What I'm For

What I’m For

Have you seen the movie or read the book, “Black Hawk Down?” There are a lot of stories of individual acts of courage and honor that came out of that battle. I want to speak of two men specifically who showed the world about character, honor, and self-sacrifice. The world now knows for what these men stood.

            The setting is 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. American forces had been tasked to capture Mohammed Farah Aidid's senior subordinates in the Bakaara Market neighborhood of Mogadishu. Things would be a little challenging for the operators because it was to be a daylight raid / extraction.

As fate would have it, even the best laid plans can become chaos. Murphy showed up and everything went south. Two Black Hawks were shot down by RPGs. CWO Michael Durant survived but was taken prisoner. SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon, two Delta operators, gave their lives in an attempt to recover fallen warrior and rescue Chief Durant. Their deaths reflected who they were: the most selfless elite warriors of our nation.

Does the way you live your life reflect the work of Christ in you? Do you ever wonder why people choose to follow Christ despite how they see “Christians” acting? What is it that draws a person to Christ who has never known God or might have been blatantly rebelling against him? What are you doing / not doing to live a life that honors and pleases the Lord? Are you a living representative of Christ? Colossians 1:9-10 says this:

“We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”

Living a life to honor and please the Lord is made evident by one’s fruit.

“What I’m For”

By Pat Green

I'm for Texas Margaritas and gettin' outta debt
I'm for havin' faith in something that hasn't happened yet
For the shy kid in the corner afraid to ask the girl to dance
For the ex-con outta prison who just wants a second chance
For the inner city teacher with her heart stuck in her throat
Can still see God in every child and never gives up hope

I'm for dusty pawn shop guitars and boxers passed their prime
I'm for soakin' up the wisdom when an old man speaks his mind
I'm for Detroit factory workers when the wolf is at the door
You don't have to guess what I'm against if you know what I'm for

Are you growing in relationship with him so that you know him better and better? Does how you live your life honor and please the Lord? Does how you live your life produce good fruit; fruit that others can see and enjoy?

This is what I used to be told you have to do to be a Christian down south: You can’t drink. You can’t smoke. You can’t chew or dip. You can’t dance. You can’t listen to rock ‘n roll. You can’t you can’t you can’t!!! Well … what about “you can’t have instruments in worship?” “You can’t raise your arms up in worship.” “You can’t dance for joy in church (but it’s perfectly acceptable to act like a complete idiot on a bad call at a ball game).” “You have to wear your Sunday go to meeting clothes to be a Christian.” “You can’t have long hair.” “You can’t have earrings … definitely no tattoos!” “Women, you can’t preach.” “Women, you can’t say anything in church.”

It’s ridiculous isn’t it? The sad part is … we could go on for hours and come up with more “laws” that some of you all are still living under. Colossians 2:20-23 says this:

“You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”

Keeping the “Law” won’t save you much less help you overcome the desires of your flesh

Know this … somebody out there will probably allow Satan to twist my words in their head. I am not saying go out and do things simply because. No, don’t do that. Don’t continue to sin. Don’t go out and sin more because the preacher man said you could go out with your drinking buddies and tie one on. No, I am not saying that at all … and neither is God, more importantly.

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.” – Romans 6:1-8

            Why do we kid ourselves into believing that we can justify the sin in our lives? I’ve never really understood that concept. Even when I didn’t claim Christ as my Lord and Savior, I knew exactly when I was doing “wrong.” I just choose not to have a conscience about my actions. It wasn’t a question of whether I should or shouldn’t make some girl do the “Walk of Shame” after a one night stand … that entire “relationship” was wrong and I knew it!

“Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” – Romans 6:13-16

Think about it this way: there was a boy who lived in a brickyard. Every day the boy was expected to carry bricks. With the expectation of carrying bricks comes a sense that the more you carry then the stronger you will become. So the boy carried his bricks with great veracity. As he grew he added more bricks. He put on more bricks because he believed he could carry more bricks and carrying them would make him stronger. More bricks, more weight. But something wasn’t right.

The more weight he put on himself, the less effective he was at carrying his bricks. In reality, more bricks just weighed him down to where he couldn’t do anything. His efforts for strength were futile. That which he thought would strengthen him eventually broke him. So what’s the boy to do? Hopefully someone will teach him. Hopefully someone will counsel him. Hopefully some one will show him a better way to move the bricks.

Obviously, there is a better way. “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” – Colossians 3:16-17

You see, the bricks in this story are the Law, and in some cases, the implied law created by man to “gauge” one person against another. The only person we should measure ourselves against is Christ and He alone! A great example of this from the Scriptures involves King David in regards to how he worshiped the Lord. David was a man after God’s own heart. He lived as a representative of God – for God.

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!” David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!” So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life.” – 2 Samuel 6:14, 16, 20-23.

Do you ever wonder why people choose to follow Christ despite how they see “Christians” acting? I know one Chaplain who I would have never elected as a Chaplain had I been in charge but you know what, God is using him in a way that I will probably never fully appreciate or understand … but he’s being used and Soldiers are being “ministered to!”

What about the ones who have left church because “Christians” are actually following Christ! I’ve been in churches where people have left the church because the pastor felt led to grow the congregation in “prayer circles” so that the CHURCH could minister to its members. I’ve been in churches where people have left because they simply wanted to “justify” the lifestyle their flesh wants to live. “I don’t want to feel condemnation.” So they choose hell over holy??? That makes sense … not!

What are you doing / not doing to live a life that honors and pleases the Lord?

Are you a living representative of Christ? Is the fragrance of Christ pouring out of you? If you claim the name of Jesus Christ then I implore you to live your life to honor and please the Lord. You will be known by your fruit. Keeping the “Laws” won’t save you much less help you overcome the desires of your flesh. You have to give yourself completely to God’s grace. Live as a representative of Christ. Know whose you are!