Don’t Fly Away
(Part Four of a four-part series.)
Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment…
If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; for
conciliation pacifies great offenses.
Ecclesiastes 10:1a,4
Contempt for authority! Just another fly in the ointment. Stand by the water cooler this week and I am sure you will hear plenty of grumbling and complaining about the person in charge. He is too harsh, too narrow-minded, too unrealistic in his expectations, too out of touch with reality…ad nauseum. Grumbling about authority – whether it is our national leaders, coaches, teachers, or bosses – is a favorite American pastime.
But there is the person who allows himself (herself) to become so bent by his (her) boss that he (she) just ups and quits. They throw up their hands and walk away.
Solomon urges you to take a deep breath. Maybe count to ten, if you must. Get alone and pray for the strength and grace to deal with your unreasonable superior. But don’t make a hasty decision in a heated moment. Don’t do in a fit of rage what you may regret when the smoke clears.
Again, I like the way the New Century Version puts it: “Don’t leave your job just because your boss is angry with you. Remaining calm solves great problems.”
That is sound advice. Sure, it may mean swallowing a little pride. But it may salvage a relationship, or save your job, and thereby secure your future.
There may arise a situation from which you must separate yourself. But make your decision prayerfully and deliberately, not hastily or in anger.
God bless your week…and beware of the water cooler gang!
A Prayer for Today: “Father, it is not easy to remain calm in a situation that makes me so tense and angry. But I pray for the strength to do and be right regardless of what those around me – or even those above me – are doing. May the way I handle adversity bring honor to You and peace and security to me. Amen.”
Fly Right — A Devotional
Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment…
Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone
that he is a fool.
Ecclesiastes 10:1a,3
Getting his strut on
Here’s another fly Solomon found in the ointment: the hypocrisy of a fool. The foolish person wants to seem self-sufficient, like he’s got it all figured out. He won’t ask for directions. He doesn’t need any one’s advice. He won’t seek input, even in the big decisions of life. In his mind, he convinces himself that he looks pretty smooth. He doesn’t know how transparent he is. He doesn’t know how foolish he appears.
I like the way the New Living Translation records verse 3: “You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!”
You can almost see the fool strutting in those words, can’t you? Putting on airs. Pretending to be what he isn’t. And maybe the only one he really fools is himself. How wretched the aroma of the hypocritical life! Just read how Jesus addressed such people in the gospels. He pulled no punches, calling the Pharisees “whited sepulchers,” pretty on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones.
God demands and deserves honesty. Let’s avoid the hypocrisy of fools.
A Prayer for Today: “Father,I am not everything I ought to be. I am probably not everything many people believe me to be. But I pray that the one thing I might be is honest. I commit to living honestly and openly before You. Amen.”
NOTE: This is part three of a four-part series:
Part One: Flies in the Ointment
Part Two: Shoo Fly, Shoo!
Shoo Fly, Shoo! – A Devotional
Dead flies can make even perfume stink.
In the same way, a little foolishness can spoil wisdom.
The heart of the wise leads to right,
but the heart of a fool leads to wrong.
Ecclesiastes 10:1,2
In a recent post, I talked about how a little bit of foolishness can unravel a lifetime of wisdom. This current post is part two in a four-part series on that subject.
Like dead flies in perfume, a little folly may alter and putrefy an otherwise honorable testimony. This is Solomon’s thesis, But he does not stop there. He goes on to identify a number of “flies” that if allowed to remain in our lives may bring ruin. I think it prudent to camp here a few days and examine them one by one, as they will provide instruction, warning and enlightenment.
In verse two, Solomon contrasts the heart of the wise and the heart of a fool. The heart, we know, is the seat of our emotions, passions, and desires. It is also representative of the will of a person.
The NKJV records the verse this way: “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart is at his left.”
Now, that is not a shot at left-handed people—at least, I hope it isn’t, since I am one. The right hand was always used to speak of power and control. In the New Testament, we read that the glorified Christ is seated at the “right hand of the Father.” That is a place of honor, prestige, and power.
The wise person controls his passions, rather than being controlled by them, but the fool is often led by every fleshly whim. Uncontrolled passions are flies that will spoil the fragrance of any life. If left unchecked, sin will become habit, and habit will become obsession. The foolish person will ultimately find himself the slave of his fleshly cravings.
Paul urges us in the New Testament, “Do not be drunk with wine…but be filled by the Holy Spirit” [Eph.5:18]—the implication being that each of us will be controlled and driven by something or someone. Our decisions and direction will be influenced by the force(s) at work in our lives. To walk in the Spirit, we must be constantly yielding ourselves to Him. Otherwise, we may become drunk with whatever wine our flesh is most susceptible to craving.
A Prayer for Today: “Father, I yield myself to You. I pray that You will
fill me with Your power and presence. Give me victory over the sinful
tendencies of my flesh today. Help me, Lord, to keep my passions under
control. Amen.”
Mark McGwire and Harry Reid: To Forgive or Not to Forgive…
"We're sorry, America."
It is not whether you sin or use; it’s how you play the game.
Sinners and users, winners and losers. Whom do we forgive…and who will never be forgiven?
Two of the biggest news stories of the last couple of days involve a powerful Capitol Hill politician and a retired Major League Baseball star. One is forgiven. The other can forget it.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid used racially insensitive language a couple years ago when he said Obama had a good chance to win the presidential election because he was a “light-skinned African-American,” with “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Apparently, Reid said this when he was explaining why he supported an Obama run for the presidency. The new book, Game Change— which is receiving millions and millions of dollars worth of free publicity from the story— reportedly recounts the incident.
As soon as the comments were made public, Reid moved to diffuse a potentially explosive situation. He contacted the President to apologize and he issued a public apology. He insisted his heart was in the right place, but his words were poorly chosen.
Of course, Barrack Obama rushed to forgive— and defend— the author of Obama’s baby, the health care reform bill, saying that Reid is “a good man who has always been on the right side of history.” Obama the wordsmith cased it as Reid using “inartful language in trying to praise me.”
Additionally, the ever-vigilant leader of the NAACP Al Sharpton has rushed to Reid’s side, even suggesting that, while Reid’s remark was politically incorrect, his assertion was, alas, dead on, and that is the real travesty.
As far as the establishment is concerned, all is forgiven and should now be forgotten for Senator Harry Reid.
Enter the case of “The People of the United States in General and Major League Baseball Fans in Particular vs. Mark McGwire.” After pleading the fifth before the United States senate in 2005, saying, “I am not here to talk about the past,” after dodging questions and issuing denials for years, the eligible-for-the-Hall of Fame-but-not-likely home run crusher has come clean. He has admitted to use of steroids to help in recovery from injuries, to prevent injuries, and to enhance his performance.
A contrite McGwire said, “It was a wrong thing I did. I totally regret it. I just wish I was never in that era.”
Do you think the Hall of Fame voters will accept the apology, open their arms, and usher into their hallowed hall one of history’s most prolific home run hitters, a man whose mere presence in a lineup brought fans to the park two hours early, just to see batting practice, a man whose average of one home run every 10.6 at bats is the best in league history, a man who finished his career with 583 taters?
Me neither. Not in his lifetime anyway. Maybe some day in the way-distant future, when the steroid thing is all finally put into some perspective, and the voters weren’t even embryonic possibilities when McGwire snubbed Congress, maybe then. But not now…and not any time soon.
I wrote all of that to get to this: What is the difference? Why is Reid forgiven, but McGwire not so much? Why is Michael Vick reviled while Kobe Bryant is revered? Why is one athlete, politician, or other public figure forgiven, while another is raked over the coals?
The answer may be more complicated than we know, but some things about forgiveness are fairly certain. There are sure steps one can take to obtain it.
Confession
I don’t mean a qualified confession. Not one of those, “I did it, but it wasn’t my fault…I didn’t know better…Everyone was doing it” confessions. Those kind just don’t cut it.
Don’t wait until you are cornered and have no other option. Vick did that. Didn’t work. Don’t wait until it is in your best interest to confess, the way McGwire seems to be doing now. Just…don’t wait.
Stand up, speak up, be sincere. Andy Pettitte did. Roger Clemens did not. Get the picture?
Contrition
Who can forget Kobe Bryant’s emotional confession with his wife at his side? Who can forget the remorse he exuded when he confessed to a tryst (but not to rape, of course)?
We want to see contrition. We want to know they are sorry they did it. Why? Because we are sorry, too. Sorry they burst our bubble. Sorry they let us down.
More than that, we want confession and contrition because of our own guilt. We know how hard the first one is to do and how good the second one feels. It is a cleansing.
Correction
Again, I mention Andy Pettitte, who made himself available to speak out against the use of steroids, to warn youngsters of it, to sincerely plead with others not to repeat his mistakes. Vick, conversely, did such things only when it became clear he had no choice.One got the sense he never saw much wrong with what he did.
Ideally, we would stop there. In a perfect world, those things are enough to get the slate wiped clean, a second chance. But this is not a perfect world…and anything but ideal. There are other— more sinister— elements at work: Things like…
Current Value to the Team, Sport, or Political Party
Let’s say Kobe Bryant, rather than being arguably the greatest player currently in the NBA, is a backup center or aging star with diminishing skills, is he still welcomed by John Q. Public— and Lakers fans— with open arms, or is this now a good reason to dump that salary and cut ties, all the while looking like you took the high road and distanced yourself from an unsavory character?
(Come to think of it, there are rumors now that Kobe has been involved in an affair with a Lakers’ cheerleader. Wonder if anyone cares?)
How about Bill Belichick, who is known to have cheated in order to win a Super Bowl? Suppose he was still the Browns coach and still stinking up the place with a dismal record? Does he get that slap-on-the-wrist fine and have the evidence destroyed by the NFL, or do they make an example of him?
What if Harry Reid, rather than being the majority leader in the Senate is some junior representative from, say, Idaho? Is he then chided by the President and rebuked by the Democratic Party?
Part of the Establishment
Belichick can cheat and skate free because he is part of the NFL establishment. Reid can use the archaic and (when used by anyone not a leader in the Democratic party) offensive term “Negro” and everyone from the President to the NAACP flocks to his side to defend him. Joe Biden can classify Obama as “the first mainstream African-American candidate who is articulate and bright and clean” and not only avoid any real damage to his reputation, but ultimately be chosen as that very candidate’s running mate.
How is this possible?
Simple. Just be the establishment. The Democrats introduced Political Correctness (PC) during the Clinton administration. They invented the game and from that time to this have remained the only entity not expected to play by the rules of that game.
For Mark McGwire, unfortunately, he is neither the Establishment, nor does he currently have anything of real value to offer it. While MLB can, as an organization, sweep steroids under the rug, turn a blind eye and deaf ear to critics, and move on, that privilege only exists for those in power. The deposed can be disposed.
Forgive Reid? Sure! Too much is at stake not to do so. What if he takes the health reform bill down with him? So, play it down, write it off as a simple misspoken word. Forgive…and forget!
Forgive McGwire? Why? What is the point? What is to be gained from that? Let him twist. Let him suffer. Let him live in Limbo. Good enough for him. We don’t need him anymore anyway.
For fallible public figures, forgiveness is not about the things it ought to be about. Confession is good for the soul, but not good enough by itself. Contrition is nice. Correcting your course is wonderful. But none of these alone, nor all of them together will be enough to secure forgiveness.
Whether you are a sinner or a user, when it comes to forgiveness in America, the difference between the winner and the loser is how you play the game…and with whom.
Thankfully, God has a very different standard. If you need more information about it, drop me a note.
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The JourneyMan by D. Gene Strother is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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