Shifting Ethics
Series in Proverbs: Today’s lesson is Proverbs 3
The meat in Proverbs three is too meaty for one session, but we will attempt to digest what we can.
Introduction:
Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, is in the news for allegedly owning and operating a dog kennel that produces fighting dogs trained to kill. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_woolner&sid=ax1H7mQbjxyU
According to ESPN.com Vick’s involvement with dog fighting is nothing new. ESPN reports in part, “Our confidential source said he’s [Michael Vick] been involved in dogfighting for more than 30 years. He has trained and fought — by his estimation — about 2,000 pit bulls and was poised to tell ‘Outside the Lines’ about the time in 2000 when his dog squared off against a dog owned by someone he referred to as one of the ‘heavyweights’ of the dogfighting world: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.
“’He’s a pit bull fighter,’ the source said of Vick. ‘He’s one of the ones that they call ‘the big boys’: that’s who bets a large dollar. And they have the money to bet large money. As I’m talking about large money — $30,000 to $40,000 — even higher. He’s one of the heavyweights.’
“On April 25, authorities raided a house in Surry County, Va., owned by Vick and reportedly found — among other things — 66 dogs (most of which were pit bulls), a dog-fighting pit, bloodstained carpets and equipment commonly associated with dogfighting. Vick was not at the scene and denied knowledge of dogfighting at the property. To this point, no charges have been filed against him. But questions about Vick and his possible connection to dogfighting linger.” http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2884063
Why all the talk about Michael Vick? Because Vick is one more professional athlete displaying the effects of a select culture immersed in the madness of Hip-Hop—gangster rap (Hip hop—also spelled hip-hop or hiphop—is both a music genre and a cultural movement developed in New York starting in the 1970s, predominantly by African Americans and Latinos.[1] Since first emerging in New York City in the 1970s, hip hop has grown to encompass an entire lifestyle that consistently incorporates diverse elements of ethnicity, technology, art and urban life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop.) This is a music culture that turns traditional cultural- values upside down. As a matter of fact, it turns most sacred values upside down. It promotes drug dealing, violence against women, living large with big money, diamonds, high dollar cars and—yes—even pit bull fighting. That which is unlawful, destructive, or violent is considered right-side-up values to the Hip-Hop culture and Vick is just one of many professional athletes that is caught up in its influence, now suffering the fallout of its applied ethics.
Our society is facing a culture clash on an unprecedented scale. We are stretching the boundaries of accepted social and cultural norms to the ends of the earth as it were, and we are embracing and promoting the outrageous, the shocking, the polarizing, the most repulsive bad-boy behavior ever witnessed in America’s history. It’s totally appropriate to say that society’s norms are upside down. It’s alarming and very dangerous to the family unit, which makes up the core of society. What are we to do?
The Solution:
When we look at the third chapter of Proverbs, we are given the remedy for turning an upside down society right-side-up. The remedy is straight forward and very simple to apply. I’d like to share Proverb’s simply remedy.
Since the nucleus of every society is the family unit, what I’m about to share with you is applied to the family. We’ll change society, one family at a time. Proverbs three presents a number of basic principles for right-side-up living:
The first principle is repetition. The Bible is very clear on rehearsing the instructions of God to our children and our children passing the teachings along to the next generation. Proverbs 3:1 “My son do not forget my teaching…” (NIV) When the children of Israel left Egypt to enter the Promised Land, God instructed them to place stone monuments at various places along the way. Why? Because the monuments would serve as lasting memorials, forever declaring what God did for them at that very spot. God didn’t want them to forget so He commanded them to erect monuments. Generations of Israelites would come and go, but the knowledge of what God did for Israel was forever memorialized and repeated to each succeeding generation. Remembering, rehearsing, and repetition is important to family and, thus, good for advancing society.
Do you spend devotional time with your family? Do you set aside some time during the day to tell your children or grandchildren how much God loves them? As a parent it is your responsibility to rehearse this truth to your children often. Why is repetition important? Because we forget too easily. It’s good to remind the one’s we love of God’s unconditional love through Jesus Christ, and it’s good to remind them often.
The second principle is fidelity. When you married your spouse, you repeated the vows of fidelity. Remember? “I promise to love, to honor, and to cherish…” Fidelity speaks of love and honor. When a United States Marine comes across the path of another Marine the phrase “Semper Fi” often concludes the conversation. “Semper Fidelis” is Latin for “Always faithful.” It is the motto that has defined the United States Marine Corps throughout its distinguished history. A Marine will always have his brother’s back because “Semper Fi” is not a slogan; it’s a vow of honor.
Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are. Thomas Carlyle.
Maybe our society’s values have turned upside down because it has forgotten “honor.” If a culture ceases to uphold honor, faithfulness, and integrity the consequences are shame, reproach, and destruction. Listen to this: On April 14, 1912, 10:00 p.m. the Titanic crashed into an iceberg in the mid-Atlantic and four hours later sank. One woman in a life boat asked if she could go back to her room. She was given only three minutes to do so. She hurried down the corridors, already tilting dangerously, through the gambling room piled ankle-deep in money. In her room were her treasures waiting to be taken, but instead, she snatched up three oranges and hurried back to the boat. One hour before she would have naturally chosen diamonds over oranges, but in the face of death, values are seen more clearly. A society without values is dead already.
The third principle is faith in God always. There is an old axiom that says everyone gets religion in jail. I’d like to add my two cents to this saying. Everyone gets religious during a tragedy, but quickly backslides when the tragedy has blown over. I wish someone would prove me wrong, but no one has taken the challenge yet. So, what am I getting at? Simply this: Faith in God is forever not for a season. The Bible reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” NIV (Proverbs 3:5-6) The phrase, “in all your ways…” means not only along life’s path, but always while on life’s path. Don’t start and stop your faith in God. Keep on trusting Him always.
God will direct your path. Do you believe this? Some people believe that God is too busy to be bothered with us. Their God put all things in motion and then stepped back to let it run itself. Yet, this is not the God of scripture. The God of the Bible not only put everything in motion, He concerns Himself with His creation and intervenes on its behalf. If you will trust God, He will make your crooked path straight. You must trust God even if things appear to be going nowhere. God is still in control when you aren’t. You must trust Him through the darkness. Listen to this: E. Schuyler English tells this story, “A man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he was extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked “HURRICANE.” After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning on the way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. That evening he returned to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer’s needle had been right–there was a hurricane!” If your heart tells you to trust God, it behooves you to stay the course. Your heart is usually right.
The fourth principle is sharing. The Bible says to honor the Lord with your wealth. May I share something with you? If you share out of your reserves, that is commendable. If you share out of your lack, that is God like. There are two types of men noted in the Bible. One type honors God with his wealth and has to build larger barns to contain the blessings. The other type is the kind that Jesus mentions in Luke chapter 12. This type of man tears down barns. Because the man hoarded his wealth, he felt it was safe to tear down and build anew to store all he had accrued by his good fortune. The first kind of man that is mentioned in Proverbs three has God’s blessing; therefore, he has a green light to prepare for the increase that’s coming. The second man mentioned in Luke is a fool. He tries to increase without God’s blessing and in tearing down to make bigger, his soul is required before God. He loses everything.
16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
KJV (Luke 12:16-21)The fifth principle is correction. If God loves you—and He does—He will correct you. Proverbs three verse 11, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke.” NIV When it comes to moral development, there are basically two types of people: One type accepts correction because it is necessary for growth and development. The other type avoids correction at all costs—usually blaming the hardship on the devil—and, thus, levels out within the boundaries of a comfort zone.
If an athlete wants to compete and win, he or she will accept the correction of a trainer and apply the coach’s pointers to her daily routine of vigorous training. Without correction and hard work, the athlete becomes nothing more than an armchair quarterback. If a sportsman wants to move beyond recreational golf to compete as a pro, it’s the same story… To move beyond where you are, you must break out of your comfort zone.
God knows that we are prone to remain in a nest of comfort when we should be learning to soar. And sometimes the only we to get us beyond the comfort of compromise is to ruffle our feathers and stir the nest. This is not a bad thing. God only does it to those He loves. Correction is a fact of live. Get used to it.
Proverbs three gives us five basic principles for keeping society right-side-up. To recap these principles is to underscore their importance in building and sustaining healthy and God favored cultures within our society. To rehearse the instructions of God to our children is pivotal in building and maintaining a godly family unit. As the family goes, so goes the culture. The principle of fidelity comes in second and the principle of trusting God always rounds out number three. The fourth principle is sharing and the fifth principle is correction. To the one who will apply these five basic principles of life, his faith will anchor and secure not only him but his family and his nation as well.
Our culture may be going to the dogs (pardon the pun Mr. Vick) but our faith in God’s principles of power will turn upright that which has been turned downward by sin. We have His word on it—Proverbs three.
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.
Pastor T.