AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD DEEDS

Tit. 2:7 ... "In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds."

      Unless a person withdraws himself into a deserted place, he lives in contact with other people who are observers of his conduct. Day by day through his manner of life he communicates to them what he values, what he believes, and what he expects from his efforts. All of this elicits some kind of response from others, who may affirm or deny his beliefs, accept or reject his values, and support or oppose his expectations. This response constitutes some degree of intervention in the lives of others. Beginning in the third century there was a movement in the church that reflected great concern over a Christian's interaction with people about him. There were certain individuals who withdrew from society to live in isolated communes with those of like convictions or in solitary exclusiveness. Their effort was to free themselves from being objects of evil influence and abandoned the hope of improving their world through the good effect they might have upon it. For example, in ca. 285 BC an Egyptian Christian named Antony withdrew into the desert where he practiced an extremely austere life, living on a single meal per day of bread and water for the rest of his life. He slept as little as possible and devoted his time to prayer and to mental combat with the myriad demons he conceived to be about him. During the following century there were hundreds of Christians who followed in Anthony's footsteps in the same quest for isolation from society and freedom from the effects of human influence.

      One person's impact upon the life of another may indeed be either for good or evil, thus imposing the responsibility upon each person for his style of conduct which the early hermits and monastics sought to evade. A Christian must of course be very sensitive about the nature of his intervention in the lives of others since he has the spiritual obligation of causing it to be for good, for the Lord wills that we remain in contact with people. In isolated withdrawal we cannot exert the beneficial force upon them that might lead some of them toward God. It is the mission of each Christian in the projection of his ideas, attitudes, and opinions to produce responses of faith in God, good will toward men, peace, humility, and purity. By his speech he should encourage others to speak truthfully, peaceably, kindly, purely, and reverently. And by his conduct he must desire to influence others to behave righteously, cooperatively, decently, and justly.

      To have this kind of impact upon the minds, speech, and conduct of others, a Christian must totally surrender his own mind, speech, and behavior to the guiding power of God's word. He himself must be led by the Spirit so that his life continually exhibits "purity in doctrine," a pattern that is "dignified (and) sound in speech which is beyond reproach," (vs. 7b-8a). A life that is conducted under spiritual guidance will be an excellent example for others to behold and respond to positively, as the Lord expects. It will then produce in them the effects which Jesus anticipates in Mat. 5:16 when He says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." We must never underestimate the power such influence can have, as the following illustration indicates. In a French boys' school a particularly rebellious lad stabbed another student, inflicting a minor wound. He was punished with confinement in a dark room with a diet of only bread and water. Being terrified of the dark, he was in great distress. When the wounded boy, who was a Christian, heard of it, he persuaded the headmaster to let him take the offender's place. This plea was granted, but with a stipulation, the guilty boy had to bring the bread and water to his substitute each day. On the sixth day, the offender broke down and begged to take the punishment himself. When the three weeks of confinement concluded, he became a convert to Christ. The attitude and example of the Christian he had injured had been the power that persuaded him to yield his life to Christ.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MORAL PURITY

Tit. 1:15 ... "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

      On the afternoon of August 4, 1971 in Cairo, Egypt, I visited the fortress of Saladin, a Moslem conqueror who lived about eight hundred years ago. In the fortress, or citadel, there is a very large and ornate mosque built by Muhammad Ali, the governor of Egypt in the early nineteenth century. Within this building and suspended by a chain about forty feet long is a gigantic chandelier about thirty feet across containing hundreds of lamps. But what impressed me most was the windows, constructed of intricate patterns of stained glass. Since the mosque faced west, these windows were illuminated by the brilliant rays of the sun beaming across the Sahara Desert. The light coming in through the stained glass turned everything inside the building the same colors as the glass. All around there were patterns of red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, and gold. Even though a bench was brown in natural light, it took on instead the shades of the variegated colors of the windows.

      It is impossible for me to picture in words the beautiful scene I witnessed that afternoon so long ago. You just had to be there and experience it in order to appreciate it. A thought occurred to me then that related what I saw to the words of Jesus in Mat. 6:22-23, "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" In this simple illustration Jesus compares our eyes to the windows in a building which admit light. The nature of the glass in the window determines the quality of light that radiates into the room. If the window is colored, the interior of the room will be colored with the same shades and hues as the glass. If the window is distorted, objects within the room will be distorted because of the tricks played by the multiple refractions of light upon it. If the window is obscured or dirty, then a great deal less light will be admitted, and the room will be dim or dark.

      In Tit. 1:15 the writer is drawing from Jesus' imagery in Mat. 6:22-23.  The mind and conscience is like a window between one's inner life and the external world. If a person is greedy, he interprets others likewise and feels himself in competition with them for desirable things. If someone is a thief, he thinks others are fair game with respect to their possessions, neither considering nor caring that they labored for what they have. The fornicator thinks of people as sexual objects with the same lascivious urge as himself. If a person is deceitful and suspicious, he considers others to be like himself -- untrustworthy and potentially harmful.

      When people with a lust for power read the Bible, they are most attracted to the passages where men came to power and exercised it with a will. When carnal minded people open God's word, they are most fascinated with its statements and accounts about sexual activity. But when a person's mind has been purified and his conscience cleansed by submitting to the power of God's Spirit, he is enabled to see the beauty, goodness, and worth that are always present in others and in the situations of life. Even when the beauty, goodness, and apparent worth are minimal, the pure-minded person will nevertheless seek them out to the degree they exist and then be interested in how they can be increased to transform the individual.

      When Jesus came into First Century society, He was sometimes accused of being a gluttonous man, winebibber, and friend of the hated publicans and sinners, (Mat. 11:19). It is revealing that they saw Him like this, for there is evidence that these very sins prevailed in their own lives. Jesus, however, though He saw the evil in their lives and exposed it, also saw the good and tried to stimulate its growth, (Mat. 13:15; 23:37).

CHOOSE THE BEST COURSE

 II Tim. 4:7 ... "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."

      Today's experiences are tomorrow's memories. The comfort, satisfaction, and fulfillment that future reminiscences will convey therefore depend upon what you do in life day after day. A life that is spent in the quest for pleasure and the gratification of sensual appetites will produce an end that is devoid of the same. The writer of Ecclesiastes experienced such a course in life and wrote: "I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.' And behold, it was futility," (2:1). His judgment after he had drunk long and deep of the spring of pleasure was "futility," meaning that in the end it yielded nothing of value. Likewise, a life that is consumed in the drive to become rich in worldly goods might end indeed in such coveted opulence, but there is abundant indication that the soul is left in a dissatisfied and wretched condition. In I Tim. 6:7-10 the inspired writer tells us: "We have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang." Also, a life that is devoted to the goals of power, fame, and public praise usually peak somewhere in the process and then decline into weakness, obscurity, and perhaps even ridicule by the new generation so that one reaches the end burdened with sadness and bitterness. The writer of Ecclesiastes traversed this course and then wrote: "There is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind, " (2:16-17).

      But a life that is lived in Christ and in the service of God is one which knows no regret, no sorrow, and no failure in its earthly conclusion. It might involve more physical suffering than pleasure; it might involve more material deprivation than abundance, and it might evoke more public scorn than praise. A Christian enjoys the amenities of life as much as anyone else, but he also sees something far greater and more desirable in sacrificial devotion to his Lord, and he is quite willing to forego what unbelievers covet and struggle for in order to achieve what he perceives as better. His conviction is that of Rom. 8:18, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

      Rather than consume his life in the effort to enjoy worldly pleasures and rewards, a Christian will devote his life to the tasks of waging a good fight against evil and promoting righteousness.  Each day he will commit himself to run indefatigably the course that eventually leads to the finish line of success and the "crown of righteousness" for all who cross it. With every stride of the long race he will adhere persistently to a faith in Christ that is never shaken by doubt, weakened by temptation, or drained by carelessness or worldly distractions.

      Such a life does not usually attract public attention, win the acclaim of society or increase in wealth and power during its progress. And it does not produce the sensual pleasure that is so pursued as the essential factor in the so-called "good life." But as the course of worldly life concludes in a mood of dissatisfaction, emptiness, and regret, the Christian way ends in an aura of fulfillment, victory, and joy. And it alone can look beyond the portal of death to an eternal reward of unabated joy, peace, security, and rest.