Articles by Rubel Shelly at Heartlight

A Christian Nation?

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

We are in a major political season. Even if you were to try, you could not avoid the primary coverage on TV, the water-cooler debates about the various candidates, and the upcoming appeals for your vote in a general election.

One of the things that unsettle me a bit during seasons such as this one is when someone speaks of America as a "Christian nation." Is it? Was it? Should it be? On all counts, the answer is no.

Although even those people who say they want it otherwise would admit that the United States is not a Christian nation, they sometimes claim it once was and that it was founded to be such. Our country’s founding fathers were, at best, Deists. They certainly did not envision a culture where religion would have privilege of place in public life. It would be permitted and protected as a personal right among free people. It would not, however, be "established" or otherwise promoted, defined, or made compulsory by the government.

It seems to me that a Christian view of history and life in society would protest the idea of a state in which the unique features of Christian theology, lifestyle, and worship were written into law. In the several instances where that happened, it has not had a happy result. Spreading and impressing religion through force quickly becomes fanaticism and persecution.

Would it not be a violation of the Golden Rule, in fact, to create a culture in which persons who did not share Christian faith and values were required either to observe them or to show deference to them? If the shoe were on the other foot, would you want to live in a Muslim, Buddhist, or atheistic culture and be required to observe or show deference to their ideologies? Of course not!

The point of this is not to say that Christians should be disinterested in or uninvolved with politics. It is to say that we should be involved in the system as "salt" and "light" persons. We should serve the public good and protect the rights of others. We should be particularly sensitive to the weak, marginalized, and minorities. America is not a Christian nation, but Christians should always be among the best citizens in any nation where they may happen to live.

Whatever your political leanings, be wary of anyone in this political season who seeks to manipulate you with religion. Look askance at any candidate who begins to use religion as a "political football." And turn a deaf ear to the fanatical souls from whatever quarter who say or imply their views are God’s mandates.

"Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live" (1 Timothy 2:2-3 MSG).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

A Tact Attack

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

My wife tells me I'm seriously deficient in the tact department. I tend to be direct, clear, and forthright. (Those are my terms.) She thinks I am inclined to err on the side of being a bit abrupt and blunt. (At least, she fears that my candid manner can be perceived in those negative ways.)

Even so, I don't think I'm quite as bad as one fellow I heard about. When Fred went to Europe, he left his beloved dog with his brother Ed. Three days into his trip, Fred called back to check on things.

"So how is my dog?" he asked.

"He's dead!" replied Ed. No nonsense. Straight to the point.

"What?" screamed Fred. "You can't just hit somebody with news like that! You have to ease your way into it. Lay some groundwork for it. Use some tact."

"Explain what you mean," said his brother.

"Maybe you could have said something about Old Fido being up on the roof. You reassure me you have it under control and that everything is going to be fine. When I call the next day, maybe you could say he jumped off and broke his leg, but the vet said he would make a complete recovery. He's just going to have to spend a few days at the clinic," he explained. Are you following me?"

"Sure," said Ed. "I'm not stupid, you know!"

"Okay," Fred continued. "When I call back the next day, you could say there were complications and that my dog had died. That way it wouldn't be such a blow. That way you could have gotten me ready for bad news. Understand?"

"Yes, I've got it," he told him. "I'll try to do better from now on."

"Good," said Fred. "I'm glad that's settled. So how's Aunt Helen?"

"Well," Ed began hesitantly, "she's out on the roof right now."

Some news is hard to receive or to communicate. Some facts are simply unpleasant. And all of us need a couple of friends who care enough about us to be really and truly honest with us – and to hold us accountable. Like Fred, though, all of us would appreciate a modicum of tact and gentleness thrown in.

If you're struggling today with unpleasant or painful truth that needs to be shared, you are not doing anyone a favor by avoiding the task. But think before you speak. Don't use a cover such as "brutal honesty" to mask what everyone else will see as "honest brutality." No swatting the fly on a friend's forehead with a meat cleaver! Think and pray before you speak. Then speak with gentleness.

Solomon had it right: "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6 NIV). Nobody benefits from false flattery. Being a "yes man" (or woman) to a person who needs accountability and loving criticism is a sophistry that will come back to haunt you.

Be kind and have the right motive. But care enough to speak the truth.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14 TNIV).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

Treating Symptoms

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart (Psalm 44:21 NLT).

Physicians are trained to trace symptoms to their root causes. Then it is the root cause -- not just a presenting symptom -- that gets treated. We can all be grateful for that. What would happen, for example, if headaches simply got aspirin and belly aches got antacids without further tests?

The obvious answer is that many people would die from the serious underlying diseases behind their relatively minor symptoms. Symptoms are like the red lights that appear on the instrument panel of your car. Don't smash the annoying light. Change the oil or find out why the engine is overheating. To focus on the symptoms rather than what is behind them just isn't very bright.

Without wanting to be unkind, let me try to be clear. We human beings aren't terribly responsible when it comes to the basics of living. Forget belly aches for a minute. Let's talk about financial responsibility, intact families, or spiritual life. Are we treating symptoms or addressing root issues?

A single mom with two children explained why she needed a vacation with her girlfriends. "I'm so stressed out about money!" she said. "My credit card is maxed out, and I am a month behind on my rent. I've just got to have a break." My suggestion was that she forget the vacation, put the money she had saved for it to catch up her rent, and start paying down her credit card by taking a sandwich to work rather than eating lunch at restaurants.

Her problem wasn't stress. It was debt -- needless, inexcusable debt that she could take steps to eliminate. She took the advice. She tells me I was a real friend to her by insisting she treat the disease rather than the symptom.

It's not so different with trouble in a marriage or one's spiritual life. "We're not happy and don't laugh like we used to. Maybe we should take a trip together -- a second honeymoon, so to speak, and reconnect." No. Find a competent counselor both of you trust, get honest about the things that have broken down, and do your part to try to rebuild the relationship. Get to the root of things.

It's a bit like the fellow who kept telling me he couldn't pray, didn't like to read the Bible, and hated going to church. I knew enough of what was going on to ask the right questions. So he finally started coming clean about the affair and the drugs. It was the beginning of the healing of his spiritual life. He quit talking about trouble praying and not liking church and faced up to an out-of-control life.

Symptoms are helpful things. They let us know something isn't working right and invite us to seek the cause. Then, with the real issues taken care of, it's amazing how quickly the symptoms resolve.

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

A Step in the Right Direction?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Some of the things we do in the name of justice don't make a lot of sense. I was marginally involved several years ago in a case that serves to illustrate my point. A man who had fraudulently used a credit card for several hundred dollars was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail.

The reason behind his use of the credit card made it impossible for him to make amends or make a deal. (He was flat broke.) His wife and two children became the responsibility of others. (She was pregnant with their third child.) And the year in jail both made the marriage harder to hold together and did nothing to repay the fellow whose card he had misused. (I don't know if the poor guy ever got his money back or his credit score cleaned up.)

Why don't we do more things like the Hebrew justice system required? A man who stole a neighbor's sheep, for example, didn't go to jail for a year. He had to restore four sheep for every one he took. If he took an ox, it was a five-for-one restitution that was required. Get the picture? The community didn't house and feed him in jail for a year. The thief worked, sacrificed, and lived with the community's awareness of his sin. Stiff punishment and victim compensation. (For a quick glance at this subject, check out http://www.SearchGodsWord.org and search on restitution.)

This concept of making restitution is what makes me appreciate the thing Adrian and Tiffany McKinnon did a few months back. They had been gone from their home near Montgomery, Alabama, for a week. When they got back, the surprise awaiting them was that a burglar had looted the place.

They entered their home, Mrs. McKinnon saw a practically empty house, and she burst into tears. Not only were her possessions gone but her new house had been ransacked. "Tears just rolled down my face," she said, "as I walked in and saw everything gone and piles of trash all over my house."

Mr. McKinnon dashed through the house to investigate – and caught the thief red-handed. He had apparently freelanced the operation and done it solo. He was making one more trip to the house to pick up a few remaining items of value and walked into the homeowner – wearing Mr. McKinnon's hat, no less!

Adrian McKinnon took charge. He held the thief at gunpoint, while Tiffany called the police. Then he decided there was no need for him and his wife to have to undo all the chaos the 33-year-old bungling burglar had wreaked. So he forced him to pick up trash, put broken and discarded items back in place, and clean up the house he had wrecked in their absence.

When the police arrived, the thief had the gall to complain about being forced to clean up the mess he had made. The policeman laughed and told him that somebody else might have shot him dead. The whining stopped.

Maybe the McKinnon's could make a lecture tour to law schools across the country to explain the basics of restitution. I think they're onto something.

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

Root of the Problem

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Have you heard that there are economic problems afoot in the United States? Have you heard about people buying big, expensive houses with almost no money down and going into foreclosure? Have you heard about the subprime mortgage industry meltdown and its repercussions on Wall Street?

Oh, of course you've heard all those things. You probably understand them far better than I do, for I have no formal training in economics. I just know about the gyrations in the stock market, the plunging value of houses in the part of the country where I live, and the number of people losing their jobs.

There is no way I can explain the complex economics of it. But we all understand the ethical implications of what has happened. There is an evil impulse that has percolated through human hearts from the beginning of time. The Bible says: "[T]he love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV).

Our culture has addicted itself to leveraged debt. Big corporations, small businesses, churches, homeowners, individuals -- all have been guilty.

We are enticed by the sort of radio commercial I heard day before yesterday. "Come to our big home furnishings sale this weekend. Fill your house with beautiful new furniture. No down payment. No payments for two full years. And we even pay the sales tax for you!" So we have had people borrow 110% of the value of a new house, fill it with furniture from stores like that one, and abandon both to foreclosure and repossession. What's wrong with this picture?

Americans spent some 10.8 percent of our after-tax money on servicing debt back in 1982. Today the average consumer must spend more than 14 percent of after-tax income just to stay current on household debt.

Long ago and far away, thrift was a virtue. On what must have been another planet, saving was encouraged. And I've even heard of people who actually refused to buy houses, luxury cars, and jewelry they couldn't afford!

Stinginess is not virtuous. Tightfistedness is not a good thing. Parsimony is not to be envied. But thrift, financial prudence, and thinking about long-term consequences over short-term gratification will have predictable outcomes: You are more likely to have money for your own needs and with which to serve God by helping others.

The single driving force that will prohibit these good effects is the same one that has put us in the mess we face: greed.

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

Free Speech Has a Price

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The brilliant founders of the American republic set in place the explicit provision for freedom of speech with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Against the restrictive laws of England, they were determined to allow free and unfettered public discourse about government, public policy, and the officials in charge of the general welfare.

From that beginning point, we have evolved a shallow concept of free speech that is invoked for the most worthless of causes. Pornography, religious hucksterism, racist literature, homophobic web sites -- all appeal to their freedom of speech to malign, exploit, and dehumanize people made in God's image.

Yet the stark and honest truth is that our freedom of speech has been purchased at a very high price. There was not only the blood of early patriots but that of their heirs as well. That is a high price to pay! Those of us still alive to enjoy a gift purchased at so great a cost have payments to make yet.

Civility is not too much to ask of politicians and their supporters during the current presidential campaign. Make your case. Give the reasons why your party or proposal is better. But mud-slinging and "going negative" are the accepted means of campaigning. Better not to win the office than to gain it that way.

Good sportsmanship used to be part of the justification our educational institutions gave for the huge outlay of money necessary to put teams on fields and courts. Sports Illustrated recently commented that the current college basketball season has been "the ugliest season in years" for rude, boorish, and nasty fan behavior. The article cited an incident where a woman attending her grandson's game was reduced to tears when students turned from taunting the player on the floor to chanting "whores" at his family members.

Reason demands better of us. But the restraint of reason seems to vanish pretty quickly after a few beers. In baseball parks, more and more teams are creating sections where alcohol is not served. Those sections will never be very large, however, because of the revenue generated from booze. Obscenities seem to come more easily and frequently from throats lubricated by it.

Respect for basic human dignity is sacrificed when the honorable title "free speech" is pronounced over churlish people who are using their mouths for sexual harassment, racist slurs, or other abusive language.

So long as others of us fail to use our free speech to challenge theirs, we are making the problem worse. Thus my thanks to a coach who takes the floor to say he will pull the team and forfeit a game if the student section or other fans don't stop their over-the-line rowdiness. Hurray for the parent who won't put up with it from her own kid. And three cheers for you at the self-control you model.

The price of free speech is voluntary restraint and dignity. It is a critical element in treating others the way you want to be treated.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29 TNIV).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

How Falsehoods Diminish Truth

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The story is absolutely mesmerizing! It is a touching tale from the years of the Holocaust. A little Jewish girl from Belgium makes her way across Europe to search for her Nazi-deported parents. She is able to escape capture herself only by taking refuge with packs of friendly wolves. In the course of her incredible escape, she even kills a German soldier.

This multi-layered account of Nazi cruelty, childhood innocence, and unlikely rescue was published as Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years. It generated millions of dollars in revenue and was translated into 18 languages. A French movie from the book has been a hit during its current run.

Then came the confession through her lawyer last Thursday that Misha Defonseca's dramatic story is a shameful lie.

Defonseca spent the war years in safety in Belgium. Despite her moving speeches about experiences that led to her bestselling book, we know now that she made up the stories about wolves and Nazis. She isn't even Jewish.

Scholars had challenged a garble of dates, events, and information in the book. But their research largely fell on deaf ears, as the public received the book with eagerness. Now the house of cards has collapsed.

People who misrepresent significant realities with trumped-up, self-serving false claims actually manage to tarnish the truth. In the words of Dr. Lawrence Langer, one of the scholars who knew all along it was a hoax: "What happened to the Jews was the worst atrocity in history, and people who exploit it for profit, by posing as Jews or lying about being part of the experience, insult those who went through it. It's as bad as saying the Holocaust never happened."

The gruesome facts of the Holocaust don't change; a woman's misrepresentation of her experiences related to that event minimizes it, however, and gives comfort to Holocaust-deniers and anti-Semites. Neither do the facts of Christ's resurrection and the life-changing power of the gospel change; people who misrepresent themselves as its messengers or devotees tarnish the Christian faith, discredit Jesus of Nazareth, and decrease the likelihood that unbelievers would consider -- much less embrace -- it.

Sleazy televangelists, gay-bashers at military funerals, priests who molest children, church-member moms and dads who betray families, Sunday school teachers who bully or curse employees at work -- all are agents of betrayal. They sabotage the gospel, undermine Christ's appeal, and make faith unattractive.

Truth's credibility is always tied to the integrity of its messengers.

For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed -- God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from any human being, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our prerogatives. Instead, we were like young children among you.
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you (1 Thessalonians 2:3-9 TNIV).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

Can You Hear the Music?

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

It was an experiment set up more than a year ago now by the Washington Post. I don't know how I missed it, and most of you may have seen the online video clip of the event already. In case you haven't, you can get more details and see what I am about to describe online. (Click the link if you are on the website or go to the first article listed below!)

In what the paper dubbed "an experiment in context, perception and priorities," the newspaper enlisted the aid of an internationally famous virtuoso musician. Joshua Bell (image from JoshuaBell.com), who would shortly play to a standing-room-only audience in the Washington area, played some of the world's most beautiful classical music at a Metro station. As more than a thousand people walked through, he played for just over 40 minutes. And hardly anyone noticed or cared.

The violinist played Bach and Schubert. He played them on a Stradivarius for which he had paid $3.5 million. With his violin case open before him and a few bills tossed in to prime the pump, his 45-minute concert took in a total of some $32 from a grand total of 27 donors. And that for a man who gets paid at the rate of $1000 per minute to perform in packed symphony halls.

What are we to make of such an event? I'm not sure. Maybe it means too many of us are too busy to notice people -- their skills, their place in our world, their value to God.

Maybe it underscores how poorly we assign value in life. Several people walked by with their iPods on and never even turned their heads to the music being played for them. At a level deeper than the aesthetic, money, sex, and power trump just about everything – including virtue, self-discipline, and purity.

Perhaps it means that we humans are sometimes so self-absorbed that we diminish others -- in their own eyes. Bell said the experience made him terribly uncomfortable. The man accustomed to standing ovations heard only thunderous silence and shuffling feet as a piece came to its end.

For today, however, let me suggest this as a primary meaning for your reflection: There is always more beauty in this world than most of us take the time to appreciate. There are the manifold beauties of nature -- sunrise and sunset, falling snow and blooming flowers, majestic mountains and roaring oceans; they are God's gifts for our appreciation, enjoyment, and stewardship.

Yes, there is music -- classical, country, jazz, and rock. There is rest at the end of a hard day's work. There is conversation between friends, playful time spent with laughing children, and a walk with someone you know loves you.

With eyes to see and ears to hear, God will show you so much beauty.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world (Psalm 19:1-4 TNIV).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

A John Grisham Secret

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0600

Because my teaching career involves so much mandatory reading, I don't get to do a lot of pleasure reading. There is just too little time for short stories or poetry. I typically only get to the things friends have already read and are now recommending. They are my book reviewers. They keep me from wasting time.

The exception for me is John Grisham. A few of his books have probably slipped past, but not many. He has a new one climbing the bestseller lists right now, and it stands to be the one pleasure read I will schedule for spring break. He knows how to tell a good story.

Although his books have sold a phenomenal 235 million copies, people sometimes pan him. "He's no Hemmingway or Faulkner!" says one reviewer. "He is not a particularly good writer," pontificates another, "and it is unlikely that anyone will be reading his 'potboilers' in another generation."

Sour grapes! Some of the people writing that tripe would kill to have just one book that sold half as many as his slowest title. But that's another story.

I like the fact that Grisham doesn't take himself too seriously. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the 53-year-old writer disclaimed any visions of great literary fiction. "It's pure entertainment," he said. Sounds downright humble, doesn't it? And it is most refreshing these days.

In the course of that interview, he mentioned a fact from his earliest days of attempting to write that grabbed my attention.

"The alarm clock would go off at 5, and I'd jump in the shower," he said. "My office was five minutes away. And I had to be at my desk, at my office, with the first cup of coffee, a legal pad -- and write the first word at 5:30, five days a week." His goal was to write one page every day. If it took ten minutes, so be it. Sometimes he would write for two hours before starting his job as a lawyer.

Grisham said that such a rigorous discipline was one of several "little rituals that were silly and brutal, but very important."

Self-discipline toward a goal is critical. And it is hardly a secret. But it is the difference in making it and living with regret. What if I had gotten up? What if I had written a page a day? What if I had gone back to school? What if I had asked for the position? Or proposed? Life has far too many "what ifs" for most of us!

The courage to take risks and to reach for a dream is there for all of us. God doesn't offer life without challenge; he offers grace to those with courage.

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com

Light for Living

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0600

When I was a boy of about ten, my mother and father took me to Carlsbad Caverns. I still remember the gigantic stalagmites and stalactites. I can almost feel the cold of being deep inside the earth on a hot summer day. But my most vivid memory is of the moment our guide had all of us find a place to sit down and -- after warning of what was about to happen – turned off all the electric lights that had been put inside the dark belly of the earth.

I felt like I was tumbling head over heels. My heart raced. With one hand I grasped the rock ledge on which I was sitting and with the other reached for my father.

Fortunately, the tour guide didn't allow it to last long. He turned on his flashlight. And it looked as bright as a million candle-power searchlight!

An ordinary flashlight that costs $3.00, complete with batteries, can push back the encompassing, frightening darkness of Carlsbad Caverns. A beam that would be hardly noticeable at ground level on a sunny day looks like a laser in deep darkness. As soon as it appeared, my stomach gave up its tumbling sensation. My lunch became stable again.

I could see my parents' faces in outline again and knew I wasn't alone. I sensed that the single light in our guide's hand heralded the return of the lights which had guided us previously and whose presence we had taken for granted.

When God created Planet Earth for our habitation, he came onto a scene that was formless and dark. He pushed back the darkness with light, then set about to bring order to chaos. It takes light for life to survive and thrive.

When Jesus was re-creating the human race and restoring hope to despairing people, he came onto a scene made formless and dark again. This darkness had come by human rebellion against his Father and humanity's inhumanity to its own. In his birth, teaching, lifestyle, and personal victory over death in the resurrection, he pushed back the darkness with the light of heaven's bright glory. To use John's language, Jesus was the light shining into our darkness; the darkness could not conquer the light he brought.

If you ever feel the head-over-heels sensation that comes of being in the deep darkness, look in his direction. Jesus is still the Light of the World. And it is only in the presence of light that you can live, grow, and flourish.

"I am the world's Light," Jesus said. "No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in" (John 8:12 MSG).

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee since 1978. He is the author of more than 20 books. For more details, click here.

Website: RubelShelly.com