). Paul sought to change their perspective and to get them to hear the law more carefully and perceive what the law actually said. Paul’s words in Galatians 4 remind us we need to “get the whole picture” when it comes to the Bible and the gospel. The ancient Roman dramatist Terence once warned about the power of preconceived ideas to close our ears and eyes and minds to fuller insight. He said, Beware of prejudices. They are like rats, and men’s minds like steel traps. Prejudices get in easily, but rarely do they get out.” Paul’s question, “Do you not hear the law?” was directed to people (Jewish teachers) who were convinced they heard the law of God more accurately than anyone on earth, but they didn’t!                               

Author Gary Patterson, in Character Forged From Conflict, relates a story that challenges how we hear when we listen to the Bible being taught and / or read it for ourselves. Here is Patterson’s story When the telegraph was the fastest means of long-distance communication, there was a story about a young man who applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. In the background a telegraph clicked away. A sign on the receptionist’s desk instructed applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man completed his form and sat down with seven other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally, the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They took more than a little satisfaction in assuming the young man who went into the office would be reprimanded for his presumption and summarily dismissed for the job. In a few minutes the young man emerged from the office escorted by the manager who announced,

“Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this man.” One applicant spoke up with great irritation in his voice, “He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Why was he hired? That’s not fair.” The boss responded, “All the time you’ve sat here, the telegraph ticked out the following message in Morse code: ‘If you understand this message, come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard or understood it. This man did. The job is his.”         

In our very noisy world, Jesus still challenges every person in Luke 8:18, “Take heed how you hear.” So, do you read the Bible? Do you listen to it preached? Tell me, do you not hear the Bible? 

by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Be Like Kevin ... or Christ?

Preachers often urge people to follow and imitate and be like Christ. They are speaking very Biblically when they issue that call. For instance, the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 --- "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Another passage presenting the same challenge is Ephesians 5:1 — “Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children.” Most professing Christians readily express a desire to follow and be like Christ. But are you sure you want to be like Him? Professing to be like Him and even wanting to be like Him are noble and even necessary things, but actually being like Him is sometimes very difficult to do. Years ago I ran across a little told by story by Alan Smith (Boone church of Christ, Boone, North Carolina) that humorously drives that point home. He told about a mother who was preparing pancakes for her sons Kevin, age 5, and Ryan, age 3. The boys argued over who would get the first pancake. Mother seized the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus was sitting here,” she told them, “He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his younger brother saying, “Ryan, you be Jesus.” Brother Smith then added, “I think it’s safe to say we’re all a little like Kevin. We want everyone else to act like Jesus. We want everyone else to make the sacrifices and be kind and giving. We want everyone else to make the sacrifices and be kind and forgiving of us.”

I could mislead myself here and say that I always want to be like Christ. But if I’m honest, I have to confess there are more times than I’m comfortable with when I am more like Kevin. How about you? A Scripture at Galatians 4:19 presents a tremendous thought about what it means to truly be a Christian. There the apostle Paul wrote, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” The Greek word translated “labor” in the New King James Version is ódinó (pronounced in English o-dee'-no) and is defined by Strong’s Concordance as “to have birth pangs, to travail.” The King James Version renders the word as “for whom I travail in birth again.” We have little space to explore the context here, but the letter        of GALATIANS makes clear Paul experienced pain when he first preached and established congregations in the region known in the first century as Galatia. Some of the pain was physical (see Acts 13, 14, especially 14:19 where it is recorded that Paul’s Jewish opponents stoned him in the city of Lystra, dragged him out of town, and left him for dead). After some time he’s still experiencing great emotional, mental, and spiritual anguish over the Galatians who are being led astray by false teachers trying to convince them to trust in and keep the Law of Moses for salvation instead of trusting and obeying Christ and His gospel (Galatians 1:1-9 and all of chapter 2). Now in 4:19 he uses childbirth and the agonizing pain that accompanied it in ancient days (modern medicine has relieved some, but not all, of the pain of birthing a child) as a metaphor. He confesses he is in that kind of intense anguish “again” and declares it will continue “until Christ is formed in you.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines this phrase as meaning, “literally, until a mind and life in complete harmony with the mind and life of Christ shall have been formed in you.” God’s goal for us is “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:17a). His will is that we walk and act “just as He    walked” (1 John 2:6). To end where we began above, we must not be like Kevin. We must be like Christ.

by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

By All Means!

The apostle Paul was driven by a conviction many in the church lack today. A scan of 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 reveals an unquenchable fire burned deep inside his heart — a deep love and compassion not only for Christ but also for the immortal souls of men and women. The text says to the Jew he became as a Jew, to the Gentile he became a Gentile, to the weak he became as weak. His purpose? “... that I might win the more ... that I might by all means save some” (vs 19, 22b). No real student of the New Testament would take Paul’s words to mean he ever changed or adapted the gospel message and its demands to fit whatever crowd he happened to be in. He is not arguing that the church should adapt the Gospel so that it will be more acceptable to the culture or people or age we happen to be in (Galatians 1:6-9 * 1 Corinthians 4:17). Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow” insofar as His spiritual accomplishments in our behalf, His commands to us in the Gospel, and the promises He holds out to the faithful (Hebrews 13:8). The same gospel system and process that made a Jew a Christian in the first century also made a Gentile a Christian (Acts 15:11 * Romans 10:12 * Mark 16:15-16 * Acts 2:36-38 * Acts 10:47-48). Paul is not saying he changed the gospel to reach Jews or Gentiles. He is saying he wants to make the gospel available to as many people as possible. And he is willing to do anything within the will of God to accommodate himself to that end, his personal customs and conveniences aside! Note again, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” Note Paul said “some.” He was never under the illusion he could bring the whole world to Christ. Some are unwilling to give their lives to Christ no matter what means we use. But that didn’t dampen his passion to bring Christ to the whole world if he could by any means do so.                   

What means have you used to save some? Have you used any?  Are you praying for someone you know is lost? What have you done to bridge the gap between yourself and some lost person so that you might win them to Christ? In a Gospel Advocate magazine article back in October 1989 Don Humphrey wrote an article entitled: “Jonah – An Unwilling Missionary.” His words still sober my soul to this day — “Someone observed that the average member of the church of Christ has heard 4,000 sermons, sung 20,000 songs, participated in 8,000 public prayers, and saved zero sinners. How close to average are you?” I do not mean to indict every member of the body of Christ. The years have taught me there are always Christians with no desire for recognition who are involved in ongoing and intentional efforts to reach their children, neighbors, friends, and co-workers for Christ. They visit, pray, live a Christ-like life before others, regularly invite people to attend worship and Bible study-assemblies. They eagerly share their faith verbally and tactfully, and study the Bible with other people. Many who can’t “go” themselves “become fellow-workers for the truth” (3 John 8) by supporting efforts to reach others, far and near. Behind it all is a passion for souls, a willingness to “by all means save some.” How about it? What means are you using to save some? 

by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Holy Unclaimed Inheritance!

 "It turns out it’s not just in the movies that you can get a huge inheritance from that uncle you never knew about.” Those are the opening words of an October 24, 2022, article by Mack Liederman posted on the internet @ blockclubchicago.org. The long title of the article succinctly summed up its contents: “A Chicago Man Quietly Left Behind $11 Million — The Largest Unclaimed Estate In American History.” The article told about Joseph Stancak who lived a quiet life in Gage Park (near Chicago). Stancak, who never married and had no children or immediate family, was found dead in his modest bungalow in 2016, according to the state treasurer’s office. He was 87 years old. Little was known about him. He left no will. But according to Rudy Quinn, president of

Linking Assets Inc. (a company that finds unclaimed money), what Stancak did leave was $11,000,000! It took a while but Linking Assets Inc. finally unraveled his accounts and family tree. That tree includes 119 heirs located in the U.S. but also Canada and several European nations. Piercey noted that after taxes, the average heir would get a check in the $60,000 range. None of them had heard of Stancak before, said attorney Kenneth Piercey who represents Stancak’s estate, adding, “There’s no shortage of people who had money tucked away and nobody ever knew.”

Anybody reading this thinking about checking it out to see if you were distantly related to Stancak?! His estate may be the largest estate in American history, but it is not the largest unclaimed estate in the world’s history. Not by a long shot. The apostle Paul describes that estate in Galatians 4:1-11. His words in that text are part of his long argument that salvation and right standing before God are not achieved through the works of the law of Moses or dependence upon any merely human work that earns or merits salvation. Instead, he argues justification before God is received as a gift through an obedient faith that spiritually puts us in Christ (the gist of that message in Galatians is succinctly summed up in the passages found at 2:16 and 3:26-29). Now, in the passage at 4:1-11 Paul argues the law of Moses had a temporary purpose “until the time appointed” (vs 2) ... But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent for this His Son ... to redeem those born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (vs 4-5). He continues in vs 6 that “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” providing an intimacy with God so close we can cry out, “Abba, Father!” That phrase was used by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in His agonized prayer the night Judas betrayed Him (see Mark 14:36). “Abba Father” occurs in the New Testament only one other time at Romans 8:15. There Paul uses it in the context of us having “received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’ ”, indicating a an especially close intimacy. God has declared He wants to adopt us! If we trust and obey the Gospel of Christ and live in union with Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin but sons  (and daughters of God), “and if a son, then an heir, an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 3:7), and a “joint heir with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17)! The inheritance He promises is literally out of this world (1 Peter 1:4), and gloriously rich (Ephesians 1:18). Those who obey God’s will tap into staggering spiritual riches, summarized in Ephesians 3:8 as “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” God has an eternal inheritance for all who are willing to come into and stay in Christ. Don’t leave that holy inheritance unclaimed!

    by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN