Rational Lies

Leviticus 19:11 “Do not lie”, “Do not deceive one another”

I heard a long-forgotten psychology professor say once that the word rationalize is really two words: rational lies. Rational lies that we tell to ourselves to justify something we have said or done or plan to do in the future. It may be something minor such as taking office supplies home from work so you don’t have to buy them at the store, telling yourself, “They will never miss a couple of cheap pens.” Perhaps you shade or adjust a few numbers on that tax return to pay less or get a bigger refund, even if it is really just a few dollars. After all, everyone does it and the IRS even knows about it, that is why they do audits. Maybe you go for a bigger game, like cheating on your spouse. Since the excitement has gone out of the marriage, you deserve to have a little fun, right? What she/he doesn’t know can’t possibly hurt, can it?

Rational lies are still lies. The big difference is they are lies that we tell ourselves to justify something we have done or haven’t done. If really doesn’t matter whether the matter is big or small, it still is wrong. The bible pretty well lays out the guidance for how we are supposed to act and there isn’t a lot of equivocation in it. One of the bible’s biggest heroes rationalized having someone killed so that he could have his wife, the story of David and Bathsheba and how King David sent her husband to the front of the battle lines. David rationalized that his position and desire for her made the killing of her husband justifiable.

We don’t have to be a king or someone in a position of power to tell ourselves lies that can affect other people. When Jesus told his critics that they should “render unto Caesar…”, he was also establishing the bottom line of obedience to civil law. There are of course the obvious crimes like theft and murder, but it also goes to the little things like exceeding the posted speed limit. Of course, everyone else is speeding and you do need to get where you are going a bit earlier, so zipping along 10-20 miles per hour faster than the limit is really okay. It could cost you a ticket and a fine. It could also cause you or someone else to have an accident. It has probably never crossed your mind that disobeying traffic laws are also against the wishes of God and a violation of his laws.

If you are a young person, one still in school, you have your own chance at some rational lies. So, you got too busy last night and didn’t get that math homework finished. You have a good friend you will let you copy his and no one will ever know. Okay, you deceived not only yourself but the teacher as well. Maybe you have a tough multi-page essay to write and you just happen to find what you need is for sale on the Internet. Why waste time writing something that is right there for the copying. Maybe you will use that extra time you saved to pray or read the bible…yeah, right, like that will really do you a lot of good. Maybe you did fool the teacher or professor, but you didn’t really fool yourself or God.

Rationalizing our behavior by telling ourselves rational lies is just wrong. It doesn’t matter what you tell yourself or how often. Why don’t you take a look at what you did today? Stop for a while and think over the things you did or didn’t do, the things you said or didn’t say. How many of them would fall into the definition of a rational lie. Of course, you can always tell yourself another one by saying that one or the other wasn’t really that bad, right?

My Daddy's Hat

Matthew 27:29 “and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.”

Those of you who remember Coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys will remember the hat he always wore at the games. It didn’t matter what kind of weather he faced or if the game was indoors, he always wore that hat. The hat was a Stetson Fedora and it was his trademark, along with his uncanny ability to pick the right players and strategies to win football games. My dad also had a Stetson Fedora and he wore it to work as well. He didn’t make any big headlines or win general national prominence. He was well known throughout his professional community as a comptroller of the electric company that served all of South Texas. He retired in 1973 and went home to God in early 1981. Many years later, Mom asked me if I would like to have that hat and I immediately said I did. There is just one problem with that hat: it is a size 6 7/8 and my head is a 7 ¼. When I tried to wear it, it perched just a little high on my head. It doesn’t matter. Even though my dad has been gone out of my life for 34 years, every once in a while I pick up that hat and set it on my head. It is just a way to get in touch with him, to hope some of his wisdom will somehow pass through that hat and into me. There have been a few times down over the years when I think it worked.

As you can see from the quotation above, Jesus also had a hat of sorts. It was a gift from the Roman soldiers. They took branches of the jujube tree, a tree known for its fruit and thorns, and twisted them into a crown and placed it forcibly on his head. They also gave him a nice purple robe and a staff for a scepter. Along with these gifts, they beat him and tortured him and mocked him and prepared him for the eventual horrible death on the cross. This crown, this hat, is also for us a source of wisdom and pride. I am not suggesting that you go out get some jujube tree branches or even some prickly rose bush branches and place them on your head. Please don’t do that! What I am saying is that we can learn from at least emotionally wearing this crown. He wore it for a long time, all the way from the torture room, through the city streets and finally up that Golgotha hill to his final destination. He wore that crown for hours and hours. He endured its pain and he did that, along with everything else that day, for us.

As Christians, we are often invited to take up the cross and follow Christ. It was a heavy burden and the symbology is obvious. What isn’t obvious and what is often overlooked, is that crown of thorns. The message is that Jesus endured what, compared to the crucifixion, was a much lower level of pain and he endured it for a long time.

Life often presents us with the same opportunity, the same challenge. It may be a physical challenge or a less than ideal life style or living situation. Maybe it involves taking care of someone else who needs us, someone who is not able to take care of themselves. That commitment or situation may be life-long or long term. It can certainly tempt us to escape or turn our backs on our responsibilities or turn inward in despair at what we can’t control or change. The lesson of the crown of thorns is one of endurance, having the strength and the courage to last, even when the pain of the thorns seem to be never-ending. It is at that very time, when we need to call on Jesus to give us a hand and to show us how to wear our own crown with courage and with his grace.

What is in your life that seems to run on without end? What life challenge are you faced with? Whatever it is, turn to Him who showed us how to wear life, to wear our crown of thorns as he wore his.

Get Your Head Out Of The Game!

Whether we are playing a sport, working at our job, or taking part in a hobby, one of the most important things is our concentration on the task at hand. Like anyone else, we can let our attention wander or be distracted by something else and the effect is to lessen our attention to what we are doing at the moment. Take for instance, participating in a sport, especially a team sport like football or basketball where the intensity of the moment demands our complete attention. A slight lapse at the wrong time can lead to an error with game-changing consequences. It can, in just an instant, change a near-certain win into an unexpected loss. It is the task of the coach on the sidelines to watch the players and make sure each is completely in the game, not just physically but also mentally. It is not uncommon to hear an alert coach yell at one on the players and say, “Get your head in the game!”.

“Get your head in the game!” In other words, participate fully on the mental level as well as the physical level. Maybe the player’s body is out there but the mind is not fully engaged in what is developing at that moment. Regardless of the cause, whether it is seeing someone meaningful in the stands or just a flashback memory or thought, it reduces just for a critical instant the most important concentration on the game at hand.

As Christians, it is important for us to know God the Father, to know His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We should read the Bible, study its meanings and think about how to apply all of that to our lives. God expects us to use the intelligence He gave us to know Him better that we might serve Him the best way we can. All of that is important, but it isn’t the whole story. Jesus taught us that we should love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. In other words, we are to love God with all of our being. Too often it seems the emphasis is on the third one on the list, and it ignores the first, second and fourth. Too often we are told to learn more and more about God and that seems to downplay the first of that list, the heart.

We are to love God with all of our heart. That is the first part of that directive. The heart is pictured by all as the source and repository of love. When we tell someone we love them, we don’t say, “I love you with all of my … mind?” No, we tell the person, “I love you with all of my heart.” It is all too easy to get into a discussion about God and about Christianity, debating with either non-Christians or members of Christian denominations that have a difference in the way they practice their faith. We can cite scriptural passages and dig up arguments and important points we have heard from others. The problem is, this is all a mind game. It all happens between the ears.

If that is you, then maybe it is time to get your mind OUT of the game. Instead of studying scripture, memorizing favorite passages, psalms, and proverbs, why not just take some time to just be with God, to be with Jesus Christ. When was the last time you just put your mind on hold and just took time to be with Him, to let Him into your heart, and to just feel His presence fill you with the love He has for you.

You are a child of God, He is your Parent. Do you study your physical parents, memorizing their words of wisdom all of the time? No, you also just glory in the love you receive from them and return that same love to them. Maybe it is time to do the same with God, to just feel the love and return that love to Him. Knowledge of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is certainly important and not to be downplayed, but sometimes you should take your mind out of the game, and open up your heart to both receive and to give.

Walk The Talk

There is an old cliché about “Walking the walk and talking the talk.” It is about doing the things you say you are going to do. There is another cliché that isn’t really around and it is a combination of the other. I say you should “Walk the talk.” It isn’t so much about doing what you say you are going to do as much as it is about being what you say you are.

As Christians, we say that we do certain things and believe certain things and don’t do or avoid others. Too many of us don’t believe or act on what we say we believe. Christians are supposed to be forgiving people, yet how many do you know, and maybe you fit this yourself, who don’t forgive someone for what they did or didn’t do. Whether it is the Lord’s Prayer in which we tell God to forgive us as we forgive others, or Jesus telling someone that we should forgive someone seventy times seven times (which really meant there was no limit), the direction we were given was to forgive. It is not something we do easily. Some never do it at all.

As Christians, we should ‘forgive and forget’ when we have been wronged. When we ask God to forgive our sins, we also expect that he will forget them as well. They are in the past; he has forgiven them, and does not hold them against us. While we all like to be remembered, we don’t like it when someone tells us they have forgiven what we did or didn’t do, and then proceeds to remind us over and over about the thing we did.

Forgiving one another should be something we do almost automatically. That isn’t to say that we should just let it go by without saying a word or acting on whatever was done to us. We do have an absolute right to confront the other person and make them understand what they have done. There may or may not be a punishment associated with that, as when that person is one of the kids and needs to make sure he or she understands not only what was done but also that all actions have consequences. It is what comes next that is just as important, if not more so. Forgiveness.

Your attitude may be one of “I could never forgive that”. Are we not all supposed to be trying to be like Jesus? Do you not remember the passage in the Passion Gospel where Jesus, hanging on the cross and in terrible pain, looked up to Heaven and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”? Can we do less than that if we are to emulate him? If he could forgive the ones who gave him hours of intense pain which was about to cause his death, then how can we not forgive the small things, by comparison, that are done to us?

Forgiving others as we wish to be forgiven is not only a Christian duty, it is a privilege. It allows us to be more like Jesus Christ. How can we not take advantage of this beautiful opportunity?

The Roses

In 1979, Bette Midler had a huge hit record with “The Rose”. If you look at the lyrics, you will see negatives throughout the song, with love being compared to a razor that cuts and other views of life that are less than uplifting. It isn’t until the last verse of the song, the last lines, that we are reminded that a simple rose seed, buried beneath the snow, will become a beautiful rose in the spring. The thought is that however down and negative life is at the moment, there is always the promise of better times in the future.

We have all known people who look at life as a series of negatives. For them, not only is the glass half empty, it also has a hole in the bottom and the rest of the liquid is seeping out and soon it will be empty. Their life is one negative crisis after another and despite our best efforts to show them the half-full glass, they just can’t understand how we can be so upbeat and cheerful in such a negative world. We get accused of not being realistic and not seeing things as they really are. They tell us we need to stop dreaming and believing that things are going to get better. What they don’t see is we have someone on our side who has told us there is a brighter future, that if life is currently trying to push us down, we need to keep pushing back so we can climb back up.

The Someone I am referring to, of course, is God. Throughout our history with him, we have been told over and over how the end of the story is just the beginning of a wonderful eternity with him. If there was ever a time when God would have been down in spirit, had that been possible, it would have been when his Son, Jesus Christ, was hanging on the cross dying a cruel and painful death. If that was my son or yours, that would certainly be the worst of days. For God, that was the best of days in his in relationship with mankind. His Son’s death on that cross opened the gates of Heaven for us and for all who came before and will come in the future. It allowed all of those created in his image and likeness to join him forever. Jesus Christ suffered, died, was buried in a tomb in the rock, and rose in glory and majesty, ascending to Heaven forty days later. If he can go from the ugliest of all the tortures and deaths to such resplendent glory, why can’t we look at that and draw a lesson from it?

Are you on the top of the world or down in the pit or someplace in between? Regardless of where you are, there is always a better life, a better experience, ahead of you. Do you concentrate on the torture and pain of your current personal cross, or, do you concentrate on the better future? That better future may be here in this life or the next. Are you honoring the God who made you, his Son who suffered for you, by being negative or are you looking ahead at the rising future that he has promised, both here and later forever?

Take that half-full glass and fill it the rim and overflowing with the love of God. Drink of the love of God, the love of Jesus Christ and you will never be thirsty again.

When the spring comes, look for the rose bush rising out of the ground, roses blooming on its branches, and see the promise of all of the beauty not only of the roses but also a never ending future with God.