Honor Abounding

I’ve been enjoying the TGC podcast “You’re Not Crazy.” The recent episode “Staying Honest, Showing Honor” has stayed on my mind for a couple weeks for multiple reasons.

For much of the episode they reflect on Romans 12:10, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor,” and they note how rare this is even within the church. “Churches typically live on a starvation diet of encouragement and honor, and being lifted up by one another.” We’re much better at sarcasm and poking fun at people or just remaining silent than in honestly and publicly letting people know what we love and appreciate about them.

There are people living out their faith all around us, and many of them need to be reminded and encouraged that what they are doing matters. We need to let go of our reluctance to say something and start building one another up in love. There’s so much negativity in the world already. Let’s not add to that, but let’s become a refuge for the weary and worn by setting the example of outdoing one another in showing honor.

Another comment Ortlund makes in the episode is this: “One of the most important things right now in my existence is preparing to die well. I want to die honorably.” How often do any of us think about the personal and spiritual legacy we will leave for our family and friends? The Apostle Paul wrote on this theme repeatedly in Philippians:

“It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death… Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel… that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain… that by any means possible I may attain from the resurrection from the dead… What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (1:20, 27; 2:15-16; 3:11; 4:9).

I confess there are many times when I succumb too easily to temptation, when I avoid the good works set before me, when I don’t pursue the means of grace in the spiritual disciplines, when I don’t want to sacrifice comfort and pleasure for the sake of holiness and the growth of the Kingdom of God. I think far too much of my own interests and far too little of living (and eventually dying) honorably in the sight of God and man.

If we all focused more on honoring God in our lives and honoring others with our words, think how much more pleasant the world would be! What if we approached social media each day with the thought “Who can I honor?” instead of “Who do I disagree with?” What if we made our daily decisions in light of what would most honor God instead of our own preferences and desires? How would our work places, churches, and homes be different?

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

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© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church

Qualifying Runs

This was an interesting passage to read right after the Olympics concluded: “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor His pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love” (Psalm 147:10-11 ESV).

I was reminded of the quote from Olympian and missionary Eric Liddell, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” That quote has always made me slightly uneasy, I think because it is so easy to take out of the context of Eric’s life. It wasn’t just because he ran fast that he felt God’s pleasure. It was the fact that his running was used as a tool to give glory to God. Eric took a stand against running on the Lord’s Day, and thereby glorified God. He used the spotlight of the Olympics to share his testimony so that God would be glorified. God didn’t “find pleasure in the legs of a man” just because he ran fast, but because Eric feared God and trusted in His steadfast love.

Maya DiRado took a little heat from some Christians when she said, “I don’t think God really cares about my swimming very much.” But she clarified, “This is not my end purpose, to make the Olympic team. My God is powerful and in control, but I don’t think He cares whether I win. It’s interesting theology you can get into when it’s a God of victory in your sport.” She got her priorities right. It’s not about what you can do but about where you place your trust. As a side note, as I watched the Olympics, I found myself praying that God would honor the athletes who honored Him.

During the closing ceremony broadcast there was a lot of talk about athletes who were “the greatest of all time,” though apparently no recognition by the commentators that time keeps marching on and records fall every year. No matter how good an athlete is, their time in the spotlight will come to an end.

The fact is that the vast majority of us will never be in the national or international spotlight for anything we do in this life. But as the psalmist reminds us, that doesn’t matter to God in the slightest. His delight is in people who love Him and serve Him with whatever gifts and abilities they may have. We may never run, walk, talk, write, or create anything particularly noteworthy, but we can glorify God with our bodies, minds, and spirits by loving Him and loving others. As Paul pointed out in the opening of 1 Corinthians 13, we can exercise all kinds of gifts and abilities, but if it is done without God’s love it is meaningless.

Ultimately, those gold, silver, and bronze medals will disappear. Names will be forgotten. Records will be broken. But God will remember those who have exercised hope in His steadfast love. He will honor those who have honored Him.

“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.