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We live in a culture where everyone
is a victim. At least that's what we are
taught from a very early age. Because we are indoctrinated with this idea from childhood,
sometimes we don't even realize that we are "playing the victim card". We act as the victim individually and
collectively. As children and parents, we
blame the other players on the team if we lose, rather than owning the fact
that I, or my child could have done more, prepared more, trained more, or given
more. This translates into adulthood
where we blame coworkers or team members for whatever has occurred that needs
blame shifted. “It is not my fault, I’m
just a victim of circumstance.” This
thinking has found its way into the church as well. When people aren’t coming to church, we blame
the culture. When the church doesn’t
have an impact, we blame the culture.
Compounding this problem is another
all-too-common issue that is also instilled in us through the culture from an
early age. The problem is success. Yes, success is a problem to the believer and
the church. How can success be a
problem? Doesn’t God want us to
succeed? Won’t success as men allow us
to fund ministries that would otherwise fail?
These are all fair questions.
However, what if, once again, we are guilty of looking at and defining success
through the lens of culture? What if,
once again, we are found looking through the lens that culture has embedded in
us rather than through the lens of God’s Word?
Let me prove my point. Michelangelo, the famous sculptor and painter
said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high
and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our work.” When you read those words, what do you
hear? I promise you, most, if not all, hear and internalize those words from a cultural point of view. We see it, knowingly or unknowingly, through
eyes covered in a cultural lens. We
think of goals set in our lives. Maybe
our minds focus on working harder and achieving more. We think of the need to graduate or get that
next degree. We think of getting a
better job with better pay to purchase a bigger house and more things. We think of getting a raise or a promotion. We think of making our first million by age
___. Maybe we think outside the
job/career box, and we think of personal goals.
“This year I want to get a ____.”
“This year I am going to ____.”
We either achieve our goals (success) or blame some circumstance out of
our immediate control as the reason we didn’t (victim). Through it all, we fail to define success
according to the Word of God.
What happens when these two
problems collide and coalesce in the local church? What would that look like? What evidence would we expect to see in the
late stages of this cancer? We do not
have to wonder. II Timothy 3:1 -5 tells
us what it will look like when these cancers metastasize.
This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
According to the Apostle Paul, in
his second letter to Timothy, when cultural success and victim mentality join
forces, the church will become a dangerous place. Men will be lovers of themselves and of
pleasure more than lovers of God (success). At the same time they will lay the blame
for the problems of the church at the feet of the culture, or by despising those
that are good (victim). Imagine
that. The church is dangerous because of
internal problems. We want to sit
and point fingers at all the problems in the world which have existed since
time immemorial because it is easier to be a victim than to man up and realize the
church is on a collision course of its own making!
WE, as men, have a choice to
make. WE can allow the church to continue
its present course toward the iceberg, all the while encouraging the band to
play louder, or WE can own the fact that WE are the problem II Timothy 3:1 – 5
is describing. WE can choose to stop
playing the victim and take ownership of OUR choices. WE can
choose to see God’s definition of success as far superior to the cultural
definition under which WE have been living and order OUR steps accordingly!
Guide Service exists to equip men
to lead by standing firm and pushing back.
It will require more than just knowing sound doctrine. It will also
require being guided by and living sound doctrine! Together, we will look at what godly
leadership and ungodly leadership look like.
Together, we will learn to know the difference. Together, we will learn to have Biblical
understanding of the times. Together, we
will learn how to study our Bible and renew our minds (Romans 12:1 – 2).
If the church is headed down the path of II Timothy 3, then it is up to
godly men to challenge the church’s cultural norms. If our families are in disarray, it is up to
us to challenge our families’ cultural norms.
If we are not leading our homes as God intended, then we must challenge that cultural norm as well.
Joshua 24:15 ends with Joshua's words to the men in his time and his Jewish culture, “As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord.” It does
not matter what the world is doing. It
does not matter what the church is doing.
It does not matter what other families are doing. It does not matter what other men are
doing. What matters is
what I am doing. As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord. I am done
playing the victim! Let’s take ownership
of our choices, surrender completely to the Lord, and lead as He intends!