Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—read by serious Christians everywhere.

 

Do you know that October is "Fire Safety Month" in the United States? I was astonished to read the following statistics distributed by a national alarm-system company:

What's the point here? Install a monitored security system with a fire detector in your home now! That's the point.

 

Do you know what the New Testament teaches about the destiny of those whose sins are unconfessed at the time of their death? Do I need to tell you? Do you know what the New Testament teaches about the destiny of those whose sins are confessed and forgiven? Do I need to tell you? There are warnings everywhere in scripture about such things. Even so, people tend to ignore the warnings. Somehow they rationalize that "what a person sows, he shall also reap" applies to others, but not to themselves. In life they have discovered how to compartmentalize their lives, assuming that they will not bear the consequences of their bad behavior. If you know of people like this, please consider forwarding this week's epistle to them. Or if you are a preacher, preach on this topic soon.

 

This week's "Tuesday Morning" is entitled "Compartmentalmindedness." It's a very long word, but its meaning is short and simple. Continue reading below whenever you are ready, and then do whatever you feel God wants you to do as a result of the information contained in this message. You will be glad that you did.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior

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Compartmentalmindedness

Tom Barnard

 

t’s a word seldom used anywhere these days. Twenty-three letters long. I think they call this a “jaw breaker.” It means separating one’s spiritual life from one’s secular life. People who do this are not schizophrenic, but they are a bit crazy if they think they can maintain two totally separate lives and never bear the consequence of such behavior.

 

Religious history is papered with people who have done this. I think immediately of two writers of great hymns. John Newton once trafficked in slaves but ended up writing “Amazing Grace.” How could such behavior be justified? “Just doing his job,” as many might offer as an explanation for such thinking today. Newton also wrote the hymn that begins, “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, in the believer’s ear!”

 

Then there was John Bowring who, during his term as Governor of Hong Kong in the mid-1850s, pushed for free trade between England and China that led to the introduction of opium in China, resulting in millions of Chinese people becoming addicted to the soul-destroying habit. Many today might reason that Bowring was merely operating under orders from British lords. But it is hard to reconcile his choices with the words he wrote to perhaps his most famous hymn:

 

In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time;

All the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.

 

When the woes of life o’ertake me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy,

Never shall the cross forsake me; lo, it glows with peace and joy.

 

When the sun of bliss is beaming light and love upon my way,

From the cross the radiance streaming adds new luster to the day.

 

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, by the cross are sanctified;

Peace is there that knows no measure, joys that through all time abide.

 

Did these men come to regret the part they played in propagating two of the worst social evils that have plagued our world? Yes. Would they have taken a different direction if they had known in advance the outcomes of their decisions? I believe they would. But choices always lead to inevitable consequences.

 

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus warned, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.” Jesus was speaking about seeking both God and money. But the principle can be applied to other things as well.

 

King David’s highest ambition was to build a Temple to honor the God of the Israelites. But he had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israel’s enemies. God said, “You have killed many men in great battles you fought. And since you have shed so much blood before me, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name” (1 Chronicles 22:8). David’s son, Solomon, would eventually lead in the construction. David designed it; he purchased construction materials and assigned to others the job of cutting stone and gathering choice wood for the building. Solomon would supervise the construction. David’s final words to the assembly were prophetic (1 Chronicles 22:19):

 

“Now seek the Lord your God with all your heart. Build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that you can bring the Ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy vessels of God into the Temple built to honor the Lord’s name.”

 

Perhaps Jesus had David’s words in mind when he said (Matthew 6:33):

 

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

 

Trying to separate the sacred from the secular is difficult, if not impossible. How much better to put God and his will first in your life, and let everything else you do flow down from that priority. You might not end up writing great hymns, but you will end up orchestrating a great life. Jesus said it, so it must be true.