I’m in Texas interviewing a music minister.  It doesn’t really matter where, so I won’t tell you to protect him.  In a period of ten minutes I saw two things of great importance to our church.  The first will be the subject of this blog and the other the subject of the next. 

             I finished the interview and didn’t feel like going to a restaurant, so I went to a grocery store to get some sushi.  In the checkout line a young man in a proudly tattered CAT cap was buying a bag of organic salad greens, a loaf of white bread, and a big bag of Doritos.  This young man looked more the Doritos and white bread type to me rather than the Rosewood natural foods type.  Was this inconsistent fare his idea of a balanced diet – two tasty but not so nutritious items balanced by one very nutritious one?  The problem is you can’t balance white bread with anything.  (On second thought, maybe with Jif.) 

             Consistency of diet may not be that important to this young man, but consistency in the Christian life is to our church and to you.  You can’t balance harsh words with kind ones or thoughtlessness with thoughtiness (as my dad used to say).   You may think everybody is watching us, but the truth is the world has given up on expecting much from us Christians.  We have said, “We’re only human,” and they believe us.  In fact, they don’t see much difference between them and us and wonder what all the hullabaloo is we make about our Savior.  Will we get consistent in honoring God so that our failures hurt our own hearts before they hurt our witness?

There is a great article on the first page of the Sunday style section of the New York Times dated August 16, 2009, about comedian Stefanie Wilder-Taylor.  She is the former standup comic who is now the mother of three. She had a very popular blog about the joys of sipping cocktails and drinking wine as a way to alleviate the boredom of being a mother.  She was a hero with a lot of other early afternoon wine sippers around the country.  Several months ago she became convinced she was an alcoholic and that in order to take care of her children she was going to give up the sauce.

             The response on her blog has been quite surprising.  A lot of women have written in to say they think they have problems too and want to quit.  However, a significant number of women have also written in trying to assure her she is not an alcoholic, doesn’t have a problem, and should continue to enjoy the fun of self-medicating when she wants to. 

             The Scripture is very clear about the use of alcohol.  “Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging” (Proverbs 20:1).  There are a lot of people who fail to heed this warning and who act like “I’m an adult, I’m a big grownup, and I can handle this.”  As a person who has alcoholism on both sides of my family, I can tell you it’s a dangerous thing.  I want to encourage you if you are self-medicating – and yes, all drinking is self-medication at some level as is marijuana, cocaine, and the recreational use of prescription drugs, take a careful look at yourself and be prayerful about this. 

             I have said for years that if someone gets through life without getting in trouble in the areas of money, sex, and alcohol/drugs, they will have had a pretty good life.  This really is one of the big areas that get a lot of people, and I think it’s important for us to be mindful that while it is legal, it is not nearly as safe as the advertisements on television would have you believe.  Go to the New York Times website and read this article.  I found it interesting.  You may too.

For the article, click here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/fashion/16drunk.html

                                                                                                      Ever been to Ridgeway, S.C.?  On Main Street there’s an old general store a friend of mine told me about.  I went up there because I wanted to see such a store.  While I was there, I bought a pair of overalls because I thought they would make a perfect souvenir from an old country store.  The store turned out to be as neat as I had hoped – unpainted, unvarnished floors, an old skylight, shelves full of every imaginable item of clothing, farm implement, and kitchenware. It was a lot like a museum where everything was for sale.  I’ve never forgotten it.

            Years later a man named John Ruff joined our church and mentioned he was from Ridgeway.  I started talking about this store and he said, “That’s my store.  It’s been in my family forever.  Come back and I’ll show you around.”  I took him up on it.  Back in the warehouse of the store I ran across a seed rack that he said was from the 1800’s.  Think of that.  Tomato seeds, turnip seeds, watermelon seeds all sitting around with perfect potential but never producing anything.  As the Lord Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies it will bear much fruit” (John 12:24).  We have the seeds of the Gospel in our Bibles and, if we are converted, in our hearts, souls, and minds.  At the end of your life will the seed God has placed in your life look like Mr. Ruff’s seed rack – interesting, old, and unused – or will it look like well used, sown, and multiplied sources of joy in eternal life in the lives of the people with whom you shared them?

            I’m listening to a piece of music written in 1721 titled Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.  While this kind of music is not everyone’s cup of tea, my mother taught me to love it.  I’m glad she did.  I do still love it.

            Question:  Do you know the names of any of your relatives or what they were doing in or around 1721?  I don’t and have almost no interest in finding out.  Very few people do know unless they become interested in family trees.  Bach wrote this 288 years ago and it is still bringing joy to me and to others.  If you could do something today that would last at least 288 years, would you do it? 

GOOD NEWS!  We can all do something that will last that long and longer.  While at a worldly level I probably cannot do anything that will last that long (although you never know), spiritually I can and so can you.  My college roommate is coming to see me today.  What he did with and for me from 1966 – 1970 will live on in my son and daughter and in the lives of those converted to Christ under my ministry. (“My” is in the sense of identification rather than possession).  All of us who are in Christ have been given something that will last forever but only if we get it into the lives of others.  Unfortunately, most of us treat the Gospel like some garden seeds I’ll tell you about in my next blog.  The Gospel must be shared, and when you do you are doing the only thing I’m confident will bring joy to the lives of others 288 – indeed millions – of years from now.  The seed of the Gospel produces crops that last forever.