A friend of mine and his wife like to spend her birthday taking a vacation without their teenage kids. Unfortunately, the children don’t like this because they want to celebrate mom’s birthday on her birthday, not a few days later when they return. Now their relatives have joined the kids in criticizing my friends for being so selfish.
To his credit, my friend first told me about this by way of asking whether I thought he and his wife were doing anything wrong. I assured him they were not. The purpose of celebrating mom’s birthday is to honor mom in a way she will most appreciate. When the people who claim to love her complain that her way of wanting to be honored isn’t satisfying to them, they betray their confusion over who is really being celebrated.
But we all tend to make this mistake. And we must continually ask ourselves whether we’re truly honoring God by giving Him the gifts and service He want to receive or whether we’re merely claiming to want to honor Him by giving Him the ones we want to give? It’s just so easy to misidentify selfishness as love.
Thought of the Day 04.30.10
The other morning, I made French toast for breakfast, which is one of my boys’ favorite meal. Of course, as everyone knows, the only civilized way to eat French toast is with significant amounts of powdered sugar. But, since powdered sugar and preschoolers don’t mix so well, this usually means a mess on my floor.
My awareness of a spill came when my 6-year-old started dancing gleefully around the mess his brother had made, chanting, “Bad Ethan, Bad Ethan.” Now, I know from experience that Spencer takes pleasure in getting Ethan in trouble, and usually Ethan does get some sort of discipline when he does something wrong. But recently I’ve been working on something much more important in Spencer. That’s why my reaction surprised him.
Basically, I looked at Spencer and scolded him for not helping Ethan avoid the mess in the first place and for failing to help him clean it up afterward. “But I didn’t spill anything,” he protested. “I know. But your job as a big brother is to find a way to help him, not just to stand around proclaiming his sins. That’s what it means for my children to love one another.”
My awareness of a spill came when my 6-year-old started dancing gleefully around the mess his brother had made, chanting, “Bad Ethan, Bad Ethan.” Now, I know from experience that Spencer takes pleasure in getting Ethan in trouble, and usually Ethan does get some sort of discipline when he does something wrong. But recently I’ve been working on something much more important in Spencer. That’s why my reaction surprised him.
Basically, I looked at Spencer and scolded him for not helping Ethan avoid the mess in the first place and for failing to help him clean it up afterward. “But I didn’t spill anything,” he protested. “I know. But your job as a big brother is to find a way to help him, not just to stand around proclaiming his sins. That’s what it means for my children to love one another.”
Thought of the Day 04.29.10
At the video store this morning, I had to drive around a shopping cart that someone had left in the way. It obviously wasn’t my fault it was there, but I also knew that its being there would annoy other drivers until someone decided to move it. Well, why not me?
Once I had it on the sidewalk, I was then torn whether to wheel it a couple hundred extra feet to one of the grocery cart returns. Realizing that someone would eventually have to do this, I volunteered again. In the end, tidying up someone else’s mess cost me about three minutes of time. That’s when it struck me just how radical Christian morality is.
See, basic immorality is neglecting your personal responsibilities, and basic morality is taking care of them. But Christian morality is taking care of other people’s responsibilities…because you can and because they need you to…just like Jesus did for us.
And if this is right, then the real evil in this world isn’t neglecting our own responsibilities. The real evil is labeling such a pathetically low standard as righteousness.
Once I had it on the sidewalk, I was then torn whether to wheel it a couple hundred extra feet to one of the grocery cart returns. Realizing that someone would eventually have to do this, I volunteered again. In the end, tidying up someone else’s mess cost me about three minutes of time. That’s when it struck me just how radical Christian morality is.
See, basic immorality is neglecting your personal responsibilities, and basic morality is taking care of them. But Christian morality is taking care of other people’s responsibilities…because you can and because they need you to…just like Jesus did for us.
And if this is right, then the real evil in this world isn’t neglecting our own responsibilities. The real evil is labeling such a pathetically low standard as righteousness.
Thought of the Day 04.28.10
One of the questions people often ask about Christianity is whether someone can live an evil life and then repent on his deathbed. So long as the repentance is genuine, the enthusiastic Christian answer is, “Yes!” We know this for certain based on the poignant story of the thief on the cross, who confesses his sins, expresses faith in Jesus, and immediately receives the promise of salvation.
“But how can that be fair?” comes the natural follow-up. Aside from the erroneous assumption that sinning is beneficial and godliness harmful, there’s another mistake here. In reality, the deathbed conversion is easier to accept.
This is because at least he lived a life of sins for which he may not have known better. In contrast, those of us who convert midway through our lives and continue to sin afterward seem more guilty than he is. In any case, we both trust Jesus to wipe away an entire life full of sin. This is because the key fact isn’t whether we come to faith before, during, or after our sins occur, but that we come to that faith at all.
“But how can that be fair?” comes the natural follow-up. Aside from the erroneous assumption that sinning is beneficial and godliness harmful, there’s another mistake here. In reality, the deathbed conversion is easier to accept.
This is because at least he lived a life of sins for which he may not have known better. In contrast, those of us who convert midway through our lives and continue to sin afterward seem more guilty than he is. In any case, we both trust Jesus to wipe away an entire life full of sin. This is because the key fact isn’t whether we come to faith before, during, or after our sins occur, but that we come to that faith at all.
Thought of the Day 04.27.10
The recent volcanic eruption cost Europe’s air travel industry about two billion dollars, and there is now a raging debate over who, exactly, should shoulder the financial responsibility for this unforeseen natural calamity. Some say each government, some say the airlines, and some say individual travelers.
What’s interesting for me to imagine, however, is what I might do as an individual stranded and forced to stay several extra days away from home. Of course I might prefer someone else to pay for that inconvenience, but how much of a fight would I put up to get that result? Not much, quite frankly. Here’s why.
Many times in the life of a Christian we have the chance to scratch and claw for our financial rights, but we don’t. We already have and cannot lose the One Thing we truly need, and His example was one of generosity and self-sacrifice. So we learn to, “Oh, well,” to many disappointments in this life. Our faith is in Christ, not in demanding our perceived rights from others, and we know it would profit us nothing to gain the whole settlement but become a twisted, angry person in the process.
What’s interesting for me to imagine, however, is what I might do as an individual stranded and forced to stay several extra days away from home. Of course I might prefer someone else to pay for that inconvenience, but how much of a fight would I put up to get that result? Not much, quite frankly. Here’s why.
Many times in the life of a Christian we have the chance to scratch and claw for our financial rights, but we don’t. We already have and cannot lose the One Thing we truly need, and His example was one of generosity and self-sacrifice. So we learn to, “Oh, well,” to many disappointments in this life. Our faith is in Christ, not in demanding our perceived rights from others, and we know it would profit us nothing to gain the whole settlement but become a twisted, angry person in the process.
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