Times
change and, for better or worse, so do the attitudes and values that go with
it.
For
instance, most of you probably grew up with the rule that said, “When on a
first date, the man pays for everything”.
Did you know that has changed?
Now the commonly accepted thinking for first dates is, “Each person pays
for themselves”. Seems strange to me,
but that is the new rule.
Other
things, such as “Brand loyalty” have changed too. It used to be that if your Grandpa owned a
Ford, then your Dad likely owned a Ford and you likely owned a Ford. The same could be said of families that drove
“Chevy” or “Dodge” products. However,
that has changed too. Now the biggest
factor in buying a car is “price”. Most
people will drive just about any make and will gladly switch from one to
another to get what they want or like.
Whether you think that is good, bad or indifferent, it is a fact of life
today.
In the
church, this change in thinking can be seen in the words that we like these
days. Some good and very Biblical words and
concepts are being overlooked, put on the back burner or even disregarded simply
because they are considered “old-fashioned”.
A good example of that is the word “Faithful”.
When many people
say the word “faithful” today, they say it with disdain as if it is a synonym
for “boring” or “stick in the mud”.
However, in the New Testament, “faithful” is one of the highest
compliments that anyone could receive.
In fact, when Paul wants to commend his friends to others, he uses the
word “faithful” (Timothy, Epaphras, Silas, Onesimus and Tychicus are among
those given this label). The apostle
John says to one group, “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and
tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the
truth” (3 John 3). Far from being a bad
word, “faithful” is a joyous thing.
My point: Maybe simply being faithful is not a bad
thing. Maybe you can’t do the “big”,
“glorious” and “glamorous” things in the kingdom, but you can live your life
faithfully. Maybe your example is just
what someone else needs. Maybe God can
work in a life that is given over to him.
Maybe there is a certain joy and
glory attached to a life that is lived for God over the decades, come what may.
In the end,
maybe “faithful” is not so boring after all.
In fact, I
think that hearing “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21) would
be anything but boring.
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