Friday, June 13, 2014
Identifying Blind Spots
Under cover of night, completely
clothed in black, and armed to the teeth with high tech gadgets, a team of 4 slip out of a cargo van and creep
stealthily down an alley. Within minutes
they succeed in scaling a wall, cutting a large hole in a plate glass window
and disarming an elaborate alarm system.
They proceed to outmaneuver video
cameras and security personnel while snaking their way through dark hallways to the basement. Their
goal, of course, is to gain access to the well-endowed bank vault. Observers might be shocked to discover who put them up to this
crookery; their" boss" is none other than the bank president.
Why would a bank president pay
someone to do such a thing? To test the
security of their system. To be honest
about just how safe his customer's money is.
Risk assessment is a huge business.
Many people make a good, honest living trying to break into buildings,
hack into accounts or take advantage of systems. This industry serves governments and
businesses by finding their blind spots - because every company and every
government agency has blind spots.
People have blind spots too.
Everybody does. Some of us have addictions but can't admit
it. Many of us have bad habits that
don't look so bad from where we're sitting.
All of us have tainted attitudes, detrimental idiosyncrasies and
weaknesses that are hard to acknowledge without outside help. Everyone needs
someone to help them find their blind spots.
This is why world class athletes hire coaches and why great writers hire
great editors.
It may surprise many people to
discover that God is on our side and is interested in helping us with our blind
spots. Two and a half millennia ago a
poet recognized this truth and penned these prayers: "Open
my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Keep me from lying to myself; give me the
privilege of knowing your instructions." (Psalm 119:18 &29 NLT)
Those not personally familiar
with the Bible, may have accepted the misguided viewpoint that the Bible is an
irrelevant, mysterious and intimidating book that is loaded with mythology and stifling
prohibitions. When, in fact, the Bible
is full of eternal principles and life-giving advice. It was inspired by God and intended to help
us with our blind spots. It is God's
gift to mankind. For thousands of years
millions of people, from many cultures, have truly embraced God's Word and
subsequently testified to its power and effectiveness in radically improving lives.
Here's a huge tip: don't just read the Bible - let it expose
your blind spots and then do something about those blinds spots. This requires a degree of honesty that many
people are unwilling to explore. A
contemporary of Jesus Christ put it like this: "But don’t just listen to
God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling
yourselves. For if you listen to the word and
don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and
forget what you look like. But
if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do
what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing
it." (James 1:22-25 NLT) Let God become your risk assessment advisor today,
because we all have blind spots.
Monday, June 02, 2014
Living Un-caged
Over a century ago
a physical education instructor form Springfield, MA changed history. In an effort to entertain and involve his
students at a YMCA training school, James
Naismith invented the game
of basketball. Within a few years the
game was widespread. As the game evolved
and professional teams emerged players were called "cagers". The term
"cagers" sprung from the fact that early basketball teams literally
played in a cage. The record shows that
in 1896 one of the first professional teams (a team from Trenton, NJ) played in a social
hall. Their playing area was literally a
12-foot-high wire-mesh fence set along the endlines and sidelines. They were
caged.
At the time, the cage made good
sense. It was necessary because in the early era of basketball if a pass went
out of bounds it was awarded to the first person to possess take possession of
the ball. This rule causes players to
fight for balls off of the court. Many
times even fans would join the raucous.
The result was chaos on the sidelines.
In an effort to curb the fighting, officials decided to make boundaries
a little more like hockey boundaries of our day. To sum it up, a bad rule brought out the
worst in people, prompting a severe solution - players were caged in.
A few years later
the rule was changed and it became evident that the cages were unnecessary,
however some professional teams were still playing in cages up until the mid
1920s. Once the rule was changed, and the fences were removed,
"cagers" became a thing of the past. Baseball players were un-caged.
The moral of the
story: good rules allow us to live without cages. Let me say it another way: Living by good
rules is freedom. Boundaries like no sex
outside of marriage, no murder, no lying and no stealing allow societies to
live un-caged. If we could trust people
to live by such rules we would not have the inconveniences of pat downs, body
scans, video surveillance, locked down public venues. Unfortunately cages must be created when
mankind will not voluntarily live by good rules.
This is how the
Bible puts it: "There I gave them my decrees and regulations so they could
find life by keeping them." (Ezekiel 20:11)
God's rules are
designed to keep mankind civil and to help them live in freedom. His rules give us the freedom to do what is
right and to live un-caged! Students of
the Bible will discover that the rules of Scripture are designed to give people
the freedom to live life un-caged. Here
are a few examples:
·
People
who limit their sexual behavior, are free to be good parents and free from many
diseases and emotional impairments that come from indiscriminate behavior.
·
People
who choose to love their enemies and forgive others, are free from bitterness,
revenge and hatred
·
People
who voluntarily curb their intake of unhealthy foods and drugs live free of
many addictions and diseases.
·
Those
who accept God's plan for salvation can live guilt-free and confident of their
eternal destination.
In short, people
who discover and apply God's rules for life can live un-caged.
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