What Is Our Aim?
Neil Thielke – July, 2007

My mom told a story about two kids who were trying to walk the straightest line in the fresh snow across the field to the farm place about a quarter mile away. Climbing into the hay mow after their walk to judge the results laid out in the field of snow, they discovered that one line was far straighter than the other. The crooked walker asked his straight-lined friend how he did it. “Simple” was the reply, “I just walked with my eyes focused on the hay mow window at the top of the barn”. Focusing on a goal in the future helps us live straighter, too.

Once again I am preparing to leave Morris on several extended overseas trips to Ireland, Spain, Kenya and The Republic of Georgia. Traveling offers an opportunity to review my life before departure. How does my life look in light of eternity? If this were my last day in Morris, what would I want my life to mean? Jesus was the Word of God made incarnate. As Christians, we are also meant to have the Word (Jesus) made flesh in us: Jesus living through us as an offering to the world around us.

It is totally irrelevant what other people say, because Jesus gives the final assessment about how straight our line is. What the neighbors or relatives say means nothing, compared to what Jesus says. Things like caring for the disadvantaged, loving others, engaging our community (as well as what goes on in our private lives), are all components of a healthy life-journey -- a straight line.

Socio-cultural values are crooked sticks to lay our lives against, because the values in society change over decades and centuries. Self-righteous Americans judged Nazi Germany harshly for persecuting the Jews. However, evidence is now surfacing that Americans could have relieved the suffering by allowing the Jews to emigrate to America. For the most part, America closed her doors to the Jews trying to flee Germany for their lives. An even more blatant example is Tony Blair’s written apology on the Dublin airport wall concerning the English ignoring the plight of millions of Irish who perished in the potato famine. Rather than feed the Irish, the English Lords who owned the productive land in Ireland, turned their Irish tenants out of their homes to avoid the taxes designed by British Parliament to feed the starving masses, and exported the food from their farms to be sold abroad. Today’s Cultural values are now casting a negative light on actions that were socially accepted in the England of the 1840’s. Even though the Bible was written centuries ago to a pastoral third world country, the values found in God’s Word never change.

Bill Clinton said, “It’s about the economy Stupid”, winning the American presidency, because the majority of the American voters accepted his views. But in light of eternity Bill Clinton’s slogan looks pretty trite. Lest the politically Right be left feeling self righteous, the prevailing sexual moral morass of their own camp is also disgusting, whether they are directly involved, or whether they just wink at it by their failure to demand correction.

US World News and Report ran an assessment on the worst presidents in American history last week. I wonder how God would have ranked them. Even though I have my doctrinal issues with Jimmy Carter, perhaps his morning time in the prayer closet with God every day, whether people saw him or not, would weigh in heavily with God? I think so. Biblical Christianity is not primarily a political movement according to the model in Acts in the Bible. Christianity in the Book of Acts majored on straightening personal lives to walk in line with Jesus, footprints etched in the snowfield of time.

God sees past our public image. How do we treat our wives -- or husbands for that matter? How about the way we treat our children? Where do our eyes gaze when no one is watching us? Proverbs 17:3 says: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” This testing is done in light of the eternal Word of God. 1 Peter 1:25 says “the word of the Lord stands forever." There is no allowance for changing moral standards or for current social trends there!

As I am packing, these are good questions to consider in light of the haymow window glimpse of eternity. As I look at the weather report, it looks like a lot of fresh snow is coming. It is time to keep my eyes on Jesus, and walk a straight line.

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