Mind Meld of A Different Kind

PROVERBS 18:3
Doing wrong leads to disgrace,
and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

Contemptuous Behavior
The recent display of greed on Wall Street inspires contempt from me for those taking tax money for their own overblown bonuses. So do credit card companies who daily beg ordinary people to charge themselves into extraordinary debt. Church people earn my contempt when their squabbling over peripheral issues drives people away from Christ and his Bride. I could go on.

Pointing the finger at others and venting about their wrongdoing makes me feel just a tad better. I’m getting contempt off my chest and out of my system. Surely that is a healthy thing; except that it also breeds a certain amount of self-righteousness and cockiness – scandalous attitudes to be sure.

Pointing one finger at others leaves the rest aiming at me. Wrongdoing and scandalous behavior lurk around every corner of my faith journey. I am not thinking only of the sex and money scandals the fell big name religious types. I am also thinking of the winked at wrongdoing. Unkind attitudes displayed toward those whose lifestyles disgust me. The way I seek to use power in my church and my country. Grudges I have a hard time letting go of.

Disgracing myself is one thing. Disgracing Christ, whom I claim by using the name Christian, is quite another. While I cannot become morbidly fixated on every wrong action or attitude that comes up short of God’s glory, neither can I merely shrug them off with, “Oh well, he’s still working on me” or a “We’re all sinners” clichés.

Anything that would feed the fires of contempt for Christ must be hated, confessed and repented of. My cross must be taken up daily until scandalous things die.

Holy God, Forgive me when my shortcomings bring disrepute to you. Build in me such a deep desire for you that even a hint of contemptuous behavior or attitude would be immediately crucified. - Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 18:10
The name of the LORD is a strong fortress;
the godly run to him and are safe.

The tower of God
When I visited London via our trip to Zambia we had a couple days to site see. While there we saw the Tower of London where several infamous characters were imprisoned. The Tower of London is what I imagine when I think of a strong fortress. Secured by high, thick walls, water, and well-fortified gates, the Tower is fairly impenetrable.

When I was a young child, I thought of my dad this way. Nobody was stronger than my dad. Nobody could hurt us when dad was around. The presence of dad brought a sense of peace and safety. Now that I am older, I realize the amount of pressure those expectations put on a father.

How comforting to think of God’s presence as a place of safety and security. Realistically, my dad could not protect me from every danger. There were times my dad could not keep me from harm. In the fortress of God I am safe, but even there; I am not guaranteed that nothing bad will happen to me. Job was certainly in the “Tower of God” and look what happened to him. Yet God promised to walk with Job through the ugliness of life and restore his hope and life.

The promise of safety in God is real, yet not absolute. There is eternal security in Christ, and the promise that I will never walk alone, even in the valley of the shadow of death. There is peace and comfort regardless of the trial. To me that will be enough, in the tower of God I find safety in His presence.

God, I know that life will not always go the way I want it to, and yet you have assured me that you will always be with me, no matter what. I am running to you today for safety, for the assurance of your presence in both the good and the ugly of life. - Dan Jones