Daily Devotional for April 29, 2013

Psalm 1:1-6
God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering at God.  Instead, the Law of the Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night.
 
They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.
 
That isn’t true of those who are evil, because they are like straw blown by the wind. Sinners won’t have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won’t have a place with the people of God. The Lord protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.
 
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
 
I recently saw a post on Twitter from a woman who was thanking a certain Independent Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, for helping her explain to her children how Muslims feel about Al Qaeda. You see, many leaders and members of this church, which I refuse to name, have made it their mission to protest at funerals and other events to raise awareness for their hatred of homosexuals, in particular.  They have also protested against Jews… and some members have actually stomped on the American flag at some of these events.  They threatened to go to Boston and protest there after the bombings last month.  In their minds, every disaster and tragedy that befalls someone is a direct result of the “sins” of the groups they choose to hate.  Still, they call themselves “Christians” and encourage everyone to believe as they do.  In my book, they are sneering at God.
 
What does this have to do with Muslims and Al Qaeda?  I read a response to this question on the Internet from one Muslim that I believe sums this up fairly well.  This person said “the integrity of my religion is tarnished by this group.”  You see, people do all sorts of things in the name of religion… even Christianity.  Yet, as our pastor pointed out so bravely yesterday, there is no room for such thinking in the church… and there are no good excuses.  Racism must go… intolerance cannot be allowed… we must search our hearts, study the word of God and realize that we are called to love.one.another  - and everyone who trusts in God is welcome at His table.  Scripture doesn’t say to pick and choose… to judge others… to protest against certain groups in the name of God and ostracize those who do not believe as we do.
 
God has not called us to cram our way of thinking down the throats of others. Our mission is quite clear…

• Love the LORD with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
• Love others as you love yourself.
• Go and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

To my way of thinking, this includes not only telling others about Jesus, but also demonstrating His teachings in our talk, actions, and attitudes.
 
Our pastor used the Sunday school movement, which began in 1790 in England, as an example.  This movement was initially unpopular, because the children were taught to read the Bible on Sunday, which was considered a “day of rest.”  This was the only day of the week that most children in England were not working in the factories.  If they were to learn to read – and study the Bible as their textbook – it would have to be on Sundays.  Clearly, many felt it was more important to “observe the Sabbath” than to learn to read God’s word on that day!  But as we all know, enough people “refused evil advice” and persevered…and Sunday school eventually became a virtually universal aspect of childhood for most.
 
My point in sharing these things with you is not to spark a debate over social issues or various religious beliefs.  God uses the same scripture passage to speak to me in different ways on any given day.  Today, I feel that this passage is showing us that we must be very careful about who we listen to and what we internalize as “Christian” attitudes and behaviors.  We must ask ourselves why we form certain opinions… what caused us to treat certain people in one way or another…and how this all lines up with the word of God.  Do our protests and public disdain for certain activities or groups truly draw others to Jesus?  Do those who observe us (and remember… people are always watching!) surmise that if we are saying that this person or group is evil… and we are Christians… it must be so?  Or do they look at us and declare that they want nothing to do with Jesus, if this is how His followers treat each other?  Either way, we may be misleading others… in the name of Jesus!
 
Are we using our Christian faith – and God’s word – as an excuse to misbehave… rather than our manual for how to live and grow like strong trees that “develop fruit in season and always have leaves?”  What does our behavior, talk, body language and general attitude say to others about our relationship with God… and what does it say to God Himself?  We all have areas that need work.  We all have people who rub us the wrong way for one reason or another… and attitudes that need an adjustment.  There is no time like the present to stop and ask God to help us with this.  Tell Him how much you want to live like the strong tree that is firmly rooted, instead of the straw that blows in the wind.  Ask God to show you where you need to be more tolerant and progressive in your thinking… and how to more closely follow Jesus’ commandments.
 
It is time to drop the excuses and stop hiding behind them… to step up and out and be the people God has called us to be.  I’m ready to get in line… are you?
 
©2013 Debbie Robus

Daily Devotional for January 17, 2011

Romans 12:2
Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

A student from my very first class of first graders wrote on Facebook over the weekend about a conversation with his 7-year-old, second-grade son. The conversation was about Martin Luther King, Jr. My now-grown student asked his son what he learned about Dr. King, and the little boy said he learned that “brown” people were not allowed to sit up front, had to use different bathrooms, and that the home of Dr. King’s parents was bombed. He asked, “Did you know that, Daddy?” My student asked his son, “Why do you think they did this?” and the little boy said, “Because they were mad at them.”

My student continued in his post – and again on his personal blog – to discuss how sad he is that like many of us, he grew up in a community where… “I never saw a face in school or anywhere else in town that was not Caucasian - unless you count the folks who owned the local Chinese restaurant.” He and I – and others – commiserated that our own childhood attitudes toward those of other races and ethnicities was influenced in large part by the racial isolation of our upbringing. Things are somewhat different in our area of the country now, but not greatly. For many, our true introduction to people of other races, ethnicities, and cultures comes when we move away to attend college.

Although I heard plenty of talk around me, I never grew up with negative feelings toward others of any race, creed, or color. When we moved to Oklahoma for a few months during my fifth-grade year, my best friend was a full-blooded Indian girl named Leona. In college, some of my closest friends were black. And while Dr. King had paved the way toward more tolerance and acceptance of others, I still saw tremendous evidence of inequality in the late 1970’s when I attended college.

My student teaching experience was a prime example of this. The kindergarten teacher to whom I was assigned for a little more than four weeks left for maternity leave one week after I arrived in her classroom. Another teacher was hired to replace her, but in a dramatic shift on Friday afternoon, word came from the administration office that “a black face must be behind the desk on Monday.” The “quota” for an integrated faculty was low. A girl who had graduated just a few weeks earlier – and student taught the previous semester in this same elementary school – was flown in from South Carolina, where she had moved with her son. On Monday morning, Deborah was my new “mentor.”

The sad part is that Deborah had not had a good student teaching experience. The principal had tried to intervene and change this, but the attitudes were so strong that she faced an uphill battle. She told me, “You will have to help each other.” And that’s what we did. As I look back on this situation, I see how God orchestrated the details. My mother was already a kindergarten teacher, so making lesson plans and pulling the classroom together was easy for me. I knew Deborah from classes we had shared, and I liked her. There were some volatile situations with angry parents, and I was able to help mediate… to serve as a bridge in the gap. And all too soon, my time in that kindergarten classroom was over… but not before Deborah had settled in and some of the anger had diffused.

I honestly don’t know what happened to Deborah after that year. We moved back to Heber Springs, and I lost touch. But I do know that, sadly, a lot of attitudes have not changed much in 34 years. There would still be parents today who would throw a royal fit if this same situation occurred. Too many people are listening to the attitudes, prejudices and fears of the people of this world.

Maya Angelou says, “When you know better, you do better.” Unfortunately, in this arena, that’s not always the case. But it can be. We do know better. We know that God created people of all races, creeds and colors… and all are precious to Him. We are no different in God’s eyes than our neighbors from Africa, the Native Americans, those of Asian descent, and others. When we were little, we sang, “Jesus loves the little children… red and yellow, black and white - they are precious in His sight.” But do we believe this? Have we listened to God and let Him change our mind? Don’t we want to please our Heavenly Father and do everything that is good? Isn’t today a perfect time to let God change the way you think?

©2011 Debbie Robus