In Your Right Mind from Philippians 2:1-18

Today I am commenting on Philippians Chapter 2. 

When we handle important issues, it is vital that our minds be clear, and that we are in our right minds.  That’s why the labels on many medicine bottles warn people not to take those pills and drive or operate heavy machinery.

I found this to be true in my own life.

Once, when I was in the Army, I became so violently ill that I got dehydrated.  I had to go to the hospital for IV fluids and nausea medicine.  I had also pulled a muscle in my back, so they gave me some muscle relaxers to take for a few days until it quit hurting.

Then, they told me to report for duty the next day. I discovered that this wasn’t a very good idea. My head was fuzzy all day long, and I spent most of the day sitting sideways at my desk staring at the wall. Most of the day, that is, except for the time when my boss came boiling out of his office to ask me a question.

My boss was a short, hyper-active, bachelor major.  I was a junior lieutenant at the time and he really didn’t like me very much. He was a handful on a good day, but that day I have no idea what he asked me!

He spent several minutes quizzing me on some issue; to this day I know not what!  I also don’t have a clue what I told him!  It must have satisfied him because he turned on his heel and scurried back off to his office.

That experience frightened me so much I have never again taken muscle relaxers!

Paul taught the Philippians that the Gospel is so important that we must be in our right minds as we deal with it.  Let us look at what that means to us as we read our text for today.

For the Christians, A Right Mind is a Unified Mind: 

Verses 1-4 read:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Sadly, Christianity is rife with division. We are divided in large groups like Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox. Each believes they have the total truth, and they serve God in their own distinctive ways. The Orthodox Church even has their own church calendar by which they celebrate Christmas and Easter at different times than does the rest of Christendom.

In Protestantism we have divisions as well: Evangelical vs Main Line vs Pentecostal, etc. Even Baptists have divisions; if you ask five Baptists the same question, you’ll probably get six or seven answers, and not only does conflict exist at the denominational level, intra-church conflict was a pandemic long before the world ever hear of COVID-19.

These divisions cause the church much trouble because it damages our reputation in the community. Dr Bob White identified this as a serious problem in his book Healthy Kingdom Churches. He documented that a church’s reputation is a vital part of its potential for growth and effective ministry.

Of course, division also damages our relationships with each other.

Paul taught that we must be unified in The Gospel:

• Because of the work of Christ.
• Because of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
• Because of the love and mercy of God in our lives.

He also gave some very practical tips about how to do that: 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

For the Christians, A Right Mind is a Humble Mind:  

Verses 5-11 read:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is not only Our Savior and Lord, but He is also Our Example. We are to follow His lead and live His kind of life.  We are to have His kind of mind.

This was the genesis behind the book In His Steps, which later spawned the “WWJD” bracelets that ask us to consider, “What would Jesus do?” This is what Paul tried to do. It is also what he wanted the Philippians to do and what we need to do also.

What we find in this passage is that the mind of Christ was a humble mind. Jesus was and is God, and yet He put that aside to come to Earth to save us from our sins. He put away His rights as God to live as a lowly man. Can we ever imagine the extent of that sacrifice? The closest thing I can come to such humility is the missionary families who choose to live in villages in the developing nations of the world. Missions is sacrificial cross-cultural ministry and in coming to live with us, Jesus demonstrated the concept of incarnational missions!

We need to bow in awe of such humility. We need to put aside our petty pride and jealousies and to bow down in submission to our God who saved us. We need to make Him the true God of our lives. True worship and adoration is the first priority of a Christian.

For the Christians, A Right Mind is a Respectful Mind:

Verses 12-16 read:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

We all need to work out our own salvation. While we don’t work for our salvation, we must, however, work to grow in Christ after our salvation. Like getting married, or having a baby, getting saved by God’s grace is only the beginning! A significant portion of having a mature mind is learning to have a proper fear of the Lord.

Christians must remember Who God Is! He is the preexistent creator that created all things and the One who has given us everything. He flung the stars into space and knows them all by name! When we think of this, it hard to escape the thought God must be amused by our efforts to explore space.

God not only knows the details of all the worlds across the heavens, He also knows our hearts as well. Our attitude ought to be like that of the Apostle Thomas. When he had seen Jesus face to face, he proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”

Again, Paul gave some practical guidance. He told us to quit whining and complaining and fussing. He said we should be blameless and harmless and without fault so we can be an example to a sinful generation. He also told us to hold fast to the Word of God, not in part, but in whole!

For the Christians, A Right Mind is a Sacrificial Mind: 

Verses 17 and 18 say;

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

From a human perspective, no one desires to be a sacrifice. As my seminary professor ruefully commented, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they tend to crawl off of the altar.” 

Self-preservation is a powerful force as is our pride is also a powerful force. We like to honor sacrifice, but not be a sacrifice. For example, in World War II, the Vice President of the Philippines burst into tears when asked to stay behind to work with the invading Japanese to protect the citizens of the islands.  He believed he would be known forever as a collaborator and traitor.

Yet, Paul said we need to have the same mind as Christ. If He was willing to be a sacrifice, so should we. If He was willing to die young and unmarried for God, so should we. If He was willing to be executed between two thieves so that righteousness would prevail, so should we.

Conclusion:

Paul told the church at Roman that we must be transformed by the renewal of our minds. He expanded on that thought in our focal passage for today. He taught the Philippians just what that it meant to have renewed minds.  

As Christians, we ought to have minds that are united and humble and respectful. We ought to have the mindset that is willing to sacrifice for the sake of Christ. 

What is your state of mind today? Are you willing to have it transformed for the cause of Christ? 

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Misson First, People Always

As you can tell by looking at my picture, I’ve been around a while. What you may not know is that besides having a civilian ministry I have also served for 27 years in the Army, with 20 of those years as a National Guard Chaplain. 

Just for the record, before I was a Chaplain, I was a platoon leader and division staff officer in the 25th Infantry Division on active duty, and a company commander and group staff officer in the National Guard. It was a long time ago, but I do still remember what it was like to be in charge of lots of Soldiers with lots of potential and lots of problems. 

When I was a company commander, we had a young Soldier who always seemed to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong uniform. I will call him “Smith.” My First Sergeant would correct him and say, “Smith, it isn’t rocket science to get this right.” 

One day my First Sergeant came to me a said, “Sir, you know Smith, right?” I said, “Yes. So?” Top went on, “You know how he is always messing things up.” I again said, “Yes. So?” My First Sergeant continued with, “And you know I always tell him that being a good Soldier isn’t rocket science?” I was starting to get a little impatient at this point and said, “Yes, I know that.” Top, who always liked to stretch out a good story said, “Well, did you know he is a student at LSU?” “No,” I snapped, “please get to the point.” My First Sergeant broke out into a huge grin and said, “Well, he’s studying aeronautical engineering.” I just look at him, and he said, “Sir, don’t you get it? He IS a rocket scientist!” I just shook my head . . . you can’t make this stuff up.  

As I think back to my days as an ROTC cadet back in the, yes, 1970s, I've been reminded of a poster I saw displayed in a Fort Benning, Georgia barracks back in those days. It was just a poster on the wall, but it has had a lasting impact on my life, my service in the Army, and my civilian ministry. 

That poster was very simple, and it only had 4 words: “Mission First, People Always”. It would be hard for me to describe the importance of those four words in my life and ministry, but let me try:  

Two Wings of the Same Airplane:

One of our biggest needs is for balance in our lives and in our work and our leadership. Airplanes have two wings for reason. They need both wings to be able to fly straight and true. 

When I was a young boy and I would get upset about something, my momma would always tell me to straighten up and fly right. Well you can't fly straight, and you can't fly right if you are out of balance and this idea of “Mission First, People Always” gives us the balance that we need in our lives and our leadership. 

This motto begins by reminding us that we have a mission to accomplish. In the National Guard, we are to defend our country from all enemies foreign and domestic and support the civil authorities in our state in time of crisis. If we don't accomplish this mission, then we have no reason to exist. We have a purpose and we need to carry out that purpose. The government of the United States and the government of our state and the citizens of our state need us to accomplish our mission. So, our airplane of life must place the wing of mission first. We must put our mission first. 

The idea of mission first not only applies in our careers in the National Guard but also in our personal lives as well. 

We have a mission to pay our debts; we have a mission to raise our children; we have a mission to love our spouses; we have a mission to provide for those who rely upon us. We must accomplish these missions too because people are relying upon us.

Although we must put mission first, we must also understand that we cannot accomplish that mission without people. The Army is the most personnel intensive of all the armed forces. We do have an abundance of high-tech equipment, we do have many installations, and many other pieces of equipment that we rely upon. But the core of our force is our people. We cannot do our job without our people. 

It is our Soldiers who drive our trucks and fire artillery pieces and operate the high-tech equipment in the cyberwar arena. It is our Soldiers who maintain our training areas and ranges and barracks and armories. Without our Soldiers we have no Army and we cannot accomplish our mission. In the civilian world, without employees, we can have no businesses, and without members we can have no churches. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to always take care of our people. And not only our people at work but our people at home, in our communities, in our churches, and our schools.

Taking care of people is essential so that we can accomplish our mission. It is also essential because it is the right thing to do. Did not God say we are to love Him with all our hearts, AND love our neighbors as ourselves?

Let me put it this way if we just focus on our mission then we become bureaucrats. If we just focus on people, we become politicians. We must have both wings to fly this airplane straight. This is not as easy as it sounds.

The Trap:

As a Chaplain, it would be easy for me to urge commanders to always put Soldiers first. I would like to note that there is a purpose for the vehicles we drive and repair and the buildings we construct, and the ranges that we maintain. All these things are there so that our Soldiers can have what they need to do the mission.  Everything leaders do affects the Soldiers in our formations, so would be easy for me to say that Army leaders need to focus solely on taking care of people because really that's the mission of the Chaplain Corps. 

A chaplain told me once about a soldier who looked at him with a smile and said “Chappy, you got the best job in the Army!” The chaplain was a little cautious and he asked the soldier what he meant. The Soldier replied with an even bigger grin, “It's because you get to take care of Soldiers for living!” That of course is a true statement. 

It would be shortsighted however to say that is all that we need to do and in truth there is a trap that leaders can fall into. Let me refer to a couple of well-known movies to illustrate this point 

In the move “Gettysburg,” Robert E. Lee makes a speech to James Longstreet that describes how hard it is to get this balance correct. He said,“Soldiering has one great trap. To be a good solider you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”

In “Saving Private Ryan,” Captain Miller and Master Sergeant Horvath discussed this trap also. Captain Miller, said, “When you end up killing one of your men, you see, you tell yourself it happened so you can save the lives of 2 or 3 or 10 others. Maybe a hundred . . .  and that’s how simple it is. That’s how you rationalize making the choice between the mission and the man.”

 

Master Sergeant Horvath then replied, “Except this time the mission is a man.” Getting those wings balanced is hard!

Now I will admit that I saw on YouTube a video of a stunt pilot who was flying his airplane in an air show. During his display he lost at wing of his plane, but the engine of that airplane was so powerful that he was able to basically hold it on the prop until he could land. It was an amazing thing to see but it is the exception that proves the rule. Almost every other kind of airplane but the kind that he was flying would have crashed and burned after losing a wing. 

We've all known leaders that had one wing of their leadership much bigger than the other. 

We've all had bosses and leaders who focused so greatly on the mission that they didn't take care of people very well.  We've also known bosses and leaders that love to take care of people to the point where they forgot to accomplish the mission. 

Usually the tenure of these leaders did not end very well. The truth is we must put mission first, but we must take care of people always. We must pursue balance in both of these areas.

I also know that all of us have known bosses and leaders who had one wing more developed of their airplane than the other, but they seem to do OK. Maybe like that stunt plane their personalities were so strong that it was able to carry the day even though it should not have worked. 

We've all worked for bosses and leaders who by the force of their personality was able to accomplish the mission even though they didn't take care of people. 

We've also known bosses and leaders who took care of people so well that they overlooked the mission, but their people loved them so much that they went the extra mile to accomplish the mission for their boss. We probably don't see as many of the latter type of leader as the former but here is the truth, once you've worked for a commander or leader who is out of balance you never want to do it again. 

As the old saying goes, "It was real and it was fun but is wasn’t real fun!" And many people would decide to find other things to do after such an experience. 

There is no escaping this central truth: we must both accomplish the mission AND take care of people if we are going to be effective commanders and leaders in the Army and in the civilian world as well.  We must balance the airplane of our lesadership by making sure both wings our sound and well maintained. 

So how do we get this right? We need help, but the good news is that help is available to us! 

First Seek Wisdom:

As a Chaplain I would urge leaders to seek wisdom. James 1:5 assures us that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Without wisdom every leader will struggle to get their wings balanced. We’ve heard it said, “when in charge, take charge” and that is great advice to anyone in leadership, but I’d add this caveat: “When in charge seek wisdom, and when it is revealed, take charge and execute it!”

Second, do the Right Thing:

A colleague, when he was in the Inspector General’s office, often told leaders that “There is no right way to do the wrong thing," and a former boss of mine always said, “Do what’s right, even when no one is looking.” 

Both of these men gave great advice to leaders.

Next, Remember that Loyalty is a Two-way Street:

The first value in the list of Army Values is Loyalty. While leaders expect their subordinates to be loyal to them, we all must remember that loyalty is a two-way street. Leaders must be loyal to those whom they supervise just as much as they expect them to be loyal to their leaders.

During the Civil War, after William T. Sherman captured Atlanta, he cut loose from his lines of communication and made a bold thrust across Georgia to Savanah, eviscerating the Confederate war effort. In doing this, he accepted a huge amount of risk, but he could do that because he knew Ulysses S. Grant had his back. After the war, Sherman wrote Grant, saying, “Wherever I was I knew you thought of me, and if I needed you, you would come.” Sherman had the confidence to perform at a high level because Grant was a loyal to him as Sherman was to Grant.

If we want those whom we supervise to excel, we need to be as loyal to them as we expect them to be to us. 

Find a Mentor:

Another thing we can do is find someone who is living a balanced life and allow them to mentor us. We know that we should lead by example, but we should also follow those who set a good example.  I was fortunate to have some great mentors in my early career and when I imitated them, I discovered I could be successful. 

Paul told the church at Corinth, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me,” and 3 John 1:11 urges us, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.”  Imitation is the greatest form of flattery and we need to imitate those who demonstrate that they are worthy of our flattery. Let us learn from those who keep their leadership in the correct balance.

Finally, Multiply Yourself:

Finally, let me remind us all that, our Army, our nation, our businesses, and our churches are only one generation away from extinction. It is up to us to prepare the next generation to take our place. 

None of us are going to be here forever, and if our institutions of life are going to thrive in the future it is up to us to prepare those who will take our places. As Paul taught us in Timothy 2:2, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 

We are not finished when we can implement “Mission First, People Always” ourselves. That's a big enough task, but we are really only Mission Complete when we help the next generation learn to balance the wings of their airplane as well.

Conclusion:

As I said from the beginning, I am an old soldier. I only have two more months before I retire from the National Guard, and I am facing the fact that there are many things I will never get to do again. 

I will never again jump out of an airplane or fly in a Blackhawk helicopter. 

I’ll never get to eat in a DFAC (or dining facility, and by the way, Army cooks are great!), or hang out with troops at the range. 

I'll never again get to lead a chapel service and pray with Soldiers on a regular basis.

My military record is pretty much written and pray that as I have been able to help others to live by “Mission First, People Always.” 

I commend that approach to you also. You know, it really isn’t rocket science after all.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Focus from Ezekiel 33

Today I am commenting on Ezekiel 33:7-11, which reads:

So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life. Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: "Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Everyone has heard the old saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees,” but some people may not understand the full ramifications of that phrase. When we get so involved in the details of an event, process, or activity that we lose our focus on the purpose we are trying to achieve, then we can’t see the forest for the trees.  This is often the case when it comes to sharing our faith and when it comes to correcting fellow Believers who have lost their way.

Sins of Commission

As Ezekiel clearly asserts in our focal passage above, when we share God’s Truth with people our purpose is to turn their hearts back to the Lord. It is not about being right, or scoring points, or showing off our own spirituality. Confronting another with Truth, be they Christians, or be they non-believers, has a purpose and that purpose is to help them turn from their wicked ways and be reconciled with God.

Jonah is an excellent, Biblical example of someone who lost their focus. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh and preach to the citizens of that great but wicked city, but when he did, they repented. A revival broke out in that place, and what preacher would not want to see such fruit from his labors? Well, Jonah for one:

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:1-3)

Jonah clearly lost his focus. He acted is if God’s purpose was to embarrass him. Jonah forgot that God sent him to Nineveh to give them a chance to repent, not just so God had an excuse to destroy them and their city. God rebuked Jonah and in the same way he will rebuke us if we misuse our opportunities to share the Good News with those who need it.

Sins of Omission

In the same way, however, we must never forget that we have been called to share God’s Truth with those who need it. The only thing worse than sharing the Good News with the wrong motive is to not share the Good News at all. 

Christians often get so focused on how, when, or with whom to share the Gospel, that they suffer from the paralysis of analysis and do nothing. When confronted with a crisis people often have the impulse to flee or fight, but many also freeze in place. Again, the only thing worse than sharing the Gospel with the wrong motive is failing to share it at all. 

Many ministry models are operative in the 21st Century that go the extra mile to be relevant and gain a hearing, but ultimately fail to actually share the Good News. For example, I worked some years ago with a missionary to university students who once confessed, “I work so hard at being culturally appropriate in my relationships that I often overlook opportunities to share the Gospel.”  If we fail to share the Truth after we have worked so hard to gain a hearing, then we have lost our focus.

Conclusion

In the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson was the senior British officer at a jungle camp where the Japanese were employing British prisoners of war to build a railroad through the wilds of Burma. Nicholson was appalled by the lack of morale and discipline among the British troops, and he used the construction of a railroad bridge as a means of restoring order and pride among the British soldiers. He did this so well, that the bridge was built sooner and far better than the Japanese could hope for, and in the process, he did rebuild the morale and discipline of his regiment.

The problem was, of course, his purpose as an officer in the British Army was not to rebuild the pride of his regiment (and one might say he was actually rebuilding his own pride in his regiment), but to resist the Japanese military efforts. Building his enemies a better bridge than they could have produced themselves was not a valid part of that purpose. Nicholson lost his focus, and at the end of the movie he lost his life.

We can’t fall into the trap of failing to see the forest for the trees. We must maintain our focus and as Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Excuses, Excuses from Exodus 4:1-19

Today I am commenting on Exodus 4:1-19, which reads:    

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous - it had become as white as snow.  “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.” Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

We often think that we can’t or won’t do certain things but then we find that we are wrong.  Jerry Clower once told a story about just such a time.

One of his cousins at Yazoo, MS was known to be a great fisherman, who always came home with a cooler full of fish.  The local game warden became suspicious of this cousin’s success and decided to go fishing with him to discover his secret.

After they got out on the lake, the cousin reached into his tackle box and pulled out a primed stick of dynamite.  He lit the fuse, tossed it in the water, and . . .  bam! The dynamite exploded.  Up boiled the water and dozens of stunned fish.  The cousin began to use his net to pull them in the boat.

About that time the game warden got his voice back and said, “Man, what are you doing?  Don’t you know you can’t fish like that?”

The cousin reached into the tackle box, lit the fuse on another stick of dynamite and stuck it in the game warden’s hand.  “Now,” he said, “are you gonna sit there and talk, or are you gonna fish?”

As we look at our Scripture passage for today, we find Moses in a similar situation as the game warden. 

EXCUSE ONE: THEY WON’T BELIEVE ME 

God was calling Moses to a huge task. He was to return to Egypt where he was wanted for murder and to confront Pharaoh, a despotic, murderous king. Then, he was to lead the Hebrews who scorned him to Canaan. Has God ever asked you to do such a thing? I know He has never asked me to do something so fear-inspiring.

Moses feared that no one would believe him. Often, our fears are not realistic but his was a real fear. From the standpoint of the Jews he was the failed adopted son of Pharaoh. Why trust him? From the standpoint of the Egyptians he was a nobody shepherd from the backside of the desert. Anyway, who ever heard of a burning bush?

In truth, many of his objections were the result of his own impetuousness. 

I remember the case of a young preacher who got ahead of God and his own congregation. He was initiating ministries out in the community without consulting the leaders of his church and without proper planning. A deacon got his attention one day by telling him, “Young man, if you want to go where no man has gone before, you are going by yourself!” The deacon was not opposed to the objectives of the ministries, but to the way the young minister was pursuing them autonomously and without developing a team effort.

In response to his objection, God gave Moses a reassuring promise. He gave him two signs, the snake and the leprosy, and He reminded Moses of His power and might. Moses needed to realize that God will take our lives and make a sign of them for Himself. As the hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” 

Likewise, we must never discount the power of personal testimony; as the blind man healed by Christ proclaimed, “I was blind, but now I see!”

EXCUSE TWO: I DON’T SPEAK VERY WELL  

Moses, in his fright, forgot some important facts when making this excuse. He forgot that God made his tongue. He forgot that God could make his tongue work. He forgot that God knew his problem and took it into account. Moses was having “I” trouble. He was focused on himself and had forgotten Who was conversing with him.

We too, are afraid to speak at times:

In witnessing situations.

In testimony situations.

When confronting sin.

When counseling and comforting. 

We often don’t know what to say in grief situations. Often the best thing is to say nothing and allow the comfort of our loving presence do the work. This is not applicable in every situation, however and we too, have “I” trouble and forget God’s promises.

We must remember that God promised He would give us the words we need. We only need to make ourselves available to God. As Luke 12:11-12 says: “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. ‘For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.’”

EXCUSE THREE: I DON’T WANT TO GO  

The central problem is the “I” trouble Moses was having. It really wasn’t his reputation and prior acts. It was not his ability to speak or preach. It was not his ability to do signs and wonders. It was that he just didn’t want to go!

He didn’t want to because he was afraid. Fear is a natural emotion and despite God’s demonstrations of power, Moses still feared. Of course, we get afraid, too but as an instructor at the US. Army Airborne School told us in Class 37-79: “It is OK to be afraid, but it is not OK to give into it.”

The best antidote for fear is knowledge, but knowledge of the correct subject. Moses may have been a shepherd from the backside of the desert, but he was actually a learned man. He was taught many things by Pharaoh in Egypt and by Jethro, his father-in-law, in Midian. Moses also learned much about survival and nature by following sheep in the desert but what he needed most was to know God. 

Some people say they can worship God on the riverbank just as well as in church.  Moses shows that they are wrong.

THE END OF EXCUSES  

God can only be pushed so far. He is the omnipotent creator and the sovereign king of the earth. His plan and will are righteous and best.

God is patient, but, in the end, He will be obeyed!

Yet, even though God would not be denied, He was gracious, and He equipped Moses. He gave him a mouthpiece, his brother Aaron.

In the same way, God equips us because God does not call the equipped, but He equips the called:

The Holy Spirit is our comforter and helper.

We have spiritual gifts, pastors, teachers, and deacons.

We have the whole counsel of the Word of God plus many Bible study and training resources.

At the end of all the excuses was Moses’ obedience. In the end he complied with God’s will and he returned to Egypt. He decided to be a tool of God to further God’s redemptive plan.

CONCLUSION:

The story is told of an Army Reserve Doctor who during Desert Shield tried to avoid being mobilized. He reported at the designated place and time but implored his commander to excuse him from the deployment because of his bustling medical practice. His commander just looked at him and said, “Grab your bag and get in line!” 

In the end, Moses grabbed his bag and got in line with God. What is it you can’t do that God asks of you? Nothing! All you have to do is grab your bag and get in line with God!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Living Sacrifice

Today I am commenting on Romans 12:1-3, which says,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Paul taught us in the Book of Romans that God has reached down into our lives and has done something remarkable for us.  He has caused us to become righteous in our position before Him through our faith in the work of Christ.

This is called “imputed righteousness,” and it is given to us by the grace and mercy of God through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. We are made righteous, not by anything we do, but by what was done for us, what was done on our behalf on the first Easter Sunday. We are greatly blessed by this, because if we received what we really deserved it would be eternal punishment in Hell. Instead we have received abundant life in the here and now and in the hereafter.

Our response should be to become “A Living Sacrifice.”  The problem is, as one of my seminary professors used to say, that living sacrifices tend to crawl off the alter.  Let us look today at how we can be better living sacrifices.

First, We Must Present Our Bodies To God: 

Today, more than ever, we are conscious of our bodies: slim is in, plump is out! We work out, watch our cholesterol, try to eat right and exercise equipment and gym memberships are best-sellers.

Unfortunately, like all human endeavors, things can get out of balance. We have seen numerous scandals concerning performance enhancing drugs in almost all sports and popular “health” habits like tanning can cause melanoma. Dieting can become anorexia nervosa and liposuction can result in deadly infections. Some clothes makers have begun cutting clothes more generously so buyers can feel better about themselves fitting into “smaller sizes.”

So, what is the proper response? Commit our bodies to God and use them to glorify Him and not ourselves. 

When new owners buy out a business, they often invest significant sums of money in rebranding it to show it is different than before and has new owners. The same should be true of people; their outward lives should reflect to whom they belong.  For Christians, of course, that is God and our bodies, and our lifestyle must honor Him

We Must Present our Minds to God:

What we believe is important because all events are filtered through what we believe. This is demonstrated with a common parlor trick: When shown two lines and told one is longer than the other, people “see” a difference in the lines. Our minds are powerful, and they can play tricks on us, and how we believe the world works affects all our thoughts.

How do people view God in the world today?

Some say there is no God (atheism & secularism).

Some believe in many gods (new age, animism, & polytheism).

Some believe in one impersonal god (deism).

We, of course, believe in one personal, powerful God: Our God!

We need to renew our mind-set in the information-saturated age in which we live. All kinds of ideas, and all kinds of “facts” flood into our lives daily from the news media, social media, entertainment, and other sources, both digital and analogue. We must learn to discern truth from fiction.

God gave us a wonderful brain, and we must use it! As one commentator on this passage noted, Paul talks about the renewal, not the removal, of our minds! 

We need to: read the Bible, pray, worship, attend Bible study, read Christian books, as well as reflect on the ideas present to us as we talk with others about them. We need to stretch ourselves and our minds. As the slogan of the United Negro College Fund goes, “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.” This is equally true for Christians today.

We Must Present our Wills to God:

There are three basic areas of our lives: the physical, the mental and emotional, and the spirit and will. As 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

To be a complete sacrifice, all areas of our lives must be presented to God, including, and especially, our wills. 

If someone offered to give you a car, and said to you, “This car is beautiful, and the body is spotless. It has the best GPS system and best in-car entertainment system available. It has all-digital controls which you can change at the touch of a button. It is a great car, but, oh, by the way, it has no motor.” Would you be interested in it? Even as a gift, would it be useful to you?

If we don’t bow our knee and surrender our will to our Father, we are just like that car which is complete except for the motor. Knowing right from wrong is not enough; we must obey Him! We must be willing to do and think the right thing!

In addition, obedience in the wrong spirit is not enough either! 

I know a fellow who, back in the 1970’s was something of a hippie. He dressed the part, from his long hair down to wearing sandals on his feet, but at the same time he was an excellent mathematician. He went to college and graduated with a degree in mathematics and became a business executive. A friend from school saw him one day and said, “I never thought I’d see you wearing a suit and tie!” The fellow replied, “Yes, but inside I am still wearing sandals!”

Let me say, that I included that story not to criticize someone who has to dress for business but not enjoy it. It is a different thing with God, however.

Like a saddle-broke horse, we must allow our stubborn wills to be broken for the Lord! We must have the same internal attitude of obedience and submission as we do an external appearance of obedience and submission. Our lives must be congruent in private as well as in public; in our hearts as well as in our actions.

Conclusion:

As we consider the redeeming work of Christ on our behalf on the cross, let us commit ourselves to be living sacrifices for Him.  Let us present our bodies, our minds, and our wills to Him today! May He be sovereign over all components of our lives, all of the time!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

God's People: Unified, Gathered, and Reconciled

Today I want to comment on some Scripture passages which point us toward the  ministry of reconciliation.

Sometimes, even the nicest of people can become irritable. I am reminded of a bad, old, joke about a group of monks who had taken a vow of silence. However, each year on a monk’s birthday he could say one sentence at breakfast time. 

When one monk’s birthday came, he looked at his breakfast and said, “I don’t like oatmeal.”

When the next monk with a birthday got to say his sentence, he looked at the first monk and said, “I like oatmeal.”

Finally, a third monk got to say a sentence on his birthday, and looking at the other two said, “I’m tired of all this bickering over oatmeal!”

I said it was a bad joke. 

Sadly, the state of relationships in our country today is no joke. Divisions exist between people of different cultures, genders, faiths, and generations. Even more sadly, divisions and conflicts are also common between people with common cultures, genders, faiths, and generations. In observing news programs and various social media outlets it seems as if no one agrees with any one about anything.

As might be imagined, God has a different idea. Our God is not a God of dissension and confusion. Let me present just three passages of Scripture to support that assertion.

God Unifies:

Instead of dividing people, God unifies them in a common faith, as we see in Psalm 133:1-3:

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore. 

We all know that bad family relationships are often intractable and end badly (like the way that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery), but we also all know that a harmonious family is one of the most nurturing and supportive relationships known to humanity. 

The Psalmist describes the joy of living in such unified relationships very vividly. We can’t understand the full meaning of these similes today, but they obviously implied a joyous and intensely satisfying experience in the eyes of the author.

Clearly, God wants people to live in unity as the family of humankind, supporting one another, and loving Him, the one who provided us both temporal and eternal life.

God Gathers:

Instead of excluding people, God gathers all people to Himself who seek His face and accept His Sovereignty as we see in Isaiah 56:6-8:

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant--these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. 

The cultures of the Middle East have historically been known to be hospitable cultures. They have welcomed weary travelers from afar off, and offered them food, shelter, and rest. Sojourners would find the sustenance they needed to continue their journey from almost every household in the land. Isaiah, however, refers to a deeper, permanent reception on the part of God.

Our God not only helps sojourners on their way, He actually wants them to stay, and become a part of His kingdom, His household, His family. He receives their worship, hears their prayers, and makes them a part of His people. He accepts them, not as strangers to be fed and then sped away, but as integral members of His gathered flock. He is not only hospitable to them but also allows them to belong.

By its nature, ministry can be an itinerant calling. It is easy to become a “cut flower” without roots in the community where you reside and where you minister. This makes it all the sweeter when a church or a community embraces a pastor and his family and make them a true part of the fellowship and the fabric of local society. While most people can’t imagine how this feels, I can, because I have experienced it, and it is awesome. The thing is, our acceptance and embrace by God is so much more awesome, words are inadequate to describe the wonder of that blessing!

God Reconciles:

Instead of pushing people away, God reconciles them to Himself and to each other as we see in Ephesians 3:13-20:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

Even a cursory observation of human behavior will reveal that people offend one another with their behavior. A cursory review of the Scriptures will reveal that people also offend God with their behavior. Many have also observed that when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments about half of them teach us how to behave towards God and the other half teaches us about how to behave towards each other. I think this fact reveals God’s heart.

It seems obvious that humans in the 21st Century have become more, not less judgmental. They have become more critical and less accepting of one another, and they often reject any attempts at reconciliation. If anyone has ever said, done, wrote, or thought anything that offends another, or if anyone has ever had an attitude, opinion, or political position with which another disagrees, that person is cancelled. Not only is the “they are dead to me!” attitude a prevalent response to conflict or offense, now it seems as if being merely “dead” is not enough. The offending person and anything they love must be utterly and completely destroyed. Sadly, this tendency is not just seen in secular culture, but can be found in churches as well. 

God, however, is a reconciling God. He sent His Uniquely Begotten Son to lay down His life to become a bridge between God and people and also to unite people in His reconciling love for us. Instead of utterly destroying us, God worked to repair the breech between Him and us, and between each other as well. 

When someone repents and confesses their sin, through Christ, God will forgive them as 1 John 1:9 tells us, “When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If the God of the universe is willing to forgive us, should we not also forgive those who repent and confess their sins against us?

Not only does God reconcile, He has also given His people a ministry of reconciliation. Far from “cancelling” one another, God wants us to enjoy the fruits of a ministry of bringing brothers and sisters together in harmony and peace.

Conclusion:

As fractious as our society and churches are today, I know for a fact that people with ruptured relationships can be reconciled. 

Long ago in a church far away from where I now live, I worked with two church leaders who had developed a strong contention with each other. As their pastor, I was trying to help this congregation revitalize itself, and this situation had become disruptive to that effort, and besides that, I liked both of these men and it saddened me to see them alienated.

I am glad to say that I was able to bring them together, at a neutral site, and gently speak to them about their need to reconcile for the sake of the church and reputation of Christ. The Holy Spirit moved in their hearts, and they repented of their contention and agreed to cooperate for the good of all concerned. To my knowledge, they never became fast friends, but they were amicable, in addition to being important leaders that helped our church move forward.

Would to God that our churches and our nation would seize the vision of reconciliation!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Alone, Unarmed, and Afraid from 1 Kings 19

Today I am commenting on Elijah’s despair as seen in 1st Kings 19. The first four verses of that passage read:

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

From that passage of Scripture, we might get the impression that the prophet Elijah had been a failure and that he was running away because he had lost a battle. Nothing was further from the truth, however. Elijah had just orchestrated the show-down on Mount Carmel in which God showed up and God showed out. God demonstrated his mighty power and Baal was shown to be a fraud. The prophets of Baal were all killed, and righteousness had been restored in Israel. It was all good, right? Apparently, not so much . . . 

Humans have a strange but inescapable tendency to give into our fears.  On several occasions during WWII, admirals of the Imperial Japanese Navy won tactical victories over Allied warships, but then turned away from vulnerable groups of transport ships and retreated. In the same way, Admiral Nagumo won a stunning victory at Pearl Harbor, but he flinched at sending a third airstrike, which would have made the victory even greater and would have crippled the ability of the US Navy to strike back for months or years to come. Elijah showed us in this passage that he was not immune from this flaw in the human psyche.

The Source of Our Despair:

On the physical and psychological level, it seems obvious that Elijah was having a stress reaction. Hans Selye was a psychologist who studied stress and developed a theory that he called the General Adaptation Syndrome. He wrote that, in a crisis, people experience an alarm reaction, followed by resistance, which is followed by exhaustion. We can clearly see this pattern in the account of the showdown on Mount Carmel and then Elijah’s subsequent fear, despair, and flight.

While Selye provided the General Adaptation Syndrome as an explanation of what happens when we give into our stress and fears, he also gave us an explanation of how to be resilient in the face of stress.

In his book Stress Without Distress, Selye defined stress as any demand, good or bad, that was placed on our lives. 

Some stress is bad stress, which he called distress. Distress is seen in challenges like financial pressure, car wrecks, death of a loved one, a difficult assignment at work, raising children, caring for a sick elderly parent, or, in the case of Elijah, having a confrontation with the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel for all the world to see.

Along with distress, Selye also identified eustress. Eustress is the positive things that come into our lives, like pay raises, petting a puppy, hugging a loved one, enjoying a hobby, being recognized by your boss for doing a good job, or relaxing with friends on the weekend. As a Christian, I also believe worshipping God and prayer, along with any number of other spiritual activities, also provide us with eustress. 

Distress and eustress counteract each other. It is like our life is a stress bank account. We can pay into that account by gathering eustress. When we experience distress, we draw down that account. If we draw it down too far, we experience exhaustion, dismay, and depression.

And old joke in days gone by was that some young people would get into financial trouble after they opened their first bank account because they thought that just because they still had checks in their check books, they still had money in the bank. Of course, today people don’t use checks very much, but another old saying does apply in this situation, “Don’t let your ego write a check that your abilities can’t cash!”

Elijah had experienced a stressful, if successful, experience on Mount Carmel. He had gone through all the first two phases of alarm and resistance. Now he was exhausted. Elijah felt that day the same way many pastors feel on Monday morning; worn out, stressed, depressed, and afraid. The good news is that ways do exist to avoid the crushing despair that Elijah and so many pastors and other Christian leaders can experience from stress.

The Remedy for Our Despair:

First, before the struggle, build-up your eustress. Eustress levels take time, effort and intentionality to build and few people are good at managing these factors. Yet, like our financial bank accounts, we must pay eustress into our stress accounts before we can draw on it. We might be able to mortgage our future in financial terms, but we can’t borrow psychological and spiritual resiliency from another person. We have to build our eustress ourselves so that we have sufficient liquidity in our stress banks to face the challenge of the day.

We build eustress by eating well, getting sufficient sleep, exercising, and enjoying positive forms of recreation. We also build it through good interpersonal relationships and by pursuing a right relationship with God. We must do these things regularly because we also face distress regularly.

By the way, we can’t make up for the lack of eustress in time of crisis by self-medicating with drugs or alcohol, or by gluttony, or by unbridled sensuality. These habits may dull the painful symptoms of stress for a time, but they are actually the cause of more stress, resulting in a spiraling descent into destruction.

Second, during the struggle we must keep our feet on the ground. As many military commanders have discovered, the first reports of disaster in battle are usually exaggerated, if not totally wrong.  Elijah gave into catastrophic thinking; he exaggerated how bad things were and he gave into his fears. 

Jesus was right, of course, when he advised in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  

Too often, instead of building ourselves up today, we borrow trouble from tomorrow. That is a recipe for emotional and spiritual bankruptcy! 

The truth was that thousands of righteous followers of God were still present in Israel. Elijah was not alone, although he did isolate himself, which leads to our next point.

When in a crisis we should not isolate ourselves from others. There is strength in numbers and mutual support from others is critical when facing adversity. Jesus, of course, knew this and he sent out the twelve to do ministry two-by-two, just as He did later with the seventy. 

It is instructive to note that, when Peter betrayed Jesus, he was alone, but, earlier in the evening, when Jesus was praying in the Garden before His arrest, He was surrounded by His closest companions. However, Jesus was alone on the Cross when He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Elijah was alone during his crisis of stress and he had no friend or colleague to encourage him or to bring him back to the reality of his situation.

Finally, we need to remember who it is that we serve. Like God did with Elijah, He will reveal himself to us in our time of crisis:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13).

What a great question! “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He was there in that dark place because he had forgotten who he was serving. When we confront crisis, we need to remember who it is that we serve. 

We don’t own our ministries, our families, or even our own lives. As a follower of Christ, we are the servants of the Most High God, and we are stewards of everything He has entrusted to us. While God expects us to be diligent, and to be obedient, He does not expect us to be the ones who bring success. He reserves that right and privilege to Himself. As Paul said to the church at Corinth, 

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Much stress is brought into our lives when we make ourselves responsible for matters which belong to someone else. The success and failure of our ministry efforts is best left in God’s hands!

As we remember whom we serve, we also need to remember that God knows our weakness and frailty. Jesus, himself, recognized that in humans, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Paul knew this also and encouraged the church at Rome by teaching them that, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” 

So, God not only brings the increase, but He also empowers us to serve Him! How can we go wrong when we access His power through maintaining a close relationship with Him! As we sing in the classic hymn, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able, to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”

Conclusion:

Any soldier who goes into battle untrained, unprepared, ill-equipped, and alone is bound to suffer a defeat. Like the one who brings a knife to a gunfight, many Christians are overconfident and self-assured, until the reality of life sets in. As Mike Tyson has said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!” And, life has a way of punching us in the mouth, even when we experience a success, and even more when we experience failure.

Like Elijah, we all will experience a dark day of the soul, sooner or later. Let’s prepare for that day of challenge in advance so that we can bring glory to the God who deserves our trust, loyalty, devotion, and our good witness in word, deed, and attitude.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt