The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
August 24, 2003
In
This Issue:
Self
Control
By
Bill Hall
Those
Pesky Ten Commandments
by
Steve Klein
Self Control
What is the value of self-control? Self-control is that which enables us to hold our tongues when we are tempted to viciously put someone in his place once and for all&ldots;or when we know a juicy bit of gossip that would be entertaining to the group and would turn us into the "life of the party"&ldots; or when an occasion almost demands that we betray a confidence that must not be betrayed under any circumstances.
Self-control is that which enables us to control our passions when another is provoking us to anger&ldots;that keeps the clinched fists in the pockets when the agitator is only half our size&ldots;that keeps the lips sealed when another is railing and swearing at us. Self-control is that which enables us to be like our Lord "who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" (I Peter 2:23).
Self-control is that which enables us to maintain purity of heart and to thrust out evil thoughts before they can take root&ldots;that enables us to place the best possible construction on another person's actions when unproven rumors could easily destroy our confidence in him&ldots;that helps us to maintain a cheerful disposition when everything around us has turned sour. Self-control is that which enables us to love the unlovable and to hate that which the world loves.
Self-control is that which enables us to rule our appetites&ldots;to say "no" when our lusts would lead us to sin or when that which is harmful to our health is placed before us. Self-control is that which enables the smoker to put down his cigarettes and the alcoholic to put down his drink and never return to it. Self-control is that which enables us to rule rather than to be enslaved.
The Bible does not glorify the indifferent and impassive. It is not our goal to be uncaring. To be like Paul, we must be able to have our spirit stirred within us when we are surrounded by evil (Acts 17:16). To be like our Lord, we must sometimes feel anger when surrounded by hypocritical self-righteousness (Mark 3:5); we must even react with occasional outbursts of goodness on occasions, as when the Lord cleansed the temple (John 2:13-17). But, all such outbursts must be tempered with self-control, that in our anger we "do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26).
God does not view our uncontrolled actions with amusement. Our temper tantrums and harsh, unbridled words are soul threatening, a potential bar to the abundant entrance into the Lord's everlasting kingdom (II Peter 1:5-11). We must not minimize the danger. We must not surrender to this evil.
What is the value of self-control? It is one of the qualities that enable us to go to heaven. The possessor of it is rich indeed.
By Bill Hall
Well, the Ten Commandments have been in the news a lot lately. Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore was ordered by a Federal Court Judge to remove from the State Judicial Building a monument depicting the Ten Commandments. Judge Moore, his supporters and his detractors have been all over the TV, radio and newspapers and are even grabbing national headlines.
Everyone seems to have an opinion about this. Here are some thoughts that I hope will benefit us as we discuss the issue with friends and neighbors:
1. The Ten Commandments are more than a political football. The Ten Commandments were given directly by God to the Israelites. They occupy a very special status because they were written by the very finger of God Himself on tablets of stone (Deuteronomy 9:10). Think about that. God didn't give them through inspiration to a human prophet (not that they would have been any less His word if He had), but He delivered these commands to men in His own handwriting. Obviously, the Ten Commandments are as holy and glorious as anything ever has been. To see them used by politicians, judges and special interests as something to score political points with is rather nauseating. They are just too good for that.
2. The Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of our U.S. Legal System. There is no doubt that the Ten Commandments underlie many laws and principles in our judicial system. We should be careful however in concluding from this that we want them recognized and memorialized. Our Legal System also borrows much from ancient Greece and Rome, specifically from their human philosophies and pagan religions. The Supreme Court Building in our nation's capital has carved into it monuments glorifying these Greco-Roman influences alongside Moses and the Ten Commandments. Arguing that we should build monuments to the Ten Commandments because of the influence they've had on our Legal System gives others the ground to argue that we should build monuments to human philosophies for the same reason.
3. The Ten Commandments do not establish religion. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof&ldots;" How in the world anyone could think that a public monument to the Ten Commandments amounts to the Congress establishing religion by law is a mystery to me. If it did amount to that, then every American would be required by law to be a Jew because Judaism is the religion founded on those commandments!
4. Christians are not to live their lives by The Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were part of a Law that Christ has taken "out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14). Anyone who is living under Christ's law cannot be living under the Ten Commandments because they were part of a different Law. Granted, the precepts of the Ten Commandments are included in Christ's law, but it is a different Law! This fact seems to be lost on many denominational folks.
5. The Ten Commandments are not going away. The Ten Commandments were given nearly 3,500 years ago. They are part of God's eternal word. The Psalmist said, "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever" (Psalm 119:160). If God allows this world to continue, the Ten Commandments will endure into a time when Judge Moore sleeps in the grave, when the present controversy is but a footnote in an Alabama history book, and when every person who is protesting acknowledging the Ten Commandments for what they are will wish they hadn't.
by Steve Klein