I have been thinking about writing about whether prayer really works or not for some time now. I found myself studying a great deal about prayer from scripture and books I haven’t read in years. I wanted to, as it were, “Hit All The Bases” on the subject rather than giving some flash-in-the-pan quick answers.

As we have been exploring the ethical issue of lying I have tried to cover the subject from a biblical perspective which states that God first and foremost hates lying. Why? Because at its core lying is about deception and harm. In part four I started to unpack different people from scripture that lied, and it would seem did not suffer for it.

In these articles on the subject of lying we have attempted to understand the why and the why not of telling the truth all the time. Making a hard law out of something the scripture does not teach is wrong but many times we try to justify a truth that seems right to us without really investigating the “Whole Truth” of God’s Word. Take, for example, the law of God about committing adultery. The pharisees who wanted to trap Jesus used the law of God against him so they brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to be judged by him. They thought they had him over a barrel where he would have to uphold the law and agree to stone the woman or show mercy and prove he was a law breaker. Jesus turned the tables on them and exposed their hypocrisy! If you haven’t read the first three articles please do so before reading this one or it will not make sense.

We have been looking at the topic of lying and whether as Christians we have become comfortable with others, and ourselves, telling lies.  One thing to consider is how our background shapes a lot of our morals and that is why the apostle Paul instructed the believer not to be conformed to the way the world thinks or its pattern of thinking but to be changed in how we think guided by the word of God. (Romans 12:2) If you haven’t read the first two articles with this title please do so first before proceeding with this article. They are linked together so if you miss one article in this series there will be holes in the reasoning behind my argument. 

The first article with this same title and subject came from a devotional I posted on Facebook entitled “Are You Being Deceived?”  In our current culture, people not only engage in hearing and repeating lies, they lie themselves. A number of research papers claim that the average person tells about twenty five lies a day and that 91% of all people lie! Though I find these statistics hard to believe, I do believe we tell more lies than we care to admit or confess to. Why? I think we have become jaded in our resolution to be truthful because so many others do and we just go with the flow and start doing the same.

This article comes from a devotional subject I posted a few days ago on my Facebook page entitled “Are You Being Deceived?” in which I posed the question of wether we are discriminating in the kind of people we fellowship with, or are we allowing people who lie to us and others into our lives? One person asked the question of “Is It Always Wrong To Lie” or are there situations in which lying is allowed by God. So let’s get started!

Principles for both the individual, as well as a business or government, are crucial to strength and success. Our principles are either just a bunch of hot air or something we truly believe in and practice. Today in America, in just one generation, the principles we as a nation have relied on for over 200 years to keep us steady and growing is about to collapse. Our government is at a tipping point of tossing our constitution in the waste paper basket for a “New Idea“, which in fact is an old idea of socialism and communism.

Are we prone to judge people who we discover have some sin in their past or current lives? I think all to often as Christians, we want to live for Jesus in a sincere and honorable way, but when we discover some sin or fault in others we are quick to pass judgement because in some way these faulty people reflect poorly on our values and morals. The question is, are these principles we claim to hold real reflections of how we treat others, or just how we want to be treated?

We live in an age in which people are clamoring for the newest and latest singer, musician or actor to entertain them. It seems even in sports that for the most part no longer are people able to identify an athlete or sports hero that lives a life that defines good character and values. It seems the teams and athletes are concerned more about if they can beat the next team. Why is this? How have we advanced as a society and culture only to throw our advancements into the proverbial toilet?  Simply put, we sold our principle for gain.

When you study history one thing becomes clear, when a culture no longer cares about others that culture is doomed to extinction. The old saying, “If we don’t learn from the mistakes of the past we are bound to repeat them” may not be as correct as we thought. It may be if we don’t learn from our past successes and failure we won’t be around.

The Founding Fathers of our nation sacrificed everything, including their lives, to secure a nation that would out last themselves if only the future government and people were governed by men and women of principles. These principles were written into the Constitution of the United States and have, for the most part, served  this country well for over 200 years but this also seems to be changing. Let me first define what principles are and then move on with my observation of why we are losing ground fast.  I believe America and Christians are at a crossroad.

PRINCIPLES –

“A fundamental TRUTH or proposition that serves as foundation for a system of belief or behavior or chain of reasoning”

Though we still have the original Constitution on paper its principles are being eroded quickly by unprincipled leaders in America. Now, the stupid part is these rotten leaders are voted in by the general population. So who is to blame? I would suggest both though we need to investigate why. This is like the question, “Which came first the chicken or the egg? To me, its pretty simple. The chicken, of course, and then the chickens started laying eggs.

Principles, as good as they may be, can be lost or ruined. What the Constitution defines can not guarantee future generations success if they do not embrace those principles and understand how to protect them for future generations. From my perspective, if you want to dismantle a group or a nation you have to “Uneducate” the population so that they can’t comprehend what good principles are and then you can strip those principles away.  Once that happens you can build a system that makes little sense but seems to benefit the masses, at least in appearance. This would be branded as “Situational Ethics” which in truth is no ethics at all. Let me illustrate.

The story of the first king of Israel illustrated how situational ethics work and how God hates a false presentation of what godly leadership should look like. God defines in his word that he wants people who stand on the principles of his word that defines what justice and fairness looks like. So, let’s take a look at Saul and what happened to him and Israel when leaders acted like hypocrites and led their people astray.

1 Samuel 9:17                                                                                                                                                                                             When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

The first king of Israel was not only a capable leader, he also was defined as a “Mighty Man of Valor”. You would think with that reputation he would have been a good pick to lead Israel. Secondly, he was handsome and taller than any other Israelite. Thirdly, and most importantly, scripture says God changed him from the inside out.  Look at what happened when the prophet Samuel anointed him.

1 Samuel 10:9-10                                                                                                                                                                                            As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.

So everything points to a great start in the man and his leadership except it doesn’t work out that way. Within a short period of time, when the pressure was on, Saul compromised first with God and his directions and secondly, with his army which followed him. When a leader compromises on his principles (beliefs) he can be persuaded to do anything if the price is right or if the fear of loss is great. Saul compromised so badly that God took away his right to be king even though God intended to have him and his family be the line that future kings would come from. Samuel the prophet gave a stern warning about losing the principles of following the Lord and his commands. Saul heard this same warning yet failed to follow them himself.

Here is the predicament. If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

So, the story goes that Saul and the Israelites get some courage now that they have a king to lead them and they rebel against the Philistines who were a bigger and stronger nation. During this confrontation, Israel became scared and went into hiding so king Saul started to lose his confidence. He abandoned his principles and thus started to offer sacrifice before going to battle, which is something he knew was forbidden. This was all for appearances, not for God’s future blessing in battle. Why did he do this? He did it because his principles were situationally driven, not heart driven, even though God changed his heart at the beginning of his kingship.

1 Samuel 13:7-10                                                                                                                                                                                       Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

Samuel is so mad that he prophesies the end of Saul’s kingship as it was just getting started. Samuel said Saul’s obedience was more important than his sacrifices. Saul chose to violate principles for appearance with his troops.

What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

I will continue this topic on the importance of our principles in part two and focus on how there are consequences when we sell these principles for an advantage with people, power or wealth. Saul, even though he was changed, corrupted his changed heart and the same can happen to us.

Questions

1) Do you have principles that you live by? God’s word should be your standard to develop them.

2) Have you compromised the principles you currently have? Confess your failure to stand on your principles and then ask the Holy Spirit to reveal why this happened.

May the Holy Spirit give us a mind to think clearly.

Pastor Dale

When the early church got started, after the resurrection of Christ, many people were afraid to identify themselves as “Christian” because that put them at odds with the religious community of elders and pharisees who hated Jesus, and the political community that believed Caesar was god and didn’t tolerate dissent. How things have changed since then in America. we are now at the point where rappers and other musicians, who curse all through their songs, wear chains with large crosses as a status symbol of style and populatity. It seems Christianity is no longer a threatened religious group in America but rather a badge of idenity that is supported by the current culture. That is, unless it’s Christianty based on scripture and not just feelings.

But what if Christianity is not being embraced in it’s original form and content? What if the Christianity we hear about today is no more than a shell of the original faith of the early church and the church throughout the ages until now? What if the word Christian has been “Hijacked” by a humanistic culture and branded as the real deal?

There was a recent study by the Pew Research Center that stated that 468 of the 531 members of the 117th Congress discribed themselves at Christian. Now we should expect anyone that professes Christ as their Lord and Savior would be governed with Godly intent and pass laws that make our nation truly an example to the world. Instead we have seen just the opposite. Why the difference between their profession and their fruit, you may ask? The only answer must be that they are merely following the teaching of the churches they attend and are never held accountable to any real Christian standards. Consider just one law that has been on the books since 1973 and the consequences of not rejecting such a law. Roe v Wade has been responsible for killing over 62 million babies. Why? Partly because the professing Christians do not feel convicted to change that law.

So many people who profess Christ as their savior have little to no knowledge of what that profession means or embraces. Many professing Christians have little to no knowledge of the qualifications of claiming Christ because they don’t read the scriptures for themselves, nor do they read the stories and biographies of genuine Christians from the past. How can a person believe they follow Jesus when they don’t truly know what Jesus believed or taught? It’s like claiming to be a doctor but never going to school to train as one. That would and should be labled as either a fraud or decived.

I worked as an auto mechanic while planting and pastoring churches. The reason for this is I didn’t want to burden these new churches with a financial drain, and I felt it was a good witness to unbelievers to offer the preaching and pastoring at no cost. The interesting thing is I found many guys working in automotive shops who should have been classified as “Parts Changers” rather than mechanics. They either had no training or they had no mechanical gifting, or both. They only knew how to replace parts. There are a lot of “Professing Christians” who have learned the Christian lingo but who don’t have the experience of yielding to the Lordship of Christ.

There was a movie in 2002 called “Catch Me If You Can” with Leonardo DiCaprio who played the part of a young man named Frank Abagnale who ran away from home as a teen and pretended to be an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. He learned enough about each profession that he fooled many people about who and what he did in life. Just like in the movie, I believe there are a lot of people like Frank who have learned to “Pretend” they are followers of Christ when in fact they have merely learned to mimic Christian behavior often eventually fooling others, including themselves.

King Saul, Israel’s first king, started out well but soon compromised his values to gain an advantage with his followers. God had to remove him because of his compromise and bring David in as a king who would honor him and his Word. David had a real understanding of what it meant to believe and follow God. Granted, he made a lot of mistakes in his life, yet the core of his life was founded and anchored in a deep trust of God that shaped and guided his life. God’s confession of David was that he, unlike so many others, was a man after God’s own heart. That means he had the same values and pursuits as God. To have God testify this about us as true followers of Christ is what we should hope and long for.

1 Samuel 13:13-14

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

So many professing Christians don’t read the Old Testament and thus fail to understand what God’s character is or what he is looking for in his followers. Jesus is not looking for fair weather followers who compromise their faith at every turn. He is looking for faithful people who, when they make mistakes, ask for forgivness and repent. David understood God’s heart and his need for God to examine him regularly lest he drift from being a true follower of God.

Psalms 26:2-4

Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders.

David’s position is he wanted God to examine his heart and mind to verify his intent in life, and he boldly states he doesn’t want to listen or hangout with pretenders. How different it is today when many are taught to not judge others and accept everyone without exception, believer or nonbeliever. When Christianity has no standard other than acceptance we have no standard at all. How we are suppose to love everyone and accept everyone even if their lifestyle and behavior conflicts with our own or the Bible. Now I know we are to love everyone, but to embrace wrong behavior purely because someone claims to be Christian is foolishness. Look at what David prophesied about God’s desire for his people and about what happens to those who merely pretend faith.

Psalms 81:13-16

Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Let me leave you with a sobering thought and example of the difference between those who profess faith but have very little fruit to back up their claims, and those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus to lead them each and every day.

Consider once again what the apostle Paul says about the last days, which I believe we are currently in:

2 Timothy 3:1-3

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 

Questions:

1) Is your faith built on scripture or feeling? Only faith built on the Word of God will endure and be accepted by God on the judgement day

2) Would your faith convict you in a court of law? If it was against the law to believe in Christ and trust him? Jesus said by our fruit will we be evaluated.

May God help us to surrender daily to the Lordhsip of Christ so that our profession is justified before a watching world.

Pastor Dale