"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9
Just next week, one of the most anticipated boxing matches of all time will occur between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. This fight has been in the making for several years now as boxing fans have eagerly hoped to see two of the greatest boxers of our generation face off in the boxing ring.
I was completed startled to hear just how much the tickets for this event are selling for. After seeing one report on my twitter feed about the absurdly high prices, I went onto Stubhub, a ticket selling site to see just how much they were actually selling for. Currently, each ticket is selling for $5,445.75. I am not entirely sure how many tickets have already sold, but there are 257 remaining tickets for sale. After doing some quick math, this amounts to approximately 1.4 MILLION dollars that will be spent on tickets within the next week just to watch two grown men punch each other.
Let's just let that sink in again.
1.4 MILLION DOLLARS. $1,400,000.00
This does not include any of the many tickets that have already been purchased.
With that money...
-Over 100 children could be adopted
-Sponsor 560 LBC students on Journey Teams
-Purchase nearly 16,000 people out of slavery
People are willing to pay SOOO much money to watch people fight, yet are not willing to give to greater causes. It hurts me to see signs of worldliness like this. Bridges says on page 166, worldliness is "being attached to, engrossed in, or preoccupied with the things of this temporal life."
Viewing a boxing match is not wrong in and of itself, but I am convicted of how much money is spent on this while people go hungry and there is worldwide need for help. Something needs to change. Let's be that change.
In my life, I can never remember a time in which racial tension was as visible as it is now. I do not doubt for a moment that this tension has always been there, but I have always been completely naive to it. But there is so much anger and strife that is underlying in our culture.
The last year or so, I have been appalled to see the emerging prevalence of reported news stories that tell of white police officers who have killed black civilians. Many of these killings involve the cop using excessive force, leading to unnecessary deaths. For most of my life, I would have likely overlooked these occurrences, but as I have grown in my friendships with black friends, I am increasingly frustrated by these events. One such event was the killing of Eric Harris in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On page 132 of his book Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges says that "Strife describes open conflict or turmoil between parties, usually between opposing groups as distinct from individuals." There is so much strife in our country. As much as America claims to be a country of equality, reality does not reflect that. I long for the day when blacks and whites alike will be outraged over such atrocities. Something needs to change, and the hearts of people need to be changed.
Recently, much has been made in religious and non-religious circles about the release of the new movie "Fifty Shades of Grey," adapted from the book by the same name. While half of our society flocks to theaters to see what all the rage is about, the other half vehemently condemns the movie for its inherent ungodliness and the damage to be done by consuming such "entertainment."
As found at the following site, https://www.yahoo.com/movies/fifty-shades-drive-in-sacramento-fifty-shades-of-111283872117.html, a California drive-in theater is garnering much negative attention for its displaying of the movie. The large drive-in screen is visible from many public places, and numerous children have witnessed some of the more erotic and sexual scenes as their family simply drove past the theater. Many parents are outraged at the public display of such content, for they do not wish for their children to be exposed to such material.
Christians and non-Christians alike have been very quick to point out the severe levels of ungodliness in this film, and for good reason. But my goal is not to drive in the thought of the ungodliness of this movie, but rather to call believing Christians to evaluate the traces and themes of ungodliness in their own lives.
We are often so quick to cast judgment upon the things of this world, and sometimes rightfully so, but we just as often fail to recognize the ways that we may be living ungodly lives. As Jerry Bridges says, "Ungodliness may be defined as
living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God."
Ungodliness is often seen in the ways that we live our lives as if they depended upon us instead of recognizing God's rightful place in our lives. In doing so, we live with some level of ungodliness. This does not negate our salvation or insinuate that we are not believers, but believers and unbelievers alike live in varying degrees of ungodliness.
We must take the time to evaluate our own lives to see where we are not lined up with that to which God has called us. After acknowledging these areas, we must work to change them, trusting in the grace and saving power of Christ.
As Matthew 7:5 says, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Before attacking the world and its own ungodliness, we need to first acknowledge our own ungodliness as we constantly strive to become more and more like Christ.
In Respectable Sins,Jerry Bridges says, "The good news that God no longer counts my sin against me...is so radical, so contrary to our normal way of thinking that, frankly, it seems to good to be true." Often, evidences of grace and of love are so powerful that they do not make sense to our minds right away.
I was blown away by an article that I came across recently. It told the story of a man named Samuel Forrest who lives in Armenia. As he was in the hospital anxiously awaiting the birth of his son, he received unexpected news from the doctors. His newborn son Leo was born with Down syndrome. Forrest, from New Zealand, was entirely unaware of hospital practices in Armenia that say that if your child is born with a condition such as Down syndrome, the parents are not required to keep the child.
Unknown to Forrest at the time, his wife had already decided that she had no desire to keep the child. She then presented him with an ultimatum:
If you decide to keep this child, I am divorcing you.
I cannot imagine the confusion and pain that must have ran through his head. The woman he loved forcing him to choose between his own newborn and herself. I wonder how many times he questioned whether there truly was a right answer.
Yet Forrest claims that from the beginning, there was never any doubt in his mind as to his course of action: he was keeping Leo, his son. He could not allow him to be killed simply because of the condition of his birth. Forrest said, "As a child with Down Syndrome, that becomes somewhat of a label. If we can get around this label, we'll see that they're normal...They all have niches and I want to work hard to find out where Leo's special. This little guy is great."
One week later, his wife filed for divorce.
I see this as a truly remarkable act of love by Forrest. He chose the life of someone who as of now, is incapable of returning that love. While he may have always known what he would do, it would be foolish to assume that it was a painless decision. He was willing to lay down all that he knew for the life of his son.
As John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." Forrest was willing to lay down the life that he had known so as to allow his son Leo to know a life of his own.
Today, can we say that we are willing to lay down the desires and dreams that we have been chasing for so long as to give hope and life to someone who society would tell us is "lesser" than ourselves? Can we set ourselves to the side to work for what will make the lives of those around us better?
In today's American church culture, I find there to be an interesting tension in the way that we view women. So many men say that women need to be more mindful of "the visual nature of men" and in doing so change the way in which they dress in order to protect the hearts of men.
At the same time, many women feel as if far too much of the burden is being placed upon them. They feel such strong pressure from society to look and behave a certain way in order to be considered beautiful, and at the same time hear their brothers in Christ plead with them to be sure to dress modestly. Yet even in spite of these requests, many guys still show preference in ascribing beauty to those who dress in the very way that they ask Christian women not to dress.
As I was doing a typical browse through my Facebook newsfeed, I came across an article/video that was posted on Buzzfeed that highlighted the way that beauty standards have evolved over time entitled "Women's Ideal Body Types Throughout History."
The article can be found at http://www.buzzfeed.com/eugeneyang/womens-ideal-body-types-throughout-history#.rkzjvE6g6.
In watching this video, I find it interesting that throughout the course of history, just about every type of body shape and size was once considered ideal. So what causes this to change? Who makes the decisions about what is attractive and what is not? The ideal woman in ancient Greece would likely be scorned by the majority of American men today.
I feel as if so many men have attempted to place the entirety of the blame upon women and the way that they dress, but men are the primary determiners of what is and is not considered beautiful. So if we as men are reinforcing a certain body type and style of dress as more attractive than others, why do we then turn around and complain about how women present themselves?
In his book Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges says, "Even though our hearts have been renewed...this principle of sin still lurks within us and wages war against our souls." Although Christ is working sanctification within us, our hearts must still battle our sinful flesh.
1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly...by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim for godliness." Now, I am not saying that women need to cover every inch of skin, but I do believe that modesty is seen as excellent before God. But at the same time, God is a God of beauty, and there is nothing wrong with seeking to make oneself beautiful.
Now guys, regardless of what women wear, whether deemed modest or immodest, we must resolve in our hearts to remain pure in thought and deed. We are responsible for our own behavior. Can we say as Job did in Job 31:1, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?" Job had already purposed in his heart that no matter how good a woman looked, that he was going to remain pure. My prayer is that as Christian men today, we would take the stand to be pure and blameless in our walk with Christ, including the way that we treat the women in our lives. Regardless of our view of how they dress or what our standard of beauty is, we must be able to present ourselves pure to God, and treat women with the respect that they deserve as creations of the Almighty King.
