Dialog

Who among us has never wondered if there might not really be a tempter sitting on our shoulders or dogging our steps? C.S. Lewis dispels all doubts. In The Screwtape Letters, one of his bestselling works, we are made privy to the instructional correspondence between a senior demon, Screwtape, and his wannabe diabolical nephew Wormwood. As mentor, Screwtape coaches Wormwood in the finer points, tempting his “patient” away from God.

Of course Lewis is only expanding on the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, “stand against the schemes of the devil,” (Ephesians 6:11) but do you know what some of those “schemes” are? The list of ways Satan tempts us is as varied as we are but here are five key tricks he uses:

1. Satan is the Master of Disguises. Paul told the Corinthians “… even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” (2 Corinthians 11:14). In fact, once Satan used Peter to tempt Jesus (see Matthew 16:23)!
2. The Devil knows our weaknesses. He won’t waste time tempting us with temptations that don’t appeal. He knows our weakness and will focus his energy there. Be ready!
3. Satan will lull us into complacency. Jesus told the church in Sardis to “wake up!” (Revelation 3:3)
4. He makes it easy to rationalize sin. He’ll use every trick from renaming sins (sins become indiscretions, peccadillos and faults) to justifications of every sort (“everyone is doing it” and “no one is really getting hurt”).
5. The Devil encourages us to practice “selective hearing.” Kids are great at this (and not a few husbands too). Look at the different responses you get to “I need someone to take out garbage!” and “Who wants ice cream?” We practice selective seeing when all we see is the temptation and no alternative: “What could I do? I had no choice.” (See 1 Corinthians 10:13.) There is always the Lincoln Alternative. Abe once advised, “When forced to choose between the lesser of two evils – choose neither!”

The best way to learn to deal with Satan’s tricks is by studying the examples in Scripture. David failed miserably when instead of looking away he focused on Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1 ff.) but Joseph succeeded against a similar temptation (Genesis 39). Satan openly confronted Jesus but Jesus triumphed over temptation and shows us how to as well in the fourth chapters of Matthew and Luke.

Temptation is inevitable. Will you be ready?

 In the February 28, 2005 edition, The National Review reported on a polling organization that asked a thousand citizens to update the list of “Seven Deadly Sins” (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, lust, avarice, and gluttony). Apparently the list seemed out of date so it was replaced with the sins of cruelty, adultery, bigotry, dishonesty, hypocrisy, greed, and selfishness. Personally, I’m glad gluttony is off the list but it makes you think: “What is the difference between the two lists?” and what does it say about modern times?

The old list was the product of a monk by the name of Evagrius Ponticus as revised (and simplified) by a later pope. The Bible is overflowing with catalogs of sin (see Galatians 5:19-21 for one example) and he was trying to narrow it down to root sins – sins that lead into other sins, but that leads us into defining what sin is.

While sin harms us and other people, the biblical focus is on how it damages our relationship with God. So David confesses “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4) after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had his friend Uriah murdered. David understood that the root cause of his sins was disobeying God. The beginning of his tragic actions was lust (He saw Bathsheba and allowed himself to fantasize) and pride (“I’m the king.”).

In contrast the modern seven sins are “equated with causing pain or mental distress to people” with its logical corollary “Is it wrong if no one gets hurt?” which begs the question “Are there victimless crimes?” Obviously, God doesn’t count.

It’s not that the modern list isn’t horrible – it is – it’s just not all that helpful. For example, adultery is a terrible sin but its roots are found in pride, lust, envy and perhaps gluttony (properly defined). Likewise, hypocrisy stinks but it is the result of earlier sins like pride and anger.

By chopping at the roots of sin rather than the leaves of sin, we have a far better chance of making actual progress in the tricky business called “Life.”

^{Ephesians 6:13} Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

 

The Apostle Paul tells us to “put on the whole armor of God” in Ephesians 6:13-17. Then he goes on to list what that includes: the pants of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of the gospel of peace, the shield of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit and the helmet of salvation.

A radio preacher once declared he didn’t want any “streakers” running around in his congregation. He explained those are the ones who are only wearing “the helmet of salvation.” He wanted everyone fully clothed in the whole armor of God.

I wonder if we have any streakers — people who have been baptized but never truly developed a relationship with God? To change metaphors, they haven’t put down spiritual roots. It’s a shame how many people have never learned how to pray, meditate, fast or study. Perhaps now they are too embarrassed to ask anyone to teach them.

I can identify with those folks. I vividly remember obeying the gospel but as I came out of the baptistery I wondered, “What do I do next?” The simple answers were “live the Christian life” and “spread the Good News” but no one really showed me how or what that means.

It isn’t be enough to come and listen to my little lectures. To really grow spiritually you will want to be a part of a small group. In the company of the committed, you’ll learn how. Join a few other Christians to share stories, laugh, cry, pray and learn in an informal setting. You’ll not only learn how to put on the whole armor of God but you’ll make wonderful new friends who really care about each other.

Find a small group Bible study to make a part of your life and put on the whole armor of God!

At 5:50 in the morning, people at the bus stop are either sleeping, getting dressed, or wide awake. Ailene was one of the latter.

Sweet, round, brassy red hair, Ailene was reading a mystery when I first met her. She lived by herself and probably always would. Ailene took the same two-hour bus ride across town every day, although she announced, “I’m changing shifts. I’m really not a morning person.”

She had me fooled. I don’t drink coffee but it seemed like a good idea. I stretched and rubbed my eyes.

We didn’t sit together on the first leg of our journey. Ailene passed the hour reading a Grisham novel. She had a system and as soon as the bus stopped, she darted out of the exit, across the parking lot and into Dunkin’ Donuts. Ailene didn’t even need to look at her watch. She had the routine down cold and easily made the second connection, a feat I rarely accomplish. I noticed the donuts had been secreted in her purse.

As we rode the next bus, we ended up sitting beside each other. Ailene was in a talkative mood. “When I was sixteen, I spent the summers in Jamaica,” she said.

I really didn’t know Ailene. We had friendly conversations as we shared benches but I could tell this was her defining story. It was important for me to listen and smile. “I know you’ve lived all over, but I lived in Jamaica before it was ‘discovered.’ There were no cruise ships to speak of and there weren’t many tourists.

“My uncle worked for the power company that had the contract for the island and he would invite me to leave New York and go with him and his son and daughter in the summertime. We had a chauffer, a cook and a maid but I loved to drive all over the island with my cousin.

“I remember the chauffer would chastise me, ‘It’s not proper for a lady to go riding around like that Miss Ailene!’ But I didn’t care. We were young and it was fun. I remember rafting down that big river and eating fried bananas. I loved those plantains! They are small and kinda black. You fry them with lots of butter and sugar and some rum.

“But I remember the summer Jamaica became independent. The British Commonwealth Games were held there that year. Have you ever been to Jamaica in the summer? There was no air conditioning and the bugs were as big as B-52s. We would be sitting eating dinner with the windows open. They didn’t even have screens! You could hear a swarm of these B-52s coming and we would dive under the table. Those bugs would raise huge whelps on you if they bit.

“Well, Queen Elizabeth was supposed to come to the games but she had been to Jamaica in the summer and didn’t care to do it again. Instead she sent her sons to attend them. It was a big event and there weren’t many white girls on the island so naturally we were invited to the grand ball. My uncle even sent us to Miami to find a formal dress for the occasion. No such thing as a formal dress on Jamaica!”

The city bus lumbered through the dusty streets of Guadalupe, Arizona but Ailene was sixteen again, a thin, vivacious, “belle of the ball” in a far away land.

“And do you know what happened?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye. “Bonnie Prince Charlie asked me to dance.”

She dipped and blushed and Diana’s rival confided, “He is a marvelous dancer but a very poor conversationalist.” And with that I stepped off the bus and watched Cinderella ride away in her coach.

The memory of that moment defined Ailene’s life. “I danced with the prince.” How wonderful that single moment must have been but Jesus invites you to take his hand and dance into eternity!

 

 

I was helping a friend move his boat from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico when one thing after another went wrong. We were nearly eighty miles off the coast of Ensenada, in the middle of a gale, when the drive shaft uncoupled from the engine. The boat began to fill with seawater as the storm intensified. We turned back but as we did the wind blew the mainsail into four ragged pieces and the bilge pump gave out. That night it looked like we were going to get wet.

For the next three days we struggled against the wind, the waves and exhaustion. Three times we tried to radio a “May Day” distress call but in the hurry to leave port, my friend hadn’t hooked up the antenna to the radio on his boat. The farthest we could broadcast was three miles and there wasn’t another boat for fifty. Things were going from bad to worse. The life raft hadn’t been serviced since 1976. Odds were it wouldn’t work. Our best hope was to press on under just the tiny jib sail and try to run aground somewhere on the desolate coast. We were alone – all alone.

I remember one twelve-hour stint at the wheel. Wave after wave broke over the boat drenching us. The wind chilled us to the bone as we huddled together in the cockpit trying to stay warm. Things were desperate. We found ourselves far to the south trying to push around a point and an island as the next day broke. All that stormy day we tacked back and forth, trying to move a little farther north against the wind so we could make our way into open sea. Suddenly, the useless radio crackled to life: “Sailboat, are you in trouble?” Someone saw us! Someone was out there! I can’t describe the emotions that swept over me. We weren’t alone! We talked and life was full of promise. Someone could help us! The sun went down and we spent another night on the stormy sea but it was going to be okay. Someone knew we were in trouble and could help us. We finally passed the island the next morning – but we never heard from our friend again.

Yes, another day and another night found us safely anchored in a little bay beside a wonderful village and our ordeal was over but I had to wonder, “What happened to that man who promised to help us?” Did some horrible fate overtake him or had he just lost interest? Was he distracted or was he insincere? I’ll probably never know. He promised to help us but never followed through.

People around us are lost in a far worse storm. We are God’s lifeguards and people need our message of safety and hope but it does no good if we don’t follow through. Jesus told a parable about two sons whose father asked to work in the field. The first said “No” but then changed his mind and went. The second said he would go but didn’t (Matthew 21:28 ff.). Judge for yourself who was the better son. It’s time for us to follow through!

 

Perga is a swamp. After the delights of their preaching tour through Cyprus, Perga in Pamphylia must have seemed like the end of the world. The air was stagnant and infested with mosquitoes. To refined Jews, the pagans who lived there must have seemed a godless race. On top of it all, Paul might have contracted malaria. John Mark had had enough. He packed up and returned to Jerusalem. Barnabas stayed with Paul and managed to get his friend inland, to a higher clime and a healthier environment. Later Paul wrote to the Galatians who lived in the highlands north of Perga, “You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. … For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me,” (Galatians 4:13-15).

It’s easy to understand why John Mark fled home to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13) and we can understand why Paul was reluctant to trust Mark after that experience (Acts 15:38). On the other hand, Barnabas was adamant about giving John Mark a second chance but Paul was equally insistent not to. Once trust has been broken, it’s very hard to regain. The dispute became so great; the two old friends went their separate ways. History tells us Barnabas and Mark went to Egypt while the Bible describes Paul’s journey with Silas and Timothy back through Galatia and on to Europe.

So why didn’t Paul forgive John Mark and let him go with them? I’d like to think Paul did forgive Mark for deserting him but does that mean Paul was obligated to go on as if nothing had happened? Trust is a precious commodity. It must be earned. Once it has been lost, it is hard to regain.

So how did John Mark react to all of this? When he heard about the plans for a second missionary journey, did he ask for a second chance? Or, was he so ashamed of his behavior he didn’t even dare to dream about going with them? Was it wholly Barnabas’ idea? After all Barnabas was John Mark’s relative. Did Barnabas seek Mark out after he and Paul decided to split up?

How would you react if you were given a second chance? Forgiveness is a beautiful, energizing thing, but here is the point. Mark didn’t talk Paul into trusting him. I like to think John Mark worked harder and longer and became worthy of the apostle’s trust. I know Mark’s reputation was restored. Peter calls him “my son” (1 Peter 5:13) and Paul told Timothy to “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry,” (2 Timothy 4:11).

Yes, trust can be lost, but our God is a God of new beginnings. Trust can be restored.  It was true for John Mark and it can be true for us.

Life is a joyous, glorious adventure! Of course Yvonne Chouinard, the famous mountain climber, points out, “It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong!” But that’s what makes a good story isn’t it?

When I was preparing to officiate at my first wedding, I was very nervous. That was back in the days when weddings were very formal affairs with strict protocols. The friends of the bride sat on one side and the friends of the groom sat on the other. Everyone had to stand at a particular point and sit at a different one. I was really worried about getting it right so I visited my octogenarian mentor, Maurice Meredith. Maurice could “wax an elephant” (speak eloquently) in the ol’ time style but he also had a bit of a joyful imp in his soul. He loved riding an old “beach cruiser” bicycle round the trailer park grinning like a kid with what little hair he had streaming out behind him in the wind. But on a good day Maurice could string together a sermon that would bring the strongest men to tears. So I sat down on a stack of books in his study (there were so many books in his tightly packed office, there wasn’t any room for chairs) and he walked me through the wedding ceremony one more time.

“Now when you get to the part about exchanging the rings,” he said, “and if everything has gone perfectly…” I could tell this was the important part – a secret to be passed down from one generation of ministers to the next. I leaned in to hear with my pencil poised over my notebook. Maurice looked around, grinned and whispered conspiratorially, “… drop the ring.”

“What?”

“Drop the ring,” he repeated seriously.

“Why?” I objected.

“Because if you don’t, they won’t have anything to remember,” Maurice concluded and he sat back to let this truth sink in.

That’s brilliant! Think about the weddings you’ve attended. We remember “the little flower girl” or “Uncle Henry” or the photographer who fell into the baptistery. It’s true. If everything goes according to plan, we have nothing to remember, nothing to talk about.

So think about Maurice’s advice the next time things don’t go the way you’re expecting and just say to yourself, “We’re not making mistakes – we’re making memories!”

My third grade teacher was a frustrated music major. All year long she tried to turn us into a children’s chorus. The pressure was on. If you wanted good grades, you had to sing well, smile and learn the steps to her choreography. Having grown up in the church, singing was easy. Without my front teeth, smiling was a bit more challenging but I never could get the dance steps down.

Be that as it may, I found myself standing with the chorus as Mrs. French was making her final selections of the members for her choir. I was sweating bullets! She conducted with both hands, mouthing the words and listening to us. When she found someone who didn’t quite fit in, she would look at them, grimace and then jerk her head. You were out and had to sit at your desk with the other rejects. I sang with all my heart. “Buffalo girls won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight come out tonight!” (What is a “buffalo girl” anyway?)

Then she was looking at me! My stomach was turning flip-flops. I couldn’t escape her gaze. Suddenly I came upon a brilliant plan. Instead of taking a chance on singing the wrong note, I just wouldn’t sing at all! I could mouth the words and pretend to sing. It was brilliant. I was lip-synching before lip-synching was cool! Now I was truly smiling but Mrs. French cocked her ear and then looked directly at me. I was busted. She jerked her head and I took my seat. The shame, the guilt was overwhelming. Never again would I sing with the chorus.

It reminds me of a story Jesus told about three men who were entrusted with sums of money. The first two invested their trust wisely and made a profit for their master but the third man was so afraid, he didn’t even deposit the money in the bank to draw a tiny amount of interest.

Have you ever let fear keep you from trying? How many Christians are content to simply “lip-synch” their faith by putting their time in sitting on something called a “pew” rather than boldly participating in the greatest adventure of their life?

Stop lip-synching your faith and start to sing!

Preachers point out how hymns often make liars out of us (“Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold…”). Maybe we can excuse that as poetic license or just stating our good intentions. On the other hand, people are often dishonest in prayer: “Thank you for the wonderful day” but inside it doesn’t feel all that wonderful.

How can we be dishonest in prayer? It’s human nature to think some matters are too trivial to pray about. “The Creator of the Universe isn’t interested in my frustrations with the phone company.” That’s not true. God has invited us to share our whole life with Him. He is interested in our growth and that requires transparency on our part.

Likewise there are some things we’d rather not talk about. That’s true in marriage (or any relationship for that matter) and it’s true in prayer. A man came home drunk one night. He staggered into the house and his sweet wife helped him into bed. As she pulled the covers up and kissed his head she asked, “Charles, would you like me to say a prayer?”

In his drunken stupor he mumbled something she took to be a “Yes” and so she began, “Heavenly Father, please forgive my drunken husband…” The startled man opened his eyes and objected, “Don’t tell him I’m drunk! Tell him I’m sick!”

There are also times when we are angry with God but we are afraid to admit it. “Why did this have to happen to me?” Still we say our prayers and pretend everything is fine. Job had the courage (or the maturity) to ask the tough questions. He was honest with God and we call Job blessed.

The point of all this is growth. Before we can be honest with God, we must be honest with ourselves and so the discipline of prayer calls us into a totally transparent relationship with God. It calls us to be honest to God.

Some wag once observed, “Christians don’t gossip, they just share ‘prayer requests.’” Gossip and slander are damnable but the problem, as Solomon points out is, gossip so “delicious.” Whole magazines at the checkout counter are devoted to it and unfortunately, you can hear otherwise good Christians slandering other Christians. In hushed voices tinged with concern they begin:

“I love brother Smith dearly but…”

“If they were my children…”

“You know the trouble with …”

“It’s so sad. I really want to help…”

“If I were in his shoes…”

One of my favorite authors, William Barclay, describes:

“The word that James uses for to speak harshly of, or, to speak evil of, is the verb katalalein. Usually this verb means to speak evil of someone else in that person’s absence, to criticize, to insult, to slander someone when he is not there to defend himself. This sin of slander and of insult and of evil-speaking is condemned all through the Bible…In the Pauline letters katalalia, the noun, is translated back-biting.… Katalalia is the sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and pass on confidential tidbits of whispered information which destroy the reputation and good name of those who are not there to defend themselves.… People are slow to realize that there are few sins which the Bible so unsparingly condemns as the sin of irresponsible and malicious gossip.”

No sin is so universally condemned! God condemns it, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off,” (Psalm 101:5). Paul condemns it (2 Corinthians 12:20). Peter condemns it (1 Peter 2:1). James condemns it (James 4:11-12).

You can guard against gossip by asking yourself three questions before you open your mouth:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it kind?
3. Is it necessary?

Before I close today’s article, did you hear about ….