Extirpation... the final frontier

I had to take a little break and post something funny I came across. I was diligently poring over a scholarly article, when I read this:

We should seek it out and extirpate it whenever it rears its abhorrent visage.

Well, now, in the vernacular, the last part of that sentence might just be, 'rears its ugly head.' But I must admit 'abhorrent visage' sounds much loftier than 'ugly head,' and so incredibly erudite. That's academia for you, complicating matters in order to sound more intelligent.

I just have one more contention: that author really should have changed "rears" too, so readers would have been even more impressed, and less cognizant of the source phrase. Oh well. Onward!

[Ed. note: I failed to properly cite my source... I should have known better, as a current student! Here it is, in lovely APA format.

Hauptman, R. (2002, Nov/Dec). Dishonesty in the academy. Academe, (88)6, 39-45. ]

Misplaced Motives

The other day, I had several errands to run in as little time as possible. Sitting in my car before turning the key, I breathed a quick prayer that I would glorify God in my imminent, busy, scurrying around... because I know it's so easy to get caught up in doing my own little thing that I become easily irritated and impatient, or become blinded to opportunities God may provide (whether to share the Gospel or show kindness) because of my obstinate focus on my plan. But after breathing that momentary "please, God" I had to stop (or stay stopped): was I really desiring God's glory above (instead of) my own, or did I just want my day to go smoothly and quickly? Did I want God to bless me and my errands because I could somehow impress Him with my humility, or persuade Him to accommodate my desires under the guise of serving Him? OUCH! I think it was a case of knowing the right thing (prayerfully committing tasks to God) and trying to do it, but doing it in the flesh. I'm grateful for the eyes God gave me to see an aspect of sinful thinking I struggle with mightily: performance-based living.

You are who God thinks you are, not who you present yourself to be. (Gunner)

God's love for us results not from our goodness, our proficiency, or our accomplishments. We can't earn His approval by what we do or who we masquerade ourselves to be. God's love originates in God, put plainly. It's His prerogative to do what He will, and I'm glad He did choose to love, adopt, redeem, forgive, and bless us... so why do I sometimes live like my standing is not secure? Can I so easily gloss over Christ's accomplishment-- obedience to His Father, sacrificial propitiation, atonement, victory over sin-- which makes my new life possible? That's the only reason I am declared righteous before God: Christ's perfect, substitutionary blood.

It's a good news, bad news scenario (but mostly good). Bad news: you can't do anything to make God love you or accept you. Good news: He has chosen to do so anyway through Christ! It is very freeing to realize this, especially when we can rest in that security of our identity in Christ instead of fruitlessly striving toward the impossible goal of being "good enough."

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace. (Jerry Bridges)

Jerry Bridges's book, The Discipline of Holiness, is quite beneficial on this subject. He explains it more eloquently than I could! In all this "you can't do ANYTHING to earn God's approval," the pendulum swing argument is, "well, why are we supposed to try and be holy then, and why are there so many commands in the Bible about our behavior?" I guess it comes down to the motivation behind the action: am I obedient because I am trying to appease God, in my twisted understanding of reality? (ouch) Or, am I obedient because I love Him? I hope it's the latter.

All I want for Christmas...

Partial obedience

I love how the Bible includes stories of people's disobedience, not because disobedience is good, but because God is. His response to disobedience is recorded for us; we don't have to wonder about His perspective on the matter: it's pretty plainly delineated, and holds true now as well as the time of the first Israelite monarchs.

I'm thinking specifically of King Saul, when the LORD gave him the specific task of wiping out Amalek and all people and animals associated therewith (story found in 1 Sam 15). Saul obeyed... mostly. He spared the best animals and Agag the Amalekite king. When confronted by Samuel, Saul dithered-- first, "but I did obey!" Then, "it was the people's idea; they didn't want to follow through." Oh, and, "I did it so we could worship God by sacrificing to Him." How noble, how thoughtful. Or was it.

How disappointed Saul must have been to lose his kingdom because of this act of partial obedience (which is truly disobedience), his failure to completely 'devote to destruction' the Amalekites, as God through Samuel had instructed him. What hubris it takes to disobey: 'He said this, but I think it would be better to...' I am horrified by it in Saul's life, yet guilty of it myself. How much better to humbly obey, which brings God joy and results in blessing. I wonder if Saul ever got it, if he was ever grieved because he had grieved God... or if he was just sorry he got caught. The LORD regretted having made him king. Ouch.

Partial obedience, delayed obedience, and surface obedience to impress others are not acceptable to God. He is looking for men and women who will respond with instant, complete, whole-hearted, and joyous obedience each time He speaks.

-Del Fehsenfeld, Jr. qtd. in Seeking Him

God delights in obedience--the prompt, careful heeding of His voice-- more than the sacrifice of rams (1 Sam 15:22). He delights in obedience more than sacrifice, yes, but I also find it significant that He delights in obedience. I don't often think of God as overly happy, or overflowing with delight. (Don't you have to be serious to be holy?) But that is a misconception on my part. He is holy and righteous and Judge and Father and everything-that-He-is all at once, always. Did you know God sings? I never realized Scripture says He sings, but it does.

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing (Zeph 3:17).

Not only does He sing, it's joyful singing. Again, He takes great delight in someone, in this case, Jerusalem. Oh, that I would remember Saul's real, tragic example of the result of disobedience, and determine to obey God as fully as possible, as quickly as possible.