Weird Values

                                                Weird Values


 I ended last week's article with a set of weird values. I didn't know I would be out weirded. I should have guessed. Some of the weirdness was sick and tragic. Some weirdness was greatly anticipated and seen as newsworthy. Some of the weirdness was comical.

This time last week I didn't know a new species of monkey would be found in the Congo. It totally surprised the researchers. Apparently, the monkey was also surprised to know he hadn't existed before. I also didn't know about a South Korean rapper named Gangman who has launched a dance video that has gotten 20 million YouTube hits in less than a month. It's a cheesy bit that is somewhat reminiscent, they say, of riding a horse. If you ride a horse like that in Texas you could be shot. I also didn't know the new iphone 5 was coming out. It made headlines and has every morning news show giving it time and discussing it's new features. People hadn't figured out iphone 4 yet have they? The greatest feature for Apple is it costs more. A monkey? A horsey video? A phone? It is weird how we react to these "news" items. Much hoopla, much TV time, and a lot of buzz on the internet. The monkey will keep being the monkey he has always been. The horsey dance video will fade when something goofier comes out. The new phone will be the greatest thing since, since the last one came out and until the iphone 6 makes its debut. What do these occurrences say about our values?

On the tragic and sick side of weird is the reaction to a poorly made, poor quality film deriding Mohammad that was made in the US but shown on YouTube in the Middle East. It has caused riots in three countries and apparently caused Al Qaeda to seize the opportunity ( maybe they orchestrated it) and invade a diplomatic outpost in Libya and kill four Americans. Is their god so slight, so vindictive, so sensitive that he would allow his followers to break several commandments to defend his honor from idiots not even present in the places they rioted?  Is there a point where the Majesty, Truth, and Holiness of a god is so high above the idiocy of man that their insults can't reach him? Is he not capable in the last days to bring vengeance to those who actually insult him without harming the innocent?  In Islam, apparently not.

All these news items from the goofy to the heartbreaking say something about the values behind their creation and the values behind the reactions to them. The values in these episodes show fear, anger, vindictiveness, trivia, boredom, arrogance and self-serving pleasure. I've been guilty of all these at one point or another in my life. Which brings me to my ideal list.

The list from last week was : eating; stretching; forgetting; resting; investing. Yes, at first glace that is a weird set of values. Let me explain..........

Eating: Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.  Psalm 34:8
           How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103
            Take and eat; this is my body.... Matthew 26:26
           Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise his up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink....he remains in me and I in him.   John 6:54-56

Stretching:  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already become perfect, but I press on the take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining forward (stretching) to what is ahead. Ephesians 3: 12-14
Forgetting: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12 and Jeremiah 31: 31-34.    (also see above Eph. 3:12-14)
Resting: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you  rest. Matthew 11:28
               A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time....Titus 1:2
                This is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything.  I John 3:19ff
Also Hebrews 4
Investing: Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:33-34
                  Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured in your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.   Luke 6: 37-38.
                  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown his people and continue to help them.  Hebrews 6:11

If I wasn't weird, my list of values would contain words like honor, respect, integrity, passion, commitment, truthfulness, kindness, contentment, joy, trust, justice, mercy, and generosity. I can fit each of these into the five categories of values I have chosen. The point is to think, consider, ponder, play with and ultimately assemble your own list and then live the list. I would imagine a great number of people actually live out some great values that they never put into words. Unfortunately, our present coming generations not only need to have the values lived before them, they need to know the words and concepts of what values actually are and from where these values have arisen. Homes, marriages, businesses, governments, and lives are floundering from a lack of values worth living. Rise up o church of God and shine the light of  God's truth on the world around you. Maybe then many will quick living for the next gadget, fad, or worldly promise that comes along and pick the pearl of great value.

Value Added,
Cos