Maintaining the great glory of God’s name
I guess it really should not be a surprise for parents of multiple children to find ink and crayon often scrawled all over all of the wrong places. A good friend of mine, who just so happens to be a collector of the artwork of the late Thomas Kinkade, found this out the hard way. Over the couch in their living room, they had a huge, lovely, valuable Kinkade canvas. Their youngest daughter thought it was absolutely lovely. She also, though, thought that it could be even lovelier still, and she set about making it so, at least in her mind.
Ink pen.
Hear, please, in your mind, the sound of many thousands of dollars worth of value being sucked down the drain.
To his credit, my dear friend never so much as raised his voice at his daughter. Little kids do what little kids do, and they simply have to be taught the dos and the dont’s.
Fine artwork should be treated, oh, so very carefully. While certainly not wealthy enough to collect any originals, Dana and I have been blessed to be able to get several nice prints, some on canvas, from some of our favorite artists: Kinkade, Phillip Philbeck, Mark Keathley and Abraham Hunter. My favorite, “Light of the World” by Keathley, also has a personal sketch of his on the back that he drew as we sat and talked to him, making it that much more precious to me.
We absolutely love the way the colors and textures seem to pop off the canvases, making the works seem almost more vibrant than life itself. All of these works have been carefully framed and displayed and are treated with the utmost care.
From the very creation of man, God has blessed him with an incomparable piece of art: the name (which carries with it the reputation, the character, the testimony) of God. Psalm 29:2 says, “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
So glorious is that name that not one single brush stroke should ever be added to it; let alone the behavioral graffiti with which it is often defiled and defaced.
Some years ago, we attended the funeral of a dear gentleman who had passed away quite unexpectedly. The place was packed; there were family and friends from multiple states there to pay their respects. There were also multiple speakers, most of whom did an incredibly admirable job glorifying the Lord, eulogizing the departed and encouraging the family. And then there was the guy who, I kid you not, used his speaking slot to hawk for his newly published book. My wife and I were aghast; you could almost hear the garish spray paint spattering the name of the Lord in those moments.
I stopped at a gas station for fuel one day and, on the post beside the gas pump, there was a flyer for a Christian concert coming to town. In bold letters at the top of the page were the words, “It’s all about him!” But just below that was a note that for a substantially higher ticket price, you could get VIP seating, because nothing says “It’s all about him” quite like VIP seating for those who have more money than others.
As a child, I remember seeing full-grown adults literally scream at each other in church, in front of visitors. I have also seen Christians using their Christianity as a bargaining chip for more favorable prices in a business deal.
As James so astutely observed in James 3:10, “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” Each and every child of God should daily, intentionally remember that we are to be the guardians of the glory of the name of God, not the vandals thereof.
A pastor friend of mine changed accountants one year, and his new accountant found that the old accountant had misfigured his taxes going back several years. He gulped as he informed him that he owed more than $20,000 in back taxes. He said, “Now, they may never come back on you, and they may never know this.” My friend said, “They may not, but I do, and what I do has the potential to affect what everyone thinks of God.” He then went out and secured a home equity loan with which to pay those back taxes.
Another pastor who did business with a local company established such a reputation for honesty that when something ran up at a higher price and he let the cashier know the correct price, a supervisor who was passing by said, “If he says it, there is no need to check; he is the most honest customer we have.”
If you are a believer in Christ, then in every word you say and everything you do, the primary thought of your heart should be to maintain the beauty and the glory of God’s great name.