Copr. Bruce N. Cameron, J.D., 1996.
INTRODUCTION: OUR LESSON THIS WEEK HAS ONE VERY SIMPLE PROPOSITION: THAT WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO GOD TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF OUR BODY JUST AS WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF OUR MONEY AND OUR TALENTS. THE IDEA IS THAT IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY AND LIVE TO BE 70, INSTEAD OF 50, YOU HAVE 20 MORE YEARS TO BE A CHRISTIAN WITNESS TO OTHERS. ALTHOUGH THIS SOUNDS REASONABLE, THE LESSON DOESN'T CITE ANY SCRIPTURES THAT DIRECTLY SUPPORT THIS OBVIOUS POINT. AND IF TIME ON EARTH IS THAT CRITICAL, WHY IS IT THAT JESUS SPENT LESS THAN FOURS YEARS ON EARTH IN HIS MINISTRY? LETS LOOK AT SOME TEXTS!
I. THE SECRET TO LONG LIFE
A. WHAT DO YOU THINK MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE LENGTH OF YOUR LIFE? LIST, THEN VOTE ON THE LIST.
1. HEALTH HABITS: WHAT YOU EAT, HOW MUCH YOU SLEEP, EXERCISE?
2. GENES?
3. OBEDIENCE TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? WHAT YOU SAY, WHAT YOU THINK?
B. LETS LOOK AT A COUPLE OF TEXTS IN OUR LESSON: FIRST, LETS LOOK UP DEUTERONOMY 5:16, 31-33.
1. WHAT DO THESE TEXTS SUGGEST AFFECT OUR LONGEVITY?
2. GIVE ME PRACTICAL EXAMPLES? (CHILD DISOBEYS PARENTS WHO KNOW BEST HOW TO LIVE. IE. A VIOLENT CHILD WHO IS KILLED BECAUSE OF HIS VIOLENCE.)
C. ANOTHER IMPORTANT TEXT IN OUR LESSON IS 1 COR. 9:25. READ. SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TEXT FOR EXERCISE, RIGHT? LOOK AT THE CONTEXT.
1. WHAT IS PAUL TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE SPEAKS OF RUNNING AND TRAINING? HAVE THEM READ 1 COR 8:8; AND 9:19-27 AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY THINK OF THIS.
2. NOW LETS LOOK AT A TEXT THAT THE LESSON DOES NOT CITE. CONTINUE IN 1 COR. TO 10:1-5.
a. WERE THESE PEOPLE EATING RIGHT?
b. WERE THEY DRINKING RIGHT?
c. WERE THEY GETTING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF EXERCISE?
d. WHAT DID IT DO FOR THEM?
e. WHY DID THEY DIE?
f. WHICH WAS MOST IMPORTANT FOR THEM: QUANTITY OR QUALITY OF THE TIME SPENT ON EARTH? (I THINK THIS SHOWS THAT OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR PHYSICAL CONDITION. AND IF WE ARE GOING TO BE CONCENTRATING ON ANYTHING, IT SHOULD BE OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH.)
D. DO YOU SEE SPIRITUAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL HEALTH AS MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE GOALS? (NO)
E. AFTER CONSIDERING THESE TEXTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU THINK MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTS LONGEVITY?
1. ANY INSIGHT ON WHETHER SMOKING OR STRESS HAVE MORE OF AN IMPACT ON HEALTH?
2. HOW ABOUT EATING MEAT OR WORRY? (TWO WEEKS AGO I WAS AT ANDREWS FOR THE SS CLASS, AND SOMEONE QUOTED A STUDY THAT SAID THAT YOUR CHOLESTEROL COULD INCREASE AT THE RATE OF 20 ML AND HOUR BASED ON STRESS. IF THIS IS TRUE, THAT IS AN AMAZING AND FRIGHTENING STATISTIC.)
F. IN YOUR OWN LIFE, DO YOU SPEND AS MUCH TIME STUDYING THE BIBLE AND CONSIDERING HOW YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE CAN BE IMPROVED AS YOU SPEND STUDYING YOUR DIET, HEALTH AND FITNESS AND HOW YOUR PHYSICAL BODY CAN BE IMPROVED?
1. ARE YOU WORKING INEFFICIENTLY TOWARDS THE GOAL OF SALVATION IF YOU SPEND MORE TIME WORKING ON YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH THAN YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH?
II. STEWARDSHIP ANGLE
A. LETS SHIFT GEARS, BECAUSE OUR LESSON SHIFTS GEARS-- SLIGHTLY. INSTEAD OF JUST ARGUING THAT IF YOU LIVE LONGER, YOU HAVE MORE OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO WITNESS, THE LESSON SUGGESTS THAT OUR BODY IS ONE OF "LIFE'S RESOURCES" OF WHICH WE MUST BE CAREFUL STEWARDS. (WED)
1. LETS LOOK AT A SPECIFIC QUOTE FROM THE (WED) TEACHER'S HELPS: "SELF-DISCIPLINE CONCERNING DIET MEANS WE WON'T BE WASTING MONEY TO PURCHASE UNNECESSARY FOOD ITEMS. ALSO, IF WE TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES WE WILL SPEND LESS MONEY ON HEALTH CARE. THUS WE WOULD HAVE MORE MONEY TO FURTHER THE GOSPEL." THE QUOTE GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT AN ACRE WILL GIVE YOU 10 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN FROM SOYBEANS AS IT WILL OF BEEF. THE SUGGESTION IS THAT WE SHOULD BE EATING SOYBEANS INSTEAD OF BEEF.
2. THIS SEEMS TO RAISE SOME FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GOSPEL AND ECONOMICS.
3. DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR EATING PATTERNS DEPRIVE ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD OF FOOD? IF YOU ATE LESS, WOULD THE PEOPLE IN SOMALIA OR ETHIOPIA EAT MORE?
a. IS THERE A LACK OF FOOD WORLDWIDE?
b. OR IS THERE A DISTRIBUTION PROBLEM? (I THINK THAT WHAT WE EAT HAS NO AFFECT WHATSOEVER ON THESE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. SOMALIA HAS AN EATING PROBLEM BECAUSE IT HAS NO GOVERNMENT, SO THE FOOD IS NOT PRODUCED OR DISTRIBUTED PROPERLY. ETHIOPIA HAD AN EATING PROBLEM BECAUSE IT HAD A MARXIST GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS INVOLVED IN THE WHOLESALE RELOCATION OF PEOPLE WHO OPPOSED GOVERNMENT POLICY AND BECAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR. WE PAY OUR FARMERS NOT TO GROW FOOD.)
4. WHAT ABOUT THE TOUGHER QUESTION: IF YOU BOUGHT BEANS TO EAT INSTEAD OF EXPENSIVE STEAK, COULD YOU TAKE THE MONEY YOU SAVED AND HELP BUY EVANGELISTIC TRACTS WHICH COULD BE PASSED OUT IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD OR IN RUSSIA?
a. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WOULD MISS HEARING ABOUT THE GOSPEL, AND THUS MISS SALVATION, BECAUSE YOU ATE STEAK INSTEAD OF BUYING A TRACT?
b. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A PERSON'S SALVATION CAN HANG ON SUCH A SLENDER THREAD?
c. OR IS THIS PERSON ASSURED BY GOD OF HAVING A CHANCE FOR SALVATION, AND YOUR STEAK EATING IS AN INDEPENDENT ISSUE BETWEEN YOU AND GOD?
B. LETS LOOK AT SOME BIBLE TEXTS ON THIS: READ MATT 25:14-30.
1. NOTICE THAT v. 14, STARTS OUT WITH "AGAIN." (TRANSLITERATION, "AS FOR.")
2. WHAT SUBJECT IS JESUS SPEAKING ABOUT?
3. WHAT IS THE STORY THAT IMMEDIATELY PRECEDES THIS? (PARABLE OF THE 10 VIRGINS. OUR STORY IS THE THIRD IN A LINE ABOUT BEING PREPARED FOR THE 2ND COMING. JESUS TALKS OF IT IN MATT. 24, THEN HE TELLS THE STORY OF THE SERVANTS PLACED IN CHARGE OF THE HOUSEHOLD UNTIL HE RETURNS, THEN HE TELLS THE STORY OF THE 10 VIRGINS AND THEN HE TELLS THE STORY OF THE TALENTS.)
4. WHEN YOU CONSIDER THIS LINE OF STORIES, AND THE THEME OF THEM, DO YOU THINK THAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT STEWARDSHIP, AS OUR LESSON SUGGESTS? (WED)
a. COULD EATING SOYBEANS INSTEAD OF BEEF FIT IN HERE SOMEWHERE? (SINCE THE PARABLE OF THE SERVANTS SEEMS TO SPEAK OF THE SPIRITUAL READINESS OF CHURCH LEADERS, THE PARABLE OF THE 10 VIRGINS THE SPIRITUAL READINESS OF THE REST OF US, I THINK THIS LAST PARABLE SPEAKS OF BEING PRODUCTIVE IN DOING GOOD WORKS.)
5. LOOK AGAIN AT THE PUNCH LINE IN v. 28-29. COULD EATING SOYBEANS FIT IN HERE? (THIS IS NOT A SITUATION WHERE THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE HAD LESS. THE UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE HAD LESS. THIS IS A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION. IF YOU GO OUT AND DO WHAT YOU CAN FOR THE LORD, THE LORD SAYS THAT HE WILL GIVE YOU MORE. IT REMINDS ME OF A STATISTIC THAT I OFTEN HEAR: THAT AMERICANS, WHO ACCOUNT FOR SOME SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE WORLDS POPULATION, CONSUME FULLY 1/4 OF THE WORLD'S RESOURCES. SOUNDS PRETTY BAD DOESN'T IT? WHAT THEY DON'T SAY IS THAT WE PRODUCE ABOUT HALF OF THE WORLDS GOODS AND SERVICES. IF AMERICA BLEW UP TOMORROW, THE PEOPLE IN ETHIOPIA AND SOMALIA WOULD NOT BE BETTER OFF, THEY WOULD BE WORSE OFF!)
C. LETS LOOK AT TWO OTHER TEXTS THAT THE LESSON CITES IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSITION THAT WE ARE STEWARDS OF OUR BODY. 1 COR 10:31 (WE EARLIER LOOKED AT 10:1-5) AND ROM. 14:12. LETS LOOK AT 1 COR 10:31.
1. ISN'T THIS CLEAR THAT WHAT WE EAT OR DRINK IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR GOD'S GLORY?
2. LETS LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND: READ 10: 25-31. DOES THIS PUT A DIFFERENT LIGHT ON IT?
3. ARE WE TALKING ABOUT DIET OR ARE WE TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT?
4. WHAT IS THE FIRST PRIORITY? SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT!
D. NOW LETS TURN TO ROM 14:12. ISN'T THIS CLEAR THAT WE ARE STEWARDS OF OUR BODY AND THAT WE WILL GIVE ACCOUNT TO GOD?
1. NOW READ ON: v.14-17. DOES THIS PUT A DIFFERENT LIGHT ON IT?
2. ARE WE TALKING ABOUT DIET OR ARE WE TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT?
3. WHAT IS THE FIRST PRIORITY? SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT!
III. CONCLUSION: I HOPE THAT EACH OF YOU WILL EAT HEALTHFULLY, EXERCISE, NOT TAKE UP SMOKING AND WATCH YOUR WEIGHT. BUT I ALSO HOPE THAT YOU WILL BATH DAILY, BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND COMB YOUR HAIR. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG, AND A LOT RIGHT WITH HEALTH REFORM, BUT THE POSITIVE POINT THAT I HOPE YOU WILL SEE FROM OUR STUDY IS THAT OUR VERY FIRST PRIORITY IS TO GET OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD RIGHT. AND IF YOU ARE SPENDING MORE TIME ON DIET HEALTH AND FITNESS, THEN IN BIBLE STUDY AND PRAYER, YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR PRIORITIES.
IV. NEXT WEEK STUDY YOUR LESSON: HEALTH REFORM AND THE END TIME MESSAGE. AND THE WEEK AFTER THAT, PRAISE GOD, WE WILL BE STUDYING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS OF THE BIBLE: JOB!