Moral Courage

“The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly
has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.”
― A.W. Tozer

     I find myself often sitting back and watching people, disappointed.  I believe in my heart that we are not as bad as we are behaving, in this country especially.  Our acts of kindness are so often selfish, as we look for the approval of others.  We need an audience to our servant hood, though that makes the good - bad.  This is not a point system.  I see people do things like spend all day cooking meals for a family with a sick loved one and then tell all their friends what they have done.  They top it off with parking in the handicap spot while they run in to grab one more item for their gift basket.

     I carry emotions that are not mine.  I just do that.  Somebody needs to be sad for this country.  It is embarrassing how we treat each other.  We betray each other, ridicule, lie to, accuse, spit upon and tempt each other so we can get what we want.  We treat each other like Jesus was treated, yet we claim we would never treat Him that way.  We do every day when we treat each other with disrespect.  Aren't we supposed to become more like Him?  Not treat others as He was treated?

     I think we have heard the story of the Crucifixion so many times that we have actually become a little callous to it.  Maybe because it's hard for us to believe in this day and age that anyone, even Jesus would do that for us.  Let's turn it around.  Let's say that you were given a choice.  You take the beating that Jesus took or your kids will.  If you don't have kids, imagine it is the person you love most.  We would like to think that we would take that beating.  I would like to think if someone were going to drive a spike through my wrist I would take it, knowing that if I didn't my kids would have to. Think about the emotion.  Jesus was in a human body.  He felt all of the pain.  Do you wonder if He was hoping that we would all realize He did it because He loves us.  I would want my kids to know that is how much I love them.  I would hope that as the skin was being torn from my body, I would not be tempted to call it quits and let my kids take the suffering.  Jesus could have stopped it and we could all be damned to hell.

     We walk around every day yelling "Crucify Him."  Maybe we don't mean Jesus when we say it, but we want people to pay for what we think their crime is.  If we think they are thieves, we want them to pay.  What if we are wrong, like they were wrong about Jesus.  Aren't we punishing Him again when we hate on each other?

     I will never forget the day Jesus showed me that my scars had purpose.  All scars have purpose as Jesus' scars did.  Scars are meant to save souls.  We all need a little courage to stand up for Jesus.  I love it when I see somebody with moral courage doing what's right instead of falling to the pressure of their peers.  We should only be pressured by one Peer.  We need to call each other out and find somebody to be accountable to.  I've always told my kids when they want to be good at something, find somebody they respect in that area and ask them what they do.  If you want a good marriage, talk to someone who has been happily married for many years.  Somebody who has been through struggles.

     To be in His image, means to suffer for God's plan.  To carry out your part in God's plan.  Yet we are busy praying for ease and comfort.  I don't like this and I don't want that.  What if God gave us each a book on who was affected by our lives?  If on the first pages it listed who was saved because of us.  Maybe then it was listed who started attending church because of something we said.  Maybe then it could list relationships that were healed from knowing us.  Would this give us a little more drive to follow our calling?  Maybe?  But it would also take our need for faith.  Wouldn't we then be following God's plan for the "pat on the back" every time a number grew in a our little book of accomplishments.  There is a reason we don't have all the answers.  Wouldn't we become driven out of love for ourselves rather than our love for Christ?  We would change if we knew all the reasons.  Our attitude toward suffering might change.   

     We drop names of people we think are influential in our society out of insecurity instead of being secure enough to drop the name of Jesus.  Instead of trying to reach the top, we should be drowning ourselves in the Living Water until our feet touch bottom and rest firmly on the Rock.

“Yet if we would know God and for other's sake tell what we know we must try to speak of his love. All Christians have tried but none has ever done it very well. I can no more do justice to that awesome and wonder-filled theme than a child can grasp a star. Still by reaching toward the star the child may call attention to it and even indicate the direction one must look to see it. So as I stretch my heart toward the high shining love of God someone who has not before known about it may be encouraged to look up and have hope.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy