What Will You Do?

He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

– Micah 6:8

Back in the 1970s, American Express launched a popular series of TV commercials that invited viewers to imagine their worst travel nightmares. 

“What will you do?” asked celebrity narrator Karl Malden. “What will you do?”

In one episode, a traveler is in a run-down hotel in some unnamed Third World country. He’s just discovered that his wallet and travelers checks were stolen by a pickpocket. His luggage is also missing. With no money, identification or any way to get help, the unwitting victim is in deep trouble because he can’t re-pay his debt. But had he purchased American Express Travelers Cheques (yes, that’s how they really spell them), his loss would have been repaid in full within 24 hours, regardless of his location.

Although that's a bit far-fetched in these days of PayPal, credit cards, emails and iPhones, this classic commercial still illustrates a basic spiritual truth. Because of the way we’ve lived our lives and treated others, we’ve all run up an immense bill with no way to repay it. But with God’s grace and mercy through Jesus’ death on the cross, the spiritual debt of every Christ-follower is completely paid in full. 

Since God shows us great mercy even though we really deserve death, we’re now expected to show mercy to others. That sounds simple enough. But somehow, it conflicts with our sense of fair play. After all, aren’t there some people who just have it coming? Shouldn’t they get what they deserve? Someone needs to even the score.

Does anyone in particular come to mind? How about that guy who kept cutting you off in traffic this morning? Or what about that woman who butted in line at the DMV ... or that neighbor who lets their dog loose in your yard? There’s no shortage of examples.

Yes, everyone has faced injustice and hurt in one way or another. So don’t those people need to pay us back to make it right? After all, they owe us. 

Maybe. But we owe God much, much more. And since he canceled out our huge debt, it’s up to us to spread grace toward those who have wronged us. Yes, it’s a hard lesson. But never forget that God doesn’t ask us to give more mercy than what he’s already given us. 

What exactly does the Lord require of you and me as Christ-followers? It’s in Micah 6:8 that we learn the answer: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

With this in mind, Jesus — and Karl Malden — want to know: What will you do?

 

Guilty as Sin

LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.

– Ezra 9:15

It takes just a single word — positive or negative — to paint a vivid picture of someone. For example, we might link words like genius or visionary to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs, or leader to George Washington and Martin Luther King. Likewise, we might label Ted Bundy or Hitler as murderer.

How about you?

Would you label yourself as generous, energetic, successful … or maybe humble? Or what about lonely, abused or divorced? How about addicted?

Ask that question to 20 different people, and you’ll probably get 20 different answers. But the apostle Paul tells us through the book of Romans that there’s one word that fits everyone: GUILTY.

He explains that everyone (that’s you and me) has in one way or another broken God’s perfect Law. That’s because we’ve all lied, cheated, stole and killed — either literally or figuratively. We’re all guilty as sin. And according to God’s Law, the death penalty is the just response to our wrongdoings. 

Scripture affirms this. It’s in Romans 6:23 that we read the wages of sin is death.

But here’s the good news: This same Bible passage adds that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Paul writes that God paid the penalty we all deserve through the death of his own son (Jesus) on the cross. So as far as our Creator is concerned, we’re considered RIGHTEOUS, or right in the eyes of God, and are now free to live out our lives and follow his ways. 

Have you put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If so, he’s cancelled your debt. And as far as he’s concerned, your label is now innocent. Paul sums it up this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Pride Before the Fall

 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

– Proverbs 11:2

There’s a certain pride factor when you do it yourself and do it right. Who can deny the satisfaction gained from viewing a shiny polished car or a lush, manicured lawn? And that goes double when you put hours of hard work into your efforts. Yes, you should be proud.

Or should you?

Maybe taking pride in a job well done is OK to a point. But as Christ-followers, we need to understand that PRIDE is actually one of those giants that can hurt us badly if we don’t watch out. But is pride really that much of a big deal? It’s not like one of those negative-sounding issues like FEAR and DEATH. And there’s not the shame that’s associated with LUST.

But as it turns out, the Bible teaches that misplaced pride really IS a big deal to God. That’s because pride can be a crippling disease with some very nasty side effects. First, we see it in other people but not in ourselves. And eventually, we get to the point where we think we can do it all — and all while forgetting the fact that God is the true power and source of our successes. We become arrogant, vain, stubborn and defensive. We may even develop a strange sense of satisfaction when others (sometimes even our friends) face difficulties or tragedies in their lives. These symptoms last for a while. But only up to the point where God finally lets us crumble and fall flat from some unforeseen situation or circumstance. 

It’s called the pride before the fall. And it’s only then that we come back to our senses and come back to God with a humble heart. 

What’s the prescription for curing this infection called PRIDE? It’s not about adopting a permanently low self-esteem or a woe-is-me attitude. Instead, it’s all about replacing self-confidence with God-confidence. Our best strategy is to always put God first in our lives and remember that we can do nothing without him. Always give him the credit for your blessings and successes. And then remember that God chooses and uses the humble to do great things in the world.

The Bible sums it up with some solid advice: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." 

Authentic Compassion

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

-- John 13:35

As Christ-followers, we're often reminded about the importance of helping our neighbors and showing compassion to strangers. Jesus taught this principle through The Good Samaritan: one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. 

It’s in Luke’s gospel that we read about a traveler who was attacked by robbers and left for dead. A priest saw the wounded man but elected to pass him by. Later, a Levite (a member of one of the tribes of Israel) also saw the man lying on the ground. And he too avoided him. But when a Samaritan — a member of a despised ethnic group — happened to come by, he bandaged up the injured stranger, checked him into a motel and even prepaid the bill!

Two supposedly "good" people had a chance to help the helpless, but they went out of their way to do nothing. Instead, it was the Samaritan who found God's approval because he had shown practical compassion to his neighbor (a total stranger).

Although that's a lesson we all need to learn and live by, helping neighbors and strangers isn't always easy. We too often let selfishness and pride get in our way. We don't want to get our hands dirty. And then we end up like the supposedly "good" people in Jesus' story. But let's consider the other side of the coin: How are we showing compassion to our fellow Christ-followers — not strangers — but rather other Believers?

The moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become a member of an enormous family of faith spanning race, nationality, gender and generation. We may be very different, but it's our faith in Jesus that bridges the gaps. For all of us, Jesus is at the core of our thoughts and motivations. And we all share a common eternal destiny and a loving Father.

This truth sets apart Christ-followers from all others in the world. But since the world is watching us and questioning our motives, it’s crucial that we demonstrate lives of authentic compassion.

How should we do that? It’s by celebrating each other's triumphs, mourning each other's losses and sacrificing our own selfish interests that we exhibit much more than transformed lives and ongoing spiritual growth. Above all, we need to follow Jesus' example: one where love is an action-word lived out every day through a changed heart.

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

– Isaiah 12:3

The world is reeling from a pandemic, millions are unemployed, the nation is divided politically, and inflation is on the rise. What’s more, the news headlines are both disturbing and depressing. Nevertheless, billions would be happy to trade places with us. That’s because even the poorest of the poor in America are considered rich (at least statistically) when compared with so much of humanity.

We understand that the concepts of wealth and poverty are relative because a dollar obviously stretches further in Montana than in Monte Carlo. But regardless of your address and the size of your bank account, money still can’t buy you happiness and joy. In fact, the Bible reveals that excessive wealth can be an obstacle to spiritual health. That's because of the temptation to rely on it rather than its ultimate source, God. Society, however, continues to spread a false narrative about riches, and it's even altered the definition of joy.

But true joy isn’t the reaction to something external, like a new car or a piece of jewelry. Instead, it’s an internal source of gladness and thanksgiving that reveals the true picture though the most difficult of circumstances. As Christ-followers, our relationship with Jesus grants us access to our Creator — a loving Father who hears our prayers and looks for ways to bless us. So no matter how bad things get in our lives, we already know that our ultimate story will end on a very positive note. Let’s consider the experience of the apostle Paul:

“Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,” he wrote in 2 Corinthians. “I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”

That doesn’t sound like a happy, fun-filled experience. Yet Paul wrote that he was joyful.

When we have lives that are filled with joy, even the most unpleasant of circumstances can’t bring us down. Paul spent years in prison chained to his guards while under the constant threat of death. But he always prayed thankfully. And instead of feeling sorry for himself, he used the situation to change the lives of fellow prisoners and jailers alike — and all while writing much of what we today know as the New Testament. The lesson for modern-day Christ-followers like you and me is that we must habitually look for the good and dwell on the positive.

Yes, we are living in complicated, unprecedented times that can pull us down both physically and emotionally. But Paul’s advice to you and me is both simple and profound:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”