A lot of my family and friends enjoy watching CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. It isn’t the most convenient time to watch a show live for some people (7 am in some places) but it still has a faithful following. Why? Because all of the vignettes are both interesting and uplifting. This show is in complete contrast to what prime time television provides.

Paul’s sixth point in Philippians 4:8 is to think about whatever is of “good repute” or “admirable.” You would think with all the evil that naturally occurs in the world that we would be starving to hear about the good, but judging by the number of TV shows that focus on the scandalous or heinous or even laughable that might not be true. Television and the media in general are all about focusing and highlighting what sells, and obviously the good is not as exciting or enticing as the bad. Likewise, juicy gossip has a lot more pull than complimentary comments.

This is not a point to be belabored. However, I think that if each of us made it a point to look for the admirable, the praiseworthy, the commendable, the laudable (or any other synonym) in at least two people or situations each day, and then we openly shared one of those with others, we might find a difference in not only our own attitude and life perspective but also the immediate world we live in.

Despite our belief that we can multi-task, research shows that the mind can think about only one thing at a time. Therefore, when we have a choice on what to focus on in others and in our world, let’s consciously choose to look for the “admirable.”

“You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read.” John MacArthur

That sounds a bit scary, doesn’t it, because we immediately think we can’t make any mistakes. We have to be perfect; otherwise, people won’t believe the Bible. We can’t admit that we make mistakes or fall into sin or show insecurity or pride or have problems or struggles in our lives; otherwise, people will doubt our Christianity. They might think it “doesn’t work.”

But what does MacArthur’s statement mean? What should a person see in us if we are to be the human Bible? I cannot speak for Mr. MacArthur, but I believe people should see the following three things.

First of all, God’s love. Though many think the Bible is all about does and don’ts, it is first and foremost the complete story of God’s love for us and the price He paid to buy us back into relationship with Him. So number one, others should see God’s unconditional love. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Everyone then should see us striving to emulate that love.

Second, Truth. I know that’s the part a lot of people don’t want to hear, because they don’t think it is loving, but if the Bible is indeed true, then not telling someone the truth is a very selfish and unloving act. In fact, Jesus said in John 18:37: “For this cause, I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Because of God’s love, He sent His son to reveal the truth. However, that truth must be wrapped tightly in God’s love, not in condemnation. God makes it very clear that no one has a right to point fingers (John 8:7). Judgment is God’s domain.

Pastor and author Rick Warren has said, “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

A third point is that the Bible is full of flawed people: proud people, weak and insecure people, murderers, adulterers, prostitutes. You name it. They are in there. Some firmly resisted God to their grave while others surrendered and submitted to God, allowing Him to use them mightily. I think we need to be honest with people about our shortcomings. If we pretend that we are perfect, then they are expecting perfection. But we are flawed humans like everyone else, and claiming Christ as our savior doesn’t magically remove all these flaws. Being a Christian doesn’t remove all of our problems either. If it did, many people would want to become a Christian just to claim a problem free life. But people should see that God’s love and strength and peace redeem and sustain us through any and all of these situations.

Yes, many people will never open a Bible, so we might indeed be the only way that they ever experience God’s unconditional love, hear His truth, and realize that though fallen and sinful people, God can still pick us up, brush us off, redeem us, and then use us if we let Him.

“Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little further down the road.” Jack Hyles

Christianity is not a competition. No one "wins" salvation by being better than others.  It is not a competitive comparison . . . an “I did more than you did” system. Scriptures repeatedly talk about appreciating what each person contributes and that no one is greater than the other, and more importantly, that God’s saving grace is freely bestowed on every individual who personally accepts His son’s sacrifice on the cross.

However, Paul often compares living the Christian life to an athletic competition . . . such as  running a race (Heb. 12:1; I Cor. 9:24; Phil. 2:16; Gal. 2:2 and 5:7) or competing in a boxing match (I Cor. 9:26) or in athletics in general (2 Tim. 2:5). So if Christianity is not a competition, then why would he do that? Because the end matters. No, we cannot earn or win our salvation, but we should be living our lives in a manner honoring to God. We should be more like Christ than like the world by the end of our lives. Unfortunately, this metaphor does create a few problems for many of us. Let me give you an example.

I belong to a local golf club and play with the ladies on a regular basis. It is very enjoyable. However, once a year the Club Championship comes around and these same ladies all play together again . . . but something has definitely changed. As one player remarked, “We play with each other all the time but suddenly, when it is for the Club Championship, we tighten up, get nervous, look ahead, keep thinking about the last mistake . . . .” Add to that comparing how well we did last week and looking at how well we think we should be playing, and suddenly there is a lot of stress. Ah yes, and why? Because now something is at stake.

And that is sometimes what happens to us when we are running the Christian race as well. Because we know whom we are aspiring to be like, we often tighten up thinking we aren’t good enough, get nervous believing we don’t know enough, begin to worry because we were doing better last week (or made mistakes last week), or look ahead at how far we still have to go.

On the golf course, failure or falling short of our goal causes us to reevaluate and focus on areas we are weak in. Failure to hit a straight drive puts us back on the driving range or under the tutelage of an instructor. Likewise, a fall or weakness in our Christian walk should send us back to the scriptures or to a more mature Christian for mentoring and  guidance.

Paul did not intend his metaphor to discourage us or stress us, but rather to encourage us to keep running because no one is successful all the time. Failures are a part of life. But if we persevere, each step we take brings more and more successes. Some are just a little further down the road.

I like aphorisms, those cute, concise, pithy statements that speak truth. Sayings such as  “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” or “A job worth doing is worth doing well.”

One that has come to have special meaning to me is “You can’t see the forest from the trees.” I have always known it means a person is too involved in the details to see the big picture, but I came to have a deeper understanding of this particular aphorism in two ways. The first time was when I moved from teaching into administration. As a teacher, I (like every other teacher) was focused on my classroom and my needs, and if I did broaden my educational view it was merely to include the English department and its needs. But rarely did I look further. Administration opened an entire world of educational needs, and for the first time I saw how petty and narrowly focused some requests could be.

The second realization came after the first time I had come through a difficult time in my life. In the middle of it all, all I could see were the problems and issues and no answers to prayer. But once I had made it through to the other side, I could look back and see all that God had been doing with me and through me and to me during that time. Now, that is not to say that I remembered that every time I went through difficult times since then, at least not right away, but as time has gone by, I have been able to tell myself that from God’s perspective my situation looks very different than it does from mine.

I am fortunate enough to live in an area that reminds me of this truth because it has some beautiful mountains, one of which is Mt. Shasta. I can see it from my house and from just about anywhere in the area, and it looks very much like the top photo, sometimes a bit more of it showing, but very impressive. But what is interesting is that the best views of the mountain are from sixty miles south (as in the bottom photo) or north of the mountain. Suddenly, that mountain is huge, majestic, spectacular. From a distance, it is even more beautiful and awesome because you can see so much more of it. God's perspective is like that.

One of my favorite songs is Bette Midler’s “From a Distance.” But there is one line in there that if we aren’t careful will give us a skewed view of God. She says, “God is watching us from a distance.” It might seem like God is only watching our lives from a distance, but the truth of the matter is he goes before us, walks beside us, and has our back covered. Yes, we need to try and see things from God’s perspective, from a distance, but we need to remember that God is also very, very  close.

May was the month to think about the clause “whatever things are lovely” in Phil. 4:8. Ah, one we can finally sink our teeth into, for who doesn’t want to enjoy the lovely? These are a few of the things that are lovely to me.

A friend’s generous and kind heart
Special times with family
A beautiful sunrise or sunset
Snow on the mountains
The deep blue of a mountain lake
The smell of pines and the wind in the trees
The roar of the ocean
The smile on a child’s face

You would think that focusing on the lovely would be easy and natural, wouldn’t you? But how many times do we gravitate or get pushed toward the ugly? Far too often, for the ugly is on the front page of every newspaper and flaunted on every tabloid. Much of television focuses on scandal or criminal behavior as well. And what is gossip except the reveling in some degree of human ugliness. You don’t hear people whispering behind others backs about all the beautiful and lovely things those individuals have done.

How unfortunate, for focusing on the ugly can make us depressed, turn us bitter, and create cynics.

We cannot escape the ugly, but if we have a choice on what to focus on, then let’s heed Phil. 4:8 and focus on the lovely: those beautiful aspects of nature and human behavior. If you feel comfortable doing so, please share one thing you find lovely.