Let’s read the
king’s questions and the hermit’s answers once again. Did the Hermit answer all
the questions?
“It once
occurred to a certain king, that if he always knew the right time to begin
everything; if he knew who were the right people to listen to, and whom to
avoid; and, above all, if he always knew what was the most important thing to
do, he would never fail in anything he might undertake.”
“Remember then:
there is only one time that is important— Now! It is the most important time
because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary man is
he with whom you are, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with
anyone else: and the most important affair is, to do him good, because for that
purpose alone was man sent into this life!”
The hermit did
not tell the king whom to avoid. How
might we think about this question?
There are times
we are with people, or have the opportunity to be with people, who we either
ought to avoid or at least be careful with. Yes, we ought to endeavor to serve
all men, to do good to all men, to share Jesus with all men (Mt. 5:43 – 48;
Gal. 6:10), but there are times when we need to be careful lest we drink from
cups of poison for our souls. Jesus counsels
us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
“Do not
associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot – tempered man, or you
will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself” (Proverbs 22:24 – 25; please
also see James 3:13 – 18 and Psalm 1).
In a society fueled
by anger and fear and anxiety, do we endeavor to respond to Christ’s calling to
be peacemakers (Mt. 5:9)? Do we keep in mind James’s distinction between demonic
wisdom and the gentleness of godly wisdom? Are we careful not to align
ourselves with people and movements whose spirit is contrary to the Spirit of
the Lamb who gives His life all the people of the earth?
Psalm 1 (which
ought to be our Way of Life in Christ, for Jesus is “the Way of the Righteous”
(Ps. 1:6), warns us that we ought not to “walk in the counsel of the wicked…nor
sit in the seat of scoffers.” Scoffing and sarcasm and vitriol, poison our souls,
and when we associate with people who promote this way of life that is contrary
to Jesus, it will affect us. This includes “electronic and social media
association,” that which our eyes and ears invite into our temples.
We ought to
avoid such people.
On the other side
of the spectrum are those who seek to seduce us as “apostles of Christ and angels
of light” (2 Cor. 11:13 – 14). These people want us to feel good, to think
positive thoughts, to get better and better, to never make a judgment call
about sin or righteousness, and above all else, they want us to avoid the Cross.
These folks are
every bit as dangerous as the angry people because their teaching is so
positive and non-threatening, they are like Peter telling Jesus that He ought
not to go to the Cross (Matthew 16:21 – 23).
I once lived in
a city in which there was an annual event at the convention center featuring a
traveling group of positive-thinking speakers, some of whom were professing
Christians. I always cringed when this group came to town because friends and
acquaintances would get excited about the event, attend, and invite others.
These men and women were very good speakers, they were witty, they were funny, and
they had good moral and ethical and motivational stories and lessons. However,
what they were presenting was not the Gospel, it was cotton candy coated with
Christian jargon and allusion. I have seen this phenomenon many times in many
places throughout the years. The idea seems to be that if it has Christian
overtones, or if it has an overt Christian tag, and if it feels good and is
motivational, then it must be Biblical.
This is
dangerous, anything that is not centered in the Christ of the Cross and the
Cross of Christ is dangerous – for in Christ alone is our source of Light and
Life, in the Cross alone is our hope and our Way of Life.
The Scriptures
teach us that our minds are renewed as we present ourselves to God as living
and holy sacrifices, not as we seek self-preservation or pursue a form of
positive thinking (Rom. 12:1 – 2).
Consider Paul’s
words to the Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if
there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things”
(Phil. 4:8).
If we didn’t
know any better we’d think Paul was preaching positive thinking, but since we
do know better we recognize that the context of his exhortation is the Christ
of the Cross, for in 3:3 he writes that we worship God in Spirit, glory in
Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. In 3:10 he writes of knowing
Christ in the koinonia of His sufferings. The theme of Philippians can be
expressed as joyfully knowing Jesus Christ as we share in His sufferings for
His glory and the blessing of others.
Our thought
lives are to glorify God and be a blessing to others, not to make us feel
better for the sake of feeling better.
Perhaps another
way of putting the above, is that we look for Jesus Christ, always Jesus Christ
and His Cross. We focus on Him and on others knowing Him. We avoid those who are
not centered in the Cross, on the Cross, and living through the Cross.
As Paul wrote, “May
it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(Gal. 6:14).
Can you think of
other people and ways of thinking that ought to be avoided?
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