Life / Religion / Philosophy / Science / Polictics

Tag: Honor

  • Are You Silent When Accused?

    For the vast majority of us, when accused of wrong doing, we are quick to voice our defense.  Even when we know we are wrong we are wont to profess our innocence.  It seems to be something about human nature that leaves us unable to not respond.  Few, if any of us, will stand before our accusers and remain silent.

    I learned a very valuable lesson years ago.  And that is, you cannot defend your own honor.  I was caught in a situation where a member of a church had been involved in a horrific accident and died.  The Pastor of the church was away at the time.  The nature of the tragedy was such that it caught the attention of the local news, who ended up reporting on the death and the horrible events that had befallen the immediate family for several nights (it was over a weekend as I recall).  The news stories prompted an outpouring of support for the surviving family members from the local community.  But no one knew where to send their gifts, that is until word got out that the family attended the same church that I did.  People began to send their gifts to the church.  The church treasurer, who had not encountered any similar situation in the past, took the monetary gifts, carefully logged them, and then deposited them into the church’s general funds.

    When the pastor returned from his trip the local news station stopped by for an interview with him.  Questions began to arise as to the disposition of the donated funds.  The pastor accurately reported the state of the funds, however, you may imagine how it sounded in the press when they relayed that the gifts had gone into the churches general bank account.  The pastor came under great scrutiny and there were many negative articles in the press.  The more the pastor tried to explain the situation, the more outrageous the nightly news became.  It was as if his explanations were falling on deaf ears.

    Finally, to get out from underneath the firestorm of the press, the church opened a charitable fund in the name of the family who had suffered the tragedy, placed all previously donated money into that fund, made a rather generous contribution to the fund itself, and then had a moderator (a third-party individual with nothing to gain or lose) hold a press conference and announce the fund, publically release the ledger of current donations, and request that all future donations go to that fund.

    No longer was the story a hot topic on the nightly news, and the pastor of the church was no longer under the spotlight.  I remember he came to me shortly thereafter and told me, “Paul, you cannot defend your own honor.”  And he was right.  When you try to defend your own honor it rings hollow in the ears of your accusers.  Yet we all seem to rush to do it anyway.

    However, today, I’d like to consider one who did not jump to their own defense.  So much so, that the magistrate who presided over the case was left in awe of the individual.  The story is found in Matthew 27:11-14 and goes like this:

    Matthew 27:11-14King James Version (KJV)

    11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.  12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.  13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?  14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

    One might wonder why Jesus stood silent before his accusers.  Indeed most people approach this passage with regard to what Jesus did, as can be found here.  I’d like people to consider this passage from another perspective.  And that is from the point of view of all the people who said nothing on Jesus’ behalf.

    Consider the great silence in the hall of justice as Jesus stood facing his accusers.  It was so great that Pilate was in awe (he marveled greatly).  Jesus said nothing in his own defense, but neither did anyone else.

    Where were the Disciples who had followed him all throughout the land for three years?  Where were the multitudes of people he had healed over that time?  Where were the lame, whom He had made to walk, the blind whom He had made to see, the sick whom He had healed?  Where was the woman, who caught in the very act of adultery, when brought before him heard the words “Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”?  Where were all of the people who could have come to the defense of Jesus and testified on his behalf of the proof that they had been given that he was indeed the Son of the Living God?

    You see, I believe that Jesus stood silent before his accusers not only because he was obedient to the Father and was headed to the Cross, but also because he was waiting to see who would step forward to proclaim him Lord.

    And I believe he is doing the same thing today.  Jesus is silently sitting in Heaven at the Right Hand of the Father, waiting to see if you, and I, and others around us will come to his defense.

    And just like that court some two thousand years ago, the silence today is deafening.  We might as well stand in just as much awe and wonder of the silence as Pilate did when Jesus stood before him.

    Yes, Jesus could walk the Earth today and proclaim that he is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  But He would be met by skepticism and ridicule.  However, if those of us who have had our lives touched by Him step forward, one-by-one, and give witness as to how He has healed, how He has forgiven, and how He has saved, that builds a very powerful defense indeed.

    Will you?  Will you join me and give witness to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Christ, Jesus, the Son of the Living God, today?  I believe he is silently waiting for us to do so.

  • Expectations In Life …

    Expectations in life can be a roller coaster ride.  A series of ups and downs and twists and turns.  Sometimes you are upside down and other times you are plummeting straight towards the ground.

    There are many religions in the world that teach transcendental meditation as a way of emptying oneself or removing all expectations from ones life.  However, while proclaiming this is the path to fulfilment or completeness, they do little to explain what that state is when achieved, and why it is to be desired.

    For the true atheist there is no good way to manage expectations.  Since this life is all there is, you either go for the gold or you do not.  Either way, you are bound to be disappointed at some point in time.  But it is kind of shallow since whatever your expectations are, they are temporal in the here and now.  The true atheist can only be happy or sad in the present moment and is in a constant pursuit of the next stage of happiness.

    In reality, the true atheist is not seeking the betterment of others because they desire the well being of the other person, but rather because by helping (or perceiving to help) the other person they themselves experience some type of satisfaction or feeling of accomplishment.  But why is that?  Why does generosity or kindness to another bring a sense of fulfilment to the person offering that kindness?

    For the theist the management of expectations and the inequities in life are a much different matter.  The theist should realize that they are part of a much grander plan and that the Master (God) is the architect of that plan.  And for the Christian specifically, they should realize that the grander plan has many different forces at work within it.

    I believe that a majority of stress and anxiety people experience in their lives is due to mismanaged expectations.  Mismanaged expectations lead to the roller coaster ride we experience when we find ourselves in the middle of situations we did not plan for, or places that we believe to be unfair, or a condition outside of our control.  And it is that roller coaster ride that leads to the stress and anxiety within our lives.  And that has a devastating effect on us spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

    Jesus Christ said it like this:

    “7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.  8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;  9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.  10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.  11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.  12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.  13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:  14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”  (Luke 14:7-14)

    But Jesus was not telling us we should not be without hope, rather he was telling us that  we should not assume that place which we are not offered and we should manage our expectations.

    Everyone wants to sit at the head of the table.  The problem with the head of the table is there are limited seats of honor.  If every seat is the seat of honor then we should have no expectations at all.  However since every seat is not the seat of honor (nor can they be), we should manage our desires and seek the lower seat until asked by the Master to move to the head of the table.

    This is contrary to the thinking of the world today.  Everyone wants the best that life has to offer.  Some would view Jesus’s teachings on this point as that of a defeatist attitude or a meek and underwhelming person.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

    It is equally as dangerous to attempt to manipulate the system.  If you sit at the lowest place for the express purpose of gaining the Master’s attention and then you are passed over, you run the risk of becoming angry because you were not noticed.

    It is not how you play the game, it is where you heart is at within the game.  A right heart will manage expectations appropriately and as such will not be offended sitting at the lowest place or the highest.  A right heart will stay in tune with the Master desiring his will and to serve him completely.  A right heart will avoid stress and anxiety in life not by attempting to empty oneself, but rather by putting oneself into a right relationship with God.

    I will be the first to admit that this is one of the more difficult lessons in life.  And one that I sincerely wish God would teach me more about.  It is hard not to want to sit at a higher place at the table.  Even those that have no desire to sit at the head of the table struggle to manage expectations in life.

    But those that do achieve (even on some small level) to place themselves into a right relationship with God have a great reward to look forward to.  It was this same Jesus which also said:

    “29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.  30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”  (Matthew 19:29-30)

    There are going to be quite a few surprised people in the new life when they learn that their place is not what they thought it was going to be.

    So what are your expectations in life?  Mine are having a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.