What are you standing for? Are you a New Yorker whose Giants have shown their true colors and now you’ve suddenly raised a flag outside your home that says BILLS MAFIA? There’s at least 3 in my neighborhood alone, suddenly, might I add.
Do you stand for the Yankees? What about the Grand ‘Ole Party? What do YOU stand for?
The fact of the matter is that we all are standing for something. One of my Pastoral heroes, John Piper, was speaking on a recent episode of his Ask Pastor John Podcast that we are what we behold.
What we consume, what we believe in, what we watch, how we speak, how we act it all shows what we stand for, and more importantly — what we stand upon. Because the truth of the matter is that you can be a card carrying Christian, who is also a card carrying Republican, and if the only information you consume happens to come from Drudge, FOX, Blaze, etc. and isn’t viewed alongside reading scripture, you’re going to be up a creek without a paddle. Same goes for the Christian who for some strange reason watches CNN but does so without even The Message translation laying around the house. Good luck navigating those waters.
I want to leave this clip here for you:
This clip is from the Spielberg movie, Bridge of Spies, where Tom Hanks’ character James Donovan represents a suspected spy, Rudolf Abel. Throughout the movie Donovan takes a massive pummeling for being a man of the utmost integrity. The movie is extremely moving in my opinion and while I try to not have emotional responses to things, this one was hard not to. This is probably because there have been some things in my life recently that I have found myself asking the question more often than not, what am I standing for?
We are all going to get punched some time in our life. I was physically punched once when I was in seventh grade; it didn’t hurt but it sure wasn’t an experience that I went running to sign up for again. I haven’t been physically punched since, but my four year old did throw a baseball at my face, point blank a few weeks ago and that sure felt like Mike Tyson after someone told him his lisp is annoying.
Funny thing is that I feel like that is nothing compared to the mental and emotional punches we endure daily in this current culture. I have never felt more convinced of the truth in Isaiah 5:20 than when I read my newspaper now.
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
My point being is that we today are in a predicament where our morals, principles, and beliefs are constantly being put on the hot seat. Just the other day my wife and I were reading the paper and there was an article about a photographer suing the State of New York to protect her personal conviction to not photograph a same sex marriage. Our world has gotten to the point where suing the State you live in is one of the only ways, as a Christian, you can protect your constitutional right to freedom. Let’s not even dabble on the jab debate here — and I’m merely talking about it from a mandated respect, nothing else. For so long we have been able to be comfortable as Christians, but now that is seemingly more like a distant memory than anything else.
Who are we? Are we going to cave under pressure of society to be something more “inclusive” or “welcoming”? There’s a country song that I’ve always thought of that asks: “who are you when I’m not lookin’?” That’s a great question for the secular world I guess but I believe it misses the point. What I believe that Mr. Shelton fails to understand is that more importantly than anyone on this physical earth, we should be asking ourselves “who are we when we think that God isn’t looking?” I know it can possibly be inferred that I’m arguing for legalism, but, that is actually the farthest thing from what I’m arguing. I’m arguing for a higher view of God. High theology leads to high doxology.
If you happen to be a Murray M’Cheyne guy, one part of your current readings will be taking you through the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. Being that I’m on paternity leave currently, I got a little ahead and as I got further into the history one of the Kings really caught my eye for some reason. It turns out that according to this nice chart from Crossway, King Asa is not just one of the 4 truly good Kings, but also the first since King David and Solomon.
So spoiler alert here, King Asa is more often than not associated with being an example of someone who starts fully committed to the Lord but fades because at the end of his life, we observe some solid missteps in the walk of a Godly man. Nonetheless, because of his commitment to the Lord, he was buried with full honor and recognized as a good King.
The truth is, what caught my eye happened to be the aforementioned chart. If you look closely enough at it, you can count that in some capacity, while Asa was King of Judah, there were 7 kings of Israel. Now, I do not want to read too far into this but one thing that struck me is how many unrighteous men come and go in the midst of one righteous man’s tenure. Now obviously one of the main points of the historical narrative of 1st and 2nd Kings is that the Lord appoints those who sit on the throne, good and bad, and works through both good and bad to accomplish His will. But it was striking to me how much God can use one man seeking after him while 7 others come and go. Again, not to say that he was perfect as he surely was not, the point is just that God preserves those chasing after Him.
It seemed to be an even older version to me of Jonathan Edwards and Max Jukes. If you have never heard the story of comparison between the familial lines of Edwards and Jukes I’m going to attach a chart to give you an overview of the two.
What can cause such a discrepancy between two men that would lead to that stark of a contrast in family legacies? Reading the Bible? Catechizing your children? Getting rid of cable? Rooting for the Yanks instead of the Sux? Well, in my Calvinistic self opinion, only God’s supreme sovereignty and providence could cause that type of difference between that many generations. But the fact there remains that my extrapolation comes down to one simple question and it’s the same question I’d argue that Kings Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah had to ask as they traveled through life:
What am I standing for? What is reigning in my life? What is the ultimate object of my affection and worship? Because let’s face it — we are all worshiping something.
My wife and I just welcomed our fourth child to this earth a few weeks ago and we were blessed with another little man cub. While it’s such an ecstatic thought, its and arduous task for me to think of the pressure of now raising three boys and a girl too, Lord willing, chase after the glory of the Lord. And for the boys, to be a MAN.
I am humbled the more I think of how much weight there is to raise young men, especially given how much I get it wrong. Just recently I was being a punk to my bride and replied “no” to her when she asked me to do something. Only seconds later did my oldest come running around the corner reminding me of the fact that I just said no to mommy and asked “why did you do that Daddy?” He did this because I am constantly harping on him to respect, obey, and love his mother. And there I go and duff it right in front of everyone.
That one hurt, big time. But the truth is that it’s only one of many more that I will have to face over their lives. My goal is just to do it as little as possible. One of the ways that I’m trying to do that daily is to ask myself daily what am I standing for? What am I allowing to stand in this house? More importantly, what am I allowing to stand in my heart?
The only way our lives can resemble that of an Edwards line, or any other Godly example is an exalted view of God. He must reign supreme in our lives day in, day out. We have to be a men who are willing to flush out distractions of this world and make our worldview one of a biblical foundation that is unwavering. I’m going to end this with an excerpt from a sermon by my main man, J.C. Ryle.
“Lastly, it is written: “Be holy, for I am holy.” “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” What do you know of this holiness? Can you say that God the Holy Spirit has actually begun the blessed and never-dying work of sanctification within you? Do you feel any pure love towards God and your neighbors? Is it your supreme desire to advance God’s glory? Have you any zeal for the extension of His kingdom? Do you strive not to be conformed to this world? Do you profess to regulate every thought and word and action by the Holy Scriptures? Do you hunger and thirst after a complete mortification of sin, and look forward with longing to the time when Satan shall be bound, and there shall be no more struggle between the flesh and the spirit? Are you meek and gentle towards all men? Do you redeem the time daily, looking on every minute as a talent for which you are accountable, and aiming to be employed as far as possible, in the things which are just and honorable and lovely and of good report? Are the ordinances of Christ’s Church sweet and precious to your soul? Are prayer and praise a delight—in public, in your family, in private? Is your Bible your daily food, a light to your feet and a lantern to your path? Are you above the fear of men, and can you think lightly of their praise in comparison with that which is of God? Do you count all things but loss, if you can but win Christ? Do you count the life that now is, as nothing compared with that which is to come? Oh! if you know not something, however little, of these things, tremble for yourself and repent! Rest assured you are losing your own soul!”
JC Ryle, The True Christian Chapter 16 Profit and Loss
I fail daily at so many of those things, but, that is what I want to stand for. When my wife and children look at me and say standing man, that’s what I hope they think about.
God bless you all,
BMT.
References:
- John Piper Podcast Episode: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/we-become-like-the-videos-we-behold
- Kings Chronological Chart: https://www.providenceacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Chart-of-the-Kings-of-Israel-and-Judah.pdf
- Evaluating Kings Chart: https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/chart-11-02/
- Edwards v. Jukes: https://www.ywam-fmi.org/news/multigenerational-legacies-the-story-of-jonathan-edwards/
The Fire & The Flood 