Hero or Failure? Riding the Roller Coaster - Part 2

Gideon served as a judge in Israel before there was a king. Hebrews 11 introduces him as a member of the Hall of Faith. God's call came as he was working to provide for his family, practicing values that were upright and honorable. He became a hero by defeating an entire army with just three hundred men because God was with him.

After this decisive battle Gideon demonstrated moments of moral failure. He failed to anchor Israel in faithfulness to God, for after his death the nation soon returned to idol worship. Abimelech, Gideon’s son whose mother was a concubine, had all but one of his half-brothers killed.

What's clear about Gideon is that he could be a hero one day and a moral failure the next. God's desire is that we develop and maintain values that reflect his presence in our lives. Yet by God's grace and mercy, he can and will use us despite our limitations and failures. Thank God for his unmerited favor that permits us to choose and serve him.  

Keep Your Values in Focus - Part 3

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian, was murdered by the Gestapo near the end of World War II because he spoke against Hitler and the war. Bonhoeffer wrote about the "cost of discipleship" and "cheap grace." He gave his life for his values and for what he knew was God’s will for himself.

He could have been rescued by friends in Germany, England, and America, but he refused. It would have been impossible for him to have returned to the church and been a creditable leader if he had betrayed his values. Bonhoeffer chose costly grace and forfeited his life because he could not live by contradictory values and behaviors.

A businessman related that he had several sexual liaisons when he was out of the country and feared he had contacted AIDS. This man had created two worlds for himself which required two sets of values. God's word encourages us to be single-minded, to have the mind of Christ Jesus, for he gives us God's grace, costly grace.