Jeremiah 51:1-53; Titus 2:1-15; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 26:17 “The Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens are filled with water. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. Compared to him, all people are foolish and have no knowledge at all!”
“As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.”
“Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.”
Popular Christianity puts strong emphasis on tolerance and forgiveness. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, an awful lot of other important ideas can get lost in the process. In our desire to attract and recruit, it is tempting to soft pedal some of the more challenging teachings of the Bible. But today’s message is clear and cannot be denied: it still matters, very much, how we live.
I do not mean to sound callous, but while the entire world is mourning the passing of Michael Jackson, another death of a celebrity of much more subtle strength and dignity has been lost in the media frenzy over the King of Pop, and I feel a need to lift her up. I have no idea what Farah Fawcett’s religious leanings were, if any, but I do know this. Her life, and her death and quiet dignity through it all stand as a monument to the strength of integrity and human perseverance that has been all but ignored. I know, I know, The Poster and Charlie’s Angels are hardly the type of things we should be taught to emulate. But age and adversity brought out another side of Fawcett the world would do well to remember. Her movie on spousal abuse, The Burning Bed, gave many battered women the courage to say no mas to those who wounded them without cause or conscience. The way she faced her cancer head on and fought until the end with no public bitterness bespoke a class one would hardly have predicted when she thundered onto the 70's scene as a pop icon in a red bathing suit and lion’s mane of hair. Jackson, in contrast, leaves the world an amazing library of music, certainly, but also an over $400 million debt and a legacy of waste and issues so obvious and painful that it is really not much wonder that he came to an untimely end. Whatever the ultimate physical cause of Jackson’s demise, I’d bet that he ended up dead of a broken heart that simply never found the fulfillment he so desperately sought. He seemed, in many ways, a kind but troubled soul that longed to return to a childhood fame never allowed him to fully live. However, the irresponsibility of his later years reveals a personality in many ways simply tortured beyond our ability to comprehend. May both Fawcett and Jackson rest in peace, and may those of us who remain learn something from their passing, and their lives.
There are several obvious reasons why right living (even leaving religion out of it, for the moment) is important. First, it’s simply the correct thing to do. Adopting a biblical lifestyle actually suits our eternal DNA. It is, quite frankly, what we were created to do. As we fail or refuse to fulfill that intended destiny, we are denying our highest and best selves. We are settling for far less than we could be. I’m well aware there are those in the world who contend the Christian life is too restrictive. I would argue exactly the opposite. A life bound up in slavery to sin is much more limiting; we just refuse to see it. It’s part of that “knowing the truth and being set free” thing. As long as we remain willingly blinded to our own sinful tendencies and predicament, we may not realize how serious our captivity really is. Being bound by silk ropes, as Jackson undoubtedly knew, is still imprisonment, even if it does not look or feel that way at the moment.
Second, we set examples, too. Someone is always watching, and the results of our actions always affect others, whether we recognize it or not. A life out of harmony with the way we are supposed to live generates turmoil and strife that quite frequently becomes the most impactful thing our own passing brings to those we love.
When I die, I do not want my kids to remember a man conflicted and unacquainted with who he was created to be. I do not want to be other than who I am. I want to be fully spent in the plans and purposes for which I was uniquely created. I want my life to be a testament to reconciliation and redemption and renewal. I want others to learn from my mistakes. But what I want most to leave the world is a sense of hope that we can be better than we are. Through Christ, all things are possible.
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