the basic message #E663
6/28/09
If I told you God has offered to pour out his heart to us and make his thoughts known to us, what would you say? Most of us would want to jump at the chance, right? God indeed makes us that very offer, but like most good deals, some strings are attached.
Proverbs 1:23-27
If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you- when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Some of you will question, "what rebuke?", and for you I have little to offer. If you're so clueless as to what a rebuke from God looks like, there's not too much a mere mortal can do to explain it. For the rest (and minority) of the readers who do indeed understand God's rebuke towards us, let's proceed.
America is a great country, but certainly not a perfect country. As goofed-up as our economy is, our economy is still in much better shape than our American Christianity. I frequently hear politicians talking about how generous Americans are. I guess it depends on how generosity is defined. I live 30 minutes from the famed LSU Tiger Stadium. Tiger Stadium is literally revered by people as if it's some sort of holy place. I won't spend any more time on that subject this week, but it's something that needs to be covered in a future basic message. I'm not exactly sure how the TAF (Tiger Athletic Foundation) is connected with LSU sports, but suffice to say that the TAF is a major force in our area. Some folks give large amounts of money to the TAF, so I pose a question: Is that generosity? From one perspective, it certainly is. But does it merit any attention from God? Does God give a rat's behind whether LSU is in the championships? I think not. What type of generosity pleases God? In my opinion, when we help the downtrodden, the "disenfranchised", and those who can't help themselves, we please God. True generosity should be an exercise in giving without any personal gain in mind. But, I digress. Let's focus back on the passage from Proverbs.
How does God rebuke America? Many Christians would quickly opine that the huge tide of homosexuality in America is unpleasing to God. The Bible indeed speaks strongly about homosexuality, but I see the trend of gay-bashing as chasing theological rabbits. The right-wingers in America are up-in-arms about gay marriage in America. Perhaps a better subject to focus on is the lack of marriage in young heterosexual couples. That seems to go right over the head of most conservatives. Why don't conservatives dig into their own family dynamics and communities to understand why a growing percentage of young Americans opt to live together rather than marry? Are right-wingers so obtuse that they really don't understand that God sees fornication between unmarried heterosexual couples through the same eyes he sees the gay couple's sin? I frequently hear homophobic pastors saying, "We love gay people- we just don't condone their lifestyle." I'll certainly agree about not condoning the lifestyle but loving them? I doubt it. God doesn't have a point system on how he rates sin. A couple living together and engaging in sexual activities is observed with disdain by God- it doesn't matter what their sexual orientation is. Period.
In the past year, God answered a question I've had for years. It goes something like this: "What does God think about me setting aside tens of thousands of dollars in a 401K when there are people starving in the world?" After watching my 401K lose about half of its value, I got the message. For those who say, "what rebuke?", none of this will make sense. Our economy will bounce back and all of this recession/depression talk will be in the rearview mirror, but does that mean God has forgotten about it? Certainly not. God, in his overwhelming generosity, will give us a few more chances to do the right thing. If we see this recession as a rebuke and learn from it, we will be better people- more Godly people. But if we continue down the path of material worship, God will be back with more plagues. I heard Mike Huckaby on TV last night doing a "town hall" style meeting in Elkhart, Indiana. That area has been hit hard by the economic downturn, and they're scared in Elkhart. Can we stop and think about Elkhart for just a moment? Elkhart is the self-proclaimed "RV capitol of the world". They churn out more campers in Elkhart than anywhere on the face of the earth. So what's wrong with that? Once again, it's all about extremes. On the realistic end, we have a typical family that owns a modest camper trailer in which their family has good, clean fun. A trailer like this might cost somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000. Although that's not chicken-feed, it's a good investment to increase the bonding of a family during camping trips. But Elkhart also churns out mega-motorhomes that frequently cost over $500,000 and can go over a million dollars when maxed-out on options. May I ask a question? How much of Elkhart's production pleases God? Is God happy with a couple paying a million dollars for a motor home? Does God care if their motor home has marble floors imported from Italy or 24 carat gold plated faucets? I doubt it. But listen closely- it's easy for me to bash people with outrageous wealth buying ridiculous things, but guess what? Although I'm certainly not wealthy, I don't use the resources well that God has generously given me. So, although the scale of prosperity may differ between me and the million-dollar motorhome owner, I still have some explaining to do when I meet God. I can only pray that between now and then, I will get it right. 3/22/09