by David Ryser
Most days I pray but some days I curse (A line from the song One Day written by Phil McHugh and performed by Wayne Watson)
I awakened a few days ago with a melody playing in my head. It's a worship song from the very early 1980's, and I'd not thought about this tune for many years. This song, One Day, was one of my favorites in part because it so accurately described my struggles in living the Christian life. I felt as if some days my life was lived as if it was a sacred prayer to God while other days my behavior more resembled cursing. The song also expressed my fervent hope for my faith walk going forward. I laid in bed and smiled as I recalled the song and felt as if a dear old friend had returned to pay me a welcomed visit.
And as I experienced this song once again, I was reminded of an incident that occurred 45 years ago involving a religious peacock.
I was sitting in a service at a large, outwardly successful, church. The uninspired song service, consisting of songs sung from a hymnal, had mercifully come to an end. There was nothing wrong with the songs themselves. I've discovered that most hymns were penned in the fire of a powerful move of God. But now we sing them lifelessly as if at a funeral.
It's not the songs' fault...it's ours. We have a religious heart condition.
The offering had been received. This part of the service was accompanied by a motivational speech on the joys and blessings of giving to God (the church). This speech typically is not unlike that which is given at a multilevel marketing (Ponzi scheme) meeting. Certainly, the hoped-for result appears to be the same.
I do not recall whether the speech produced the desired response on that particular day.
With all of the "preliminaries" out of the way, it was time for the main event...the Sunday Sermon. Out bounded the religious peacock...also known as THE PASTOR...and he began to screech on about some subject which I no longer recall.
Nor did I recall it 5 minutes after the service ended...with one notable exception.
During his sermon, the religious peacock took several minutes to criticize a line (quoted above) from the Christian worship song, One Day. I'm still in a quandary as to how the peacock even became aware of the line in the song which troubled him since he did not strike me as a person who would listen to contemporary Christian music. I've come to speculate he was made aware of it by a religious peahen who had been offended while listening to this line in the song and had asked his opinion of it.
And, boy, did he have an opinion.
The religious peacock launched into a screed condemning this lyric. He stated he did not experience some days when he cursed or engaged in any other sinful behavior. He spread his plumage in full array as he asserted this sort of behavior had ended when he became a Christian. Although I was relatively new in my faith and did not have the exact language to express what I was feeling, I knew something was wrong with what I was hearing. I was struck by two thoughts, however unformed: the man was lying, and he was behaving pridefully.
And neither lying nor pride is a fruit of the Spirit.
Why do I say the peacock was lying? Well, that's easy to answer. The apostle John wrote, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8, ESV)." According to John, saying we do not sin, or struggle with the existence of our sin nature, is a form of self-deception. It is this disconnection from reality that blinds us to the truth of our spiritual condition...our brokenness...and prevents us from seeking the healing that is available only through an intimate relationship with God. This illusion of moral superiority and/or spiritual perfection can manifest itself as ungodly pride.
And the Bible has nothing good to say about such pride.
Did the religious peacock intend to imply he was more spiritual than the apostle Paul who was quite transparent about his struggles with the sin nature and grief over his failings (Romans 7:14-25)? Had he forgotten that those who are spiritual, while correcting the behavior of fellow believers, are instructed to administer this correction with humility remembering that they themselves are vulnerable to temptation (Galatians 6:1)? Scriptures too numerous to list instruct us to walk in humility and condemn pride as sinful. Pride hinders our relationship with God, whereas humility invites God's grace into our lives (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5. Both James and Peter are likely referencing the scripture in Proverbs 3:34).
As the religious peacock criticized this one line in the song...the entirety of which had been such a blessing to me...because of my spiritual immaturity, I allowed myself to become offended by his remarks. Could he not interpret the one line to which he objected within the context of the entire song? In fact, he needed go no further than the next line of the song to understand the intended meaning of the word that offended him...curse. And what about the main message of the song, which brought me so much encouragement and caused my spirit to soar with joy inside of me, that the peacock had missed because of taking offense to one word in one line of the song? I became quite upset, even angry. My thoughts towards the peacock were not entirely godly. It wasn't my best moment as a Christian...because in judging him, I became like him.
In my anger and immaturity, I had neglected to have compassion for the peacock.
You see, the peacock was not an evil man. He was a religious man. He believed and behaved according to how he had been taught. He didn't know any better. He was doing the best he could.
Enough about the religious peacock. What about the song? What about us?
The song One Day contains two main messages, both of which were...and remain...a blessing to me. The first is that we believers are not superhuman spiritual giants; rather, we are regular people who are in love with God and trying our best to live a life pleasing to Him. Sometimes we succeed, and sometimes we fail. Failure, acknowledged and learned from, is an opportunity for great spiritual growth. Whether we succeed or fail, we continue to walk a God-honoring life to the best of our ability...with humility. John Wimber, during a season when his ministry was attended by spectacular miracles and healings was asked how he could remain so grounded with all of the supernatural manifestations going on around him and through his ministry. What kept him so humble? His one-word answer speaks volumes.
"Failure."
Failure is a great teacher...if we don't become trapped in a cycle of self-loathing and defeatism. After all, how does a baby learn to walk? By falling down a lot. And how does the parent respond? Does the parent criticize the baby for falling and tell the child they will never amount to anything? Of course not! The parent excitedly praises the baby for taking a step and encourages the child to try again.
We are learning to walk with God. How do you suppose He reacts when we fall down?
The second message of the song...one that sets my heart ablaze even now...expresses my fondest desire for my faith journey with God going forward. I cannot hear these words of the song without tears coming to my eyes these 45+ years since I first heard them, because they so powerfully express my desire to live and walk in intimate relationship and communion with God:
As days go by, I hope I don't stay the same
I wanna get so close to Him that it's no big change
On that day that Jesus calls my name
Responses to this article are welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
