What Good Is There In The Morning?

All too often we casually greeted our loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and neighbors "Good Morning!"  When we were little boys we were taught to greet everybody we meet on the street "Good Morning."  

At ABS-CBN Channel 3 every morning except on the weekend the program "Naimbag Nga Morning" or "Good Morning" is aired.  This program is the medium through which news and new things are made known to the public. 

I remember a past incident when I greeted my older brother “Good Morning!”  I was surprised for he answered rather insolently “what good is there in the morning anyway?” 

So in remembrance of my dear brother who is now with the Lord I want to address this subject: What Good Is There In The Morning?

There is cultural aspects of the night.  Night is often associated with danger and evil, because of the psychological connection of night's all-encompassing darkness to the fear of the unknown and darkness's obstruction of a major sensory system (the sense of sight). Nighttime is naturally associated with vulnerability and danger for human physical survival. Criminals, animals, and other potential dangers can be concealed by darkness. Midnight has a particular importance in human imagination and culture.

The belief in magic often includes the idea that magic and magicians are more powerful at night. Seances of spiritualism are usually conducted closer to midnight. Similarly, mythical and folkloric creatures as vampires and werewolves are described as being more active at night. Ghosts are believed to wander around almost exclusively during night-time. In almost all cultures, there exist stories and legends warning of the dangers of night-time. In fact, the Saxons called the darkness of night the 'death mist'.

In literature, night and the lack of light are often color-associated with blackness which is historically symbolic in many cultures for villainy, non-existence, or a lack of knowledge (with the knowledge usually symbolized by light or illumination).

On the other hand, in the Western culture night is often associated with having fun. This is testified by the existence of night clubs.  (Source: Wikipedia)

So when morning comes, it ends the night.  The dawning of the day heralds or proclaims the beginning of life anew.  At night as if we are dead because there is not much difference between a sleeping person and a dead person.  That's why when morning comes as if we were resurrected back to life. And it is really good to be alive and behold the light of a new day.  

Jeremiah exclaimed:  "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:21, 22).  His hope is anchored on God's steadfast love, tender mercies or compassion, and faithfulness.

That makes the good morning really good.  And His mercy is always new and fresh each morning. And we never ran out of His mercy.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers".  In his sermon "The Novelties of Divine Mercy" using the texts in Lamentations said that our beds were not our tombs and it is great mercy that we are still alive.   That makes the morning good. And that indeed the reason to praise God each morning.  

Squashing the Ephitet Ugly Evangelical Christians

In 1955, the floodgates for air travel were opened wide.  Many wealthy Americans started to travel across the globe to different places unknown and unfamiliar to them.  Naturally they were shocked by the culture and customs of the people in the strange places they were visiting. The local people likewise were shocked by the tactless and inconsiderate manners of some of the American tourists. Some tourists expect things to be exactly as they are at home and getting upset if they couldn't find an air-conditioned hotel room or ice in their soft drink or someone who speaks English. That's why the American tourists have earned the reputation and epithet as the “Ugly American”.

Ugly American is a pejorative term (pejorative are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste).  The term Ugly American used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home because a stereotypical representation of an American tourist as a brash and insensitive philistine.  The Encarta dictionary defines "Ugly American" as: stereotypical offensive American: a loud, boorish, nationalistic American, especially one traveling abroad, who is regarded as conforming to a stereotype that gives Americans a bad reputation.  Dictionary.com defines "the Ugly American" as: Pejorative term for Americans traveling or living abroad who remain ignorant of local culture and judge everything by American standards.

The epithet of the Ugly American was very popular in the decades of the mid-fifty until the 20^th century. Now we are in the 21^st century, things somewhat have changed. The attitudes of people towards the Americans have changed remarkably well. According to a recent article on CNN.com, the world doesn’t think “Ugly Christians” are quite so ugly anymore.  This perception is fading and diminishing because the American people are now brimming with every race, color and creed.  Also because of intermarriage between with the different ethnics groups in America, the really American people as a race are now a mixture of other races and nationalities.  It is very hard anymore to distinguish and isolate true and pure blooded American.  They adapted and blended with the cultures and manners of life of all the people in the American neighborhoods.

So the “American tourists” seem more able to adapt easily with the particular culture and manner of people in the country they are visiting, for the reason they are already familiar with the various peoples and cultures that exist in their midst.  Also the younger generation in those foreign places welcomes the “American tourists” with an open arms.  Thanks to the worldwide television by satellite and the worldwide web.  They are familiar already with the American way of life through these mediums and they are not shocked a bit when they see Americans exhibiting their eccentricities and perhaps their oddities.  They seem to want also to experience in their life the “American Dream” by which the average American exponentially advocates.

The Statue of Liberty, iconic symbol of the American Dream

 

By way of introduction to this topic, I would like to relate a story I read or heard about Dwight L. Moody and Charles H. Spurgeon.  

For your information, Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899) was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School), the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers. 

 Whereas, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers".

The story goes this way:  While in London, D.L. Moody visited his friend and colleague, C.H. Spurgeon in his home.  Moody when he arrived at Spurgeon’s house, he saw Spurgeon smoking a big Cuban cigar.  Moody exclaimed “you are a man of God, yet you are smoking!”  To which Spurgeon quickly rebutted “you are a man of God, yet you are very fat!”

This simple story or similar stories about the all-too-common-human faults and frailties of Christians have spawn a new epithet stereotyping all Christian as "Ugly Evangelical Christians."  The stereotyping of all Americans as "Ugly Americans" is replaced with the tag "Ugly Evangelical Christians."  This byword is also pejorative, defamatory or abusive word or phrase coined upon us evangelical Christians.

That's why I cannot underestimate the importance of our Christian testimony.  Because people judge the claims of Christ and the veracity of Christianity by the reflections they see through our words and by our deeds.  Even their perceptions of our attitudes and by what we are thinking.   

Some people regard the church as simply the place to "hatch, match, and dispatch." They see the church is nothing more than a place to get baptized, married, and buried.

One person says this about Christians: "The problem is that all the Christians I see when I go to Church to give it a chance, I notice how everyone in there looks desperate. It is sad. Everyone looks like a crack head that hasn't gotten their fix for the day. Also the women are always chubby and look unhealthy like they couldn't run a mile in under 10 minutes. Am I being ethnocentric, or is this part of the Christian religion. To not care so much about your physical appearance/cleanliness?"

Jesus Christ in his famous discourse on the mount of Olives in Matthew 5 used the metaphors of salt and light to describe us Christians and how we ought to live in this present evil world. See Matthew 5:13-16.  He used these two images to describe our Christian's influence and our Christian's testimony in this world.

Firstly, we are likened to salt.  The properties of salt is pure white, it preserves food from putrefaction, it serves as seasoning making food pleasant and palatable. The whole issue of salt is the seasoning, the influence you might say.  Like some one said, “The salt is no good if it never leaves the salt shaker, it is only a decoration to the kitchen table."  We are not to draw away from society, we are not of the world but we live in the world. We deny the function of the salt when we fail to be kind, merciful, and peacemaker.  And if we as Salt don’t rub against those who have no flavor, those who are perishing, who will?  

One of the ways non-Christians judge us is the way we speak.  Scriptures are full of warnings about the use of our tongue.  For examples in Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Col 4:6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.  

Some Christians instead of being Salts of the earth, they are insults.  They bring insult to the Christian religion as a whole thereby bring an occasion for non-Christians to defame the name of our God.  Thus we are being stereotyped as the Ugly Evangelical Christians.

Secondly, Jesus likened Christians to lights.  Jesus said that He was the light of the world (John 8:12).  We Christians are only the reflectors of that one true Light.  To be a light of Jesus is to live His life on earth.  In other words our testimony should reflect the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The functions of light are to expose darkness, light serves as guide, and light is to be seen.  We are to dispel darkness which envelope the whole world.  Every Christian is a light to help others find salvation. Paul wrote in 2Co 4:6  The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.  We are guides to people who are in darkness.  We are to show them how to live.  We need to be a light at all times.  The light of our lives shines not that people will be attracted to us but to the Light Jesus Christ.  Jesus said Mat 4:16  the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."  

Some of us instead of being the lights of the world and the delights of all people by our  testimony, we rather like blights to the world, making our world more blighted or deteriorated morally and spiritually.

The apostle Paul admonishes us in Php 2:14  Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15  that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.  

He likewise charged Titus in 2:7  In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8  Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.  

The apostle Peter also has his share of admonition for us in 1Pe 2:11 I appeal to you, my friends, as strangers and refugees in this world! Do not give in to bodily passions, which are always at war against the soul. 12  Your conduct among the heathen should be so good that when they accuse you of being evildoers, they will have to recognize your good deeds and so praise God on the Day of his coming. 

Our flavorful influence as the Salts of the earth and our delightful testimony as the Lights of the world are two of the ways by which we can squash, suppress, put down, diminish or better yet eliminate the epithet tagged on us as Ugly Evangelical Christians.  We should not allow the epithet to become the epitaph inscribed on our tombstone when we are dead. 

My fellow evangelicals, may we live our lives as the SALTS and LIGHTS of the earth.   And may the God of grace and peace will guard your lives at all times as He equips you with the ability to abound in every good work.  Amen!

Beware of the Leaven of Hypocrisy

 

 

One Sunday morning, Mahatma Gandhi attended a Christian church somewhere in the Bible belt America. Perhaps you have seen pictures of M.G. (like the one above) skinny, baldy, sporting an antique-looking eye glass, austerely and simply clad with white apparel, typical attire of an Indian guru. Apparently his disgusting appearance turned off many members of the said church. Gandhi naturally saw the sneered looks on their faces. He felt the strong vibrations of dislike and prejudice and discrimination against him. After the incident, he openly expressed his disappointment of the way some of the church people regarded him. He commented to his American colleagues that in his home country India there is a caste system. He felt that in the great and famous America there was much worst kind of caste system because it exists even among typical evangelical American churches.

Caste is any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next; jati.  [Source: Dictionary.com]

Later, recounting the incident to a Christian friend, he wrote in one of his letters: "I like your Christ, but I don't like your Christians, because they are not like your Christ."  Perhaps when he said this, Mahatma Gandhi was still thinking of the hypocritical spirit that some evangelical American Christians apparently have shown him.

Mahatma Gandhi later wrote about his perception of religion: “There is no religion higher than Truth and Righteousness. If we commit sins with the name of God on our lips, can we hope to win the grace of God? Suppose one man admits the existence of God, but lives a life of falsehood and immorality, while another knows not the name of God but lives a life of truth and virtue, can there be any doubt as to which should be regarded truly religious as well as moral?”

He is saying that if we profess religion by invoking the name of God on our lips and even make full-proof witness to others the existence of God yet we live a life of falsehood and immorality, Gandhi alluded we are a bunch of hypocrites.  Regrettably there are indeed ugly evangelical Christians in the body of Christ.

The Greek word HOMOLOGIA which is translated PROFESS in English, the word homo means same, and logia means word.  A Christian then who professes religion should live exactly the same in conduct as his word.  His Christian profession jives and harmonizes with his Christian confession.  If he is NOT in practice who and what he claims to be by his word, he is simply a hypocrite.

Hypocrite comes from a word which means "to act a part as on a stage." The hypocrite is a play or a stage, or a movie actor--one who pretends to be what is not in real life. For example, a villain in the movies usually portrays or plays a role, usually a bad and evil personality which in most cases is not true in his/her real life. S/he is just play-acting a role required in the script of the movie. Or s/he is simply playing a hypocrite.

The spiritual leaven of hypocrisy has permeated the mystical body of Jesus Christ--the Church!  The hypocrisy of professing Christians has served as an excuse for many to disregard the claims of Christ, saying, “The church is full of hypocrites.”  Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.

Spiritual hypocrisy is deliberate deception, trying to make people think we are more spiritual than we really are.  It has been said that “a hypocrite is a person who is not himself on Sunday.”  Hypocrisy is the hiding of the things you do, not because you were not supposed to do them, but because you would be ashamed to have them known where you are known.  Now the doing of them is foul, but the hiding of them, in order to appear better than you are, is fouler still.

Someone wrote that "hypocrisy is the vice of vices." The hypocrite gives his tongue to virtue, but his heart is given to vice. The hypocrite loves to talk THE TALK but not walk THE WALK. He is a NATO Christian, which means “No Action Talk Only.”

We are all prone to the deadly sin of hypocrisy. We’ve all been guilty of trying to impress others with our commitment and devotion to Christ, even though we know in our heart that we are exaggerating. We put on our spiritual mask when we’re around others, even though we know, and our family knows that we do not live as we profess to live.

Perhaps some of us oldies remember the country classic song popularized by The Platters in 1953, “The Great Pretender.” Portions of the lyrics read this way:
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending that I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender…
Too real is this feeling of make-believe…
I seem to be what I'm not, you see

The song talked about a guy pretending that all is well with him on the outside, but in reality is lonely in the inside.  The girl of his love left him.  That song depicts that ugly spirit that most if not all of us possess in varying degrees--that pretentious spirit; we make others believe everything is well with us when in fact it is not.  When a person ask us "how are you?" we readily answer "I am fine thank you!"  All the while we are living a miserable and unhappy lives.  We are great pretenders.  We are all guilty of play acting most of the times in our lives. We are all a bunch of hypocrites whether we like to admit it or not.

That’s why I titled this post Beware of the Leaven of Hypocrisy. 

Jesus always hit hypocrisy hard.  In Matthew 23, He pronounced many woes on the scribes and Pharisees, whom He repeatedly called hypocrites. He warned His disciples, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).

Like leaven, hypocrisy starts small and unnoticed. Its growth is insidious, that means slowly and subtly. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But if it is not quickly checked, it spreads and soon corrupts us.  It deceives the person into thinking that things are right between him and God, when in reality; things are left and very wrong. He is a rightist in his lip service but he is a leftist in his heart and practice.  Jesus said that hypocrites honor God with their lips, but their heart is far from him. 

We are like the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day.  We appear beautiful on the outside like white-washed sepulchers, painted with white limes or chalk, but within us are full of "dead men's bones and all uncleaness."   Jesus  said in Mat. 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”

There is so much more to write about hypocrisy.  But it is suffice to end my article with this laughable but insightful story about the two doctors who live in the same house.  One of them is a Medical Doctor (MD), and one is a Doctor of Divinity (DD).  They share many things in common, like the one telephone in the house.  One day their servant receives a call for from a certain caller who wanted to speak with the doctor.  So the servant ask the caller which doctor he wants to speak with -- the doctor who preaches or the doctor who practices?  

If we are true and authentic Christians we are to be both a preacher and practitioner--we are to practice what we preach.  When we are not practicing what we are preaching we are guilty of the sin of hypocrisy. So let us beware of the leaven of hypocrisy of religion which is extant in the Church of God.  Let it not hypocrisy even be once named among us being the saints of the Most High God.  We are now a new person, and our old life of hypocrisy is now past, and we are becoming more and more like our Creator, in him is no guile neither was deceit found in his mouth nor hypocrisy found in his lips.

Love is . . .

I remember a friend of mine was saying to his fiancee "before you do wrong, I would have already forgiven you." It is so easy to say such a thing to a future wife, but in reality it's more of a lip service to impress her and for her to think highly of him as a real gentleman or a gallant man.  A gallant is one who is kind and polite towards women.

However the phrase itself "before you do wrong, I would have already forgiven you" is Biblical.  Because one of the most beautiful descriptions of love in the Bible is, it doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do (1 Cor. 13:5 CEV).   The LIVING BIBLE puts it this way: It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. 

For example, the wife whose husband committed infidelity at some point in their marriage, do not keep a journal of the wrong done many years back.  When her husband is late coming home one night or several nights in a row, the wife under the influence of love or have this grace of love is not malicious, censorious, nor imputes evil motive that her husband is womanizing again.  She doesn't continually fester her husband by reminding him of his infidelity nor harp or to talk continuously about the incident which was past history already.

Or, if one of our friends was found guilty of embezzlement and incarcerated because of it, when we are under the influence of this grace of love does not think of the evil that is done by him.  We desire to think well of him and we give him the benefit of doubt.  We give him the second chance.  God is the God of second chance and many chances for that matter.

Remember the Gospel narrative about Peter asking Jesus "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times."  The meaning is, that we are not to limit our forgiveness to any fixed number of times.  As often as a brother injures us and asks forgiveness, we are to forgive him.  It is, indeed, his duty to ask forgiveness.  If he does this, it is our duty to declare that we forgive him, and to treat him accordingly. If he does not ask us to forgive him, yet we are not at liberty to follow him with revenge and malice, but are still to treat him kindly and to do him good.

The apostle Paul wrote in Col 3:12  Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,   13  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.   14  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

What a beautiful and utopian world to live in when this kind of love is heeded and practiced in all aspects of human relationships.

But this kind of love is possible only when we are truly born from above or born again.  For this kind of love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts. It says in Romans 5:5 that this love of God is diffused by the Holy Spirit, like water is poured out; is abundantly produced, that is copiously or abundantly given to a Christian; making his heart highly conscious of this abundant love to God.

May our life exhibits and exudes this kind of love with the help of God through the dynamic power of His Spirit.

View and listen The Love of God and I Then Shall Live sung by the Gaither Vocal Band.

The Love of God

I Then Shall Live

Death is the Pathway to Life

There is story of a man who have found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.  The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. (Source: Target ICSE)

Metamorphosis: The transformation that takes place inside the chrysalis from caterpillar to adult butterfly.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly
 

Watch this video on the Metarmorphosis: The Beauty & Design of Butterflies

Butterflies go through four stages in life that are considered to be great mysteries. They are real survivors even with life’s many twists and turns. Butterflies have been able to adapt and make it through unimaginable obstacles. Butterflies are holometabolous, experiencing a complete metamorphosis, or in other words, a complete change in body form. They begin life as an egg, then into larva or caterpillar and pupate into an immobile state and emerge as a butterfly, looking nothing like their pre-pupated state.   It is in pupate stage that "death" occurs.  The chrysalis is like the grave wherein the caterpillar experience "death-like" disintegration and corruption. The process inside the chrysalis is very intense. The insect’s body basically is liquefied by digestive fluids and the body is restructured using specialized formative cells. This process is called histogenesis, in which undifferentiated cells are used to build different body tissues. Thus the really amazing and marvelous metamorphosis occurs as the caterpillar  go through the process of histogenesis.

A Stalk of Grains of Wheat

A grain of wheat germinating

Jesus used an astonishing allegory in nature as a symbolic representation of his imminent death. He said in John 12:24 (ESV):  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  The illustration is a beautiful comparison. The whole body or substance of the grain, except the germ, dies in the earth or is decomposed, and this decomposed substance constitutes the first nourishment of the tender germ a nutriment wonderfully adapted to it, and fitted to nourish it until it becomes vigorous enough to derive its support entirely from the ground. All the beauty and richness of the harvest results from the fact that the grain had died. If it had not died it would never have germinated or produced the glory of the yellow harvest. So with him.  Jesus intimates that it was only by his death that he would be glorified for the salvation of men.  By this he still keeps before them the truth that he was to be glorified, but he delicately and beautifully introduces the idea still that he must die.  In this God has shown his wisdom and goodness. No one thing could be more evidently fitted for another than this provision made in the grain itself for the future wants of the tender germ.

So by these two wonders of nature that of a butterfly undergoing the process of transformation and the grain of wheat falling and dying in the ground both illustrate that really DEATH is the pathway to life.  That one must die in order to live again.

Before our conversion, we were “dead in sins."  True conversion is death of the old self which is corrupt through deceitful desires.  When, a converted sinner, he gives himself up to God sin dies within him, and he becomes dead to the world, and to sin.  Such "death" is a precursor to a resurrection to a new life in Christ.

Conversion takes place when the individual realizes that God, instead, should be placed at the center of his/her life.  The sinful self which remains locked and centered in itself, unable to enter into loving relationships with others, must be shattered in the very center of its being through confrontation with the power and holiness of God. Finally aware of its true source and center, the self which trusted only itself must be ‘crucified with Christ’ and destroyed.

The apostle Paul said in Gal 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And he also wrote in Rom 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

We no longer should live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God and live according to God in the spirit.  We should die spiritually to self in order that we might live to God.  That is dying to live.  In order that we may live eternally, we must go through death spiritually.  

The fact that there is future resurrection of the dead when Christ comes attest to the reality of death being the last enemy to be destroyed.  Paul wrote in 1Co 15:20  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Surely death ushers us into the kingdom of God.  Death, indeed,  is the pathway to eternal life!

The Danger of Idleness

I wrote in a previous article The Beauty of Idleness. Occasional period of idleness is beautiful and beneficial to us. When we engage ourselves in lighthearted and playful activities which are at the same time constructive and satisfying are good for our body, mind and spirit. The time we’ve given ourselves for introspection, reflection and thoughtful contemplation always make us keyed up to go back to the exercise of our vocation and avocation. It makes us enjoy the abundant life; adding life to our years.

In this post, I want to address about The Danger of Idleness. The idleness the Bible decries about is a man/woman who walks in idleness. Psychologists call it chronic idleness, that is, a person though he can work and work is available for him, yet chooses not to work or unwilling to work. His life is characterized as walking in idleness.

In Titus 1:12 Paul has given us a glimpse of an idle or lazy person. Some people are like the Cretans. Two vices mentioned here that attributed to them – indeed commonly go together -- - gluttony and sloth. An idle person is always a glutton. An industrious man will not often be a glutton, and a glutton will not often be an industrious man. A glutton only concern is his stomach (compare Phi. 3:19).

Paul give a stern command if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. They are admonished to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. You probably know a person who is not engaged in some kind of productive activity, he is usually voracious and ravenous in his table manners. They are always the first ones to line up to the buffet table and the food that they have taken on their plates are like con-shaped mountain in appearance. The persons behind them on the buffet table have to be content with the skimpy portions of food left. Their plates are like Mt. Pinatubo, the volcano that imploded and collapsed inwardly, sucking and burying beneath the top of the mountain including all the trees, dirt and stones.

Cone-shape Mountain
Philippines

Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga, Philippines

I read somewhere that “idleness is a nursery of crimes” and “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.”  There is also an article which I read a while back that says "an idle brain is the Devil's Workshop."

Let me illustrate this by relating to you the story of David and Bathsheba.  The account of the whole story is found in 2 Samuel 11 and 2 Chronicles 20. At that time the army of Israel was in war, led by Joab, David’s commander. But David remained in Jerusalem. After having taken a nap in the heat of the day after dinner; he indulged himself the luxury of refreshing himself, it still being the cool of the day by walking at the roof top of his house. The houses in the land of Israel as in the Middle East have flat roofs enabling one to walk upon. (See Deu.22:8).

From the roof he saw a very beautiful woman (with a fine shape and good complexion and comely countenance) washing herself on the roof top of her house. David perhaps lustfully exclaimed what he saw “Naliligong Babae Abaw.” When the phrase which is in Tagalog is translated into English meant is exactly the name of the beautiful woman he saw – Bathsheba. “Naliligong” means Bath-ing; “Babae” is She, female gender; “Ba” an expression of elation and euphoria. You know the rest of the story. He thought about her, watched her and asked about her to others. He then sent for her and committed adultery with her. Later, Nathan the prophet confronted David of this terrible sin.  The Devil took advantage of his David's idleness as a workshop for evil that led David to commit adultery with Bathsheba and even engineered the death of her husband Uriah.   He allowed his idle time to nurture the seed of lust which is planted in the garden of his mind which eventually led him to commit the sins of adultery, deceit and finally murder.

David watching Bathsheba taking a bath

In Psalms 51, we read David’s prayer for forgiveness after Nathan the prophet rebuked him for his sin with Bathsheba. It’s a beautiful prayer of contrition—a deep and genuine feelings of guilt and remorse. God had forgiven David and called him still “a man after God’s own heart.”

The apostle Paul said that HISTORY was written and stands written for us comprising the end-time generation--for our learning, examples, admonitions and instructions so that we would not repeat the mistakes committed by our forebears. And also give us comfort and hope that if we have committed mistakes and the sin that always beset us, upon repentance God would forgive us. Also, the beloved apostle John testified in 1Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It may well for us to take heed the example of David on how not to use the bits and pieces of idle times that we give to ourselves.

The Beauty of Idleness

Idly Watching the Sunset

We are familiar of the work ethic. “Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character. A work ethic may include being reliable, having initiative, or pursuing new skills. Workers exhibiting a good work ethic in theory should be selected for better positions, more responsibility and ultimately promotion. Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may be regarded as failing to provide fair value for the wage the employer is paying them and should not be promoted or placed in positions of greater responsibility.” (Source: Wiki)

Hard work, diligence and productivity are highly-praised as important values and virtues the modern man must possess.  That’s why this philosophy has driven man to work even harder and longer making s/he workaholic.

The Bible is replete with praises for diligence and denounces slothfulness and idleness:  Prov. 10:4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.  Prov. 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.  Prov. 12:27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.  Prov 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.  Prov. 19:15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.   Prov. 21:5  The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.   Pro. 22:29  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Also, the apostle Paul in 1Th. 5:14 urged the Thessalonians to admonish the idle among them.   Apparently some members of the Thessalonian church are sloth, lazy and idle -- working not at all, busying themselves with other men's matters, and living upon the church's stock.  He reproves them for their sloth, exhorts them to work with their own hands, to do their own business, and with quietness eat their own bread.

So perhaps it comes as a surprise to you that I titled this article The Beauty of Idleness.  It looks like I am contradicting the plain truth set forth in the Bible.

But, what kind of idleness I am referring to, that is beautiful and beneficial for us?

I remember an old but familiar proverb that states “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”  This famous quote is from Howell’s Proverbs, written by  James Howells (1594 – 1666), a 17th-century Anglo-Welsh historian and writer.  (Source: Wiki)

This proverb simply means that without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring. It is not good to work all the time. It is not healthy for someone to work all the time and never play. You need to get out and have fun.

Taking vacation leaves, even sabbatical leaves and periodic time off from work in the course of our working years is proven to be beneficial to our whole being.  Introspection (the process of looking inward and examining one's self and one's own actions in order to gain insight) and the "contemplative habit of mind" requires an idleness in which we become lighthearted, playful and able to engage in free chosen activities, which are at the same time constructive and satisfying.

In my own experience as a busy pastor, even a day off from my daily routinely duties of caring for the church afforded me an opportunity to leisurely and idly pass the time away.  Breaking the monotony of work by engaging ourselves into some kind of activity is always refreshing for our body, mind and soul.  After the times of idleness and just loafing around and leisurely savoring our lives in introspection and contemplative thinking and engaging ourselves with lighthearted and playful activities, we would always come back to our work with renewed enthusiasm, zeal, zest and gusto.  Such times as these, they enrich our creativeness, productiveness and effectiveness in our work.

Idly Enjoying Zabeel Park, Dubai

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel a very special law regarding the land -- a commandment to allow the land to rest from active agricultural production every seventh year.  It was called the "land Sabbath."  Observance of this seventh year rest for the land allowed the land to rejuvenate itself.  It prevented the exploitation, and forcing and abusing of the ground.  It allowed the land to re-gather its strength and fertility.  But the land Sabbath was also a benefit for man, the tiller of the ground.   It gave the farmer an opportunity to devote his time to repairs on the farm, fences, barns, or even time for travel, education, and to do future planning.  It was as well a "Sabbatical year" to pursue the study of God's Word in a more active way.

That's why there is beauty in idleness.  What the Bible condemns is "walking in idleness" or our way of life is spend in idleness.  But the occasional interval of idleness or just loafing away time is one of the ways we can have abundant life.  Jesus came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.  And God richly provides us with everything to enjoy, including idleness.  Idleness then is one way to spice our frail lives during the days of our earthly pilgrimage.