Redeeming the Time

 

Redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:16

            Sullivan County Pennsylvania is the location of World’s End State Park.  I once backpacked out of World’s End on the Loyalsock trail.  My first memory of that trip was the vertical ascent up the trail.  The visitor’s center for the park is nestled in the bottom of the valley.  The only way out is up.  To my body, it felt like it was straight up.  Hands and feet were required for the first two miles as we climbed over 1000 vertical feet.  It was a test of manhood even then for my much younger body. 

            Throughout my life, I have experienced other similar tests of manhood.  On another occasion, I hiked up Pike’s Peak.  I was in my mid-twenties and an active distance runner.  It was a little over fourteen miles from the trail head to the summit.  Pike’s Peak is 14,110ft at it’s peak.  It is the only “fourteener” I have ever summited.  Oxygen becomes scarce above the timber line especially for those who are not used to those elevations.  It took me five hours to summit that mountain.  While I am proud of that accomplishment, I must confess that above tree line and probably 2 miles from the summit, I was passed by a lady who was at least in her 60s and probably in her 70s.  That part of the experience was quite humbling. 

            This brings up an important question in my mind.  How do we prove our manhood today?  In day-to-day life, people are looking for men that will “man up”.  They are looking for someone to step up and do what needs to be done.  Far too often that person is nonexistent.  When people look at you what do they see?  Do they see a man who has embraced responsibility, or a boy trapped in a man’s body?  As men, large swaths of our days are managed and controlled by someone else whether we work for someone or are self-employed.  In those times, most men “do their job”.  What about the rest of your day?  What do you do with the time you have that is not managed and controlled by someone else? 

            I have reflected on this question at different times in my life.  I have always been impressed with men from history, and what they accomplished in their lives.  What always impressed me was how much they accomplished without modern convenience, and how much they accomplished in a shorter lifespan than you and I are afforded.  Whenever I start to chew on this idea, I always begin to reflect on my personal time management.  As men, we need to redeem the time, because after all, we would agree that the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).    

            Redeeming the time is something we should learn and apply from an early age.  We need to develop that habit from the start and militantly protect that habit.  Without vigilant oversight on our part, we become time wasters without even realizing it.

            Near World’s End State Park in Sullivan County Pennsylvania is the small community of Forksville.  Loyalsock Creek passes through this borough, dividing the community.  If you were to visit Forksville today, you would see a beautiful covered bridge spanning over 150 feet and connecting what the creek divides.  That bridge has stood the test of time, having survived several major floods.  The amazing part is that the bridge was built in 1850 by Sadler Rogers, a native of Forksville, when he was 18.  I find this a remarkable testimony to what man is capable of if he redeems the time he has.  You have to see the magnitude of this accomplishment.  Obviously, young Sadler Rogers was redeeming his time years before he began constructing that bridge.  His life must have been full of time spent wisely.  It was those experiences, stacked one upon another, that equipped him for that moment in his 18^th year when his friends and neighbors needed a bridge, and they entrusted their lives into the hands of an 18-year-old.   

            So, what could you accomplish if you redeemed your time?  The average male 15 years old and older spends 4.6 hours each day on leisure things.  That works out to 32.2 hours per week.  Of those 4.6 leisure hours, 2.75 hours are spent watching things.  That works out to 19.25 hours of screen time each week.  What if you redeemed that time faithfully?  It takes 70 hours and 40 minutes to read the entire Bible aloud at “pulpit” rate.  That means that if you only redeemed the screen time in your life, and instead spent that time daily reading the Word of God, you would read through the Bible over 14 times in one year!

            What if you reappropriated all 4.6 hours daily for an entire year.  You could build a new house each year and take 12 weeks of vacation!  You could build a canoe in 9 weeks.  You could walk from coast to coast in 15 months.  Let me step on everyone’s toes.  None of us are accomplishing any of those achievements on that time scale.  Why is that?  It is because we are wasting time.  Time that we have been told to redeem for a far greater reason than to build a house, build a canoe, or take a transcontinental hike!

            Ephesians 5:18 tells us, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.”  We may not understand what it should look like to be filled with the Spirit, but we all can get a picture in our mind of what it looks like to be drunk with wine.  In fact, Proverbs paints the picture in words for us.

Who hath woe?  Who hath sorrow?  Who hath contentions?  Who hath babblings?  Who hath wounds without cause?  Who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not:  when shall I awake?  I will seek it yet again.

Proverbs 23:29 – 35

Drunkenness is described as, “excess” in Ephesians 5:18.  It is saying drunkenness is a waste of resources.  Who or what is the resource that is wasted?  It is YOU and your time.  Actually, what that verse is fully laying out for us is to be filled with the Spirit because anything less is a waste of resources…a waste of YOU.  It is a waste of your life!  If we are wasting our life, we are clearly not redeeming the time!

Men, we must commit to surrendering completely to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to use our time for the glory of God!  Imagine how much different your life might be if you traded a love of leisure or addiction to screen time for a love of the Lord.  How different would your marriage be?  How different would your family be?  How different would your job or career be?  How different would your church be?  What if today, you and I got serious about stacking experiences one upon another as Sadler Rogers must have done, so when we are pressed into service, we are equipped for the work before us  (II Timothy 3:16 – 17).

Why Good Men Do Nothing Part 3

 

Why Good Men Do Nothing Part 3

               I grew up in the country but not too far from a town of 60,000.  Despite the proximity, the outdoors was my playground.  My friends and I did not spend our days on playgrounds, sports complexes, or ball fields.  My time was not organized by a coach or an adult.  I was left to my imagination out in creation.  I once asked to play little league.  My dad left the choice up to me, but he gave me all the facts to make my own informed decision.  He said I could spend my Saturdays playing baseball all summer, or I could spend my Saturdays fishing with him.  I am forever grateful that I picked fishing with dad.  Those memories I will enjoy as long as I live.  I spent my summers running through the woods, and as I became more independent in my teen years, I spent most waking moments hunting, fishing, and even trapping. 

               While I was “doing my thing” my peers were charting their paths for their young lives.  That often involved playgrounds, sports complexes, and ball fields.  Don’t get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with those things.  My point is that, while I loved those things (I was on a swim team one summer.), my experiences were different from their experiences.  Those differences set us apart. 

               At the same time, there were other differences.  One big difference was financial.  My school, and my classes were filled with students whose parents were higher wage earners than mine.  My family was not poor, but we were not in the same financial bracket as many of my classmates for sure.  To prove my point, let me give you an example.  One car I drove frequently, was a 1981 Ford Fairmont.  It was two-tone with pin striping and a moon roof.  My sister called it the “cowboy car”.  Did I mention that it had a moon roof?  I actually liked that car, and did not care what anyone thought about me or the car.  However, I had a classmate who received a convertible BMW for a graduation present.  It was a 1992.  That was upsetting to her because we graduated in 1993.  Her parents had the audacity to buy her a used car.

               The stark contrast between us did not just happen in that moment.  The contrast began in junior high.  It was in junior high that I began to develop my own sense of direction completely independent of what others thought of me.  At that time, I was the second shortest kid in my class of 300.  I was shorter than all the guys and girls.  I…was…short!  I grew almost six inches after graduation, and I am thankful for every one of them.  Being so short, my dad’s stadium jacket hung to my ankles.  I wore that coat to school all winter long.  I also wore a golf hat that snapped in the front.  Trust me, I looked ridiculous, but I did not care.  It was me. 

               In eleventh grade I had another “me” thinking moment.  My guidance counselor had me on track for the college experience in math or science.  I was taking advanced math classes and would have been taking college level classes my senior year.  I had my meeting with her and told her I was going to the tech school my senior year.  I also told her that just because I was good at math, it didn’t mean I wanted to live my life doing something math related.  I seriously think she cried when I left that day.  Once again, I was not caring what anyone else thought.  For the record, it was the right decision.  I never looked back.  It was the best year of school ever.

               What does my childhood have to do with why good men do nothing?  My childhood was invaluable in teaching me probably one of the most important life lessons all men must learn if they intend to lead.  It was not a lesson learned or taught in a textbook or classroom.  It was a lesson learned by experiences and strengthened every time I made my own decision.  The lesson I learned was, don’t let your fear of what others think impact your decisions.   

               As men of God, there will be times when we must make unpopular decisions or choose to do nothing.  Far too often, good men choose to do nothing because they know the right decision will be unpopular.  Far too often, men choose the popular decision, because the right decision is unpopular.  When we are so foolish, we are making the wrong decision out of fear of the people.  There are several historical accounts in Scripture that deal with this fear directly.

               Saul, the first human king of Israel, lost his kingdom because of this fear!  That statement alone should cause all men to reflect long and hard on our decisions made out of fear of what others may think.  In I Samuel 15 Saul is commanded to lead the army against the Amalekites.  The instructions are clear.  They are told to kill everyone and destroy everything.   

             Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

                                                                                                                                   I Samuel 15:3

               Six verses later, In I Samuel 15:9, Saul completely disregards the Word of God.  King Agag’s life is spared along with the “best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them”.  Why would King Saul, a man selected by God and anointed by the prophet Samuel blatantly disregard such a clear command of God?  He answers this question when Samuel confronts him.  First, Saul claims obedience.

               And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

                                                                                                                                       I Samuel 15:20

Saul had rationalized his decision as some form of obedience.  After all, everyone had been killed except for the King.  I’m sure it was some cultural custom that he looked to for justification of his decision.  Cultural or not, it was still disobedience to God.  This should serve as a warning to us to do things explicitly as Scripture commands and not try to blend culture and Scripture.  Many men and ministries have been destroyed by blending culture with the clear commands of God.  Personally, I think this is why the church is in the state it is today.   The church is busy in biblical disobedience because of its cultural acceptance.

               In Saul’s rationalized disobedience he also blames the people, but again tries to justify their actions by claiming the animals were spared to be offered in sacrifice to God.  How often do men try to do biblical things in unbiblical ways and think God will be pleased? 

               Samuel’s response are words we should all live by.  They are just as true today as they were when they exited Samuel’s lips.

                            And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

                                                                                                                                                    I Samuel 15:22

               Saul, left with no other recourse, admits his sin.  However, in his moment of broken honesty, he finally admits what drove him to such foolishness.  FEAR!  In verse twenty four, he acknowledges, “I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words:  because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”

               As men, we need to learn from Saul’s failure.  Learning from someone else’s missteps saves us from our own foolish shortcomings.  Saul regretted his decision.  Ultimately, it cost him the kingdom.  He would be replaced by David.  We need to make life decisions based on obedience to the Word of God alone.  We must never allow our fear of what others may think to influence us away from that simple obedience.

               Fear of men causes good men to sit silently and do nothing, or worse yet, it causes good men to willingly disobey God’s Word!  The Apostle Paul prayed for boldness (Ephesians 6:19 – 20) because the other option was silence in the critical moment.  The other option was disobedience to God.  Disobedience is never an option.   

 

 

Why Good Men Do Nothing Part 2

                

  Previously, we began to tackle the passivity problem in the church.  Make no mistake, it is an epidemic.  Uninvolved men are commonplace, or maybe even rampant.  Your church is not unique.  The men you know are probably not unique.  You too, may be part of the passive crowd.  You are not unique either.  If we dare to hope to stem the tide of this problem, we must ask, “Why?”.  We, as men, must talk about it.  We can no longer afford to avoid addressing this problem.

               We are not victims of our culture, or anything else for that matter.  Victims are powerless.  We are men as described in Romans 8:37.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

               In part 1 of “Why Good Men Do Nothing Part 1” I concluded by asking, “Are you passive in the things that matter because you are active in the things that don’t?”  Far too often, we are guilty of the Demas demise (II Timothy 4:7).  We love this present world.  The Greek word for “present”, means now.  We, like Demas, love what the world offers us now.  This is a problem for us for two reasons.  First, Colossians 3:1 – 2 clearly teaches that if we are saved, our focus should be upward.

               If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Our love should be singular, and not on this world.  We should also be living in light of the future.  Specifically, Titus 2:13 speaks of looking for the blessed hope.  We should live our lives looking for that future event.  Instead, we reject that truth by our actions.  Actions, or in this case, passivity speaks louder than words.   

Loving the world is just one reason why we are passive.  Why else do good men do nothing?  Another reason comes down to fear.  Men are afraid of failure, the unknown, rejection, not being smart enough, not having the answers, and on and on.

I recently saw a meme with fear as an acronym.  F.E.A.R.  Forget Everything And Run. 

 

This one is an enigma to me.  Boys are born thrill seekers.  From an early age, we spit in the face of fear.  We dare to do first what our peers will not.  History is littered with men who harnessed their fears and did the impossible.  Men like Admiral Byrd, Ed Pulaski, William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, Alvin York, Chris Kyle, Charles Lindberg, Kit Carson, and Pat Garett.  I could go on, but you get the point.  If you don’t know these men, look them up.    

Men face fears for noble reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all.  Base jumping anyone?  Somehow, Christianity becomes kryptonite.  We, who are more than conquerors, are paralyzed by fear!  We become powerless to rise from our seat in the pew, mute, unable to speak.  We, who would scale Mount Everest, are afraid to involve ourselves in the spiritual life God has created us for (Ephesians 2:10).  We are afraid to trust God, who alone is worthy of our trust.  In fear, we offer excuses.  Pitiful excuses that begin with phrases like, “I could never…”, or “I don’t feel called to…”, or “I don’t have time in my schedule to…”.  Romans 8:15 is clear.

For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received to Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Fear is not from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit gives us security and comfort through the Spirit of adoption.  We should also note that fear is bondage!  Fear enslaves us!  Christian men are more often slaves to fear than servants to Christ.

               Every one of us has a role to play in the Body of Christ, and none of us should view pew sitting as the fulfillment of that role.  We can serve the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100:2) or we can serve the Lord in weakness, fear, and in much trembling (I Corinthians 2:3).  Either way, we should just serve the Lord!  Fear is no excuse for disobedience.