Memorial Day greetings!  May we remember what is truly important.

Here are two topics which some may find interesting.

- World Magazine's multipart issue on the state of 'courtship', dating, marriage, etc among contemporary young American men and women, both Christian and NonChristian - http://www.worldmag.com/articles/18064  and  http://www.worldmag.com/articles/18065   and  http://www.worldmag.com/articles/18060

- Nicholas Carr on "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"  and  "Switch off and think"  (I am now going to switch off my computer.  Goodbye!)

This weekend I happened to be at an amusement park, where crowds of thousands of people milled by... pushing strollers, eating ice-cream cones, screaming on roller coasters, engaging in pda, teasing their siblings.  Kids were amazed at all the bright colors / flashing lights / blaring sounds; parents were tired by it all.  Tourists diligently snapped pictures and bought souvenirs.  Some parents were involved with their kids, others seemed preoccupied with other worries.

One could easily get numbed by the sameness of all the people passing by... the same clothes... the same body shapes... the same facial expressions... the same activities... the same screams every time the coaster cars passed the same place on the track...

But two things stood out to me.  First, according to Jesus (speaking to His disciples), "...the very hairs of your head are all numbered."   Every hair, on every single person!   Not one of those thousands of 'generic people' were generic to God.   He dreamed up each man and each woman, and knew their every thought and action, before they were born.  Each one was completely unique upon closer inspection... unique histories, desires, likes, dislikes, and loves.

Second, after contemplating the value of each person (far higher than my tired/numbed gaze originally gave credit) and the vast number of such people (in such a tiny part of the whole big world), I began thinking about the value of their Creator.   How could one man, Jesus Christ, be intrinsically worth so much more than all of us combined?   He would have looked like an ordinary man, to his peers 2000 years ago.  But if the Bible is correct, He was no ordinary man.   He was instead the Creator and Designer of all the billions of every-hair-numbered/every-thought-foreknown humans running around on earth.

How does one measure value?  And by any standard, does not Jesus Christ break the scale?

Finances - gold? silver? platinum? paper money?  All such atoms in the universe were created by Christ.  God owns it all, and loans out small quantities to us, whether we are grateful to Him for it or not.

Livestock?  God designed and created all the animals and watches over each one.

  " ¹⁰"For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹"I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
¹²"If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and all it contains."   Psalm 50

Real estate? Land?  God made it all.  He spoke it into existence in a couple days' work.

Knowledge?  In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Power?  There is no comparison between any human and Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, who splits oceans to provide a path for his people to walk through, stills the storm and waves with a couple words, turns the hearts of kings like water in the hand, and rises from the dead after he is killed.

Wittiness?  Hilarity?  Coolness?  Popularity?  Humor?  Attractiveness?  Life-of-the-party-ness?  God invented all such people.

Physical pleasure?  Lemonade?  Chocolate?  Sex?  Frisbee?  Root beer floats?  Dopamine?  All designed by God.

Beauty?   Think of the 50 most handsome or beautiful people you know.  God designed them all.  The most stunning waterfall or sunset?  Again, God designed it.  And those who have seen Him report extreme beauty, which lasts forever rather than fading after a few years, and which truly satisfies, unlike any earthly beauty.

I am currently unable to fully clarify my thoughts on this, but this has been an index to them.   Four closing considerations:

Daniel 7
9"I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
10"A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.
...
13"I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
14"And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.

Revelation 21
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
6Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Matthew 13:44
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Lamentations 3:24
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."

Dear God, the God who was always healing everywhere You went when You visited Earth two thousand years ago,

Please heal her.

Please help her with her various problems: workplace stresses, health problems, relationship problems.

But far more importantly, please heal her soul.  Please use her various problems to bring her closer to You.  Please overwhelm her with Your beauty and goodness.  Please heal the missing father's affirmation and love, filling the void with Your love and warm approval.  Please show her that no human romance will make her truly/permanently happy.  Please dissolve all her worries and replace them with settled trust in You.  Please fill her with contentment in You.

Please heal him.

Please help him with his various problems: workplace stresses, health problems, relationship problems.

But far more importantly, please heal his soul.  Please show him sooner rather than later that the things he is seeking will not satisfy him.  Money, prestige, successful career, the respect of his peers, successful family, a woman that respects him; all of the above: ultimately empty.  Please show Him Your power and Your glory.  Please show him how much Your approval is worth.  Please dissolve all his worries and replace them with settled trust in You.  Please fill him with contentment in You.

(the above prayers apply to many of my friends... somewhat de-specified for anonymity... but hopefully still worth pondering and perhaps reiterating...  please feel free to pray the same way for me, those of you who know our great God)

The life of an ambassador requires humility, since one is not representing oneself, but another Person or Country.  If people happen to secretly hate that Person or Country and habitually vent their dislike by disdaining you and giving you the cold shoulder, you just have to endure it.  That's part of the job.  If you get upset and try to defend yourself and prioritize gaining their respect over representing the Person or Country accurately, you will fail at being an ambassador.

Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ are called to a role of 'ambassador' to everyone we come in contact with.  Our job is to represent Him, to increase His good reputation, and to introduce others to Him.  As Paul wrote in 2 Corinithians 5:20, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

But this life is not easy.  It often does not lead to honor and popularity.  It sometimes leads to being despised and rejected by one's friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even fellow churchgoers.  As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:9-13,

"For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands;
when we are reviled, we bless;
when we are persecuted, we endure;
when we are slandered, we try to conciliate;
we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now."

Common knowledge says that the only people who "try to conciliate" when they are slandered are people who are unimportant, boring, pathetic, losers.  "If you are worth something," says common knowledge, "then if someone shafts you, dish it right back to him/her.  Don't let people treat you disrespectfully.  Stand up for your rights."

But those of us who are called to represent Jesus Christ cannot act that way.  We are seeking His approval, not our peers'.  There is zero allowance for self-pride and self-exaltation.  Our ultimate goal is to hear from Him on Judgment Day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!  Enter into the joy of your Master."

When someone insults us or criticizes us, instead of becoming defensive, our gospel-steeped response should be "Actually, I'm far worse than you say... far worse than you can imagine... far worse than I am even currently aware... but God's grace is also far bigger than you or I can imagine."  In Tim Keller's words, "I am more sinful than I could dare to admit, but at the same time... loved and accepted than I could ever dare to dream..." through Jesus Christ.   "I am so bad he had to die for me, and I am so loved he was glad to die for me."

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."           Lamentations 3:24

Two and a Half Topics Tonight...  Economics, Forgiveness, and the Connection between them...

1.  Here is a nifty graph showing the income and expenses of the current United States federal budget, at a glance.  It comes from this link, of a financial consulting group's analysis of the USA as if it were a corporation: http://www.businessinsider.com/mary-meeker-usa-inc-february-24-2011-2

That huge entitlement load, and huge $1.3 trillion deficit (the difference between spending and income) does not even take into account the fact that tens of millions of Baby Boomers are about to retire and start tapping into Medicare.

Consider how difficult it is to withdraw "entitlements" once they're given.  Look at Greece's protests about its 'austerity measures', and Wisconsin's public sector union protesting governor Walker's budget cuts and collective bargaining limits.  It takes a VERY bold politician to cut entitlements for the sake of being fiscally responsible, knowing that millions of people will be outraged at the loss of their handout money.

Pennsylvania governor Corbett recently announced $850 million in budget cuts, trying to balance the PA state budget.  Rather than being hailed as a bold politician trying to put PA back on a financially sound footing, he is being widely castigated.  Penn State president Spanier said "Abraham Lincoln is weeping today", trying to lay the blame for Abe's tears upon the cuts, rather than upon the previous tragic escalation of yearly deficits and ballooning debt which inevitably always causes weeping when the debts come due.

2. Here's a quote from Mary Poplin about unforgiveness and how it is harmful to your own health:  Holding a grudge against someone is "like drinking poison and hoping that the other person dies."   How unfortunately true!

And how fortunately true the opposite!  God gives us the grace to freely forgive those who hurt us (who believe in Jesus), knowing how much we have been forgiven.   It seems like I have encountered a lot of nonChristian friends lately who have been talking about how angry and full of hate they are toward someone who has hurt them.   Not only do they see no need to forgive and "love their enemies", but they DON'T WANT to forgive them.

For us, though, who have been forgiven completely by God through Jesus Christ for all the sin and evil and corruption in our lives, how can we not forgive those who insult us and hurt us?   We have caused God SO much pain; we have messed up our and others' lives SO much, yet He forgave us fully and completely - forever.   He himself paid the penalty for our sins.   In light of this, how fitting and natural it is for us to forgive those people who hurt us.

3. What's the connection between the struggling economy (national debt, unemployment, gas prices, layoffs, job pressures) and the love and forgiveness that we followers of Jesus Christ are free to dispense in all directions because of the love with which He has loved us?

Simply this - in times of darkness the light shines more brightly.

Everyone is starting to 'feel the pressure' more and more these days, because of the bad deficit-growing entitlement-expanding financial decisions made by certain political leaders.  The pressure 'trickles down' into all jobs, into family interactions, into classrooms, into sidewalk interactions, etc.   In times when the veneers of civility and niceness are stripped away and people scrabble to survive, those of us into whom God has poured His lavish, rich, indescribably awesome love and approval through Jesus Christ can be beacons of joy and love and hope to others who are still stumbling around outside in the darkness.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
"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."
-- Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:14-16

Will God send people to Hell?

I came across this interesting blog post tonight, about "why we need God's wrath" - http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/02/26/to-hell-with-hell/

Besides the reasons Kevin DeYoung mentions, one other huge reason which is discussed in Glenn Miller's article here ( http://christianthinktank.com/whyjust.html ) is simply that God is love, and He keeps His promises.

When you love someone (with Biblical "agape" love), by definition it means you care about that person and seek their best interest.   If something threatens to harm that beloved person, you are immediately automatically opposed to whatever that thing is.  That thing becomes your enemy.

Thus, true love automatically includes a willingness to fight against anything that would hurt the beloved.

Here is a lengthy excellent quote from Glenn Miller's article, quoting many Scriptures and then one comment of his at the bottom.

[begin quote from Glenn Miller's article] -

One: God's justice (relative to punishing evil with the stated consequences) is generally related to God's anger, wrath, or "hatred" in the Bible. Although God is often caricatured as being belligerent, quick-to-anger (instead of slow to anger), easily upset about the most trivial matters, and petty in His demands to avoid His wrath, perhaps it would be helpful to survey briefly the explicit statements of what He actually "hates". Consider a few passages:

• How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' 31 "You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deut 12)

• The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.(Ps 11.5)

• There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers .(Prov 6.16ff)

• Says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. 12 "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? 13 "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. 14 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. 15 "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow (Is 1)

• "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. (Is 61.8)

• I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5.21)

• These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 'Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,' declares the Lord." (Zech 8.16)

• Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce," says the Lord, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the Lord of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." (Mal 2.15)

• Then say to the household of the king of Judah, 'Hear the word of the Lord,O house of David, thus says the Lord: 12 "Administer justice every morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor That My wrath may not go forth like fire And burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds. (Jer 21.11)

• Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, 9 "Thus has the Lord of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.' 11 "But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. 12 "And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 "And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts; 14 "but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them, so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate." (Zech 7.8ff)

Can you see the pattern here?!

God hates treachery, violence, cruelty, callused hypocrisy-things that knowingly (not accidentally) destroy people, community, safety, trust, joy, innocence, and beauty. This is not minor ritual 'infractions' nor petty stuff! The human race simply cannot exist without large amounts of decency, loyalty, and social justice.

Ever authentic human being should scream in outrage at crimes against the elderly, at vandalism of the poor, at oppression of the disadvantaged, at domestic violence, at greed and power-oriented oppression and marginalization, at child abuse (and at the child sacrifice of the false religions Israel adopted from her neighbors!), at institutional hypocrisy that remains arrogantly insensitive to the real needs of real people...Moral outrage by moral agents (us) at moral atrocities is a mark of moral authenticity-why would we expect the Author of moral agents to be 'less moral' than we?

...

If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. (Matt 12.7)

God is passionate about people, especially the innocent and "little" ones. His cry to us to show mercy instead of religious routine should (1) reveal His passionate heart; and (2) reveal the coldness of our own...This is no ad hoc religious rule we are discussing here-it is the very passion of God for people.

...

 Outrage and lament are the proper, sensitive, and morally appropriate responses to injury and oppression.

I suspect that "forgiveness" of moral injury, if not preceded by moral outrage or confrontation over the unjust injury, is nothing more than selfish apathy, insensitivity to the rights and worth of the victim(s), or fear of confronting the oppressor/treachery...

[end quote from Glenn Miller's article]

Very well said.

Consider this fascinating quote from Jesus Christ, in John chapter 12 -

²⁷"Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."  ²⁹So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."  ³⁰Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.  ³¹"Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  ³²"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."  ³³But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

Jesus here shares honestly that at this point in his life, his soul was very troubled... He knew that He was about to die, and not only die, but take upon Himself the sin of 'the world' and pay the penalty on behalf of His people.  The normal thing to do would be to cry out to God for deliverance, ("Father, save me from this hour!"), but in His case, Jesus knew that He had come to the earth precisely for this very task...  He knew it was God's will for Him to die.   Would Jesus resist His Father's will, saying 'it's too painful'?  Or would He submit?

He submitted himself to His Father's will...  He put God's glory ahead of His own desires... He trusted that His Father's plan was best even though it seemed like the most painful and least appealing plan at the moment...  As Hebrews 12 says, Jesus did this because of "the joy set before Him"...  He looked ahead and saw the awesome reward on the other side of the death that His Father was calling Him to.   He obeyed...

"Father, glorify Your name."

Here are two interesting articles I came across tonight.

1. The first is a spicy commentary about a prediction Donald Miller wrote for CNN about religious trends in 2011.   http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-letter-to-donald-miller.html
I read Donald's book "Blue Like Jazz" a couple years ago, and I think Frank Turk's comments are right-on.  Frank makes great points about the true gospel (of repentance and forgiveness, truth and love) that Jesus Christ preached.  Jesus was an "extremist"... a "radical"... in the best possible way...

2. The second one is about how Francis Chan recently left his 4000-member California church because he felt it was becoming too focused on him rather than on Jesus Christ.  http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/22/%e2%80%9cchristian-famous%e2%80%9d-pastor-quits-his-church-moves-to-asia/
Here's a quote from the article:
In his world of big conference crowds, multiple services each week, and instant access to social media, the notion of pastoral care had begun to change. His fame was straining his work as a pastor. “When there is a large constituency, there’s a lot of voices,” he said. “It makes you arrogant or it makes you want to shoot yourself. When thousands of people tell you what they think, how can I be quick to listen, like the Bible says? I don’t want to be a jerk and tune everyone out. At the same time you, can’t love every single person and answer them.”

Francis is so right about that.  And I highly admire him for his action.  The whole idea of the salaried pastoral "job" is not quite Biblical, it seems to me (though pastoral/elder roles are Biblical and voluntary financial gifts to assist them in their work are Biblical)... as are the large buildings and other trappings of modern institutionalized "church".  (For more thoughts, see my posts on Steve Atkerson's book 'House Church', e.g. http://tim223.xanga.com/725607096/house-church-reading-notes-ch10-20/ ).

Fame sometimes comes, as God's gifts attract attention.  But the modern church paradigms tend to put more pressure on pastors/elders than God intended for them to bear.  They are asked by Western culture to be CEOs of veritable religious corporations, spending their energies on building projects and christian community center programs, instead of God's charge that they take care of His people.  They are asked to be the man at the top of a pyramid of authority and honor, instead of God's paradigm:  "Do not be called leaders, for One is your Leader, that is, Christ."  Matthew 23:10

Joshua Harris commented in the above article on Francis Chan's decision: "...Not every pastor of a big church should leave.”  Whether or not Joshua is right, I suggest that every pastor of a church should seek to multiply himself; to work himself out of a job; to disciple and raise up other men to lead and teach and preach... and disciple others.

Taking a paid job as "pastor" or "clergy" in a Western institutionalized church is not necessarily evil, and I have been blessed by the friendship and preaching and mentorship of many such men over the years.  But it is a dangerous position, filled with perils and pressures that are unnecessary and not required by the Biblical plan for God's Church.

All of that to say, I admire Francis Chan for his action, and I pray that God will use him with even greater effectiveness in the future as he serves smaller groups of people.  May his desire be granted: that people interacting with him would come away thinking not about him, but about Jesus Christ.

What did Jesus get really excited about?   What made him really happy?   Consider these two parallel passages:

Matt 11
25At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
26"Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
 27"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
30"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Luke 10
17The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
18And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
19"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
20"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."
21At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
 22"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
23Turning to the disciples, He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,
24for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them."

Isn't this interesting!   ... that Jesus exulted in the 'upside-down-ness' of God's revelation of Himself to humans...  that God revealed Himself to the poor and outcast of the world, the sinners who knew how unworthy they were...  rather than revealing Himself to the fine, noble, upstanding people who were proud of their own goodness and worthiness.

Some bad reasons to work:

• To make money in order to be rich and live in luxury
• To become famous
• To feel significant by having accomplished something in the world
• To be socially accepted

Some good reasons to work:

• To make money to give away to other people in need ("He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." Eph 4:28)
• To "subdue the earth", exercising our God-given talents and abilities with creativity, doing what we were designed to do / tasked to do, bringing the earth into more and more order and beauty ("God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" Gen 1:27-28)
• To set a good example of a disciple of Christ to nonbelieving peers, in financial stability and diligence ("But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." 1 Thess 4:10b-12)
• To set a good example of a disciple of Christ to our supervisors ("Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free." Eph 6:5-8)

Thoughts?