For Posterity's Sake

Psalm 37:35-40
"I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.
Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him."


What is life all about? Who are we to look up to as an example? Who are to be our heroes? Our culture exalts the ones with the most wealth, the most power, the ones with the most fame... regardless of how it came to them. Yet, if we are patient and stick around long enough, it seems we become witnesses of these very ones falling from grace, being soon forgotten... and simply being 'no more'. What exactly is the legacy that they leave?


My son, Caleb, has one of those red-laser pointer thingys. He likes to hide in another room (or across the worship center!) and point that thing at my chest while I'm talking to someone. They start snickering and giggling... and pretty soon I realize that I need to introduce my son to the wonders of duct tape once again (that was a joke, please don't call DFS). He's obviously using that laser-pointer for something that it was never intended for. It is meant to be a tool used in lectures to direct an audience's attention to the speaker's main points. It was originally found only on certain types of guns and used for the purpose of targeting something. In both cases, it's purpose is to 'mark' something.


We are admonished to keep an eye on the lives of others in this passage, to literally 'mark' them. The writer speaks of how he watched a bad, violent man who was successful in life, but when he died, he was no more - simply forgotten. However, when we watch the blameless, upright and peaceful man we'll find a very different story. He'll have something called "posterity". "Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have posterity" (Psalm 37:37).

• The dictionary says that "posterity" is a noun meaning: 'Generations or time to come. The body of descendants from an ancestor.'

The idea of 'posterity' is what I'll call a 'legacy'. It is something that a person hands down to the next generation when they die. However, it is really more than that because 'posterity' speaks of more than something, it speaks of the very people themselves!

Let me re-set this: We are to 'mark' those (watch them, look up to them) that are blameless, upright, and peaceful, because THEY are the ones that, rather than just fade away, will leave a lasting legacy, which is the people that carry on their righteous way of living.

We are a culture of hero worshippers. And the heroes we choose to lift up and 'mark' are all too often undeserving. They exemplify greed, materialism, lust, and selfishness. This passage in Psalm 37 ends by stating that those we should be watching are ultimately the ones that "take refuge in God". In other words, they may not be perfect, wealthy, or even have all their 'stuff' together, yet "He is their strength in time of trouble".


Do you know someone like that? Maybe they aren't the perfect picture of 'success', as far as this world might define it. However, they live lives of total dependence upon God. They are peaceful. They are upright. They are simple, but they are blameless. If you are lucky enough to be around someone like that, then point your laser at them. Mark them. Watch them. Do it for posterity's sake. Keep your eye on them... understanding that you too are being watched.

I look down... I see a red dot... I realize that my son has marked me.

What will I pass on?

What will I leave him?

What's important today?

Early Morning Revelation

I couldn't sleep last night. At least, not as much as I wanted to. Thoughts of our Saturday night service at Desperation Church last night, and the two services that we'll have today kept zipping through my noggin. I finally just got up, showered, shaved, and went out riding (my motorcycle). It was about 5am and around 40 degrees out. Yikes, was it cold! I'm dreading the day, which is coming way too soon, when I'll have to pack it away for the winter.

I ended up at Starbucks. One vinti carmel latte-breve' with an extra shot, and five chapters read in Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" later... and I was ready to head to the church.

I realize that I sorta like getting up early.

I like watching the sun rise,

while sipping coffee

and feeding my spirit good stuff.

I'm liking this Francis Chan guy. I agree with so much of what he's writing.
Perhaps the following stuck out to me the most today as I read:

• "I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That's for the 'radicals' who are 'unbalanced' and who go 'overboard.' Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering."

Wow... there's some light reading for ya. Nice way to start the day, especially when I will be preaching twice today to this "American Church" of which he's speaking, and of which I am a part.

I want to be a man... a pastor of an 'American Church'... that takes the words of Christ seriously. I live in fear that I won't. I live in fear that I'll cave to what 'men' think, rather than live in such a way that all that truly matters is what God thinks... and desires of me.

It can be hard when so many are willing and able to voice their opinions... whether they be approvals or disapprovals.

So,... I just walked into my office... opened up my Bible... and read this:
"Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).

Now, with warm tears streaming down my still-frozen cheeks, all I can say is:

"Jesus,... thanks for saying that".

Culturally RELEVANT

Philippians 3:12 - "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own."

I love that Paul, this 'hero' of most of us that are followers of the 'Way', stresses that he is not 'already perfect' - he is still involved in the struggles of life in a fallen world and hence he still sins. Obviously he hasn't realized the full embodiment of his future hope, yet he proudly and boldly states, "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own". There is a balance of faith and works, of God's call and the believer's response, here that is really cool.

Today so much is made of being 'culturally relevant'. I'm a huge proponent of this - if we are so far behind what is happening in culture, then we risk losing the ability to speak Truth into any one's life. For example: To me, using a King James Version of the Bible when sharing the Good News of Jesus with someone is the equivalent of visiting Mexico and speaking in Russian! Our culture no longer uses that language, so to make the Gospel Message 'relevant', we've updated the language so that 'Truth' is understood. Another example might be the use of Godly lyrics in updated music styles. I believe that using a culturally relevant style of music to relay the same powerful 'Godly' Message will open up doors to a whole new generation hearing and coming to 'faith' in Christ (remember Romans 10:17?). A final example (and I have many more) would be the way a Christian dresses, or even their hair styles. If all the men have newscaster haircuts, wear ties, and clone themselves in the image of Billy Graham (...or any of the business men you see on Wall street who live for the almighty dollar and constantly cheat on their wives), and if all the women wear long dresses to the ground, skip the make-up, and competitively see how high they can stack their hair - is THAT what God desires? If a Christian man wears jeans and has a 'rock-star' hair-cut, or a Jesus-loving woman wears the latest brand of make-up... are they now in direct disobedience to God's Word, or are they now positioned "in the world" perfectly in order to share a Message that is definitely not "of the world"? I would say the latter.

Yet, there is an inherent danger to this line of thinking. Many Christians will say, "Michael, if you become so much like the world then you will become the opposite of what God has called you to be, namely a 'foreigner', 'pilgrim', 'alien'." This, in fact, is very true. However, we must always remember that the Christian, like Jesus, is both a friend and an enemy of the world. "Anyone who chooses the world for his friend turns himself into God's enemy" (James 4:4). The world returns the favor by hating those who follow in the way of Jesus. Paul (in Ephesians 2:1-3) challenges us not only to turn away from our own sins, but also from following the "course of this world".

But what exactly is the "course of this world"? Isn't that really where the confusion lies?

David F. Wells, in his book Above All Pow'rs (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005 - page 23) would define it as "our embeddedness in culture at the point of its fallen horizons, false belief structures, and misdirected devotions - all of which are kept in place by the powers of darkness." Think about that statement, because it's pretty powerful.

God is not concerned with the way we look, that has always been man's concern. Even in the passages of the Bible where "dress" and "appearance" is spoken about, we see that those were extremely "culturally relevant" statements. In other words, in that culture, at that time, the men and women dressed like that and appeared that certain way. For a Believer to dress differently than "that culture" it would have been so drastically out of place that it would have caused a major distraction. As a matter of fact, an argument could be made that to appear drastically different than the culture would be inappropriate.

So what is right?
What is appropriate?

I think we should take Paul's lead (follow his example like he told us to in Philippians 3:17) and "press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own". We should just be ourselves. We should just be who God made us - unique individuals. I am not talking about copying the world and "embedding ourselves into the false beliefs and misdirected devotions" that others who do not have relationship with Father God are doing. I am saying that God is concerned with what is happening in our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). May we be concerned about that too. If being "culturally relevant" is what is needed, then may we be just that without compromising the fact that we are still "His own".

Lastly, some say that I only paint a picture of God as this Supreme, Loving, Forgiving and Gracious King of fools. To that I would say, you're just not listening. God is the King of Fools. That is true. That is why I love Him so... I'm a fool. He's my King. The Jesus we love and follow reaches down to the alienated and the dispossessed. He goes to the fringe and draws in the rejected. He lays gentle hands on the dirty and the ostracized. But He does not only touch and heal, He also instructs and warns. He tells the woman caught in adultery, "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11). He tells the invalid by the pool, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you" (John 5:14).

Following Jesus is also hard-core, because He is hard core. He came on an invasive, dangerous, and unwelcome mission of mercy to come open and expose what was hidden in men's hearts (Luke 2:34-35), not ask them to read from the King James and abstain from dressing like a rock-star. His coming was not to be marked by peace and tranquility - He came to impose a test of absolute allegiance. He forced people into a divisive crisis of choice (Matthew 10:34-39). The peace He came to bring first triggered a war. He was on a guerrilla mission to infiltrate territory controlled by His enemy, raid his camp, and set the prisoners free (Mark 3:23-27; Luke 4:18).

May you and I, like Paul, realize that we aren't perfect but we are going to press on and make this thing authentically our own, because Christ Jesus made us His own. May we shout with a bold, confident joy at the dizzying delight of being chosen, of being welcomed in by our true Father and invited to sit with Him at the banquet table reserved for His friends.

But, as we celebrate how awesome all that is, may we never forget that the One who called us His own is Friend but also sovereign King - that He who gave everything up for us... calls us to give everything up for Him.