Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. -Proverbs 4:23
When you do, be honest, repent and take time to sit with Jesus and seek healing. Once you get the plank out of your own eye, you can then go forward and help others.
Error
A young man wearing an orange outfit, a matching stocking cap with the word INMATE stenciled on his back related that when he was a child that he had a job. His birth mother and her boyfriend would be manufacturing and selling drugs in the kitchen. He was to sit on the porch and watch for police. His mother had told him, “If the police come in, they will take you from me and make you stay in a dirty nasty orphanage.” He had been trained to believe that law enforcement was the enemy. His mom’s boyfriend was doing a community service helping people to cope with the stresses and challenges of this world by selling them and easy fix. Laughing he shared that looking back that the worst possible dirty nasty orphanage would have been cleaner and safer than the dump they were staying in at that time. During that season he was taught that crime does pay, that church folks were chumps to be taken advantage of. Lying was a way of life at schools and on the streets. He could clearly remember shoplifting nearly every day from the little shop down the street. One day his mom’s boyfriend discovered that the boy was good at shoplifting. The professor of crime then showed him how to get more than just a few bags of candy. The boy was taught that the business was greedy, and that stealing was teaching them a lesson.
Another young lady staying at the local rescue shelter related that when she was six that she watched as Child Protective Services came into the house with law enforcement and took her cousin. She never saw that cousin again. The result of that experience was that she feared all representatives of the government to include teachers.
These stories relate men and women who never learned right from wrong or were taught wrong. They are in error. I am not here to debate how God sees this sin verses more egregious sins. Certainly, the parents will be held responsible for the poor example.
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. -Matthew 18:6
It is also likely that these parents are passing on the lessons they learned from their guardians. Who knows how many generations back the mistaken life lessons go back. They are all responsible. The young people in our stories are responsible for their choices and how God looks at that sin is not the point of this conversation here. However, eternity looks at the situation, the young people began their captivity the first time they lied, stole or committed even the most minor of sins. Note that ALL sin leads to captivity, pain and ultimately death.
For these trapped in error the sooner they can learn the truth. God has rules for living and if we live those truths, we can experience freedom.
Let me pause here to consider the idea of rules. There are many who scoff at the idea of rules. “Freedom means no rules!” Let us look at the physical. Growing up we are free to eat as much as we want and avoid exercise all that we want. We can make fun of those that choose healthy lifestyles and decide that we want to really live it up. Many will make fun of their rules and look at the rules as some form of captivity. However, those rules make it more likely that they will live longer. When I say live longer that is different than stay alive longer. Those who create discipline in their physical health will be more active later in life. Those that don’t are more likely to be captive to disease, lack of energy and more.
Additionally, we all have rules. Each home has rules stated and unstated that shape their lives. It might be taking your shoes off or keep them on. The rules might include onions in the potato salad or no onions. When we became aware that my daughter had a peanut allergy, we had a rule of no peanut butter in our home. When she grew up and moved out, peanut butter returned. Rules among some include if you hurt me, I will hurt you. Others have a rule that if they don’t get caught, they can do whatever they want. When men and women are honest with themselves, they realize that everybody has rules. Rules give boundaries and help us navigate life. Rules bring stability. The difficulty is figuring out what to do with rules that seem to benefit some people over other people. How can we make rules that reward good behavior, how do we define good behavior. Those are all questions for another book. But for now, recognize that rules are good and bring peace when they are fair and fairly applied.
Even within the church world there is dispute over what rules apply, and what customs are good and proper.
