Gregory Scott

What Man Wants And What Man Should Want

I think I’ve figured out what every person really wants. If we were really honest, we would have to admit that deep down we want things to be the way we want them to be. We want what we want when we want it and we want the power to get it. We don’t want anyone to be able to say no to us.

To have this we would have to be all powerful, which is another word for omnipotent. In other words, what we really want is to be God.

The problem with all that power is it corrupts a soul that is not pure, holy and humble. I see this all the time in the courthouse. Attorneys become judges and suddenly everybody is their friend, and laughs at their stupid jokes and goes all obsequious around them. Before long an arrogance sets in, followed by a harshness and unkindness. Lord Acton was right, “Power corrupts.” If we don’t know this, we should. The examples are all around us.

So herein lies the irony: We want God’s power but not His character; but without His character His power would make us tyrants.

Perhaps that is why the Lord places such an emphasis on sanctification. Perhaps that is why Jesus said we are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33). If He was to share Kingdom authority with us when we don’t have a sufficient level of Christlikeness, that authority runs the risk of corrupting us.

Maybe what we should want is to be more like Jesus. GS

Do You Have These Kind Of Friends?

“And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him. And also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.” (Acts 19:30-31).

The Apostle Paul had the right kind of friends, the kind who stopped him from doing what he wanted to do when it wasn’t the best thing for him to do.

If you don’t have friends who will tell you not to do something that’s not right, you don’t have the right kind of friends.

Tiger Woods apparently didn’t have these kind of friends, or if he did he ignored them. Instead Woods became the pied piper of a lackey parade that would make Macy’s envious. This seems to be par for the course for many professional athletes and celebrities. It doesn’t have to be true of you.

Do you have the kind of friends who can tell you not to do something immoral or stupid? Are you the kind of friend that will be the voice of warning to a friend getting ready to make a bad decision? If not, you should question whether you are a friend or have any real friends. (p.s. Thanks to Steven Furtick for his insight on Acts 19:30-31 that inspired this blog post). GS

A Forgotten Virtue

Aristotle said, “It is better to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.” Socrates said “Everything in moderation, nothing in excess.” The Bible states, “It is not good to eat too much honey.” (Proverbs 25:27).

Moderation recognizes more of the good is not always better and too much of anything is almost always worse. Though moderation has been recognized as a virtue throughout history, in modern times it has all but been forgotten.

I suspect the young have always suffered from a lack of moderation. We have to tell children not to spoil their appetite by eating too much candy and college students not to drink too much. But experience, an able teacher, and partnered with age, a professor, in times past has instructed men of the benefits of moderation.

Today, people are poorer students. The reason? I suspect it is that modernity’s ability to deliver seemingly instant and unlimited gratification allows people to switch from one excess to another before recognizing the culprit is excess, not the object of it. But whatever the reason for moderation’s decline, it is not because of a diminution of its merit.

Try this. Next time you you enjoy a good meal or a bowl of ice cream or a good glass of wine, don’t go back for seconds. Stop while you’re wanting more, and I think you will find yourself having enjoyed the entire experience to a much greater degree, your quality of life will soar…and your waistline may even shrink. GS

Before You Get Too Excited Or Upset About Election Results

As it write this, the networks are still projecting winners before all the votes are in, but it appears the Republicans will achieve a majority in the House of Representatives and make considerable gains in the Senate. Republicans are calling it a rejection of the Democrats’ big government solutions.

This is an old song. Democrats believe more government regulation is almost always the answer and Republicans think the opposite. Christians can watch this left-right tug-of-war and be tempted to pick sides, when really we are being asked to pick between Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Any time the government regulates something it is restricting the freedom of someone. But when people are immoral, greedy and take advantage of others, the government is compelled to act to protect the victims of those who do not exercise their freedom responsibly. The left-right game is principally an argument over control of the thermostat: more freedom, along with greed and abuse, or more protection for consumers, along with less freedom and higher taxes. While fighting over the thermostat is probably necessary, neither the left or the right offer a real solution for the problem. Fortunately, there is a third way.

More responsible people need less government regulation. Less government regulation means more freedom. Therefore, more responsible people means more freedom. Jesus is in the business of making more responsible people, which is why I’m not particularly rabid about Tweedledee or Tweedledum, but in making disciples. As more people become obedient to Jesus they become more responsible and require less government regulation, which means more freedom for everyone, even those who don’t know Jesus.

So, give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Be informed, get involved in politics, but recognize that fiddling with the thermostat is an adjustment not a solution. GS

Securing The Integrity Of Strangers

I had an experience at a hotel earlier this year that probably could have been avoided. I was watching a movie in the room, paused it and then was going to be charged again to get the movie started again. I called the front desk and they said, “No problem, just order it again and we won’t charge you for the second time.”

The same evening while at the front desk, I helped out a guy, who for some reason didn’t have a credit card to leave for incidental charges. I left a $20 bill at the front desk, which allowed him to check in and which the front desk clerk said I could pick up when I left (since he was not going to charge anything else to his room). “No problem.” Then about 11:00 p.m., someone offered to drive me to the airport the next morning, so I called the front desk to cancel the taxi I had ordered for 7:00 a.m. “No problem. We will take care of it.”

You can see where this is going. The next morning the clerk at the front desk (a different one) told me she couldn’t remove the movie charge but said I could write Comcast to have it removed and then follow up after thirty days to make sure it was removed from my credit card. Right, I’m going to do all that for $15.

Then she had no idea about the $20 I left at the front desk and asked me the name of the gentlemen I had helped out, which I couldn’t remember because I’d never met him before in my life. And, of course, the taxi–the taxi I had been assured would be cancelled–showed up at 7:00 p.m. to take me to airport. Three for three. Nice.

I knew how to avoid this and just didn’t do it this time. Each time someone promised me something, I should have asked their name and then thanked them, mentioning their name again. By doing so, I would have let each person know I was holding them accountable for their promise and would remember their name. It would have called each person to accountability, which would have secured their integrity. I learned this a long time ago and it works. Give it a try. GS