It doesn\u2019t matter which teams you root for in this world. Integrity should be a standard we value more than winning. We look for integrity in our preachers, teachers, and medical professionals. We would appreciate integrity in our lawyers, but we demand integrity from the lawyers on the other side of the table. We want integrity in our bankers, but do we require it of our tax accountants? We want the service industries to help us with integrity, but what about the realtor negotiating the sale of our home? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are angry with the baseball teams that cheat their way to the top. How would we feel if it were our team that had won the trophy? I remember when Tom Brady was suspended for several games after \u201cdeflategate.\u201d He won the Super Bowl that year and another two years later. It\u2019s possible, even probable, that deflategate cost his team a title the year Brady was suspended for four games. But, did Brady\u2019s suspension change his sport or just the way footballs are checked on snowy days? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I loved a letter to the Astros franchise that a friend posted on Facebook. He is an avid fan who is greatly disappointed in his team. But, he will still be a fan\u2014if they clean up their standards for winning and return to a place of integrity in their sport. His Facebook post prompted this blog post. Washington DC didn\u2019t change because of Watergate and Brady\u2019s suspension didn\u2019t cause everyone in sports to stop cheating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If winning matters most, then people will continue to compromise their integrity to win. If God matters most, then people will continue to aim at integrity. Romans 8:28 says, \u201cAnd we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lost people will always act lost. The real point of this blog post is to ask us: Will Christians act saved? We need to choose to love God most and be called to his purpose, especially this week.
\nLike it or not, Christians are the light in this culture. We tend to get angry at lost people who act lost more than saved people who act lost. We have grace for the saved because, after all, that\u2019s our team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Americans are all part of the fallen human race and therefore we are all flawed. But there are a lot of us who are also part of God\u2019s eternal family. When King Solomon was commissioning God\u2019s children, he spoke for God, saying, \u201cIf my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land\u201d (2 Chronicles 7:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
King Solomon was a faithful, strong, and flawed leader. Maybe that\u2019s why God chose him to deliver some of the most important words in Scripture. The key to 2 Chronicles 7:14 is found in the first three words of the verse: \u201cIf my people . . . .\u201d The integrity of our culture is not the fault of, nor the responsibility of, the lost. God\u2019s people are supposed to be \u201cthe light of the world.\u201d We are supposed to humble ourselves, turn from our mistakes, and pray and seek God\u2019s face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s promise of blessing was not contingent upon the lost people doing the right things; it was contingent upon God\u2019s people doing the right things. Whatever \u201cteam\u201d you are on in politics, remember that you are there to love God and serve his purpose. Romans 8:28 is the responsibility of every Christian so that God can redeem all things to his great and perfect purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will we humble ourselves, pray, and seek God\u2019s face? We are God\u2019s people, and 2 Chronicles 7:14 explains that his blessings are a direct response to our obedience. Christians are the light of the world because the light of the world indwells us. Don\u2019t let the world shove your light under a basket. This is an important time to shine. Humble yourself, seek God\u2019s face, and turn from the wrong words and ways that will be easy to slip into this week. Please God if you want to win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God can and will redeem anything for his good, if his people are called to his ways. That is our role in the impeachment proceeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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