How many of us have heard our parents’ advice but not followed it? Perhaps that is why the writer of Proverbs 4 begins with a forthright plea to his young son that he listen closely, learn common sense, and not turn away. Such admonitions are usually given because the propensity for doing just that is all too common. Human nature is perverse. Tell a child to go one way and he will want to go the other.

In four decades of clothes shopping, I’ve never found a department store mirror I agree with. Perhaps that’s why the Bible sets so many people on edge. Mirror-like, with searing accuracy, it reflects the bits of ourselves we dislike most. When Truth and Light peel back the not-so-glad rags of unrighteousness, the image of our own buck-naked souls makes us recoil.

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. . . ” Whatever other message conveyed by those popular Beatles lyrics, the writer understood that he desperately needed his friends to help him be what he felt he wanted and needed to be.

Lies, all of them will eventually “out.” Just ask Lance Armstrong. Or Abraham and Sarah.
Abraham and Sarah’s agreed that Sarah not reveal her marital status. Their deception, (like so many of ours) rose from an instinct of self-protection. But God had a higher plan, and that redemptive plan of the One who set the stars in place could not be thwarted—not even by the pair from whose line Jesus Christ would stem.

Imperfect people. Dysfunctional families. God chose strangely (or so we imagine) when selecting those who became the backbone of a people to call his own.

But it’s a messy business, building up a people of faith. Always has been, always will be. And when we assume that God operates on human time—and within human limitations, it’s also a slow business.

While working with the public in retail, ministry, and political arenas, I’ve noticed something that makes me cringe. Far too often, those who complain about something trivial, refuse to tip, or demonstrate uncharitable, disrespectful attitudes to others different from themselves are those who are vocal about their Christian faith.

Woven through yesterday’s cry for help is song trumpeting through the land: today all the people are singing it out loud.

We have not been swallowed up by violent anger
We were not swept away and drowned in their torrent of rage