men
A for-men-only feature dealing with basic Christianity/by Lloyd Hamill
Morals & Habits
"This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Some very honest men I’ve talked to fall into the category of answering life’s important questions for themselves. In fact most people do. There’s nothing unusual or odd about it. And for the most part folks who do this do not mean it to be a slap at God. On the contrary they are only seeking an adequate solution to questions that need answer ing if we are to have peace of mind and heart. But if there is a God this is a dangerous game. In the Bible God gives very definite answers to every important question for this life and the life hereafter. Since He has given the answers why won’t we follow them instead of going our own way? I don’t know. But perhaps here’s a clue. Over and over again I hear wonderful people say: "So and so is a loudly professed Christian and I happen to know how he lives. I don’t care for hypocrisy like that. God knows my heart. I’ve deter mined to follow an honest life that God—who is love—will recognize.” That’s a commendable position. But deathly dangerous. First of all the professed Christian whose life is shoddy isn’t giving you the answers to life’s questions. This person is merely repeating to you what the Bible says. Your quar rel isn’t with some very human, very fallible professed Christian—your quarrel is with God. God didn’t say that man was to work out a good code to be pleasing in His sight. The good men who have tried this eventually must recall God’s judgment: "This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Here is what God says. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not . . . Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” This from the Gospel of St. John. The issue would seem fairly clear. We can 1) walk by our own light and thereby bring God’s displeasure upon us or 2) we can follow Jesus Christ who emphatically claimed to be the light of the world and thereby be freely accepted by God. You and only you can make the choice. You and only you will be affected by that choice. END.
■ hat rather worn-out saying about a stupid question de serving a stupid answer took on added meaning for me one day last week. My wife and I just recently had our first child (boy) and we decided my life insurance needed to be increased somewhat. We called Carleton Anderson, a friend of ours from the Los Angeles Mission Covenant Church, and he sent out one of his insurance salesmen. We picked out a policy that suited our needs and the salesman made an appointment for my physical examination. At the doctor’s office I was handed an 8 54 by 14-inch questionnaire crammed with what one would expect. Or almost with what one would expect. One question really gave me a chuckle. The question went like this: "Are your habits and morals moderate?” I did a fast double-take. Frankly I have no idea why a question so obviously unrealistic should be included on a medical questionnaire by the 12th largest insurance company in America. To say that a question like that is rather subjective is putting it as mild as an ad writer’s claims for certain cigarettes. Since all the questions had to be answered I wrote: "That depends on who is the judge.” What are moderate habits and morals? Whose standard are we using? It’s immoderate to some folks to drink a single cup of coffee. It’s at this very point that many people have trouble with the Christian faith. This life and the hereafter bring some very real questions before each of us. Who am 1? Why am I here? Where am 1 going? Is each man to answer these and other important life questions by his own standards? Or by his neighbor’s? I don’t think so. If we were to do this our answer would be as invalid as any answer given to our insurance question. It’s a little galling for a man’s ego to take, but actually there are some questions in life for which his own answers—however honest—are not valid. In the overall scheme of life it would have been pretty stupid for me to have answered "yes” or "no” to that question on the insurance form. I’m hardly the one that sets the standard for habits and morals. In the Old Testament of the Bible God had something to say about a situation like this. He said (as recorded in Isaiah, chapter 50): "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The picture here is that man, instead of coming to God for light on the basic question of life, has built his own fire. Man is writing his own answers. And it would seem that God takes a rather dim view of man’s initiative is this field:
The King's Business
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