Category: Character (Page 1 of 5)

The Value of Salt

September 18, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Salt is one of the most important chemical compounds ever discovered.

Science has long known its value. Sodium chloride, the chemical name for salt, is essential to cellular function. It’s involved in muscle contractions (including our heartbeats) and in our nerve impulses. Salt helps in the digestion of proteins and regulates the exchange of water between our cells and the fluids that surround them. Lack of salt may lead to dehydration, convulsions, paralysis, and death.

In ancient times salt was at least as valuable as gold, and in some cases worth more. The 6^th century AD Roman Senator Cassiodorus said, “Some seek not gold, but there lives not a man who does not need salt.” Historically, salt has been the most taxed commodity in human history, with examples dating as far back as 2200 BC. It was used to preserve food as well as to give it flavor. Our word “salary” traces all the way back to the Latin word “salarium,” which was an allowance, stipend, or pension. Originally this word referred to a Roman soldier’s allowance or stipend for the purchase of salt.

During the time of Abraham (early 2^nd millennium BC), there are references to the Salt Sea (a.k.a. the Dead Sea, cf. Genesis 14.3). Lot’s wife famously became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19.26). Israelites were required to include salt in their offerings (Leviticus 2.13). Some covenants were sealed with salt (2 Chronicles 13.5).

And, in Haitian culture, salt is said to cure Zombies. If that isn’t useful, I don’t know what is.

In view of its historic importance, it shouldn’t surprise us when Jesus declared that his disciples were “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5.13). He was saying that they were as necessary to the spiritual preservation of the world as salt is necessary to the preservation of human life. Take away salt, and the world becomes flat and putrid. Take away disciples, and the world becomes hopelessly corrupt.

It’s no secret that Christians are a minority in this world, always have been and always will be. But despite our lowly presence, we can impact this world in the most important of ways. Prior to calling his disciples the salt of the earth, Jesus also described them as spiritually impoverished, as mourners, as gentle, as spiritually hungry, as merciful and pure, and as peacemakers (Matthew 5.3-9). These character traits are what cause us to be the salt of the earth. The Lord Jesus transforms us into such people by his divine power.

When you’re discouraged by what seems to be the ubiquity of evil around you, take heart. You’re the salt of the earth, by Jesus’ design. That means you have power and influence that this world cannot live without.

Seeking Light

August 21, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

If you’ve ever had a garden, you’ve probably noticed that many plant varieties are phototropic, which means that they’re light seeking. The plants lean toward the sun as they grow. Some are heliotropic – a specific kind of phototropism – meaning that they bend or shake to track the sun’s movement during the day and maximize each plant’s exposure to the sun. Sunflowers are an especially good example.

Light is central to God’s creation. On the first day of creation, after creating the heavens and the earth, he made light and darkness. On the fourth day of creation, he made the celestial bodies to govern the various cycles of light and dark, as well as seasonal changes.

Light is central to God’s moral creation. The apostle John said, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1.5). The psalmist understood God as the source of all light: “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light” (Psalm 36.9). God doesn’t just provide light, he is light.

If God is light, it shouldn’t surprise us that his moral light is necessary for spiritual growth. Just as plants need light to survive and thrive, we need God’s light to be spiritually healthy. Sometimes his light is for illumination (Psalm 18.28; 119.130). Sometimes it’s for guidance (Psalm 43.3; 1 John 1.7). Sometimes it symbolizes blessing (Psalm 4.6). Sometimes it represents moral purity and righteousness (Psalm 112.4; Ephesians 5.8-9). Sometimes it’s the opposite of moral darkness (Romans 13.12; Ephesians 5.8-9, 13; 1 Peter 2.9). The concept covers a lot of territory in the Scriptures.

But the critical point for believers is that we must always seek the light. Yes, we need light to survive, but we must seek it. Plants do this because they’re programmed to do it. Humans, on the other hand, have a choice.

Most people are familiar with the great affirmation of God’s love in John 3.16. But the verses that follow are equally important, because they explain what it means to believe and receive the promise of eternal life. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3.19-21).

Do I hate darkness enough to seek the light? Do I love the light enough to expose myself to its penetrating power? Do I love God enough to seek his truth, practice it, and accept his judgments about my way of life?

These are questions we all need to ask.

Cake or Bread?

July 24, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“Religion is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions.”
Anonymous

Religion is a system of beliefs about God that produces worship and a particular lifestyle. Worship and ethics are the fruits of religion. When rightly understood and practiced, religion is a noble and necessary aspiration. When wrongly understood and practiced, it becomes an epidemic disease that afflicts us all.

Religion, in biblical terms, is how we express our beliefs. That may be a good thing or a bad thing. The Book of James uses the word “religion” twice in back-to-back verses, once in a negative sense, and once in a positive sense.

First, James says that if our religion doesn’t improve our morals, it’s a worthless religion. “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James 1.26). A religion that allows or encourages immoral thoughts, words, or actions isn’t much of a religion.

Second, James says that our religion should nurture compassion toward others. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1.27). The Bible emphasizes that if we love God, we’ll love others as well. In fact, if we don’t love others, we’ve demonstrated that we don’t really love God. That should be obvious, but it’s something we all seem to struggle with.

Both of these statements from James remind us that religion is more than just an occasional check in at church. It’s the daily discipline of using our beliefs to shape our character. We’re either eliminating the harmful residue of sin or nurturing the beneficial effects of love. It’s not cake, it’s bread.

Perhaps the problem with much religion is that it’s practiced only on Sunday mornings, only if our parents are looking, or only if the preacher’s standing nearby. True religion takes the fiber of faith and weaves it into a cloak of daily good.

Is your religion cake or bread?

How We See Others

July 17, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

How we see others determines how we treat them.

This is well illustrated by a story from the life of Jesus. In Luke 7.36-50, Simon, a Pharisee, invites Jesus to dinner. In the middle of the meal an irreputable woman enters Simon’s house, approaches Jesus, and begins to wash his feet with her tears, anointing them with costly perfume. The spectacle annoys Simon who decides Jesus can’t be much of a prophet if he’d let a woman like this anoint him.

How did each of the three characters view the others? How did this affect their treatment of one another?

Simon looked at both the woman and Jesus with contempt. Perhaps the woman’s reputation was well deserved, but that didn’t justify Simon’s arrogance and indifference toward her. His view of Jesus smacked of arrogance and moral superiority. In Jesus’ case neither was deserved. Simon simply assumed something (wrongly) about Jesus and proceeded from there.

The woman obviously viewed Jesus as someone worthy of her devotion. She understood that Jesus could heal her brokenness. As for Simon, we’re not told how she viewed him, although her willingness to crash his party in his house speaks to her moral courage. She apparently didn’t care what he thought of her – she only cared what Jesus thought of her. We could all learn something from that.

Jesus viewed both Simon and the woman in precisely the right way. He saw Simon’s pretended piety for exactly what it was. He also saw the woman’s moral crisis for what it was. Obviously, as God in the flesh he could see things that we can’t. Nonetheless, his willingness to see past the obvious is exemplary for us.

Proverbs 20.5 says, “A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out.” It takes wisdom to see past the obvious and to discern another person’s true needs.

May God help us see others as they are.

Sellers’ Disease

July 10, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Peter Sellers, best known as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies, once said, “If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am.” On another occasion he joked, “There is no me. I do not exist… There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed.”

Sellers was a brilliant comedic actor who was plagued his whole career by personal problems, mostly of his own making. He was a control freak who could be selfish and childish. He used drugs. He was hard to get along with. Late in his career, many of his coworkers felt he was mentally unstable and needed help.

Actors make a living pretending to be somebody else. The best actors are those who create believable characters who are nothing like themselves. The danger is that some actors, like Sellers, lose themselves in the process. Sellers often remarked that he really had no idea who he was. He was most comfortable being someone else through his movie characters. I’d call it “Sellers’ Disease.”

There’s a biblical word for this, the New Testament word “hypocrite.” This transliterates the Greek word hupocrites. Jesus used the word to describe the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day (see Matthew 23.13-33). The word originated in Greek theater when actors replied to the chorus in a play, turning a speech into a dialogue. Then it came to mean a stage actor. Then it came to mean a person who acted in real life, someone who pretended to be something he was not, especially in his moral life. In English, this last meaning is what most of us associate with this word.

The danger with hypocrisy is that we cease being ourselves. We pretend to be someone else, and we get quite good at it. But we do this at the price of our own personalities. Our task in life and faith is to be the same person through and through, the same on the inside as we are on the outside, no matter the circumstances or crowd.

The cure for Sellers’ Disease is regular self-examination. Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6.1). The only notice I need is God’s. If I shape my inner life and outer life by God’s approval, not man’s (Acts 5.29), then I can always be myself.

Today and every day, be who you are.

Glory in the Ordinary

June 12, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

They’re calling it one of the biggest Olympic snubs of all time.

An enormously popular athlete. Record-setter. Superb skills. Has altered the game forever. Draws huge crowds. Gazillion dollar endorsements. What’s not to like?

Wait a minute! You thought I was talking about WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark! No! I’m talking about ME!

I got skills. I got game. I gotta get me some Olympic bling!

You’re right. I’m delusional. But please, read on.

I thoroughly enjoy watching the Olympics. But watching these elite athletes in action always brings me back to reality. I’m once again reminded how ordinary I am. I’ll never be known for my athletic prowess, my competitive spirit, or for overcoming huge odds to beat an archrival. I’m plain old me.

The Olympics remind us that humans are capable of some amazing feats. They’re full of compelling stories. But they’re not representative of how most of us live out our day-to-day existence. Most of us are rather dull, unathletic, and uninspiring.

But that’s OK. What matters for us is that every day we dedicate ourselves to something worthwhile. For Christians, dedication to Christ is a sufficiently Olympian task. To follow the one who was first to finish the race (Hebrews 12.1-3) is challenge enough. What’s more, the crown for which you and I compete is far greater than all the medals, endorsements, and fame that our earthly Olympics could offer: “They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9.25b).

What’s left for us, then, is to do our work and do it well. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3.23-24).

You don’t have to be the CEO to be successful in the workplace. You don’t need to be a Hollywood couple to have a great marriage. You don’t have to be an elite athlete to find joy in sports. You don’t need a show on Food Network to enjoy cooking and eating. You don’ t need to be a millionaire to be financially secure. You don’t have to join a monastery to be faithful to Christ.

There is glory in the ordinary.

Deep Roots

May 22, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 1 Comment

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
But he who hates reproof is stupid.
A good man will obtain favor from the LORD,
But He will condemn a man who devises evil.
A man will not be established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous will not be moved.
Proverbs 12.1-3

Have you ever tried to get rid of a stubborn weed or a sapling or a bush that has sprung up in the wrong place? No matter how hard you try, it seems to win. You cut it; it grows back. You spray it; it comes back.

Why do weeds so often win? Simple. They have deep roots. If you don’t kill the roots, you won’t kill the plant, and if you don’t kill the plant, it’ll always come back.

However, the same thing is true of desirable grasses and flowers and shrubs and trees. If they have well developed root systems, they’ll also persist.

The third verse of the above text suggests that righteousness, by the Lord’s design, is intended to operate the same way. The first three sayings in Proverbs Chapter 12 contrast various manifestations of righteousness and wisdom against various manifestations of wickedness. The righteous love discipline and knowledge, but the evil is too lazy to learn. The righteous are blessed while the wicked are cursed.

Then in verse three Solomon unexpectedly reverses the order: The wicked person will not be established, whereas the righteous person has a firm root. This reads much like Psalm 1.3-4 with its imagery of the righteous as a well-planted, well-watered tree, and the wicked as chaff to be blown away by the wind. By reversing the order, I think Solomon wishes to emphasize the permanence of the righteous in God’s economy.

During the spring and summer, many of us are thinking about stubborn weeds, and with good reason. Solomon suggests that we should also think of stubborn righteousness, also with good reason. Not obstinate righteousness, but resolute righteousness. The righteous simply never give up in their righteousness, and in that righteousness, they lay deep roots.

How deep is your righteousness?

Integrity & Consistency

May 15, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

There’s an old story about a farmer selling a horse. The horse was stubborn and lazy and rarely helpful when work needed to be done. A potential buyer asked, “Is he a good workhorse?” The farmer replied, “It’d do your heart good to see that horse work!”

The buyer purchased the horse and within a few weeks realized it was stubborn and lazy and useless when work needed to be done. He went back to the farmer and demanded a refund. “You said it was a good workhorse!” The farmer replied, “No, I said it’d do your heart good to see it work.”

Nobody likes to be cheated by unscrupulous vendors. Proverbs 20.10 says, “Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the LORD.”

The proverb is set in the ancient marketplace where simple mechanical devices were used for measuring. It would have been relatively easy for a vendor to use a measuring stick or a weight or a bowl that looked normal but was just a bit off, and always to his advantage. In our modern era of full disclosure, de facto standards, government standards, industry standards, and bar codes and scanners, it’s easy to forget that cheaters still look for ways to get ahead, even at the store. This proverb condemns the practice, both then and now.

Two things are noteworthy. One is the strength of the condemnation. This kind of dishonesty is not only foolishness, not only wickedness, it’s an abomination to the Lord. This is a reminder that of all the virtues we humans should possess, honesty and integrity are at the very top. To be less than honest is to fail in the most fundamental of human ways.

Second, it applies not only to the marketplace, but also to the workplace. Honesty on the job has plenty of applications. Do we say one thing to the boss and another to our coworkers? Do we fudge on our expense accounts? Do we make allowances for the workers we like, but not for the ones we dislike? Do we sponge ideas off others but take credit for them ourselves?

The proverb covers a lot of territory, in the marketplace, the workplace, the home, and other areas of life as well.

The wise worker practices meticulous integrity in the workplace. The wise person practices meticulous integrity in all his or her relationships. Anything less is dishonest and ultimately incurs God’s wrath.

It’s the Climb? Really?

May 1, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize.” (Richard Monckton Milnes)

“It’s not about how fast I get there. It’s not about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.” (Miley Cyrus)

Partly true, partly false.

First, the Bible repeatedly affirms the value of suffering for Christians.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1.2-4).
“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4.1-2).
“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5.3-5).

However, the Bible never affirms suffering for its own sake. Suffering always has direction: it points its victims toward something higher and more important. Suffering also has purpose: it’s intended to teach us lessons about things other than suffering.

In Scripture, the purposes of suffering are many:

Suffering purifies us (1 Peter 4.1-2).
Suffering produces endurance in us (James 1.2-4).
Suffering builds character and gives hope (Romans 5.3-5).
Suffering teaches us to depend upon God (Psalm 42.1-11).
Suffering now may prevent suffering later (2 Corinthians 4.16-18).

To be sure, there’s value in suffering, but only to the extent that it has a desirable outcome. Struggle is pointless if it doesn’t lead somewhere. Most of all, struggle that leads anywhere but heaven is wasted.

What struggles are you having, and where are they leading you?

For Love’s Sake

February 14, 2024 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you”.
The apostle Paul, Philemon 8-9

The apostle Paul wrote this to his friend and fellow-Christian Philemon. Philemon was apparently a wealthy Christian who lived in Colossae. He was wealthy enough to own slaves, one of whom was Onesimus whose name meant “profitable” or “useful” (v. 15-16).

If you carefully read Paul’s this letter, it seems that Onesimus ran away from Philemon’s household and may have even stolen from his master (v. 18-19). He wound up in Rome where Paul was imprisoned. At some point, Onesimus met and was converted to Christ by Paul’s efforts (v. 10). Now Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter to effect reconciliation (v. 15-16).

The wording of Paul’s appeal to Philemon is striking. Legally, Philemon had the right to do pretty much anything he wanted to Onesimus. He could treat him as harshly as he wanted and could even have him executed. Slaves were considered the property of their masters and were treated according to their whims. Onesimus was returning to Philemon at great personal risk. Paul knew this and took a different approach.

Paul says that he could “order” or “command” Philemon to do right. Paul wasn’t asserting legal authority but moral authority. As an apostle he could have required Philemon to receive Onesimus, but Paul let him choose. He appealed not to authority, but to love (v. 9).

Doing this “for love’s sake” meant that Philemon should treat Onesimus with brotherly love since now they both were Christians. Paul says to treat him like a brother, not just a piece of property. Hovering in the background is also the love we have for others because of our love for God (cf. 1 John 4.11).

It’s for “love’s sake” that we rise above ordinary expectation to extraordinary action. For love’s sake a mother stays up all night with her sick child. For love’s sake a man may work for years at an unfulfilling job to support his family. For love’s sake a sibling helps a younger or weaker brother or sister with homework and chores. For love’s sake we help our neighbors with yardwork and errands and paying bills when they’re struggling with poor health, or they’ve lost their job. For love’s sake we sit with the sick and dying. For love’s sake we volunteer for hopeless causes, truly believing that our actions make a difference. For love’s sake we exhort others to faithfulness to Christ. For love’s sake we pray for one another.

For love’s sake we do all these things and more, knowing it was for love’s sake that God saved us from our sins. That’s a love worth imitating.