Most of us do not value clarity. Many people still watch “news” on TV where CNN will have 17 “experts” opine on a complicated issue for a total of 2 minutes before moving on to the next shiny object. Smart phone usage data shows that humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish, at least when we’re scrolling social media. TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) has become a verb; as in “That blog post Micah wrote was too long so I TLDRed it”.
In this self-absorbed obsession with chasing after the next flashy lure, we have forgotten something: the infinite value of other human beings. As Western Civilization does away with its Judeo-Christian roots, we also do away with the fundamental building blocks of society. Abandoning Biblical principals in our everyday lives, means abandoning the idea that the person we disagree with is created in the image of God.
Non-Biblical systems of worship demand unity over clarity. In the early days of the Christian Church for example, the Roman Empire allowed worship of other gods so long as you also worshipped the Roman Emperor. Unity over clarity. Christ followers could not do this. They believed Jesus was the King of kings and Lord of lords and therefore could not worship an emperor who was less than Jesus. Clarity over unity.
Later, when the Roman Catholic Church had gained unchecked money and power but had lost its Biblical principles they also demanded unity over clarity. When certain monks and priests believed the people should have the Bible in their native language, conflict broke out between those who would have clarity and those who would have unity. Many people were put to death because they believed it was better to die for the clarity of Scripture than to live in the unity of a corrupt church.
We are back in a time when unity is trumpeted above clarity. You can hardly watch a TV show, a commercial, a movie or a political speech without hearing THE NARRATIVE. What THE NARRATIVE lacks in clarity, it makes up for in sheer volume and audacity. If you don’t understand THE NARRATIVE or question it in any way, you are cancelled, outcast and ridiculed. Even if you have been a longtime advocate of last year’s NARRATIVE, you will be chewed up and spit out if doing so will benefit the propagation of the latest iteration of THE NARRATIVE. Logical fallacies in the message abound. Feminism is, presumably a good thing, but defining “woman” is not. See this recent debacle on the Dr Phil show. THE NARRATIVE demands unthinking acquiescence. Don’t think for yourself, just do as your told. Do as your told and you will be a “good citizen”.
Clarity demands love, humility, and patience. The Christian who seeks clarity over unity may talk with their unvaccinated friend about getting it but will not sever ties over differences in their beliefs about a certain shot. My good friends Kate and Kurt are good examples of this. We disagree over the efficacy of a certain vaccine but because they are following in the footsteps of Jesus, they still love us and have not allowed differences over this one issue to destroy our friendship. Sadly, I know of Christians who have severed ties with other Christians over this issue.
My friends have chosen the path of love, choosing the love of God for their fellow humans, where they could have chosen self-centeredness. They have chosen humility, recognizing that the true standard of truth is firmly in God’s hands, not ours. They have chosen patience with me and my differing opinion.
Sadly, the path most church leaders chose to take during the course of the world’s over reaction to the COVID-19 virus was one of unity over clarity. We were told the loving thing to do was to accommodate other people’s fears by wearing a mask. If a great number of church attendees had an irrational fear of bad luck and the government mandated everyone carry a rabbit’s foot, I wonder if churches would also flock to that banner. If enough mothers were concerned about head lice, would churches make all children shave their heads before being allowed to enter the children’s ministry?
What would have happened if churches had sought clarity over unity? What would have happened if Christians would have taken the time to ask ‘How will forcing everyone to wear masks affect how children develop?’ ‘How will forcing everyone to wear masks affect the mental health of the young and old?’ My grandfather was forced to live in isolation for the last year of his life. We were told this was done for his protection, but all it accomplished was adding misery to the final year of his life.
Seeking clarity is more loving than seeking unity. As Stephen Covey put it, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.” Jesus put it even better, “The truth will set you free.” If I seek clarity, I recognize I am not the ultimate arbiter of truth. I first seek God’s truth, then in the understanding that the human I disagree with is made in the image of the infinite, immortal God, I can seek to understand their point of view, recognizing that both of us are subordinate under God, but equal to each other.
I recently read “The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code” by Dennis Prager. I wanted to read this book to start to learn a little more about the Ten Commandments. As a Christian I have heard many people say that Old Testament laws do not apply to Christians. This often led to believe that there was nothing of value and nothing worth studying in the Old Testament. And yet, the Ten Commandments used to play a prominent role in America. They were posted in our courthouses and many of our schools. Much of our legal code can be traced back to this seemingly simple and straightforward code. The Ten Commandments are given in their entirety twice in the Bible. The 4th Commandment on keeping the Sabbath is repeated so many times, I lost count and gave up trying to keep track. Any time God repeats Himself, it’s for our benefit so we should take note.
Dennis Prager is a practicing Jew who spent 25 years teaching the Torah. For many years, he also hosted a show that brought together ministers of various religions: Catholics, many forms of Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, Jewish Rabbis and others. Because of this background, Dennis has a unique perspective on this Biblical moral code. Below is my summary and review of what Dennis has written. I have tried to specifically note where I have injected my own personal opinions. You can safely assume that any errors or inaccuracies contained in this article are entirely my own.
Why have the Ten Commandments?
“We Live in a world filled with evil and moral confusion. There is only one way out: affirmation of a God Whose primary demand is that we treat our fellow human beings decently… That is why the Ten Commandments are the most important thing ever written.”
Dennis Prager
Different people believe different things. Some argue that humankind is ever evolving, ever improving. But the 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history where mankind invented new ways of killing our fellow man and continues to inflict terrible suffering on each other. In America we are largely spared from the kind of devastating conflict and endless war that plagues much of the rest of the planet. Even if we do see some refugees moving into our cities, we are just barely getting a glimpse of the peak of the iceberg of human suffering.
Of course, we don’t have to look to war torn nations to see that without a moral code over all of us, we would be left with nothing but our opinions and those with the most power would determine what was right. We need a universal moral code, that applies to all humans equally. In Prager’s view, the Ten Commandments is the best moral code mankind has received in 3,000 years and no one will ever come up with a better one.
Where do we start?
There is a difference in the way Christians and Jews count the Ten Commandments. The first difference is that the Jews call it the Ten Statements rather than commandments. I think this is a vitally important difference that we Christians should thoughtfully consider and learn from. In my opinion, many of us Christians (and non-Christians) have viewed the Ten Commandments as coming from a finger wagging, fun hating “Man Upstairs” Who wants Christians to miss out on the good life by living quiet boring, do-nothing lives. This view could not be further from the truth. Viewing these as the Ten Statements, as Dennis does, and taking a look at the historical context in which they were given, we can start to see a much clearer and more accurate view of God:
A mighty God Who had just liberated His people from slavery
A people with no identity who had been uprooted from the only place they had ever known
A people who were no doubt bewildered and facing a wide open world of opportunity where freedom was both a blessing and a terrifying reality
In three thousand years, no one has ever come up with a better system than the God-based Ten Commandments for making a better world. And no one ever will.
Dennis Prager (emphasis mine)
Their freedom loving God, who wanted them to stay free offers them a moral code that will help them maintain their new-found freedom. No finger-wagging here, this is God’s Ten steps to living a free and happy life. This is an explanation of life as it really is. It is as if God is saying “If you want to be successful at this, here’s what you need to do.” These are the statements of a God who dearly loves his people and wants them to live long and happy lives. None of the commandments or statements are about what God needs from us. Instead, they all impact how we are to treat others. God cares a great deal about how we treat our fellow humans.
With that understanding, let’s look at the Ten Statements.
1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage
This is the key statement that provides the foundation for the other nine. None of the other statements make sense without this one. First, it tells us these are God’s statements. By identifying himself in this first statement, God is claiming authority and authorship of everything else He is about to say. These statements were not from Moses nor a collection of rabbis exiled in Babylon, but from God Himself. Second, God is the one Who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt. The people’s freedom came from God, not from themselves, not from Moses, only from God.
Note that God states freedom as the reason why people should follow the Ten commandments. He could have said “I made the entire world; therefore, you need to obey me.” He could have said “I have the power to kill you if you disobey, so you need to obey me.” Instead, God says “I set you free. Live this way, so that you can stay free.” As Dennis Prager says “Freedom comes from moral self-control. There is no other way to achieve it.”
2. You shall have no other gods before me.
People of the ancient world worshiped numerous gods for sun, rain, and fertility. There was a god for every aspect of life. Worship of these gods was largely, if not totally, self-focused or at least selfishly motivated. If you wanted a child, sacrifice to the god or goddess of fertility. Crops dying in a drought? Sacrifice to the rain god. Almost no one does this in America these days, so is this commandment still even applicable or necessary?
Dennis’ answer is that while we may not worship in the same way the ancients did, we still have gods we worship. Money, education, sex, love, comfort, and safety can all be gods in our lives. If any of these gods were to create our moral code, our morals would change based on the outcome of our actions. Dennis gives this example: if we worship the god of love and found ourselves in a hypothetical situation where we could save the drowning dog that we love or an unknown human stranger, we would save the dog that we love, because we worship our own love. Likewise, unspeakable acts of evil and violence have been committed in the name of love of country.
Having one God over all humanity, one God above all other gods, makes all humans equal. We all share a common creator. We were all created in His image. No one person is intrinsically better than anyone else.
In my opinion, we all act like god’s now, determining our own moral code and condemning anyone who disagrees. This is the rotten heart of our toxic culture. Where there is any discussion of morals at all, it is almost always toxic and usually avoided all together.
3. Don’t misuse God’s name.
The Hebrew literally reads don’t “carry” God’s name in vain. This is the only commandment where God says He will not forgive us if we violate it. Numbers 20:7 in the English Standard Version states: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
Given the kinds of atrocities God is willing to forgive (and the Bible show’s God forgiving some terrible sins, far worse sins than I’m sure you or I would ever commit) this seems quite jarring. God could forgive thievery, adultery, and murder, but not a slip of the tongue? Could a casual expression of how hard my day at work was really lead to an eternity without God’s forgiveness? Since this interpretation does not fit with the entirety of God’s character, Dennis and I think we should consider a different interpretation of this commandment. Prager explains carrying God’s name in vain means doing evil in God’s name. The crusaders slaughtering innocent women and children in God’s name comes to mind. More recently we have been saddened and shocked to see several well-known names in Evangelicalism engage in evil in God’s name. This is the most jarring and shocking kind of evil because it is done in the name of the One who condemns the evildoer. And it is not surprising that a just and loving God does not let this kind of evil go unpunished.
4. Remember the Sabbath
I don’t have any statistics to back this up, but I think this is one of the most often repeated commandment. You cannot read the Biblical books of Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy without hearing this repeated time and again. Like most of God’s commands, we should not be lulled into complacency by the apparent simplicity of this commandment. First, this commandment equalized human beings. Every single person was supposed to take the day off. Dennis makes clear, this effectively ended slavery. The Israelites did not get a day off while they were slaves in Egypt. But God wanted them to live in freedom, not slavery. Everybody got a day off.
Animals also got a day off. This elevated common beasts of burden to beings that mankind should treat animals with dignity, not just as things to be exploited for personal profit.
Finally, this command elevated the family. Since men must take a day off, they are likely to spend more time with their families, which leads us to the Fifth commandment.
5. Honor your Father and Mother
This is the first and only commandment with a promise – “that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Numbers 20:12b ESV) The promise is also a reason. If you honor your father and mother, you will live long in the land your God is giving you. Remember, God is giving these commandments so that the people of Israel can live in freedom in the land God has promised them. If children honor their parents, a society flourishes. Likewise, any society is doomed to self-destruction if children are not taught to honor their Mom and Dad. Many parents fail in this responsibility because we would rather be loved than honored. We would rather be our child’s friend than an authority figure. But if we do this, we fail our children. Children need their Mom and Dad to be loving authority figures. In my opinion, it’s kind of weird for a 40-year-old man to be friends with a 7-year-old girl, but absolutely fitting for that same man to be a loving authority figure who teaches that girl to honor her father and mother.
On a personal note, I will add that one thing that really grinds my gears, is when I see other men shirking their responsibility in teaching their kids to honor their mother. When your child talks back or in any other way shows disrespect to his or her mother, you as the Dad, need to come down HARD on that kind of behavior. There should be no confusion whatsoever in your child’s mind about whether or not it’s okay to be disrespectful to Mom. This is not only the loving thing to do for your wife, but also the loving thing to do for your child. The statistics don’t lie. Children without fathers are far more likely to commit violent crime, go to prison or get pregnant as a teenager before marriage. As a dad, one of the best things you can do to build a better future for your kids and for society, is to teach your kids to respect you and their mother.
6. Do Not Murder
Just like English, Hebrew has different words for kill and murder. The word used here is the Hebrew word for murder. Killing is taking a life, whether the act is moral or immoral. When you swat a mosquito, we don’t accuse you of murder. There are some cases where killing another human being is the moral action to take. If someone is about to stab another person to death and someone shoots and kills them, that is not murder. Acting out in rage and stabbing someone to death with a knife because that person said something you don’t like is murder. Not all killing is murder.
7. Do Not Commit Adultery
This commandment is about protecting civilization. It is that important. Mother, Father, and kids are the fundamental building block of society. This is why so many Hebraic laws are focused on protecting the family. Marriage is the most important relationship in a family and adultery destroys marriage through deception, refocusing energy, love and attention outside of where it is needed most, in the family. There is no caveat in this commandment that allows adultery if husband and wife both agree. Adultery causes damage to the institution of marriage and is prohibited without exception.
8. Do Not Steal
I always thought this was the most straightforward commandment. Do not steal. Reading this book, I realized that I always added one word to this commandment: “Stuff.” The commandment does not read “Do not steal stuff.” I suspect I’m not the only one to add this helpful clarification to the command. But, when you strip away what we add to it, we can start to see what a wide-ranging affect this would have on our lives and our society if we actually obeyed God in just this one command. In fact, Dennis states that you could argue that most, if not all the other commands are summarized in this one. Think about it: What is murder but stealing innocent life? Adultery is stealing another’s spouse. Lying is stealing justice and honesty. Slavery is stealing another human being. So here, in Yahweh’s initial revelation of His good and perfect law, slavery is rendered obsolete.
Prager goes on to show how complete and total this command is with respect to governing how we treat other people by listing various ways in which we can steal from others. We can steal a person’s reputation by slandering them or gossiping about them. We can steal someone’s dignity by humiliating them and we can steal people’s trust by deceiving them. Imagine if everyone obeyed just this one commandment. Move over John Lennon.
9. Do Not Bear False Witness
It is virtually impossible, in fact it very well could be utterly impossible, to have a healthy functioning society where truth is shunned and lies are accepted. The great evils of human history have all been based on lies. The African slave trade, National Socialism and Communism were all based on lies. The African slave trade was sustained by the lie that black people were less than white people. The National Socialist’s Holocaust was based on the lie that Jews were inferior to Aryans. And communism sustained the lie that landowners and businesses were less than human and therefore could have their property confiscated, they could be sent to concentration camps or in many cases just summarily executed for the “common good”. Individuals like Hitler and Stalin can only do so much evil on their own. A society that does not value truth and lacks the courage to stand up for and demand truth is necessary for the plans of wicked people to succeed. That is why the Ninth commandment does not have an “in court” qualifier. The God of the Ten commandments values truth telling in and out of court.
Prager claims, and history seems to back his claim, that on a macro level, truthfulness is more important for a society than compassion or kindness. Personally, I think truthfulness is true compassion. Truth must be delivered with kindness, but a friend who turns a blind eye to addiction for example and does not compassionately tell his friend the truth does his friend and society no good.
10. Do Not Covet
Previous commandments have prohibited murder, adultery, stealing and perjury. The Tenth commandment prohibits the thing that leads to all the others. Do not covet that which doesn’t belong to you. This is the only commandment having to do with thoughts. The Hebrew word translated covet, means much more than to want. It means to want to the point of being willing to take it away from someone else.
Just wanting what my neighbor has, can lead to something good. If my neighbor has a nice car and I want one too, it can motivate me to work harder and earn more money so that I can afford a nice car too. Seeing how happy my neighbor is with his wife, could motivate a single man to take a shower and go socialize so he too may find a wife. But coveting is being willing to inflict harm on my neighbor to get what I want. God understands how harmful evil thoughts can be when they reach this point, and He wants us to have nothing to do with them.
Summary
When we don’t put our own limitations on God’s commandments and read what He has provided for us, we find that he has given us everything we need.
Micah’s Paraphrase Ten Commandments:
Yahweh is our God who set us fee and wants us to stay free.
There is only one God so don’t worship anyone or anything else.
Don’t misuse God’s name by blaming Him for the evil things you do.
Take a day off, once a week, just to be with God and those God has placed in your life.
All of society is built on the family structure, so honor your father and mother so that your society doesn’t fall apart.
Don’t murder. Nuff said.
Don’t commit adultery. Remember how important family is.
Don’t steal. Period. Don’t steal stuff, don’t steal trust, don’t steal virtue. None of it.
Don’t lie. In or out of court. And you can lie by not saying anything when you should say something.
Don’t want what doesn’t belong to you so badly that you’re willing to harm others to get it.
For Further Study
The best way to learn more about the Ten Commandments, and more importantly the loving God behind them, you should read the Bible.
Where can I read the Ten Commandments in the Bible?
The Bible lists the Statements or Commandments three times, twice in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy. Exodus Chapter 20 is the first full listing of all Ten statements and is a great place to start. Because the people of Israel sinned by created the golden calf, Moses broke the tablets with the first enumeration of the Ten statements. God and Moses collaborated again to write the statements on a new set of tablets and the commands are repeated in Exodus 34. This passage is extraordinarily powerful and worth reading on its own. Check out a wonderful book just on this chapter here. Finally, in his old age, Moses reiterated the Ten Statements to the people of Israel one last time before he did. You can read that in Deuteronomy Chapter 5.
Of course I highly recommend the book this post is about as a great resource. To help us make a few pennies, you can buy the book through our affiliate link below:
The most important words ever written are the Ten Commandments. These words changed the world when they were first presented at Mt. Sinai to Israelites, and they are changing it now. They are the foundation stones of Western Civilization.
Given their staggering importance, you would think that all societies, and certainly our educational and religious institutions, would be intent on studying them closely. Sadly, this is not the case. Our schools ignore them and our churches and synagogues take them for granted. But here’s a simple test: Who among us can even name all of the Ten Commandments? And even among those who can name them, how many can explain them in a way that makes sense to the modern eye and ear?
If you are a person of faith, this book will strengthen it; if you are agnostic it will force you to rethink your doubts; if you’re atheist, it will test your convictions. For people who have thought little about the Ten Commandments, as well as for those who have a sophisticated understanding of them, it will be a revelation.
That’s a lot to ask of a little book, but the only thing that’s little here is the length. The ideas are very big.
Most, if not all of us, struggle with the question: if God is such a loving God then why is there so much evil in this world? Or another way of asking is: why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a common argument atheists make when trying to make the point that God doesn’t exist. The simplest answer I can give is freedom. And as we pass six months of a government lockdown I feel called to write and share my thoughts on God, freedom, and our current situation in America.
I’ve been a big believer in freedom for most of my adult life. I don’t recall being taught much about freedom in school. I remember having basic lessons on the founding of America but the importance of freedom was never a major emphasis. We celebrate the 4th of July every year but that mostly centers on family, food and fireworks. Although I knew I was a believer in freedom it wasn’t until I lived and worked overseas that I really began to understand its importance.
Living in a foreign country definitely made me aware that freedom is not the norm. People were always in your business. It was definitely frowned upon for westerners to fraternize with the locals. I remember driving a friend to the airport. I dropped him off curbside and got out of my car to help him with his baggage. I then said goodbye and went to give him a hug at which point he recoiled. I’ll never forget the fear in his eyes at being “caught” hugging a white woman.
There are many more examples of my experiences living overseas that solidified my gratefulness for being an American. However, it wasn’t until this past decade when I intentionally began pursuing a relationship with God that I’ve truly come to understand the importance of freedom and America’s founding. America is exceptional because it was the first country in the history of the world that was founded on the principle that our rights and freedoms come from God and not government. It’s written in our Declaration of Independence and codified in our Bill of Rights. The more I reflect on this the more amazed I am at how special our founding was. This never happened before. Ever. God chose the Israelites. Yet Americans chose Him.
So let’s get back to the question: if God is such a loving God then why is there so much evil in this world? Through my reading of the bible I’ve come to believe that God created us to be in relationship with Him and with one another. His greatest commandment is to love Him with all our heart, mind and soul and to love one another.
God could have created mindless machines but He didn’t. He created humans and gave us free will because He knew that if He programmed us to “love” Him then it would not be true love. Love demands a choice. Love demands freedom. And yes, freedom means that people can make the wrong choice…hence, the evil in this world. The God I believe in…the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the God who gave His only son to take away our sins, is a perfect, holy and loving God. Yet He surrendered control upon creating us in order that we could experience a true loving relationship with Him and with one another.
So it begs the question: if our God surrendered control knowing we were going to make mistakes, why would we surrender our freedoms to the flesh?
We are several months into this lockdown crisis because we have given up our freedom to “well-meaning” government officials. I’ve been told, “It’s for the common good” and “We all have to do our part.” Or, “There are just too many stupid people out there.” The arrogance of human nature never ceases to amaze me. Our Almighty God surrendered control yet flawed, imperfect humans believe we should protect others from themselves because we know better. There is a saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I don’t care how well-meaning people may be. As Dennis Prager puts it: good intentions without wisdom leads to evil. And wisdom begins by fearing God.
As a nation are we that forgetful of the recent atrocities of the 20th Century caused by communism? The 20th Century was the deadliest century compared to all the other centuries combined. And much of it was perpetuated by well-meaning people who truly believed in the common good.
I believe we all desire some sense of control over matters. Some of us more than others. My husband and kids can attest to my desire for control. It’s my default safety measure. Unfortunately, no matter how much I try to control situations my family is never completely safe. Relinquishing control can be extremely difficult. But there is an answer. There is hope. When God created the world Jesus was with Him. God knew we weren’t always going to align ourselves with Him. Jesus was the salvation plan from the beginning.
Fear has gripped our country because we have either forgotten or are unaware of the hope of eternal life that Jesus offers. And we have abdicated our liberties because of this fear. For many getting back to normal life is a scary proposition. But the scarier proposition is continuing to relinquish our freedom. If we want to be in relationship with God and with one another then freedom is not optional. Never.
How a James Corden workout skit helped me get through one battle with depression.
A little while ago, I watched a video of James Corden working out with Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg has a crazy work out schedule starting at 4 am. Corden is like me, he rarely darkens the gym doors. At the beginning of the work out Mark said something I will never forget. Looking James straight in the eye he said “This is going to suck, just embrace it.”
“This is going to suck, just embrace it.”
Mark Wahlberg
Watch as James Corden embraces the suck with Mark Wahlberg.
The more I think about it, the more I see the wisdom in the words of Marky Mark. I struggle with depression. As long as I can remember I have either struggled with depression or had feelings of melancholy. I have asked God to take it away from me, seen a psychiatrist, a therapist, I have beaten myself up thinking that if I had greater faith the depression would go away, a friend even anointed me with oil and prayed over me claiming the promise of healing in James 5:14. So far, nothing has taken it away permanently. Not long ago I was in a desperate struggle with depression. I prayed with a life and death earnestness as the dark and wicked lies swirled in my mind like a swarm of vampire bats. I prayed all evening but eventually fell asleep, physically exhausted; my shoulders still weighed down and a giant stone in my stomach. I woke up at 5 am feeling exactly the same. For the next hour and a half, my desperate praying continued. Then, like a break in the clouds, the weight lifted off my shoulders and the pit left my stomach. The sky was clear if not sunny. I had just been through a battle. There was no cheering and celebrating. William Wallace did not lift his broad sword and yell “Freedom!” But the fighting had stopped.
As I went through the day, I realized my side had won. The enemy had retreated. I didn’t see any lightning bolts or hear heavenly trumpet sounds, but I knew God had won the victory. Soon my heart began feeling two emotions that I had thought I would never feel again: peace and joy. During the fight, I didn’t hear God. I didn’t know if God could hear me. Maybe the din of battle affected my hearing, but God had heard me, God had let me fight it out and God had waited until the perfect moment to give me the victory.
I was exhausted and a little frustrated God had let me go through that. Why couldn’t God had pulled off the victory without me suffering the way I had? First Marky Mark and then James the brother of Jesus helped me understand what was happening. Much like the 4 am work out, my battle sucked. It just did. But now, on the other side of the battle, I understand what James meant when he said, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:2-4, MSG) God knew I needed to go through the whole fight. God knows that you don’t become a battle-hardened warrior eating Cheetos by the pool. To be battle hardened you actually have to fight the battle.
“God knows you don’t become a battle-hardened warrior eating Cheetos by the pool. To be battle hardened, you actually have to fight the battle.”
Micah Goring
I know many people who are going through much more difficult battles. Long, drawn out battles that last for years. Honestly, I can’t offer any encouragement better than “Embrace the suck.” The battle sucks. No doubt about it. James saw his brother humiliated, crucified, naked, on public display. More than likely he lost his dad while he was still young. He would later be executed for his own faith. James knew a thing or two about tests and challenges coming at him from all directions. But he still says, let it do its work. In other words, embrace the suck. You will emerge on the other side of this test, this battle, stronger in a way you cannot imagine now. You will have the quite confidence of a combat veteran.
I know what I went through was just one battle. This fight is one to be taken seriously. I still see the therapist and I fully expect the next battle to be much harder as my Master guides me through another lesson. When it comes, I will embrace the suck, and carry on to the end.
We live in a world of attention-grabbing headlines, sloganeering sound bites and social media exchanges with more vitriol and bile than love and empathy. What have we gained from this? Have our angry exchanges brought any of us closer to goodness? Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result has been described as insanity, and looking over our cultural landscape where every individual lives comfortably in the fiefdom of “my truth” we can see the accuracy of that description. Beating each other over the head with our opinion is not working.
Katy and Micah in the middle of the 2020 lockdowns.
If there is a God who made us, if there is a God of love and power who spoke everything into existence, maybe it’s time to seek that God out. If there is such a being, it is high time we investigate what that Being has told us about Himself and seek out how we can apply Him to the problems that beset our nation and culture. In this hyper political climate we live in, we believe as a nation we’re well overdue to get back to our Creator, Who endowed us with certain unalienable rights.
Humans fail us, but God never will. With that in mind, Katy and I started the In God We Trust blog and YouTube channel. Here we dive into a wide variety of issues such as is freedom is a Biblical value, why the 10 Commandments are America’s greatest hope and is there anything worth salvaging in America or should we follow the advice of some and burn the whole thing down?
“But what if I don’t believe in God,” you may ask? No problem at all. We seek clarity over agreement. Our goal is not to force you to convert. That is impossible because it violates a fundamental tenant of how God made us.
If you think there is value in clear and thoughtful discussion that critically examines ideas while respecting the people who hold them, if you are tired of political sloganeering and want to help change the tone of cultural discourse then we encourage you to sign up for our email updates so you never miss a post.
In God We Trust 