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HEARING BUT NOT DOING

I suppose it brings back some Monica memories that many Christians would just as soon forget, but you might remember back a few years when a certain United States President went to church one morning. In fact, it was Easter Sunday. Any time a chief executive attends services, it’s always a well-publicized media event, and I’m sure the network cameras duly noted the occasion. And then, after all the hymn-singing and the sermon and the prayers, the nation’s leader went back to the White House — April 7, 1996 — and had a romantic dalliance that same day with an intern who was basically the same age as his daughter. Church in the morning and adultery in the afternoon. And yes, that deeply offended many, many Christians who had put their faith in the man from Hope, Arkansas.

Well, friend, I guess I don’t have to gently remind you — and myself — of how often you and I get home from looking all pious at church on Sabbath or Sunday morning and commit sins of pride or selfishness even before we pull into the garage. But as we continue with our radio series, BEDROCK OR JELL-O FOR THE FOUNDATION, I’m painfully reminded of a verse by Jesus right in the middle of this fascinating parable.

You remember that Jesus talked about a wise man building his house upon the rock; another man, not quite so wise, erected his mansion on the sandy beach where the view was good. And I like how the Clear Word paraphrase describes Contractor #2. Here’s Matthew 7:26:

“The ones who make a show of respect for Me but don’t really follow Me are like the man who built his house on the sand.”

It’s clear from this story that Jesus Christ is describing the importance of basing our life on the right foundation. And the best foundation is HIM! “The wise man hears My words and puts them into practice,” He tells us.

Apparently it’s possible to hear the words of Christ — to actually be sitting in the church where the Christian words are being proclaimed — and to also go through the motions of building a good house. To all outward appearances, the genuine Christian and the hypocrite Christian look like they’re living identical lives. Both in church. Both hearing the words. Both “building houses.” And they both look like good houses. But the cutting-edge difference is that one person is actually living by the words, while the second guy is only hearing them. The house-on-the-rock is built upon actually DOING what the Lord says, actually following the commands you heard in church on Sunday morning when you get back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Sunday afternoon.

There was a story in the Winter 2001 issue of Leadership magazine, submitted by Ron Koustas, who directs an AIDS outreach ministry called the Isaiah 58 Project at The Village Church in New York City. He had a man named Riley who began to come to the prayer meetings they ran there, and eventually heard his life story. Listen to this:

“In a soft voice he told us about 36 years of living a triple life.” Now listen to this: “He taught Sunday school and played the organ for morning worship, and then he would leave to rob the houses of his fellow parishioners, returning in time for the closing hymn. After church he was off to the West Village gay leather scene.”

Isn’t that a story? This Riley, organist of the church, was taking note that the Jones family was there in their appointed pew, and the Smiths, and the Browns. And then during the sermon, he would drive over and burglarize their homes, and get back to the church in time to slide into his place on the organ bench, and play for the congregation, “I Will Follow Thee, My Savior.” What a way to make a living! That might be, right there, where we got the expression, “Living the life of Riley.” And we’re reminded of those words of Jesus:

“The ones who make a show of respect for Me but don’t really follow Me are like the man who built his house on sand.”

Well, maybe you and I aren’t in as desperate a condition as this Sunday morning snitch artist. But isn’t the same pattern true for us? To sit in a pew, to keep up appearances. But then to simply hear the words without doing them. Listen, it’s not enough to stand on the sand and admire the solid rock in the lot next door. You have to actually roll up your sleeves and begin to build your house on that rock.
We love a great book written by Pastor Tony Evans, who leads a growing body of believers at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas. The book’s entitled The Victorious Christian Life — and just that title right there implies that victory is more than simply cheering in the stands. But he defines the concept of “meditation” like this. Notice:

“Meditation . . . is a round-the-clock awareness of God’s principles and His presence IN OUR LIVES.”

Not “out there” somewhere, but in our lives. Instilled in our minds and also in our behavior patterns. Just four pages later, he adds something we should all reflect on.

“As we learn [Bible lessons from God], our next goal should be to consider what we should do differently.”

You know, going back to the unfortunate story of the President who heard good Easter morning sermons and then went back to the White House to sin, we have to all see ourselves in that up-and-down challenge. Because the President really did wrestle, trying to take biblical truth and bring it right into his own life. In the biography, Monica’s Story, there are scenes where he sat down with this young woman and confessed: “I want to stop doing this. I’m a Christian. I want to live by what I know is right. I want to be faithful to my wife. I want to obey the Lord.” But of course — as is true of so many of us — his resolutions were made of sand, and every time the storms of seduction blew into the White House, the house on the sand went splat.

Tony Evans, who describes how we need to take the teachings of Jesus and ask, “What does this mean I should really do DIFFERENTLY?”, then takes us to a powerful passage found in James chapter 1. Here are verses 22-24:

“But don’t deceive yourselves into thinking that all you have to do is to listen to God’s Word. You have to put it into practice. Whoever listens to God’s Word and doesn’t do what it says is like a man who takes a good look in a mirror, sees himself as he really is, and then goes away and ignores everything he just saw.”

I recall a terrific chapter in a book called How To Be Filled With the Holy Spirit . . . And Know It, by Pastor Garrie Williams. And this great gospel preacher, who knows all about the doctrine of grace, actually invites his readers to delve into the Ten Commandments. Go right there to Exodus chapter 20 and read down them: “One . . . two . . . three.” And then ask yourself, with a prayer in your heart: “Am I DOING this one? Lord, I look at this first commandment, and I look into my life right now, today. Lord, am I KEEPING this first commandment — Thou shalt have no other gods before Me? Jesus, I want to honor You by making You my first priority. Am I following Your Word as found here in Commandment #1?” And then #2 and #3 and right down the line. Friend, that’s a terrific way to ask ourselves each day: “Sand . . . or Rock?” The shifting sand of Satan’s kingdom where we hear but don’t do? Or the everlasting Rock of Jesus, where we hear His words and then gratefully follow them? How long has it been since you actually had your life pattern collide head-on with what you knew Jesus wanted you to do? That’s a chilling moment, and it comes to all of us courtesy of our Friend the Holy Spirit. “This is the path; walk ye in it.” But do we actually WALK in that path . . . or just gaze at it as it slowly goes up a lonely mountainside while we stay in the guilty green pastures below?

Well, the good news, friend, is that God is in the moving business. Maybe you’ve constructed a house on the sandy beaches of compromise. I know I’ve hammered a few nails myself over on Malibu Shores. But let me tell you: God’s in the moving business. He able to take houses that were built on sand, and personally move them over to the rock-solid foundation of His own Son. Let me go back to that Leadership magazine story from New York City. Because here’s the end of Ron Koustas’ story about Riley, the organist who was robbing his fellow parishioners right during the sermon:

“Today he lives as a Christian with AIDS,” Ron writes, “but considers it a blessing, ‘I would never be this close to the Lord if I was healthy.’”

Does that sound like a storm? Here’s a man who has full-blown AIDS. He used to be the worst of hypocrites. But now he’s built his house on the solid Rock, and no storm in the world can blow away his abiding friendship with Jesus.