By Van Yandell
Psalm 1: 1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Throughout the boomer generation, we have seen a progression into sloppiness in our dress, our health/diet, our attitudes and our language. We must not also allow sloppy Christianity to invade the church and our lives.
I have a picture of my dad walking on a sidewalk in Paducah, Kentucky probably in the 1940’s. He was wearing a sport jacket, white shirt and tie. His shirt tail was tucked; was buttoned to the top and his tie was tightened up to his neck.
His pants had no holes; were ironed and he was wearing a sporty little hat. Actually, he looked very dapper and handsome.
Many men wore ties and sports jackets to go most any place and to dress in less than one’s very best for a church service, a wedding or a funeral was unheard of.
My teaching career began in the fall of 1969. Many men wore buttoned shirts, ties and sports jackets. The women wore dresses or skirts, blouse tails were tucked; shoes were dress, and belts were worn.
Men were men; women were ladies and children were mostly behaved and respectful. Discipline in the classroom wasn’t much of a problem. Usually issues had to do with chewing gum or excessive talking.
As the years have passed, the forms of dress and haircuts digressed into cave-man style. Americans became so morbidly obese, the clothing styles evolved into loose fitting in order to conceal the weight. The word “shaming” was coined and redefined to discourage anyone from mentioning the health and other problems that were developing from our bad habits.
To buy clothing that actually fit characterized one into nerd or prep. Both those were intended as insults, not compliments. And to tuck a shirt-tail was as unstylish as a striped pants and a plaid jacket.
Also our speech habits degraded into slang and attitudes that the only point was to “get the point across.” High school students were required to earn four years of English credit but many eventually graduated without the ability to write or speak a complete sentence. “Seen” for “saw” and “a lot” for “many” became so common, many never, and never will, learn the difference.
Being an industrial educator, I was particular about terminology. The misuse of a single word could change the entire meaning of a design for a final product. For the concepts of materials, tools and processes there is, in many cases, only one word that applies.
The elegance of our Old Country ancestry was gradually passing into oblivion because of our slothfulness. “Child” became “kid,” “yes” became “yeah” and our vocabularies degraded at light speed. Reading was deemed by many as a waste of time and the television became our baby sitters and primary sources of knowledge.
Mankind is expected to evolve into something better; not digress into sloppy, degenerate clods. Well, it certainly looks like we’ve missed the mark! It appears that being sloppy has become a competitive sport.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel (idiom)! Television and movies have become so predictable and repetitive; many are actually beginning to read again. Often I say, or think, I’m looking for a movie to sleep by and it’s really easy to find one.
Perhaps vocabularies will eventually return to the 1800’s elegance because of the reading and writing skills that many are choosing to engage.
Our Christian lives and the life of the church has suffered immeasurably as a result of our uncaring and slovenly careless attitudes.
God’s word is all powerful and the authority of it is unsurpassed for truth and accuracy. If one is seeking truth, the answers mankind desires, is to go to church.
Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Truth and validity in today’s world is difficult to find. I have long believed the Bible proves itself from within itself. Students of the Bible have found prophesy is happening as we speak (or write). God knew things thousands of years before mankind was able to discover them. Science and prophesy verify this.
A part of the Bible structure is the Old English wording. Many become discouraged attempting to read the King James Version (published in 1611) but it is simply written the way the British talked in that era.
As mankind degrades further into chaos and sloppiness, we may find ourselves communicating in grunts and ugs as did cavemen.
2 Timothy 3: 16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
There is a possibility for improvement for mankind rather than the consequence we seem to be producing for ourselves. That solution is to read and study the Word of God and teach others of its validity and authoritative nature.
We must not allow the Word of God and His church to devolve into the sloppiness the world has become. The Bible teaches there is only one eternal salvation. That is by a faith based belief (Ephesians 2: 8) that Christ Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27: 35) for the remission of sin (Romans 4: 25) and resurrected (Matthew 28: 6).
“Yes” may have become “yeah,” but don’t allow your faith to degrade into lukewarm (Revelation 3: 15-16). We often hear the words “urgent” and “critical.” They definitely apply to our current degenerative state.