|
Word Pictures and Walkathons
August 1, 2001
Michael Evans
 
Beginning a column is for me like trying to start my gas powered McCullough weed cutter. I carefully prime it by pushing the bulb until it is filled with gas.
I move the switches to the right positions…I think. Next I pull the cord over and over again, usually flooding it, thus forcing me to lay it aside for half an hour before I can try again.
It then happily takes off after this down time and instantaneously becomes a balm for my soul, a reducer of stress and just plain macho fun. You know what I mean.
The weed cutter is now up and running. So brace yourself like a man and listen to these choice words:
“You are like dunghills with snow upon them: while the snow lasts you look white and fair, but when the snow melts the dunghill remains a dunghill still.”
These words certainly did not come from Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power,” nor did they come from my last sermon, though this very well could be the last sermon for a pastor who would dare speak these words to a congregation in this effeminate age.
No, these are the words of Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher from the 19th century. He spoke these words with tears to thousands of people at his church in London.
The title of this message was “A Sermon to Open Neglecters and Nominal Followers of Religion.”
In context this was an impassioned plea for half-hearted and unbelieving folks to rest in Christ alone for salvation.
As I considered Spurgeon’s strong words I was reminded of how important it is to be authentic and yet how difficult it is.
Dunghills with snow upon them: while the snow lasts you look white and fair, but when the snow melts the dunghill remains a dunghill still. There’s a word picture that will stay with you for a while.
Who among us would not like to be perceived and seen as more successful, more godly, more everything good, than he really is?
You may not like the word picture but if we are not 100% authentic (and none of us is) then it is at least partially true of us as well.
One of the dangers of writing a column like this is that some people (who don’t know me) may consider the author to be an expert and model Christian father and homeschool dad.
Others may suppose the author to be a tireless champion for his wife and family having family devotions seven times a day, nine times in the summer…You get my point.
These columns do not spring forth primarily from strength but out of my weakness. Which is my way of admitting that there are parts of me that “resemble a dunghill still.”
The application I wish to make with this memorable quote has to do with the recent Niche Conference.
Doug Phillips, the plenary speaker, from the Vision Forum, painted a portrait of the church and home which was very different than the status quo.
One of the challenges which impressed me most was a subpoint in his talk on preparing sons for marriage.
As he spoke on the six most important decisions in a man’s life question number three jumped to the head of the pack:
“What is my life purpose?” He then suggested that many men never come to terms with their life purpose because they never come to terms with what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a father, and what it means to be a husband.
Men, do you really know what it means to be a Christian? Do you really know what it means to be a father? Do you really know what it means to be a husband?
Men, if we do not know, with certainty, the answers to these three questions we are literally wasting precious moments which can never be recovered.
Just like the two million or so Israelites who went on a forty-year walkathon with Moses as their leader, so also our families may be on an equally futile journey with dad at the helm.
Like the Israelites we too tend to wander here and there, retracing old steps, but never making much progress toward “The Promised Land.”
With all of my heart brothers I say to you, let it not be this way!
Resolve this day to be a man of purpose in your family!
Resolve this day to pass on the faith to as yet unborn generations!
Resolve this day to more effectively lead your family in spiritual matters!
What is your life purpose and how might it be achieved in your lifetime?
Sadly, many people live their lives like the high-rise worker who was carelessly walking on an upper beam on the 32nd floor.
One day he fell off. As he was falling, a man on the 21st floor cried out, “How are you doing?” The man responded, “So far so good.”
Of course this sounds ridiculous, but when you actually see it happening in supposedly Christian homes it will break your heart.
I want to put the hammer and chisel back in the toolbox for now and leave you with a word of encouragement and hope from Deuteronomy 1:31.
The entire book of Deuteronomy is one long sermon Moses gave to the entire nation of Israelites, probably in one sitting.
In it he recounts the history of their 40 years of wandering in the desert.
In this sermon we find out that the desert wanderings were not entirely in vain. God taught them many things, not the least of which was how to depend upon Him.
Deut. 1:31 says “the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.”
My first question is how does a man carry his young son? He carries him close. Maybe on his shoulders or maybe in a scaled down bear hug.
In this carrying there is security and love and safety and warmth.
Christian dads, the Lord your God carries you today as well. He carries you and upholds you and loves you and leads you and directs you and shows you, and will continue to show you the way to go.
As the massive throng of Israelites literally sat on the edge of the Promised Land what did Moses remind them of?
Did he speak of their greatness? Their faithfulness? Their special status as God’s chosen people? Their cleverness in keeping a massive throng of people alive for forty years in a desert?
No, Moses said none of these things. Instead he reminded them that it was God who carried them every step of the way.
Even when they didn’t know it. Even when they wanted to go back to slavery under Pharoah in Egypt, even then God carried them… as a father carries his son.
Men, it is a high and holy calling to be the spiritual leader in our homes and much is at stake, but know this:
We are not alone! We have a Father in Heaven who carries us close and goes before us.
Press on men and be a man of vision for your family! And when the snow finally melts may there be a bountiful crop of good and pleasing produce ready to spring forth!
1. Miracles and Parables of our Lord Vol. 3 p.46 Charles H. Spurgeon
Note of Thanks: Thanks to the Niche Board for putting together a terrific conference again this year! We all appreciate your untiring labors on our behalf. I think I speak for many when I say that God used the speakers this year to refresh and renew the hearts of the saints and restore our vision for home education to the glory of God.
|
