Given the political uproar in our great nation of late, I thought I'd make use of a recurring term in all that din: "maverick". I laugh when I think about Tina Fey's Sarah Pallin on Saturday Night Live saying that she and McCain would get "all mavericky" once they made it to the White House. Often "rogue" is used in a similar context as maverick, but the words are quite different. A maverick is someone who doesn't conform to the standards around them. A rogue is someone who delights in evil, a villain. We live in a world gone rogue. Sin abounds, is overlooked, and sometimes--more often than not, in truth--is glamorized and glorified. Tolerance is the new buzz word. And people who care nothing for God's word or His ways will be the first to quote, "Judge not, lest you be judged. . ." (Matt 7:1ff) How those words have paralyzed God's people into ineffectiveness and apathy.
I was talking with a friend the other day about this very thing. Someone was doing wrong and someone else, fully aware of its utter inappropriateness said, "Well, I shouldn't judge . . . " My friend was incensed at this response. "People are so afraid of being 'judgmental'--wrong is wrong!" As God's people we are obligated to call wrong what it is. Even more than that we are obligated to call wrong what God calls it: sin. It should bother us as it bothers Him. Understand, though, that we are equally obligated to treat sinners as God does, as well, with love and grace. Anything God did in the Bible to bring sinners to repentance was done in love. Sometimes, especially in the Old Testament it is hard to comprehend how God's actions toward His Hebrews could be loving.
I've recently begun a study in Isaiah, an undertaking that daunts me. Isaiah is a challenging book to read and understand. I've avoided it for years because I didn't think I was smart enough on one hand and on the other hand, I was pretty sure it would not only confuse me but also scare the heck out of me. I know a lot of harrowing events were occurring in Israel during Isaiah's lifetime, so I wasn't sure that I wanted to really get up close and personal with those things. However, in my studies over the last year or so, I've come across many comforting, inspiring verses in Isaiah. My curiosity began to get the better of me as I learned more about the way God loves and has always loved His own. To help me in my endeavor, I've enlisted the help of Jim McGuiggan's The Book of Isaiah. So far, I have yet to get to the actual book of Isaiah part. McGuiggan lays out some important information necessary in understanding Isaiah in the beginning of the study.
He mentions God's response to sin saying, "In dealing with sin, God is not being loveless. Holiness is love refusing to live at peace with sin!"
Those words put God's love for Israel into a context that I had never grasped before. He loved them so much, but they continued to reject His love. He was going to save them in spite of themselves, so He spared a remnant from destruction and promised them a Savior who would free them from the oppression of sin for all time. Jesus showed them God's love in a way they could truly see. He healed their wounds, physical and spiritual, and gave Himself as the ultimate sin offering. In a world of spiritual apathy, Jesus was a maverick who inspired renewal. In a time of legalistic practice that could never save souls, Jesus restored humanity to its Creator.
We find ourselves in a similar situation today as God's people: A world of tolerance that confuses acceptance with approval. Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world . . ." This world where political correctness is prized over truth and righteousness. We are the mavericks in this world of self-gratification. Called by God to call sin by its name and to teach His truth in love. It's time to get mavericky!
