Introduction: In just a few weeks now, I’ll be a grandfather. I look forward to it in a way I struggle to articulate. There’s something profoundly humbling about it. You realize that life goes on quite readily without you, that another generation goes away and another generation comes, and a new set of eyes will gaze into my eyes as Papa, and in turn I’ll gaze into her eyes as Lennon, and I’ll wear another hat as a grandfather, and do all I can to love her as I did her mother.

That’s what Solomon wrote about too in one of his most moving passages:

A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises (Ecclesiastes 1:4-5).

Spiritual Infancy vs. Spiritual Maturity: Towards the end of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he uses the analogy of infancy to maturity to illustrate God’s command for Christians to be people of depth and discernment:

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).

How clear is that? Crystal. Spiritual infancy vs. spiritual maturity.

We are not to be childish thinkers. We’re to think deeply. We’re to cultivate the life of the mind in order that we may discern the times and know what to do, and then do it.

That’s why the men of Isacchar were lauded, remember? “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

Yet in many places, it’s spiritual TED Talks with Jesus-y sprinkles. No depth, just talk, talk, talk. It’s blather. And now with AI, it’s often computer-generated prattle.

How much more important is it, therefore, that Christians not be children in our thinking.

We’re to be mature in our thinking, to discern, to practice wisdom.

As Spurgeon wrote, “Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.”

Introduction: One of the many blessings I had when I married decades ago is that my wife’s family was deeply Christian. One of her grandfathers was a Christian minister of decades. Her dad was among the godliest of men I’ve ever known. He has since gone on to be with the Lord. Her mother was and is as committed of a Christian woman as you’ll find. Her family, in almost every direction, is shaped by the transforming power of the Christian gospel. When Ray, my wife’s maternal grandfather, retired from ministry, he spoke at church and delivered some of his parting remarks to the body of people he had served for years. He told us, in short, these words: “I’ve been in Christian ministry for decades, serving churches throughout the South and beyond. A passage of Scripture that has sustained me through years and years of ministry is Proverbs 3:5-6.” He went on and spoke on those two verses.

If you’re like I, I don’t remember ever not knowing Proverbs 3:5-6. For folks perhaps unfamiliar, here are the verses:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. (Pr 3:5-6)

I don’t remember the rest of Ray’s talk that day. But I do remember him using that text. Ray’s point was simple: Trust the Lord and just labor to be faithful.

Question: Have you ever been at a place in your life where you told yourself you were trusting the Lord but you still felt that your future paths were anything but clear or straight? That is, if we are honest, there are times of confusion about where to go, whether to endure toxic leadership, etc. As a friend of mine at work says, “That guy is compromised, Chaplain.” How to navigate waters where dangers lurk beneath the surface demands wise, discerning, mature Christians, rather than puerile upstarts.

Ray’s talk comes back to me often: Trust the Lord and just labor to be faithful.

Encouragement: Many, many moons ago when I was ordained by my fellow elders and some of my professors into Christian ministry, one of my mentors preached in our church that morning on two verses from Acts 20. They were verses 29-30 of Acts 20:

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Ac 20:29-30)

What my professor was teaching me is what perhaps you, too, have discovered in years of trying to minister faithfully–namely, that many times, people come in but their real reason is what the Bible says there in verse 30 … “to draw away the disciples after them.” In other words, it’s not about the glory of God. The motive is, in fact, altogether different. Paul spells it out plainly in verse 30.

The apostle Paul knew it. He taught about it extensively. He would be martyred for telling the truth. And still I hear Ray’s voice in the back of my mind: Trust the Lord and just labor to be faithful.

Though thoroughly Protestant, it is nonetheless valuable to learn from other traditions. In one such tradition there are “Seven Deadly Sins.” They are the following:

• Pride
• Greed
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Wrath
• Sloth

It’s the fourth one I want to focus upon here. Why? It’s because envy is the word used in Scripture to describe the crowd in Matthew 27:18. The crowd demanded Pilate release the “notorious prisoner called Barabbas” (Mt 27:16) instead of the lamb of God, Jesus the Christ.

Envy. Scripture says that Pilate “knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him [Christ] up” (Mt 27:18). Envy.

Envy is defined as “from Old French envie “envy, jealousy, rivalry” (10c.), from Latin invidia “envy, jealousy” (source also of Spanish envidia, Portuguese inveja), from invidus “envious, having hatred or ill-will,” from invidere “to envy, hate,” earlier “look at (with malice), cast an evil eye upon.”

That reveals so much about why God inspired Matthew to use that word (envy) to describe the madness of the crowds at Jesus’ betrayal, doesn’t it? The crowd was so envious of Jesus’ holy life, so envious of Jesus’ honor, so envious of Jesus’ integrity, so envious of Jesus’ selfless service, that they demaned the “notorious prisoner called Barabbas” (Mt 27:16) be freed in order that Jesus might be crucified. Just let that sink in. What does that reveal about the hostile human heart when it comes to the holiness of God?

The great theologian John Gill wrote about this episode this way: “He [Christ] stood before the governor to receive the sentence of condemnation on himself so that, sin being condemned in his flesh, the whole righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in them.” That’s precise and accurate. The innocent Christ was condemned so that we guilty that repent and believe upon Him are freed.

In other words, this is the heart of vicarious, substitutionary atonement. In our place, Christ stood. He bore the wrath so that we sinners might be forgiven and declared righteous. And His atonement covered heinous sins like envy.

If you have seen what envy does to a person, a military unit, a corporation, a business organization, a church, a team, etc. it is horrible. It poisons. If elicits wiles and schemes that sabotage godly influence. It’s termed a deadly sin for a reason. That’s what it is.

Encouragement: I have been privileged to work for, with, and alongside some truly wonderful men. The best ones raised everyone (or nearly everyone) with whom they served. How? It was not by envy, I assure you. It was by investing in the team, by living the call, not just talking the call. Envy has no place in the life of Christian ministry. God gave gifts to men in order that we might serve others rather than serve self.

Bottom line up front: Unity in and for the truth is a good thing; disunity for the sake of truth is also a good thing, because it demonstrates that truth is worth fighting for and preserving; but tribalism for the sake of identity politics is folly on steroids.

Scripture: The Bible has much to say about the beauty of unity in the truth:

• In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus told His followers to be sanctified “in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
• Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and, and you will know the truth, and truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
• In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
• Later in the same passage, Paul wrote, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).

Questions: Do we see that God always links unity and peace to truth? Division in evil goes back to the very beginning. Most conservative scholars claim the Garden of Eden was somewhere near present-day Iraq. As one soldier among thousands of other military members who has served there, it’s by no means an Eden today, but quite fallen indeed.

“A truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful” (Proverbs 14:25).

Satan is portrayed as a whisperer, a tempter, a liar, and one whose insidiousness is linked to his pride. His love is self.

Remember how he’s portrayed in Matthew 4? “And the tempter [Satan] came and said to him [Jesus], “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:3).

Same tactic in Genesis: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made” (Genesis 3:1). Crafty. That’s Satan’s method of operation. He’s a whisperer; he’s crafty; he’s sneaky; he sows lies in the hearts and ears of the undiscerning.

Takeaway: When I survey my nation, I see the possibility that tribalism may be winning. Undiscerning people are putting pet preferences over tried and true wisdom. In my view, that does not bode well. If people are shouting at each other and name-calling rather than engaging in respectful exchange in the marketplace of ideas, we’ve crossed a perilous threshold. I’m all for unity, but it must be unity in the truth. That is a far different thing than enforced compliance by an untethered state of paganism.

It’ll be Christ or chaos. As for me, I am with the Lamb of God who gave Himself for sinners. Because the other way lies only the madness of crowds and their guidon bearer, the father of lies.

Introduction: My wife gets so tired of my quoting lines from one of my all-time favorite movies, The Shawshank Redemption. In one of the many excellent scenes, the protagonist, Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) has discovered evidence that should clear him of his wrongful conviction. (He was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife.) But the warden of Shawshank Prison is a corrupt-ocrat and still demands that Andy serve time–for a crime he didn’t commit!

Understandably, Andy explodes with incredulity and exclaims, “This is my chance to get out! Can’t you see that? It’s my life! Don’t you understand?” Still, the corrupt warden won’t budge. Andy again pleads with him: “How can you be so obtuse?” And the warden fires back, “What did you call me?” And Andy says, “Obtuse. Is it deliberate?”

It’s one of the classic exchanges in modern film. Absolutely masterful. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgUD9W6EsMY

But here’s how Scripture connects with this worldview: God teaches that not all people have ears to hear and eyes to see. God has to grant those. Here are examples of this:

• “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18)
• “and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
• “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

In short, God has to grant spiritual eyes that see. God has to grant spiritual ears that hear. Otherwise, we remain obtuse, like the warden in The Shawshank Redemption.

Andy was acting as if he assumed the wicked Norton had a heart and mind transformed by God. But Norton didn’t. He was wicked through and through. He hated the truth and suppressed it in unrighteousness, just like the Bible says (Romans 1:18, 21-23).

Takeaway: Unless and until God tills the heart, the seeds we sow remain without root. Therefore, we must labor as if it depends upon us, but simultaneously know that salvation, as the Bible says, “belongs to the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).