October 25, 2017 - "Obedience Versus Sacrifice"

Chaplain’s Corner

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Obedience Versus Sacrifice

Greetings Patriots!

Today, I would like to talk with you about obedience. For some perspective, I wanted to offer a scripture today as a life-lesson:

But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” - 1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV)

In the last few weeks, some things have been weighing heavily on my heart and mind. As a Chaplain, I expect to be met with resistance when I am having dialogues with non-Christians. In this world today, it has become fashionable to be “counter-culture” and extreme in so many ways. It seems like every day you see someone doing or saying something outrageous that shocks the world, and people immediately react, and then they start taking sides. And the cycle just keeps going on and on. Sadly, those things that were once considered “outrageous” soon become commonplace and are relegated to “non-issues” by many people. They say that when a lie is told often enough, it eventually becomes accepted as truth. I guess that would explain why, when people do outrageous things long enough, those things seem to become the “new normal.”

What is really breaking my heart lately is becoming so aware of the pervasive acceptance of outright, absolute sin in the Christian community. People who have really accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and are truly indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are supposed to go through a life-changing transformation. As we surrender to Him, we allow Him to sit on the thrones of our hearts, and dictate to us what is good and bad, right and wrong. Our old views, thoughts, prejudices, and habits come under close scrutiny and we see that there is a need to shed the old life of the flesh, and put on the new life of the spirit. It is not something that is done overnight. It is a life-long endeavor. There will be times when we may slip and fall, or “backslide” as some of us say, but these are to be the exceptions to the rule, and not the rule itself. Our course of life should show steady improvement, in the direction of holiness as we seek to be like our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It seems that we sometimes find ourselves actually fighting against God. We resist His work in us as He cleans the impurities out of our hearts and minds. We may be all for finding fault with things that do not readily include or affect ourselves personally. For example, I do not drink, and so I have no problem heeding God’s command not to be a drunkard. I am a happily married man, with eyes only for my wife, and so I have no problem heeding God’s counsel against fornication and/or adultery. I try to live a good, clean, moral life and I try to reflect the love of Christ in my everyday dealings with others. But what if a brother comes to me and shows me that I am involved in something in my life that brings dishonor to God and makes a mockery of my claim to “walk with God?” What am I supposed to do with that?

I have found lately that more and more Christians are getting comfortable with “winking” at, or even advocating for blatant sin. They may even think they are showing Christ-like love in doing it. They may feel that no one can judge another man’s actions and that calling attention to sin is actually rude and evil and not of God. Sadly, more and more Christians are succumbing to this mistake, because they see others doing it, and they rationalize that it must be right. Christians do not want to be regarded as haters or racist or judgmental, so they stop saying anything against blatant sin in this world. They still may speak of their love of God, and their desire to see others embrace salvation in the Blood of the Lamb, but they seem to stop short of telling the whole story. They seem to want to leave out the part about why we need that salvation in the first place. They don’t seem to want to mention that we as humans are born messed up, to begin with. They don’t want to talk about the fact that we are all deficient, and fall short of the Glory of God, and even our most holy acts and honorable deeds in life are as filthy rags before the Perfect, Holy God. Some forget to mention that we have to embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior and accept Him as the Ruler of our hearts, lives, devotion, our thinking, actions, and motivation. We have to be sure to explain to people that the key to salvation is to turn around from our walk toward sin and follow Jesus as we walk away from that life of sin and debauchery. It is repentance from the lives we once lived, and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He changes us into a New Creation in Christ, that gives us access to the Throne. God then sees us through the lens of perfection and absolute holiness as we accept the Blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It is that relationship we have with our God that changes us and equips us for holy acts of righteousness. We cease to let our flesh rule our lives. We cease to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. We willingly give up that throne in our heart to the Kingship and Leadership of our perfect and Holy God.

People today seem to have a favorite expression. They say, “It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.” By that, they mean that if you want to do something you know you are not allowed to do, then all you have to do is depend on the good graces of forgiveness and go ahead and do it anyway, even when you know it is wrong. Some people will cloud the issue by saying that they did the wrong thing, but for the right reason. So, out of great love for their children, they will accept wrongdoing and even endorse and/or enable it in a mistaken attempt at “parental love.” Sadly, these people have no concept of the great HARM they are doing their children. By not having rules, standards, and a system of accountability in their lives, they are making it impossible for their children to learn some of the most important of life’s lessons. Life is hard. The fact is, choices always come with consequences. Bad choices will bring bad consequences. Not teaching your children the basics of morality and a love for God and His standards, is not an act of love. Proverbs 13:24 says that if you do not discipline your child, you hate your child.

We see people who want to show love and support for a woman who has found herself pregnant. She feels the answer is to terminate that pregnancy. There are those, even well-meaning Christians, who think that the loving thing to do is support her in her decision to have an abortion. Give her love and comfort and tell her it’s all right. Tell her God understands. Tell her whatever she wants to hear, but please don’t tell her the truth, because it may offend her or hurt her feelings. She is feeling very vulnerable, maybe even suicidal. The only way to really “help” her and show her “real love” is to support her in her mindset, and try to shield her from anything anyone may say to give her pause for thought. After all, it is only a “fetus,” right? It’s not really a real human life yet, right? It’s only a “potential life,” right? If we dehumanize that baby enough, it makes it easier and easier to make that decision to end the pregnancy. No regrets. No looking back. And, unfortunately, it gets easier and easier every time after that. Those people who “love” this woman choose to enable her to make poor choices rather than offer her help to see the seriousness of it all. They choose a lie over the truth. All for the “right reasons.” Meanwhile, a child has been murdered. How do you think God feels about that?

Now, let’s get really serious. How do you think God feels about sexual sin? The first thing many people will say is, “Who do you think you are, to decide what is sin and what is not sin?” Our discussion so far has shown that the only One we are to be concerned about is God and His opinion of what sin is. The issue here is: Do we want to be loyal and faithful to our Holy and Righteous God, and live by and support His Divine Will? Or do we want to remove God from the throne of our hearts and say, “My will be done?” Do you want to do whatever you want in life, and hope for forgiveness? Or are you willing to simply obey Him, to begin with? Do you think that God prefers us to be obedient and loyal to His will, even when it may cause discomfort in our lives or that of others around us? Or do you feel that the forgiveness of our sins that is offered by the Blood of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary is basically a license to sin? The Apostle Paul had a lot to say about that in Romans chapter 7. Read the whole chapter and decide what God is trying to tell you about how to live your life.

So, how do you feel about sex outside of marriage? Is it okay for to people who love the Lord to simply live together and make a family without being married? What about homosexuality? What about pedophilia? What about bestiality? Does God have an opinion on these things, or are they subject to our “feelings” and “desires” and what we consider normal?  Are we of the mind that since God created our bodies, and He created the sexual union, then He should be the final arbiter of what is right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral? Or do we have the mindset that we know better than Him, and the Bible is old-fashioned, and out of date? Are we of the opinion that as more and more people around us seem to be embracing a whole new way of looking at sexuality, that it must be okay? Are we really comfortable changing God’s standards simply because it makes life a little more comfortable in our society today? Are we really showing love when we offer comfort and moral support of those who have decided that they are the exception to the rule, and they are “special” and they can do as they please without consequence?

So, many Christians use the expression, “Love the sinner, but hate the sin.” Actually, that is not a Biblical quote, and so some people say it is not really a Christian principle. I did a quick word search online and found this small snippet in an article at “Questions.org”:

“How exactly does that work? We hate sin by recognizing it for what it is, refusing to take part in it, and condemning it as contrary to God’s nature. Sin is to be hated, not excused or taken lightly. We love sinners by showing them respect (1 Peter 2:17), praying for them (1 Timothy 2:1), and witnessing to them of Christ. It is a true act of love to treat someone with respect and kindness even though you do not approve of his or her lifestyle or sinful choices.

“It is not loving to allow a person to remain stuck in sin. It is not hateful to tell a person he or she is in sin. In fact, the exact opposites are true. Sin leads to death (James 1:15), and we love the sinner by speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We hate the sin by refusing to condone, ignore, or excuse it.”

So, to sum it up, how is a Christian to deal with matters of morality that have been twisted and perverted by an ungodly world? Are we doing anyone any favors or showing true Christian love if we accept and support and even advocate for lifestyles or acts that fly in the face of God’s standard of morality? There is never any excuse to be hateful or disrespectful of those who may be caught up in that lifestyle. However, showing true Christian love and respect for them as people does not equate to aligning ourselves with their causes and advocating for their rights to indulge in their lifestyles. We cannot change people for the better. All we can do is give them a good example and pray for them, and plead that God will touch their hearts and convict them of their sins, and their need for salvation and repentance. We can love our neighbors as we love ourselves without condoning their rebellious behavior against God. It is important to make a stand in this wicked world. Remember:

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15

God bless you, every one, and:
God Bless America!
Stephen King
Chaplain@3upi.com