March 24

March 24, 2013

 

Luke 6

 

Growing up in a solid middle class row home in Allentown, Pa. I quickly and effectively learned the cultural values of my day.  

Don't get mad, get even.

If someone messes with you, you mess with them. "Go ahead and make my day," was our motto!

If you wanted to rise above dull living, drink Colt 45 Malt Liquor.

Big boys don't cry. Big boys don't even show weakness. My heroes were John Wayne and Superman. You never saw either of them crying. The only guys crying were the bad guys as the bullets bounced off of Superman's chest, a real man of steel.

Movies taught me many cultural values. In the sappy movie, Love Story, released in 1970, Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal taught me, "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

These were the very foundations of my childhood. I was an angry, revengeful, stoic, thirsty-for-a-beer, rugged individual who never had to say I was sorry. All of this created a pretty sad and lost young man.

Then I met Jesus. And when I did, there was an immediate conflict in values. Jesus said that the values of this earthly kingdom were exactly opposite to his eternal kingdom values. In the "Sermon on the Mount" Jesus laid out exactly what He expected of me if I was going to be called his disciple.

I would be blessed if I were broken in my spirit and learned to say, "I am sorry."    

I would be blessed if I hungered and thirsted after God, not Colt 45 Malt Liquor.  

I would be blessed if I had a tender heart and not a heart that bullets bounced off of.  

I would be blessed if I stood up for Jesus even though the whole culture said I was a fool and wasting my life. 

Jesus' list was a complete transversal of everything I had been taught by my culture. Jesus said that the pathway to happiness, to an abundant life, was not found by buying Noxzema medicated shaving cream, but by believing His values and making them the guide for my life. The pathway to happiness is not an outward purchase of a product; it is an inward commitment of the soul. 

So prepare for the battle today. You will have to choose between two warring kingdoms. The people from Hollywood and Madison Avenue are trying to convince you to buy more stuff, to make your name famous, to drink more beer, to spend more money so you will be happy. Jesus is calling you to love him more and to invest your life in others. This is his pathway to happiness. 

You get to decide each day who wins the culture wars.