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happy
new year, a "godly system"
Babylon
5 has this really cool group of "people" called
*rangers.* they have this saying, "we live for the4
one, we die for the one." the "one" they
are speaking of is mot "one person" in a traditional
way. you see "the one" is actually a trinity -
the one before, the one now and the one to come - spirituality
in a postmodern culture. but that is not what i wanted to
talk about. i wanted to talk about the way most of us view
"the one." you see, for most people "the
one" is "themselves." you see, we are the
ones we worry about - if it does not benefit "me" it
is not worth doing. for us, when we say "we" we
simply mean a collective "i."
everything
we do we do for ourselves; if it does not benefit us, we want
nothing to do with it. God wants us to live one way, and
we want to live another. let's look at the worldly system:
1)
hard work will get you all you need, success is based on
our measure of wealth. the more stuff we have the better
we.
2)
you are the master of your own destiny. do as you want and
be the person you want to be - you call the shots.
3)
money is the driving force of all people. the golden rule,
"he who has the most gold, rules."
4)
win at all costs. look out for number one, no one else
will.
5)
seek personal pleasure.
now,
someone once said that we may be motivated by these factors, but
no one will admit it. i believe that is wrong. we
admit it regularly, everyday we do what we normally do.
recently i was watching a tv show on cnn where a widow of the
twin tower disaster was speaking about the compensation the
federal government was going to be giving to the families.
as i was watching, and hearing this women talk, i just sat there
saying to myself - "well, were back to the
greed." you see, this women was upset because the government
was going to be giving her (about 1.6 million) the same amount
as a janitor in the trade center. she was appalled that
"her" government would consider her husband, and her
family, equal to the janitor. her logic was that her
husband had more education and built a million dollar business
by his hard work (she forgot that her husband had others working
with him and helping) and good faith. her motives are not
those of a Godly system; her motives are based on her worldly
system.
we
have reached a point in our society were we value those who
take, and we devalue those who serve. but that is not a
Godly system. for God, the more you serve the better you
are - and not service as we have come to define it; as adding to
the economic growth of our community. mainly because that
is not serving, it is taking. you see, the one who serves
is not the one who owns a billion dollar company. the one
who serves is the one who cleans their offices, washes their
floors and does so with love in their hearts. serving is
not making, it is giving. for a Godly system we have a
different order:
1)
all you need, God supplies. success is based on our
ability to trust in God and care for others.
2)
God is totally in control of your destiny. nothing you can
do can change that.
3)
service is the motive of all we do. the golden rule - do
to others, and you would like to have done to you.
4)
look out for the others
5)
seek the pleasure of others.
it
is hard, but God calls us to put others first. and i know
what a great many think about that - they would agree. but
for them, they would want you to put them first.
blessings
pastor
john
John
O’Keefe is the founder of www.ginkworld.net.
John sees a desperate need for the church as a whole to
change and reach a new people for Christ.
He is straightforward, honest and calls it the way it he
sees it. John is a
graduate of Drew and has been a Senior Pastor and Church Planter
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