Who Are You

From The Desk Of A Geek:

Who Are You

Here's a shocker, not only do I collect comic books, coins, stamps, and love superheros, I'm also a fan of TV crime shows.

Sometimes I learn things in strange ways. And I annoy the people around me because I get so excited about the things I learn, and the weird ways I learn them that I just have to tell all about it.

For example, I had a couple of thoughts the other day while watching a rerun episode of one of my favorite crime shows...C.S.I, I'm talking about the orginal C.S.I with Gill Grissom.

My first thought was, “Never eat while watching an episode of CSI.” My second thought was, “What if you could do a forensic investigation on a soul?” That question reminded me of King Saul.

The story of King Saul holds a strange and gnawing fascination for me. It covers miles of emotional ground. Some average guy finds out one day that he is king. I love that. Who among us hasn’t stapled a paper crown together and walked regally around our first grade classroom? Most of us secretly want to be king one day, and if it comes suddenly and as a surprise, 

all the better! 

That’s exactly what happened to Saul, son of Kish. He wasn’t in line for kingship for several reasons. He was from the wrong tribe. And more significantly, up until that point, Israel wasn’t ruled by a king. Saul was raised up out of total obscurity and given a unique opportunity to be a mighty man of God and a blessing to his people. He could’ve been great.

Most men that we think of as great aren't. Mostly they’re just high achievers. But the Bible never commands anyone to be a high achiever. It never tells men to amass great fortunes, build tall buildings, or wield great power. The Bible records one ultimate purpose for us: to love God (Matthew 22:37-38). 

This love will naturally work its way out into a number of behaviors, like Bible study and obedience. However, the first priority, our most important goal, is to deeply and wholly love God. In addition to that, fathers are to pass this deep love along to their children (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). 

That’s the true measure of greatness.

King David had all of these gifts, and he was for the most part a wonderful, shining example of a godly king. On the contrary, every one of these gifts were first given to Saul, son of Kish, but his knees buckled under the weight. He was crushed by the blessing

It is only fair to give Saul his due. He wasn’t the worst king Israel ever had. I would even argue that to the average man on the street, he would have to be considered in the top five of Israel’s better kings. He didn’t amass numerous wives. He didn’t marry foreign wives. 

He didn’t build and then worship idols. To his credit he achieved quite a bit. He fought against the Philistines, and he actually built a working kingdom where none had existed before. King Saul was a high achiever. But even with all of these achievements, Saul was a spectacular failure in God’s eyes

Let’s be the CSI team assigned to the disaster that is the life of Saul. Let’s do the forensic investigation. If we were to zoom in to the soul of King Saul, we would find it underdeveloped, emaciated, and diseased. Now a first-year forensic investigator of the soul might conclude that this resulted from all of the rebellious sins Saul had committed. The older, wiser, and more seasoned investigator would know from experience that though sin can cause this kind of damage, in the case of King Saul, total spiritual negligence warped his soul into this pathetic condition. One day while studying this story, I realized that King Saul is the absolute embodiment of the lukewarm believer.

He was neither the vilest nor the most wicked king of Israel. He was uniquely... lukewarm. That’s what scares me the most about the story of Saul. I would like to think that I am a little bit like King David. But truth be told, I am more like Saul. I am tempted to be lukewarm.

One of the most insidious symptoms of being lukewarm is a lack of pain. Leprosy is like that. It damages your nerves so you can’t feel any pain. You’re slowly being destroyed by the disease, but you just don’t feel it. The lukewarm soul is slowly being destroyed as well, and yet there is no discomfort. To even become aware that you are lukewarm, you need a jolt. You need to be shocked out of your complacency. 

Some years back I was jolted out of my complacency by a good wife, I was inspired by godly men, and I saw that love for Christ is my calling. I determined to be a godly man and pass my love for Him along to my kids and to a couple of younger men. I’m working at it. If the CSI team was looking into my soul today, they would see one perhaps on the smallish side, but one that clearly shows signs of recent growth

What about you? If you’ve been ignoring God’s prompting, snap out of it! Call out to God for help, However, let’s not be naïve, this is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard work. It’s routinely frustrating, and at times you want to give up. However, it’s more important than pursuing great power. It’s more important than amassing great wealth, and it’s even more important than becoming a king.

Lonnie...