MEDALS OF FAITH: Living in a way that adds luster to the Gospel (Part 3)

Honesty and Integrity

Here's a confession for you:

Before I began following Christ in my teens, I lied.

I lied not just once, but repeatedly.

In fact, lying was for me a pattern, a way of life.

I lied to authorities; I lied to teachers; I lied to my parents; I lied to schoolmates. I did it in order to get and to do whatever I wanted. The operating premise of my life was that "the end justifies the means."

When I realized my need to turn from my sins and place my faith in Christ, however, an acute awareness that the lying had to stop came with it. For one thing, Jesus said, "I am...the truth" (John 14:6).

The Bible says, "God is not a man, the He should lie" (Numbers 23:19).

The Apostle John wrote, "And this is the message we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as he Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one anther and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:5-7).

So...bottom line, I had to quit lying. Or to be more accurate, I had to let the Holy Spirit who had come to dwell in me transform me and make me a person of truth, like my Savior and Lord. Over time, He did so, and the operating premise of my life became "the end (living for God's pleasure and glory) controls -- rather than justifying -- the means."

As we saw in our previous focus on "transformed priorities," this was the realization to which Zacchaus came. When he did so, he both quit cheating people and he also made restitution to them. That's something the Holy Spirit convicted me that I needed to do as well.

How did you do that, you ask?

Well, simply put, one person at a time, as the Holy Spirit brought them to mind and in whatever way seemed appropriate. I remember, for example, going to my employer, a kindly filling station operator, and telling him that I had stolen money and merchandise. I paid him back and asked him to forgive me, which he most graciously did.

In the process, I began to experience the blessed freedom of coming out of the shadows and walking in the light, a feeling of cleanness and soundness that I had never really known. In fact, what I was experiencing was the approval of my heavenly Father as I sought to do what was right in His sight. Over the decades since, His approval of my motives and conduct has become the "magnetic north" that I seek to walk by moment by moment, situation by situation, day by day.

Do I always get it right? Absolutely not. Sometimes I dismay myself greatly by how I fail. But in those moments, I find consolation and help in John's words that follow the verses already quoted:

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 1:8-2:1).

I'm going to stop for now, in part because blogs seem to work better without long blocks of text. But I'm thinking maybe you can identify with this confession and, in following Christ yourself, have had to come to terms with the importance of this "medal of faith" that adds luster to the Gospel in our lives. If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Stay sharp,

Preston

Pause and Give Thanks...

for the grace of God that transforms us, then let Him "make you over" into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Enjoy!

Coming Next!

For you who have been patiently checking for new posts, I wanted to let you know that our family has been away for our daughter's spring break and also for Easter. We had a great time together and we're more thankful than ever for the resurrection triumph of our Lord!

Coming next here will be some more confessions and musings on "MEDALS OF FAITH: Living in a way that adds luster to the Gospel." Specifically, after introducing this idea and focusing on "broken chains" and "transformed priorities," we're going to move into "honesty and integrity," "gracious speech," and "an attitude of gratitude." In my experience, these are some of the most immediate evidences that emerge when we encounter the Master.

Meanwhile, if you have thoughts and examples in these areas, get ready to share them! Thanks for all your encouragement along the way. More soon.

Stay sharp,

Preston

MEDALS OF FAITH: Living in a way that adds luster to the Gospel (Part 2) P.S.

P.S. on Transformed Priorities

Straight from the Scriptures, here's a P.S. on the "medal" of transformed priorities (see previous post) that is to adorn the Gospel in our lives:

"...true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

But you...run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you...And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords" (1 Timothy 6:6-15).

Stay sharp,

Preston

MEDALS OF FAITH: Living in a way that adds luster to the Gospel (Part 2)

Transformed Priorities

He took advantage of people, and he did it very well.

After all, it was for a good cause: himself.

Zacchaeus collected taxes for Rome, and Jericho was his turf. The way it worked was that he paid Rome their specified due, then he got to keep whatever else he could extract (or extort) from his neighbors. This was not exactly the way to win a village popularity contest!

Nor was it the way to satisfy his soul. Zacchaeus, you see, was empty. He was, in the words of Luke, "very rich" (Luke 19:2). But as he encountered Jesus that fateful day in Jericho and heard the Man from Galilee invite Himself to his house (see verse 5), Zacchaeus was about to gain something different, something incomparable. Jesus described it this way:

“Salvation has come to this home today...For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (verses 9-10).

What action by Zacchaeus prompted this declaration from the Lord?

For one thing, Zacchaeus -- who was used to people heading the other way when they saw him -- "took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy" (verse 6).

Jumping down from the sycamore-fig tree that he had climbed to improve his vertically challenged vantage point, he gladly welcomed into his no-doubt lavishly appointed home the Man who had "no place to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20).

He brought the One who "came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) right into the very inner sanctum that he had padded and lined on the backs of others.

The people watching were, of course, "displeased."

“He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled (verse 7).

But Zacchaeus did more than just ask Jesus to sign his guest book. His encounter with the Son of God brought Zacchaeus to his senses, spiritually speaking. He repented of his sins and placed his faith in Jesus. As Jesus said, he showed "himself to be a true son of Abraham" (verse 9), whom the Apostle Paul describes as "the father of all who believe" (Romans 4:11).

And Zacchaeus' salvation bore tangible fruit. It could be seen in his transformed priorities. This man who for years had soaked others for his own advantage, "stood before the Lord and said, 'I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!'" (verse 8). He not only quit cheating people -- he quit living for money!

In short, he came to embody the transformed priorities of people who have come to know Christ, priorities that Jesus Himself spoke of in His Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7:

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth...Store your treasures in heaven...Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be...No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money...So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

For Zacchaeus and for us, transformed priorities are a medal of faith that adorns, adds luster to, and makes attractive the Gospel. But this raises a question, especially for those of us who profess to follow Christ:

Does the world see this medal in our lives?

In other words, as believers are our priorities really that different from those of people around us who have not yet placed their faith in Christ?

Or to say it bluntly, are we still trying to live for the wrong master, or two masters, rather than THE Master?

I'll leave it here for now, so that I can ponder this question afresh for myself. Maybe you'll want to do the same.

Stay sharp,

Preston

P.S. I've posted a video illustrating this topic. Previous videos I've posted have on occasion mysteriously morphed to some other segments that I didn't select. We'll try to work through this glitch, but if this video suddenly disappears from this blog, you'll know why.