WHAT OUGHT TO MAKE HEADLINES

1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18

“Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the example of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight.”

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.”

“As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.”

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.”

Why do the bad kings – and people – get all the good press? Apparently, even the evil agree there is no such thing as bad publicity. It is strange how the world’s fascination with the fallen and the corrupt commands so much of our thoughts and focus, even when we don’t intend it. One could make a pretty fair argument that the Old Testament exhibits about the same prurient interest as the rest of the world. When it’s not dealing with sex, it’s detailing warfare or the events leading up to it. Like today’s papers, the Old Testament puts a premium on the sensational, regardless of on which side of the line between good and evil it resides. From Cain’s murder of Able to Jacob’s conniving, David’s adultery, his sons’ treachery and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, the Old Testament spends at least as much time on the consequences of sinful living as on the benefits of faithful adherence to the Lord’s commands. No wonder Jehoshaphat’s reign merited so few words. He was a only a good king. Not a great, inspiring leader or psalmist or administrator – just a good king who did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. A guy like that will never sell newspapers. His biography is quickly truncated and pushed aside by the story of the next evil Israeli king, Ahaziah. No wonder it was so tough for the Jews to stay on the straight and narrow after Solomon’s reign: the Hebrews were out of examples.

Something wonderful happens between the Old and New Testaments, though. The Bible shifts from an emphasis on a follow-the-rules mentality to a follow Christ spirituality. No longer do rules, or lack of them, determine who gets the attention. The attention is lavished on the humble, the called and those empowered beyond their own personal capabilities. It is as if God Himself changed course or, at least, emphasis, going from a focus on sin and selfishness to a perspective grounded on forgiveness and self-sacrifice.

I wonder how many people would benefit from the same positive change in emphasis in their own lives. We are very willing to accept and even anticipate headlines of monstrous failures and criminality, but we have little patience for so-called “feel good stories.” If it doesn’t bleed or blow up, we quickly lose interest. How fortunate we are that God doesn’t think the same way! People’s shortcomings hold no interest for Him, except to the extent that He is allowed close to heal and forgive them. Jesus is much more interested in life and what leads to it than He is interested in condemnation and judgment of our humanness. Perhaps we would feel our own lives lightened by adopting His viewpoint as our own. The next time we get to feeling down on ourselves, let’s remember we don’t have to win every game or fix every broken thing in life. We just have to allow the Spirit to forgive us and deal with other things and people as it sees fit. We need to look to the Spirit and not to the lowest common human denominator to feel good about ourselves.

It’s late, but there is still time to shift our attention away from the dead and dying and toward the resurrected. We do this not to become callous to those less fortunate but to become more thankful for our own potential in Christ. I’m not entirely sure why this helps us grow in the right direction, but I bet it has something to do with the fact that Christ’s death on the Cross broke our dependence on our own and others’ weakness. We are now free to rely on Jesus’ power to save and lift us above the raw failures that make up life on earth. Our new perspective can be unlimited, unbounded by any human horizons. We just have to remember to keep looking up.