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A TRUCKLOAD OF PURITY #3
CENSORING TITANIC
A mom-and-pop video store recently got some headlines
and a few sneers when they started up a rather prosperous sideline. They
were taking the hit video, Titanic, and snipping out two steamy scenes
between the fictional Jack and Rose. Just a few seconds sliced out of
James Cameron's three-hour mega-story, but they had sold several thousand
copies to people who wanted to see the biggest hit ever made, but who
didn't want to view these brief celluloid moments which violated something
inside of them. And maybe what created this controversial cottage industry
is the very well-known verse here in Philippians chapter four.
We've chosen as our title for the week this challenge: A TRUCKLOAD OF
PURITY. And here in Philippians chapter four, and verse eight, the Apostle
Paul takes us - the virgin Christian believers in the city of Philippi,
and by extension you and me here two thousand years later - into this
herculean list that has inspired and challenged and convinced and convicted
the Body of Christ. Here it is:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is TRUE, whatever
is NOBLE, whatever is RIGHT, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever
is ADMIRABLE - if anything is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY - think about
such things." In the familiar King James: "Think on THESE things."
And those last four words, "Think on these things,"
take us a long ways beyond those bootlegged Titanic videos. Because as
admirable as it might be for a person to want those 30 seconds removed
from a three-hour-and-twenty-minute motion picture, the heart of Philippians
4:8 isn't simply in the movies playing down at the local cineplex. There
are many, many scenes flickering in those ten auditoriums which fall short
of this amazing verse, and we all know it. There are uncounted scenes
on television, every single day and night of the week, where untrue things,
and ignoble scenes, and elements of wrongness, are beamed into our homes.
And the Christian who spends money at the mall theater, or who buys a
cable signal or a satellite dish, has an obligation to consider this verse
of Scripture.
But Paul writes here about our THOUGHTS, the images we allow to live in
our brains 24 hours a day. The words that we formulate in our minds and
then express - or maybe DON'T express. The daydreams we dream, the fantasies
we consider. The emotions we cling to, the attitudes we build up as part
of what makes us US.
You know, as we move through this list of eight guidelines, there's a
kind of duality that exists here. Think with me just about that first
one, that word: TRUE. "Whatsoever things are TRUE." And obviously,
that challenge invades every single aspect of our thinking: what we say,
what we look at, what we read, how we talk, how we testify in court. And
yet there's a higher level here to consider, where we are invited to also
think about TRUTH. "Think about TRUTH," Paul invites us. Meaning
the great truths about God and His Son and His Church and His kingdom.
In the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary for Philippians, an excellent
volume, the scholars make this point:
"This [the word "true"] should not be
limited to mere veracity. The scriptural concept of truth is derived from
an understanding of the nature of God and Christ, who are the authors
of all that is true. In this light, 'whatsoever things are true' refers
to all that is morally and spiritually sound, all that is compatible with
allegiance to Him who IS 'the truth."
And they take us back to John 14:6, where Jesus tells
His followers:
"I am the way and the truth and the life."
You know, this concept of focusing on TRUTH is such
a Magna Carta for a radio ministry like you're listening to today. We're
not just here, you understand, to say things on the radio that are true,
and to make sure someone fact-checks every script that comes to my desk.
It's our ministry to share true TRUTH, Bible TRUTH, principles about God
and His Son, Jesus Christ, that are truth. There are times when we get
letters from very good Christians, outstanding Bible students, and on
occasion they write to say: "I think you missed one last Wednesday.
Did you check such-and-such verse?" Believe me, those are sober moments
for us, and we dive back into our Bibles to check and see. Certainly we
DO miss truth sometimes, because we're all human beings. But we don't
WANT to miss truth; we don't want to deviate from what Paul is saying
here in the first line of verse eight.
And all through the rest of this wonderful verse, the same dual challenge
is laid before us. "Think about things that are pure," Paul
writes. And maybe we should all buy the expurgated edition of Titanic
and sell off at a garage sale some of the other videos we own. Cancel
a few magazine subscriptions. Go out looking for what we mentioned in
our series title: A TRUCKLOAD OF PURITY. But in our study of the things
of God, as we explore Bible concepts and think about religious topics,
are we looking there as well for purity? I've encountered IMpurity in
study groups and in sermons and in church politics. Sometimes, to my shame,
I've participated in those things. We've all had impure motives, even
in dealing with spiritual challenges. And Paul, all through these New
Testament writings, warns again and again about people who would come
into these fledgling Christian churches and bring impure doctrine. So
here he says to us: "Think about pure things, both as you read your
TV Guide and as you attend prayer meeting."
And these other words: "Whatever is NOBLE." "Whatever is
RIGHT." "Whatever is LOVELY." "Whatever is ADMIRABLE."
You know, it might be a good idea just to put this verse in front of our
own eyes every single day of the year. And ask God: "Lord, help me
to keep my mind in these arenas. In fact, Lord, please . . . YOU help
guide my mind toward things like You've challenged me to consider. All
day today, Lord, please control my mind."
One of these toward the close is a nice word, but perhaps one you never
thought had moral or spiritual significance. "If anything is EXCELLENT,"
Paul writes, "think about things like that." And maybe it escapes
us that the people of God ought to embrace excellent dreams, and say excellent
things, and think excellent thoughts. We should be connoisseurs of the
fine things in life, especially in our thinking. People sometimes talk,
while rolling their eyes, about "high-minded" ideals. But shouldn't
excellence, a high mind, be the goal in our thinking?
Again, as Ken and I look into our own mirrors right here in this tiny
radio studio, we want to invite Paul's words to lift us higher. I don't
ever want to forget that we have an audience of seeking people. Good people,
earnest, sincere listeners. And Paul is saying here that we should be
striving for excellence in giving you these 13-minute spiritual nuggets.
We should have good radio scripts, and diligent Bible study, and pertinent
illustrations, and a solid time of prayer and spiritual preparation before
Armando hits the "Record" button. Sometimes we succeed in that,
and sometimes we fall short. But to come in here and take a lazy, half-baked
approach, to say, "Well, we'll just wing it this week because there
was a lot of other stuff going on," is to fail to take seriously
this invitation to "THINK about excellence."
Well, friend, there's plenty here for each one of us; that's for sure.
We could probably make a pretty long list under each of the eight ways
we need for God to help us do better. On the other hand, you might be
tempted to think: "Really, what's the difference? This isn't murder
or adultery; it's just what we think about." Harmless daydreams,
maybe. A few quick minutes of R-rated Internet fun. But you know, the
mind certainly links to the rest of what we do and how we live, doesn't
it? The New International Version's text notes don't mince any words when
they comment on this:
"Paul understood," they write, "the influence
of one's thoughts on one's LIFE. What a person allows to OCCUPY his mind
will sooner or later determine his speech and his actions. Paul's exhortation
to 'think about such things'" - or the King James: "think on
these things" - is followed by a second exhortation, 'put it into
practice.'"
And maybe you recall the verse which is sometimes wonderfully
true and sometimes painfully true:
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Well, friend, that's how vital all of this is. But as we close, let me
invite you to join me in simply thinking about a person who might live
this way. Picture an ideal friend whose conversations with you, whose
notes to you, whose hallway greetings to you, always matched these high
ideals. Listen again as we get a word picture of this friend as expressed
through the Clear Word paraphrase:
"Finally, my brothers, FILL YOUR MINDS with things
that are true, honest and just. Think about things that are noble, pure
and lovely. Focus on good reports about others." Wouldn't you like
a friend like that? "If any good has happened or there's any reason
to praise man or God, think about those things."
It sounds so impossible, doesn't it? The mind is such
a slippery thing, so determined in its naughtiness, so subject to the
downward path of moral gravity. We all are fallen creatures. In fact,
I don't think I would dare to read to you verse eight - unless just five
verses later I also found verse 13:
"I can do everything through Him who gives
me strength."
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