HUMILITY: A Very Present Help!

“that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16

Missouri has one of the greatest tourist attractions in America. It’s called Pro Bass Shop, which is located in Springfield. This place is a sportsman’s paradise.

Any sportsman who goes there will think he has died and gone to heaven. The store must cover a hundred acres: it has live fish ponds, indoors; a full-service McDonald’s, indoors; an indoor firing range for your new deer rifle; small cabin cruisers, also indoors; and every fishing lure known to modern man.

On one of our two trips to this sportsmen’s smorgasbord, we sat by a live fish pond; one with decorative stumps and rocks for turtle sunbathing. Only they were indoors, so I guess they were “fluorescenting” themselves.

At any rate, we were all chuckling at this one turtle perched on top of a wooden pole. Now the turtle’s little legs hung over the edge of the pole and it was at least 18 inches out of the water.

Every time I think of that little critter I’m reminded of a turtle on a lamp-post in Alex Haley’s office. Haley, author of Roots, said it was there to remind him it needed help to get there, he didn’t do it on his own. So too, the turtle at the Pro Bass Shop.

We must all remember that we didn't get where we are by ourselves … we don’t live or exist in a vacuum. Priscilla and Aquila needed Paul’s help; Paul needed Barnabas and Silas; and so on! We all need God’s help.

Christianity, Humility, Illustrations, Religion

WORLDVIEW - From where you're standing you can't see what I see!

WHAT’S BEHIND DOOR NUMBER ONE? [2 Corinthians 6:13-18; Culture, Others, Outreach, Perspective, Separation]

A couple drove several miles down a country road, not saying a word. An earlier conversation had resulted in an argument; now, neither party would concede their position.

As they passed a pig farm with several mules in a nearby pen, the husband asked sarcastically, “Relatives of yours?”

“Yep,” the wife quickly replied, “In-laws!”

This illustrates how two people, viewing the same scene, can see two entirely different things.

How we look at things (our prejudices, presuppositions; our knowledge or ignorance) determines our position on issues and our attitudes toward others.

If two people walked into a room from opposite doorways and found a man holding out a ball, between thumb and forefinger, and where asked what they saw, both parties would say, “A ball!”

However, if asked to describe the ball one might say, “It’s a white ball.” While the other might say, “It’s a black ball.” If prodded for more details, one might say, “It’s a hard, white, cue ball,” while the other might say, “It’s a soft, black bouncy ball.” How can this be? There’s only one ball, yet they both describe it differently.

The fact is the ball is half-black and half-white … both people are correct from their point-of-view (i.e., they approached the object through different doorways). Additionally, each person’s data retrieval system did a search for information on balls: one white ball, the other black balls … they each answered based on their knowl-edge (aka: prejudice).

Life is like that. If we approach a subject (e.g., politics or religion) with a presuppositional belief in abso-lute truth, existence of a sovereign God and His creative power (something out of nothing), our view may be decidedly different from that of our neighbor. Why? Because he approaches the same subject through the presup-positional lens of a belief in relativism, the ascendancy of man, and the ‘big-bang” theory; each of these is covered with his life experiences like icing on a cake.

Take any subject and you will find those with whom you interact holding view-points varying from your own.

Now, instead of a man holding the ball in the middle of the room, assume it hangs by a string from the ceiling. Instead of a rectangular room, assume a circular room. Instead of just two doors, assume an indetermin-able number of doors around the inside circumference.

Finally, assume the other person is free to enter any door in the room; you, however, always enter through the same door (assuming your beliefs are fairly stable). Now, take notice of the following phenomena:

1. If he enters the same door you entered, his view of the object should be the same as yours.
2. If he enters the door exactly opposite yours, his view will be a polar opposite of yours (if yours is righteous, his will be unrighteous; if his is conservative, yours will be liberal; rigid versus flexible; knowledge-based versus ignorance-based; and so on).
3. The closer to your door he enters the room, the greater the similarity between views … that is, the more common ground you have.
4. If the object changes, someone whose views were only slightly different than your own will, more likely than not, enter through a different door on the new subject (aka: issue).
5. Notice, between divergent viewpoints: a.) the greatest possible good is accomplished when there is common ground; b.) the least hope for accomplishment is when there is no common ground; and c.) the least efficient scenario is when there is common ground, but one or both parties is determined to work on uncommon soil.

Every institution known to man, especially the church, would benefit from this insight.

Divergent world-views certainly do separate people, but Christians must not fear engagement with the enemy. The “whole armor of God” protects us; and besides, God’s “grace is sufficient” for every contingency. And, as Paul told Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” [2 Timothy 1:7]

You would be right if you said, “This sounds good but it sounds too much like psychology. Who’s to say one view is better than the other? Isn’t this too much like relativism?” Yes, it is, if all we have is the stage and the two actors; only the stronger of the two has any hope of prevailing.

However, someone hung the ball on the string (The String-hanger/God). This someone knows whose view is the right one; if you’re a true believer, so do you!

For those who practice the doctrine of absolute separation this insight holds no value; but for those who grasp the meaning of the Parable of the Good Neighbor (aka: Samaritan) [Luke 10:25-37] and Paul’s words in about “others” [Philippians 2:3-7] much can be done to woe people to “The Door.” [John 10:1-18]

Materialism

The Paradox [Haggai 1:3-7, 9; other topics = Contradiction, Glory (God’s), Sanctification]

Have we not built taller buildings, but developed shorter tempers ; built wider roads, only to gain narrower views; purchased more, but possess little; spent more, and enjoy it less.

We’ve bigger houses, smaller families, and more conveniences, but less time to enjoy them; acquired degrees, with less wisdom; procured more knowledge, but abandoned common sense; groomed many experts, yet we’ve more problems; developed better pharmaceuticals, resulting in manifold health-phobias.

We’ve increased our possessions, but lowered values. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, but not life to years. We love too little and hate too much. We’ve been to the moon, but not to our neighbors. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; we clean the air, but pollute the soul; we’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice; we’ve higher incomes, but lower morals; we’re long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are times of tall men, with short character; Mt. Everest profits, and Dead Sea relations. We now have two parent incomes, giving us single parent children; elegant houses, but pathetic homes. This is a time when man has much in his catalogue, but nothing in his distribution center.
A paradox is a contradiction which retains its truthfulness. Relativism has brought the world to the brink of global government yet with an “emperor has no clothes” mentality.

We go ahead and buy what looks or sounds good even though we suspect in advance it’s a facade.

We receive God’s abundant blessings, yet discover we are poor managers of them; we credit ourselves for the gain, and then receive God’s chastisement doing so.


The Wise Woman’s Stone [Matthew 6:19-21 other topics - Perspective, Treasure]

A wise woman, while traveling in the mountains, found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she encountered a hungry traveler. The woman opened her bag to share what food she had but the hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked if he could have it. She gave it to him without hesitation.

The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. A few days later, however, he returned the stone to the woman. ”I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I must give it back in the hope you will give me something even more precious. Give me what you have inside of you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

It’s not your possessions in this world that others need; rather it’s what you possess on the inside that they need.

[Author Unknown]