I’m not one to really write about politics or anything of that nature but the last few days have really made me think about some things. The governor of South Carolina, as everyone knows, cheated on his wife for around a year, flying to Argentina to meet with his South American fling. It’s not my intention to get into the details of it all or even to beat down the governor even more than he has already been hurt. What I’m writing about today is this idea that the personal life is completely separate from our public life.
I drive an hour to work and back several days a week, and on those drives I like to listen to talk radio. Most of the time I listen to the news or ESPN radio, but sometimes, I catch a local talk station where listeners call in and make their voices heard. I must admit that sometimes I do it to test myself on how I would respond to arguments that I would disagree with; sort of a self-test if you will. However this week, I almost got to the point of calling in for this simple reason: I was tired of hearing people saying that he shouldn’t resign because what he did wrong he did in his personal life. WHAT DOES THAT MATTER!? WHEN DID THE PERSONAL LIFE BECOME COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THE PUBLIC LIFE? The funny thing was, these people, after saying that he should not resign because it was a personal issue, were saying that his political future is ruined. My question would be why? If his personal life has no bearing on his public service, why is his political future gone? It shouldn’t matter what he did right? A man cheats on his wife for a year while deceiving his staff, what makes us think that he won’t agree to some ‘under the table’ policy that hurts everyday working citizens?
And please believe me, I say this with the gravest of convictions that in my own life, what I display in public will not be untouched by what I do or don’t do in my private life. Our private ministry must match our public ministry because the public will always end up mimicking the private. The two are so tightly intertwined, and to measure them on different scales ruins them both. We must never get to the point where we honestly believe our private life has no bearing on our public. All trust would surely crumble. I leave you with this quote by F.B. Meyer:
The supreme test of goodness is not in the greater but in the smaller incidents of our character and practice; not what we are when standing in the searchlight of public scrutiny, but when we reach the firelight flicker of our homes; not what we are when some clarion-call rings through the air, summoning us to fight for life and liberty, but our attitude when we are called to sentry-duty in the gray morning, when the watch-fire is burning low. It is impossible to be our best at the supreme moment if character is corroded and eaten into by daily inconsistency, unfaithfulness, and besetting sin.
Sometimes in the middle of the busy day, God opens your eyes to your surroundings. Sometimes He offers you a glimpse of stuff that you so often miss. Today, I got the simple realization of how I miss some of the more common blessings in my life. Take for instance these two pictures below of a full fridge and pantry. Now, don’t focus on the unorganized nature of them, or the brands of food that fill their shelves. Rather focus on the lack of space. In a majority of the world, I would be eating like royalty with such food. Yet so many times I complain about there being nothing to eat. So superficial and ignorant of me. I am blessed beyond measure and a simple opening of my eyes by God was enough for me to realize that today. Take a look at your food tonight as you eat and remember how fortunate you are. I know it blessed me tonight.
Sitting at the Charlotte Airport
Jenna and I are excited to be heading to Mobile for her brother’s wedding. Thankfully we will be flying down instead of making the long drive. We should be heading out of here at 10:35PM est. We had a date at Sbarro’s and spent our whole life savings on Jenna’s spaghetti and steamed vegetables (ha!). But really we did. So we are sitting here at our gate waiting to board in about an hour and Jenna now wants some Starbucks. We going to go take out a loan and then go satisfy her caffeine fix. Can’t wait to see the family! We’ll be getting back on Sunday.
So I have been going through The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis again, this time really trying to take in all he was writing about. I have to thank Brian because his efforts to really dive into the messages of each book that he reads have kinda inspired me to do the same thing. I don’t want to miss out on what some of the great authors that I have read are/were trying to say. The Weight of Glory is actually the text of a sermon that Lewis delivered and has some of his most thought-provoking insights. He begins his address with the following:
If you asked twenty good men today what they thought was the highest of virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied , Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not there happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.
That got me to thinking, “What would the men and women of today say is the highest of virtues?” To me, I believe that most people would say, Integrity. Maybe they would say, Love, but I don’t if the Love described in the Bible would be what they had in mind; it would most likely be the Love portrayed in movies and music. It would be just the affectionate side of love or the commitment part of love that they would actually be talking about. So that is why I believe more people would point to, Integrity, as the highest of virtues.
Just like C.S. Lewis saw a shift from a positive term to a negative one, I think that today we have seen a shift from the negative one of, Unselfishness, to a fulfilling one in, Integrity. What I mean is this: we have chosen, Integrity, because there is such a need for it and not necessarily because it is the greatest. We want so badly to find the honesty and commitment that characterizes integrity, and that is so absent in our culture.
So why would, Integrity, not be the highest of virtues, and why shouldn’t it be our choice. Well, if integrity is defined as, “ Honesty; the adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character” then I can lack other virtues. You see, I can be honest to you but I don’t have to love or care for you. Where else do we get the idea of brutal honesty? Love is the greatest of virtues because it encompasses so many other characteristics. No other virtue is so complete as, Love. God isn’t, Integrity…He is Love (1 John 4:8). He’s complete not lacking. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives one of the most comprehensive descriptions of, Love. Read it from The Message paraphrase,
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
May this be our highest virtue. May we be the love described above to those around us today. When people see this love, they see God.
Jenna and I realized today that we have been away from Auburn for 6 months now! We couldn’t believe that the time had flown by so fast. Though I can’t say that we have always been ecstatic about our location, I can now truly say that things are going great for us. Being away from the comforts of Auburn has changed us for the better and I wanted to list several of those changes:
First, being away from all friends and family has forced Jenna and I to come together over issues that we once let slip by. There were so many other people that we could be around when things were not going so well, that we really grew apart on different items. Knowing only one another has given us no place to run and hide from issues that need to be discussed, and has allowed God to bless our marriage through the openness.
Second, Jenna and I have found new friends and have discovered the ways that God is using them to shape us. They say that this area of NC is in the heart of the so-called Bible Belt, but it really isn’t. We are experiencing what it truly means to live by faith and carry out a ministry of reconciliation.
Finally, we truly recognize how special the people around Auburn are to us. Cornerstone is an incredible church that I would be proud to show off to anyone. It definitely prepared me to reach people through loving them, something that I most definitely struggled with as someone that likes intellectual discourse. Breaking down someones worldview isn’t always the best method. Sometimes, all they need is to know that in a world with so much confusion and hatred, there is a God that wants a relationship with them more than anything else; that He desires to bring them back unto Himself. Learning to share that with very few words, if any, is the true mark of growth in a Christian life. Cornerstone taught me that. Our friends and family were certainly the blessings that we always thought they were. The great thing is that they still are those blessings to us, through their prayers, their writings, their phone calls. WE LOVE YOU!
So yes, the moving to Elon wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be, especially me. But we know God has us here for a reason, some of which I listed above. His plan is a perfect, never changing plan that cannot be foiled by us fragile and inconsistent humans. I love Him more today than I did 6 months ago and that makes everything worth it by far. Just an update that I hope encourages you as much as it has encouraged me. We love you all. Blessings! Oh, Andi and Josh(I mean Namusoke and Agaba): Thanks so much for the blog updates. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited Jenna and I were to get home from long days to read about what is happening over in Buloba. Thank you for your hearts and your love.
