Lack. It’s the way the whole world is run. It’s what every economy of the world is based on. And it’s how most minds in the world are geared. Think about it. The law of ‘supply and demand,’ for instance, states that the price of an item goes down if that item is in abundance; but the price increases if the supply begins to run short. In fact, the supply doesn’t really even have to run short: a simple word being leaked around that it might run short will usually do the trick. Don’t believe me? Just listen out for the next disagreement in the Middle East that some talking head in some think tank somewhere says could possibly affect the flow of oil out the Persian Gulf. Then run down to the nearest gas station and just sit there and watch the per-gallon price go up on the big sign out by the road. Shouldn’t take any more than about an hour out of your day.
Love: Faith’s Batteries
You’re probably familiar with Galatians 5:6, the verse of Scripture that tells us “faith… works by love.” And if you think about it for a second, it shouldn’t be too difficult to grasp that the inverse concept is just as valid: ‘without love, faith won’t work.’ Just another way of saying the same thing, right?
Now, we’ve heard quite a bit in recent years about ‘faith’ and ‘love.’ And, undeniably, that’s a good thing: the Body of Christ as well as the world at large have certainly needed to hear about them – and if you ask me, both groups continue to be in dire need of a lot more teaching along those same lines. (Not pointing any fingers, …just sayin’.) Nevertheless, I think we’ve largely still missed a fundamental building block in that whole ‘love and faith’ process – and missing that particular one will tend to cause the whole structure to develop cracks and be much less sturdy than it should be.
A “Heavenly” Mind
Today, let’s talk a little bit about ‘righteousness.’ Not just the condition but the word itself. Now, show of hands: who knows what the word ‘righteous’ actually means? I’m not really talking about the “churchy” definition we’ve tended to attach to it, thereby elevating the word to such a lofty idealistic status that the likes of you and I could never actually reach it. You’ve heard it before – we all have: “Oh, yes, brother. Jesus was certainly a righteous Man. But me? Nooo… I’m just hopin’ and prayin’ and strugglin’ to make it up the Mountain someday. Yes, amen.. Hallelujah!” Uhh, okay.
We’re going to circle back around to that in just minute (so all of you with your hands still up… please, put them down). The truth is that the word ‘righteous’ is not a “religious” word at all; we’ve just pigeonholed it into strictly “religious” uses and in so doing missed its simplest – and perhaps most profound – meaning, which is simply this… are you ready? The word righteous means <drum roll>… ‘to be right.’ That’s it! To be “right” in any connotation; whether morally (that is, right as opposed to being wrong), forensically (innocence as opposed to being
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