Next weekend my wife and I will host our annual barbecue. We generally have a couple of hundred guests and provide them with hickory-smoked ribs and pulled pork, beef brisket, wings, Brunswick stew, baked beans and coleslaw. We have been doing these events for over a decade now, and it is wonderful to see all of our friends and watch them enjoying themselves and the food. It is an enormous feast. The food is not in keeping with the most modern of nutritional principles, but is full of red meat and calories. I suspect many of our guests will leave at least a couple of pounds heavier than when they arrived. As a practicing heart surgeon, I strive to keep everyone's cholesterol and sodium levels as high as possible; it's good for business. Seriously, occasionally indulging in a meal of this sort is not a problem at all. It becomes a problem when there is a pattern of overeating.
Obesity is a real problem in the United States. A third of the population is overweight and another third is obese. In case you think that I have never struggled with being overweight, I can share with you that I used to weigh forty-five pounds more when I was playing football in college. Putting the weight on is easier than taking it off and keeping it off. And for some poor souls, the repeated eating of too much causes them to be morbidly obese. This used to be defined as being twice the ideal weight or a hundred pounds overweight, but now is defined based on height and weight calculations. Feasting too much, too often, can cause real problems.
Our modern world has taken many biblical principles and inverted them, and that is why the Christian is to be in the world but not of it. There is a central tenet regarding the nature of man that is in diametrical opposition between Christian and secular world views, and this is so crucial that it is a defining principle for Christians. In fact, the answer to this question can tell you if a person is a Christian or not with a high degree of reliability. That question is, "Is man born basically good or bad?" Modern teaching and the secular world would have it that all people are born good, yet it is the corrupting influence of society that makes men do bad things. The Christian knows that the Bible teaches that all men since Adam are born in sin, with a central sin nature. It is only faith in Christ that can deliver us from that nature.
The secular world would have us believe in the essential requirement of "self-esteem." As we discussed some time ago, this means "self-estimation" and comes from the same root word as estimate, as in to appraise the value of something. We are told that people are dysfunctional because they have low self-esteem, a low sense of self-worth, and that causes all manner of ills. The Christian knows that the problem is sin, cured by faith in Christ, but the humanistic world tells you that the problem is low self-esteem, and the treatment is to get some more. And one of the ways to do that is by praise.
We love to hear words of praise. They soothe us from the moment they caress our ears, and lead to a warmed heart and make us feel good about ourselves. But I would tell you that we should not let the words of another determine our worth. God would look at us and see a derelict sinner deserving damnation, but for Christians he sees the righteousness of His son Jesus Christ; our value and worth to God is what is given to us by His grace through His Son. When a Christian hears words of praise for his deeds, he should react in two ways. He should first be encouraged that he is doing what God would have him do, and doing it correctly. If the Christian hears this praise repeatedly, it may be inferred that he is good at what he is doing. Secondly, he should never take the words of man and decide that they declare him a good person, better or superior to others. Philippians 2:3 teaches, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." And Paul tells us in Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
A good person will do good things; however, you cannot infer the opposite, that someone who does good things is always a good person. Even bad people can do good things. And even if someone repeatedly does good things, or does things well, it does not certify their good status before God. Only faith in Christ can do this. This week we have seen the NFL report on their investigation of Tom Brady and his team deflating footballs for a playoff game to make them easier to grasp and catch. You may say that Tom Brady is good at playing football, and even that he is a good quarterback. But can you say that Tom Brady is a good person? According to the report, he cheated, and that is stealing, taking from the opponent a fair chance at play. And cheating usually violates a second commandment, that of bearing false witness, because cheaters will not tell the truth about what they have done. Why would a multimillionaire, full of fame and fortune, with so much worldly success, resort to cheating?
Jesus described the problem in John 14:44, "...for they love the praise of men more than the praise of God." We can so enjoy the praise of others that we feast upon it. It becomes nourishment to us, and even an addiction for some. We savor each flattering word that enters into our ears, and we strive to do anything that will yield us more of these delicious morsels. I confess that I have been guilty of this. And even Paul tells us that this once was a vice for him in Galatians 1:10, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." The word "felicity" can mean "happiness" or "joy". I would say that if you overindulge in food continuously you can end up with morbid obesity, but if you continue to relish the praise of men and rely on that for your happiness or joy you are suffering from morbid felicity.
We are born in sin, and only faith in Christ Jesus can release us from that bondage. All the words of praise from men will not make us good, and should not lead the Christian to believe that, nor should he crave it. The only source of goodness and righteousness is God, and our "self-esteem" is irrelevant; it is only "God-esteem" that counts, and He determines our worth through His son Jesus. If you feast on full meals over and over, you get an expanded waistline. If you feast on the praise of men over and over, you get a swollen ego. The first makes it hard to slip on your clothes over your hips, but the second makes it hard to put on Christ's white robe of righteousness over your big fat head.
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