Knowing your headquarters from your hindquarters

My son is a military chaplain, currently stationed in Okinawa.  In this week's newsletter, he shared the following message with his readers.  While intended for a military readership, I think it has general appeal and share it herewith.

During the American Civil War, General John Pope—whose army in the west had seen more success than its eastern counterpart—was transferred by President Lincoln to command of the Army of the Potomac. Shortly after taking command he gave a rather impassioned speech to his troops extolling his successes, and in the process highlighting their failures. To illustrate that he planned for the Army to be always on the move he stated that his headquarters would be in the saddle. His men would later quip that their commander had “his headquarters where his hindquarters should be.” To not know one’s headquarters from his hindquarters has remained, in various forms, an expression describing a man or a woman confused about something that should be obvious to him; after all it’s obvious to us. Or is it?

We modern people have done such a terrific job of busting up stereotypes and taboos, of breaking rules and eliminating boundaries, and blurring distinctions, that we have become confused about the kinds of things that were once obvious and incontrovertible. Even what it means to be a man or a woman has become a source of confusion —gender confusion. G.K. Chesterton warned in his 1929 book The Thing not to tear down a fence or a gate we think is useless. “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.” Stereotypes, taboos, rules, boundaries, and distinctions are fences that have been erected over generations of hard-earned experience, and many are right to be torn down. However, many more are best left standing where they are, and a thoughtless, impulsive, self-serving society has failed to make the measured judgement required and simply tears down whatever stands in the way of its desires.

Often judgement is cast aside because of Jesus’ own words, "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned.” We hear these words and believe ourselves commanded to reserve judgment and refrain from characterizing things as right or wrong. We demur behind a wall of relativism saying, “I can’t tell you what’s right for you.” And if we were to read no further into the Gospel of Luke, maybe this would be the correct conclusion. But Jesus didn’t stop there, He went on to say, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher.” All of us need to be taught by someone who knows, and those who know—who have learned before we have—have paved roads of knowledge for us, with road signs to direct us, and gates and fences to protect us. We disregard or destroy them at our own peril.

In addition to His warning that the blind leading the blind is disastrous, Jesus gives another admonition, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?” Stop there and again we get the wrong impression -- that we should be worried only about ourselves. But Jesus then says, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.” Jesus doesn’t mean to disregard our brother’s speck simply because of our plank. We have to remove our obstacles to truth, our own selfishness, pride, and self-serving choices, and be willing to become more like Jesus, our teacher. When we are more comfortable around the Truth, then we will be able to see how best to help our brethren following behind us. But how do we know?

Jesus gives us a hint as to how to tell what’s true, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." As obvious as distinguishing the headquarters from the hindquarters, you can’t get apples from a pine tree. Men and women are different. Right and wrong are the same for everyone, everywhere, at all times. We do not show love for each other by pretending otherwise. When we are not certain what kind of fruit a tree (or act, or person) will bear, we can reserve judgment and seek the guidance we need to remove the plank from our vision. But most times the fruit is obvious, and we need to have the courage to defend the fences our forefathers erected for our protection out of wisdom and love for us, lest we put our headquarters where our hindquarters should be. 

Deep and Wide

It's not exactly a theophany, but God spoke to me this morning in an unusual way.  I was reading my morning devotions -- as usual -- using the books and web sites I visit each day.  But my first web site grabbed me in an unusual way.

My initial reaction was negative:  "Oh, no.  I can't get away from politics, even during my devotions."    That was because the writer began with the Affordable Care Act and a paper she had read.

"Oh, great!" I said to myself.  This devotional reading is based on an academic paper, not on the Scriptures.

But habits being what they are (and being compelled to finish any reading I begin because of my OCD), I read the entire piece.  And God spoke to me, humbling me as He said, "I can use any means to speak, but you've got to be open to listening."  Maybe I was more sensitive to this message today because in my Corps Officer's sermon yesterday, she said "In order to hear God, you've got to be open to listen to whatever He says and however he says it."

If you've read this far, you may be wondering what He said to me.  Here's the gist, based on the Great Commandment and the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:  Christians are accountable not just to God and to the Christian community, but to the broader community as well.  The writer asks this question:  "How can we focus our faith on being more accountable in doing the work of this world?  I think the readings today point out that in seeking to be accountable to the Gospel, we need to keep focused on the truths revealed through Jesus Christ.  That means being accountable to our neighbors.  Accountability means demonstrating love in seeking truth and equity."  (Barbara Dilly, Creighton U Daily Reflections)

Here I was engaged in a pietistic discipline of daily Scripture and devotional reading with prayers, and I'm being challenged that my holiness cannot go deeper unless it spreads wider.  

I got the same message from Stuart Briscoe ("Devotions for Men") on Thursday.  He was commenting on the Levitical command to leave part of the harvest for gleaning by the poor and said, "you see, there is a very definite link between being holy and picking grapes.  There is also a link between holiness and opening doors for old people, picking up beer cans left in the countryside, caring for AIDS patients, reviewing the way you pay your employees, treating a baggage handler with courtesy, and showing respect to a waiter.  In some ways holiness is not easy.  But in our culture so many people behave so badly that it is not very difficult to stand out, to be separate, to be holy – simply by treating people properly!”

My last post was about how to be a Christian voter in the current climate of acrimonious political interaction.  Dilly spoke to that in this way:  "Defining a shared set of values and a coherent vision for the future is very difficult.   One thing does seem to be certain, and that is the vision must include the value of accountability to society for every American."

Part of my frustration in this political climate is the sense of powerlessness to influence the culture more broadly.  I have seen many posts on Facebook that promise (as I have done) to pray for our country; it sometimes seems as if that is all Christians can do.  But I was challenged by my devotions again this morning to do all that I can to emphasize Kingdom values in my daily interactions with my neighbors and to do all that I can to help our country's leaders arrive at a coherent vision that is rooted in God's Word.

Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me again today.