Pushing or Pulling?

Pushing or PullingDr. Johnny L. SandersWe may read the story of Ananias and Saphira with a certain amount of awe, and then set it aside as an interesting narrative, then dismiss it as being without application in our time. After all, there are a lot of people who lie about what they do for the Lord. Even if they do not outright lie, they do not correct those who credit them for doing more than they do. I have a memory of a friend whom I saw every Sunday morning in the Sunday School office, working on records and, with others, counting the money given in Sunday School. Years later, I visited with my friend after he had asked me to preach the funeral sermon after his wife died. I visited with my friend in a hospital in another part of the state and while I was there we talked about people we had known in that church where he had served. I mentioned one man who was always there, friendly and joking. When I mentioned his faithfulness, my friend told me that this church member would come by the Sunday School office and write a check for all the change (and I assume, small bills). He said he needed it for his store, and it would help those who were preparing the deposit. My friend said, "He wrote a check for the money, and then he would use that check when he counted his contributions on his income tax report." I do not know whether my friend knew that or just suspected it, but if the church member was dishonest, the Lord did not strike him dead the first time he did it.All hypocrites and deceivers are not struck down as were Ananias and Saphira, a fact for which we should be especially grateful. Now I will confess that I have been guilty of hypocrisy - in fact, I have been just as guilty as you! Here is a personal illustration I wrote some time ago. It illustrates something of the attitude of some church members.It was like an oven, except that the heat in the Mississippi Delta was a little more humid. It was a miserable existence for a thirteen year old boy, day after day after day, with the only break being Sunday when everything shut down so the family could go to church - morning and evening. His mother set the alarm for 4:00 A.M. and called him at 4:15. That is when his day started six days a week, winter and summer. He started his day with what his friends in town might have called "chores." To him it was just his contribution to the family, milking, feeding, and moving livestock around. Slopping hogs! Of course, those "chores" would have to be repeated that evening after a long day in the field.In a recent book of World War II, the author referred to a young man from Kentucky as a "harvester of cotton and chopper of weeds." City boy! The young man chopped cotton and picked cotton! Kids in the Mississippi Delta knew the jargon before they started to school. It was hard work, and boring, but someone had to do it. These were the days before farmers used pre-emergence chemicals (pre-merge) to control grass and weeds, so it all had to be done with hoe and plow. When a young boy graduated from hoe to plow it was like a right-of-passage: he was growing up, if not quite a grown-up.An unexpected shower brought a welcomed recess to the youth's agricultural education early one afternoon. As hot as it was that day, the rain left everything steamy, but at least he would have a break for the rest of the day, allowing time for him to pray for another rain. Or, so he thought. With cotton choppers hired and grass growing the farmer reasoned aloud that it might not have rained on "the lower place," and even if it did it was sandy and they could probably work anyway.Psychology had not yet arrived in the Green River community, seven miles west of Sledge, MS, so regardless of his disappointment, the youth kept his mouth shut. In the first place, he knew better than to argue with his father and in the second place, he did not want his father to think he was lazy. A teenager in that community might overcome a lot of shortcomings, but if he was ever labeled "lazy" the label stayed with him. Our lad made an effort to hide his disappointment, knowing the importance of the work but at the moment hating every minute of it.Family members and hired hands loaded onto the truck and headed for the lower place, the family - less the youth - in the cab, and everyone else on the back. They had to drive down a dirt road for over half a mile to get to the lower place, but since it was sandy they should have no problem. There were two "mud-holes" on the road, but since the land was sandy no one every thought of getting stuck. But on this day, as the farmer slowed down to ease through one of the holes to avoid splashing muddy water on everyone on the back, and he got the truck stuck. No problem in the Mississippi Delta at that time - and not an uncommon occurrence.At the word from the farmer, everyone got off to push, including the brilliant youth who was entertaining an Edisonian light bulb that was flickering in his mind. Everyone moved to either side of the truck, standing on solid ground, leaning over to put a hand on the truck so they could push when the word came from the farmer. Some of the people were prepared to give it their all, knowing they could push the truck out of the hole. Children would push as hard as they could, regardless of how much good they would do. Some would have their hand on the truck and lean into it, but they would not put out much energy because they knew someone else would do the heavy work.Then, there was our bright young man who was still rebelling against the task ahead, thinking about the hard work waiting on the lower place, frustrated that he would not be able to spend a couple of hours throwing a baseball with his brother in the front yard. When everyone else got off the truck and moved to the either side, he jumped over the tailgate and found a good place to push. Suddenly a plan came to mind. When the farmer, Mr. Joe, gave the word everyone began to push forward - except our young friend, who had his hands on the top of the tailgate as thought pushing. But when everyone else leaned into the task, he planted his feet and pulled back with all his might.Every time they tried to push backward he pushed forward, and when they pushed forward he planted his feet and pulled against them. They were successful, pushing the truck through to solid ground, dragging the youth through the mud and water. Congratulating themselves on a job well done, they prepared to load onto the truck again. The young boy stood proudly among them, accepting the praise of those who thought he had tried harder than any of them - after all, he was the only one who was totally covered with mud and water! He joined in, "We did it!"We will call our young friend Johnny. My wife, who has taught for more years than I have permission to mention, has often reminded me that in all the stories about little boys who can't read, can't throw a ball, or can't be still in class, the boy is always called "little Johnny". It is sufficient to say that for many years our young friend would have been too embarrassed to repeat this story. He would probably never mention it in front of anyone who helped push the truck out of the mud-hole that day. The father never knew the story.This story might be amusing only to those who knew the youth, except for the fact that I have seen this scene played out in a few churches during my ministry.Let's see if we can draw some parallels.The "lower place" is the task before us, the fields white unto harvest.The truck is the church.The workers are the people.Some take the work very seriously.Some cannot contribute as much as others, but they do their best.Some are just going along for the ride, they have hand in, but do not much more.Then there is the church member like the youth in this story:He was in a place where he might have done the most good.He pretended to be working with others, when in reality he is working against them.When they succeeded, he accepted credit for "doing his part" and more.He was a hypocrite - at that time (all hypocrites do not practice the art every day).He was also standing before the Lord and the church wearing filthy garments (KJV).He needed to confess his sin and receive the Lord's forgiveness and His cleansing.Sadly, hypocrisy wasn't eliminated in the First Century. When we are guilty of hypocrisy we should confess it to the Lord and repent. When we observe what we consider hypocrisy in others, we should pray for them, but we should never try to hide behind them to justify our unfaithfulness. God may not strike the hypocrite dead today, but the sin of lying to the Holy Spirit is just as serious today as it was them. That is one of the lessons we should learn from this chapter.