Fidelty

The concept of faithfulness in a relationship is never meant to be less than sacred.
Relationships of marriage have consistently been regarded as permanent, life-long commitments of trusting shared relationship that serve to appropriately frame the establishment of family units and to provide appropriate environments for the nurture and prosperity of children.

The scriptures often convey the strongly negative implications and outcomes of infidelity. The nature of sin in every form is sin against God, but it also impacts every human relationship we share with others. Broken promises, failed trust, undisciplined and inconsiderate care for those whom God has called us to be responsible toward will always “reap the whirlwind” of negative outcomes. Fidelity matters and those who pretend for any amount of time to think it does not only play the fools game with their lives, with the lives of their family members and with the future that they might think is theirs to experience.

Too often we find, in the present age of pandemic HIV, and wide-spread incidence of STDs, a foolish disregard for the value and importance of monogamous sexual relationships. Multiple sexual partners jeopardize the health and safety of other family members and the very fact that such infidelities are often only revealed after the fact can bring horrific consequences to bear upon innocent parties. Fidelity matters.

Marriage has long been established as the basis for formalized, morally, legally, and ethically binding agreements, affirmed in community, to value and respect the basis for specific and indeed “sacred” relationships. Historically, we find fidelity affirmed as a protection to individuals and families. It is an affirmation of God’s instruction offered to guide our actions in relationship toward one another and toward Him.

Fidelity matters. It always has and always will. It marks boundaries for life that if observed, bring blessing, and if ignored yield destructive consequences. As you seek out God’s instruction for your future, don’t ignore His word to you about faithfulness in matters of sexual behavior. The Bible offers many references to adultery and fornication as warnings to instruct us and to warn us regarding the consequences of infidelity. Pay attention, learn the truth, and avoid the dangers. Don’t think ignorance is a good excuse for ruining your life physically, socially, and spiritually.

The Thing that Counts

Those who identify themselves as followers of Christ are often confronted with challenges to their faith. They are challenged by those who do not express faith in Christ, but in all likelihood their greatest challenges come from those who say they are fellow disciples of Jesus. Such an experience is not new among bodies of Christians. Such challenges to faith were experienced in the ministries of the churches named in the New Testament. The nature of human beings is to struggle in their flesh with their weakness and fears and to often be less than faithful in their responses as believers.

Where our difficulties arise is in the capacity of the strong and the weak, the faithful and the less than faithful, the bold and the timid, the sick and the healthy to comprehend that what matters is not our commitment to demand or require all of our brothers and sisters in faith to think, act, understand, and respond to every matter in the same way as we ourselves, but to look to Jesus, “the author and the finisher of our faith,” as our “measure” of who we are and where we are and what we are doing and saying and thinking. Christ has come to save us from our sins, and until we acknowledge our sin before him, and desire to be obedient unto His Lordship, we will likely plod along in manner of the blind leading the blind. Jesus came to give us sight. Jesus came to bring us light. Jesus came to remind us to fear not. Jesus came to confront us with truth, even when it hurts, and he challenges us to stand with him…taking up our own cross and following him.

Then we will do as Paul suggested to the church at Galatia, we will recognize that the only thing that counts is “faith working through love.” That faith, made effective by the love of Christ is that which we are called to demonstrate by our witness of action and attitude. It is not the confession of self-centered infantile personalities, it is the mark of the salvation of God upon those whom he loves and brought out of darkness into the light of His grace and mercy. In that light we live. In that light we celebrate in joy our service in the name of Jesus. If you cannot attach Jesus’ actions and attitudes to your own, step back, and think … am I a Jesus follower or not? Examine your heart and remember…faith will be working…through love.

Brains and Faith

I’ve known some “brains” in my time. There was the professor of mine that had read the Bible in several translations and committed them all to memory, even with the notations of the study bible’s footnotes. How do I know? He could tell you to turn to a certain page number, if you were using one them, and then he could quote verbatim from the page, point out to you a certain notation and then he would invite you to read the text and recognize the difference between what the text said and what the notation by some commentator said that was very different. This same professor was friends with people around the world, was widely published and highly regarded, except when it came around to a group of people who had no respect for brains or Christian principle. Fortunately, this professor took that in stride too. He was a man of faith. And for all his brains, his God given gifts were revealed best in the center of his desire to seek God’s way for his life. That relationship of faith and trust in Jesus Christ was the sustaining influence in his personal witness. It was the reason for his sacrificial commitment to vocation in a setting that paid poorly, despite his great mental ability. It was the reason for his strength in the midst of life’s storms and trials. It was the strength that led him to be regarded with respect around the world by many, and was the demonstration of character that gave steady witness to a sustaining faith in Jesus Christ his Lord. Brains and faith go well together and thank goodness we who are called to faith are never called to remove our heads from our hearts, but rather to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and strength. Body, mind and spirit…are connected and interlinked in this call upon our lives. This call to faith and service is in relationship to God who created and made us for His purpose. Not all of us have photographic memory and genius status or herculean strength of body or perfection of intention or will, but we have the opportunity to turn our lives to God who will enable us and equip us to fulfill the divine purpose He would lead us to know. God invites us to use our heads well and often. If you think about it, trusting God to show you His way is a guarantee of a great future.

Mysteries and Wonders

Paul’s description of the church as the body of Christ encourages an appreciation for all parts and every function. He used such an illustration to relate the need for valuing and respecting every aspect of the shared efforts of the people of God as we have been individually and collectively gifted by God to minister in His name. As varying as our gifts might be, the reality remains that we need one another and none of us can claim that our gift in particular makes us any more valuable than another’s. The fact is, unless we are willing to invest ourselves in sharing the gifts we have been given, then we will find them essentially useless and never of value personally. Spiritual gifts are given to be shared.

I heard an illustration once that described a painter’s interpretation of heaven and hell. Both pictures he painted were of a roomful of people at a banquet table filled with food. The problem was that none of the people had elbows. So in one picture, the one of hell, all the people were emaciated and starving while seated at a table filled with abundance. In the other picture, everyone was fit and healthy, but the one difference was, they were all feeding each other. Heaven requires us to recognize the divine gifts of God are ours to share. Self-interests have no benefit in the face of God’s promise to provide for all our needs as we first acknowledge Him as Lord of our lives.

Now to illustrate again: Did you know that scratching your ear can relieve a tickle in your throat? Did you know that rubbing ice on the back of your hand between the web of your thumb and forefinger can reduce the pain of a toothache? Did you know that rocking your head from side to side can relieve poor circulation in your lower body? These are amazing and true facts that illustrate the nature of the wonderful physical interactions of the parts of our body. What if we valued and appreciated our brothers and sisters in faith as connected, interrelated, and essential parts of the body of Christ? Perhaps we would understand that in encouraging others we would find our own blessing.