December 31, 2001
Explore the Bible Series for Jan. 13
It's time to stop strutting and start serving
___Deuteronomy 9:1-6; 10:12-16
___By Pete Freeman
___First Baptist Church, The Woodlands
___If you ask the typical American their first impression of the word "Baptist," you might be surprised what you get. While looking for such words as "caring" and "unity," we often are surprised to find that somehow the word "arrogance" comes to the forefront. You might argue that "arrogance" doesn't describe the typical Baptist but describes only those who represent us or those who somehow have captured the attention of the media. Such a point is well taken, but the truth is most people do possess the perception that Southern Baptists are arrogant.
___Some of God's people fit the description of the preacher who said, "Some Christians have so much pride they could strut sitting down." Now that's quite an accomplishment. In our day of competitive and shallow church growth, often we are like the lion in one of Aesop's Fables.
___The animals were bragging about who had the biggest litters. Some talked big about their twins or triplets; some bragged of a dozen. Finally, they asked the lioness, who rather quietly replied, "Only one, but that one is a lion."
___Moses is continuing to give advice to his people as they are preparing to enter into the Promised Land. Of course, there is much excitement and some fear as they anticipate the crossing. In Deuteronomy 9:1-3, we are given another picture of the enemy that the Israelites will face. They are described as Anakites. You remember them as giants in the land. They were so large that on their own the Israelites could not defeat them. Therefore, Moses reminds them of the source of their victory over the giants. It will be the Lord who "goes across ahead of you" to drive them out and annihilate them.
___Moses has a tremendous lesson for believers of all times. If we are going to have victory, it will be the result of the Lord's intervention, not our own planning. Just the writer mentioning this fact is evidence that pride was an element in the mind of the Israelites. He is trying to head off a tragedy on the part of his people. Somehow they had gotten the mistaken impression that with right thinking and right planning, they could accomplish anything.
___This can-do attitude is something the Western church is very familiar with. Ever since Baptists ceased to be a people of the lower socio-economic rung (dependent on God for everything), and began our climb into the middle and upper-middle socio-economic rung (dependent on God for fewer things) of the success ladder, we have slowly but surely drifted toward the church growth formula of the Lord + me (and especially me) = success. Our vocabulary has changed in the process from "if the Lord is willing" to "I know the Lord is willing."
___Very little church growth today is totally of the Lord. Most of it comes through marketing and at the expense of the message. Now, I know the Lord can bring spiritual growth in any socio-economic strata, but the point is that when we trust the Lord, not ourselves, for victory, the kind of victory that God wants comes about.
___Notice verses 4-6. The writer spares no words in warning the people about where God's blessing come from. How can Moses put it stronger? He says, do not brag to others about your coming victories. Do not point to your own righteousness as the cause of your blessings. Righteousness refers to one's good works before God. Put simply, it is thinking you can impress God by your religious acts in such a way as to gain his favor.
___Moses states two reasons for driving out the land's inhabitants. The first was to punish the Canaanites for sinfulness (9:4-5). The Disciple Study Bible says the Canaanites "deserved their fate. Israel did not deserve the favor she received from God. Israel was no better than the other nations."
___The second reason further puts Israel's role in God's plan in perspective. God defeated the Canaanites in order to fulfill God's promise to Abraham and his descendants (9:5). It is obvious that the blessings of God are neither earned nor deserved. In fact, they are given by his grace in relationship to his divine purposes; primarily, his redemptive purposes.
___The late Vance Havner noted in recalling the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, that "early object lesson of the unsinkable ship that sank on its maiden voyage. What a rebuke to our pride, but we learned nothing from it." God wants us to learn much by his rebuke of our pride.
___There is hope for those of us with too much pride. Elton Trueblood once said, "The wonderful thing about cockiness (pride) is that it can be overcome by a little maturity."
___Moses is a master teacher and preacher. This is demonstrated by his usage of the best teaching method known to mankind--repetition. Once again, he reminds them of both their previous failures (9:7 – 10:11) and the availability of the Ten Commandments (10:13). Both of these reminders reflect on the patience of God and the reliability of his word.
___Even though we are sometimes unfaithful, God is always faithful. He is faithful to his promises and always has his eye on his long-term plans for us and often overlooks our short-term faults.
___How can pride be avoided in our walk with God? By fearing the Lord, walking in his ways, loving him, serving him and keeping his commands. Sounds simple. Then let's quit strutting and start serving him now.
___
___Questions for discussion
___
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
