Ah, November! Erratic weather, premature Christmas decorations, and college football.  College football manages to elicit incredible passion from a lot of people.  People like to wear their favorite “team gear” and display their team banner on their property.   You can usually identify a household’s allegiance by the flag they fly somewhere on their home or in their yard. 

Banners were important in the Bible, too.  One example can be found in Exodus 17:8-16.

The Story

While wandering through the wilderness, the Israelites came to a place near Mt. Sinai called Rephidim.  There they complained about having no water, and God miraculously supplied it from a rock. While camping at Rephidim, another nomadic group, the Amalekites, came and threatened them.

The father of the Amalekites, Amalek, was the grandson of Esau. The wandering Israelites were the descendants of Jacob.  Centuries before, Jacob deceived his brother Esau and cheated him out of both the family birthright and their father’s blessing.  So years of family turmoil and hostility were about to boil over.

A fierce battle ensued.  Moses stood atop a nearby hill and raised his staff over the battle.  As long as he held the staff high, the Israelites prevailed.  But when his arms grew weak that he could not hold up the staff, the Amalekites prevailed.  So Moses’ two assistants, Aaron and Our, sat him on a rock and held his arms up.  After an all-day battle, the Israelites prevailed.

To commemorate God’s miraculous help, Moses set up an altar and named it in Hebrew Yahweh-Nissi.  In English that name translates to Yahweh Is My Banner.

What Is a Banner?

This banner concept was possibly something the Israelites learned from their years with the Egyptians.  When we think of a banner, we think of flag or pice of cloth flapping in the breeze.  But in the Old Testament times, a banner was a very tall poll that was vividly decorated at the top.  During troop movements and especially during battle, the banner served several important purposes.

In the United States, we are in the middle of what best can be described as “silly season.”  This is a presidential election year, and so politics is the overwhelming topic of public discourse right now. Everybody has an opinion. The opinions range from strong support of a side to “I wish we could just get this over with.”

I recently made a social media comment that garnered a fair amount of discussion. “I wish people were as passionate about Jesus as they were about politics and college football.” 

Surprisingly, the politics portion of the comment raised more of a ruckus than the football part.  If you are from the south, you know how passionate Southerners are about their football.  Most of the comments agreed with my post.  I think more and more people have grown weary of the hypocrisy that permeates politics.  The good guys no longer where white hats.  Seems they all wear hats with varying shades of gray these days.

So I want to expand my thoughts on what I believe to be a healthy Christian engagement of politics.

What I Am NOT Saying about Politics

“Faith” is one of those words that we often use without thinking about what we mean when we use it.  Some will say, “You’ve just got to have faith.”  Others talk about choosing “faith” over “fear.”  People are often describes as being a “person of faith.”  And there are those in the public spotlight who speak of how their “faith” gets them through life’s difficulties. But what about Biblical faith?

Understanding the true meaning and nature of faith is critically important.  Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that we cannot please God without faith.  Not our behavior nor our word.  Neither our religious practices, nor our principled stances. We can have all of those things and lack proper Biblical faith.

A Prophet’s Faith

One of the most overlooked Scripture passages that teaches us about faith is found in Habakkuk.  We find a powerful statement in the middle of an ongoing dialogue between the prophet and Yahweh.  Yahweh contrasts the an arrogant man living for his own pleasure with the heart of a truly righteous person.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.” – Habakkuk 2:4

So at its core, we see that faith is not living according to our own understandings, abilities, and desires.  Faithful living operates from a different realm.

We see a further clue at the end of Habakkuk as the prophet pledges to live by faith. Habakkuk makes a list of some possible devastating circumstances.  Trees and vines not producing fruit. Fields not producing grain.  Livestock not producing milk not meat.

But in light of all of that, Habakkuk issues a faith statement.

As I drove into work this morning, I passed several Northbound power company trucks from around the Southeast. They had been to South Georgia and Florida to help restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby.

I thought about the selfless linemen, law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and disaster relief “angels” who respond in these situations.  They do not care if you are black or white.  Nor do they poll to see if you are blue or red.  It matters not to them if you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, any other religion, or no religion at all.  

These public servants leave family behind at home.  They work exhaustingly long and difficult shifts. Their mission is to SERVE.  Serve and help anyone in need.  

They stand in contrast to so much of the partisan attacks and mob mentality that we see in our culture today.  They are the antithesis of an archaic word, “civility”. 

I wrote about civility several years ago, and I feel the need to refresh that article for today’s context.  We probably cannot change 

Yes, civility is on the decline. Dictionary.Com defines civility thusly:

1. courtesy; politeness.
2. a polite action or expression: an exchange of civilities.
3. Archaic. civilization; culture; good breeding.

Where have our manners gone?

Why the Lack of Civility?

It seems these days when things do not go someone’s way they default to name-calling, riots, protests, and mob scenes. Several factors have brought us to this point in society.

1. The rise of me-ism. Individual rights now seem to matter more that the good of the whole.
2. The absence of self-discipline. Many are accustomed to getting what they want when they want it.
3. The glorification of chaos. Let’s face it; trouble makes the news. Want to get your 15 seconds of fame? Start a riot or protest.

How May We Regain It?

When I was a kid, I was terrified of high places.  I remember one particular time, when I was about 8 or 9, we visited family in Jacksonville, FL.  We had to go over one of the several drawbridges that span the St. John’s River.  I found a secure place in the floor board of the car as we crossed on the bridge.  Yes, the days before mandatory seat belts.  I remember many other such incidences on family vacations in the mountains as well.

While I am still not the most comfortable in high places, I am a little better.  In fact, I love going over the SOME of the scenic bridges now. And I enjoy flying and sitting in a window seat.  

High Places in the Bible

In several places, the Old Testament mentions landmarks called “high places.”  Initially, they were elevated landmarks where Canaanites worshipped their many false Gods.  As the Hebrews prepared to enter the Promised Land, God warned His people against a fascination with those high places.  If they were not careful, they would drift into the idol worship of the indigenous pagans.  

In the time of Judges, the dangers of that warning started to become a reality.  God’s people either abandoned following God altogether or tried to synchronize their worship of Yahweh and the local pagan worship.  In the time of the Kings, each kings life was often summarized by how they dealt with the high places.  Many of the kings were said to have walked in the ways of Yahweh, except they didn’t remove the high places. Things most often did not end well with these kings.

We also read of evil kings who didn’t walk in the ways of Yahweh. Many of these deliberately and actively participated in pagan worship at the high places.  And a scant few were good kings who followed the way of Yahweh and did their best to destroy all these elevated places of pagan worship.

High Places After the Temple

Once Solomon completed the building of the Temple, all worship of Yahweh was to take place there.  Eventually, the high places became a convenient substitute for worshipping Yahweh in Jerusalem.  The people felt that as long as they were worshipping Yahweh, it didn’t matter where and how they worshipped.

The problem with that was God has stipulated how and where worship was to take place.  They didn’t get to worship Yahweh in their way.  In fact, that is not Yahweh worship; it is self-worship. 

High Places Today?

Historically worship in the high places fell into at least one of three sins.  First, high places became the location to worship something other than Yahweh.  Or the high places became a place to worship something along with Yahweh – social syncretism.  More subtly, the high places became a place for self-styled worship – worshiping God in a way that was preferable or convenient for the individual.

Sadly, sadly I see a contemporary, figurative version of all three of these worship sins a lot these days.  The devil is still up to his same old tactics, telling us there is a better way than God’s way.  And in our fallenness, we continue to fall for it.

Have you ever had an “Alexander” day?  Alexander is the main character the Children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Really Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  He wakes up one day and everything that can go wrong, does.  I’ll spare you the litany of the maladies he experiences.  As the difficult day wears on, he repeatedly wishes he could somehow move away to Australia.

We all have Alexander days.  Weeks.  Months.  We experience seasons of life that wear us down physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  The struggle indeed is REAL!

Much of life’s struggle is a battle between what we know and what we feel.  During the Alexander seasons we feel worn down, defeated, hopeless.  But what we feel is not real.  Who God is, what He has done, and what He can do is far more real than what we feel.  On those hard days and in those difficult seasons we do well to focus more on the realities of God than the shadows of our feelings.

What Would God Say to Alexander?

In Bible times, people practiced what was called “lament.” In fact, there is a whole book that is one long lament. Understandably the book is titled Lamentation.  Lament – ations.  Lament enables us to own what we feel and then temper it with what we know; especially what we know about God.

It is encouraging to know that God knew there would be Alexander days (and weeks, months, years) in our lives. And He gave us a whole book in the Bible to help us through those times.

Consider these verses from chapter 3:

“Be careful with that thing!!!  You’ll cut yourself!!!”

I heard those words many times as a kid whenever I had a knife in my hand.  Back then, most men carried a razor sharp pocket knife on them at all times.  Pocket knives are handy little tools.  But they can also be quite dangerous. It’s all in how you use them, and the care you take when handling them.

So it is with God’s Word. 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

“Sharper than any two-edged sword.”  Sharper than any.  That means it’s the sharpest.  Two-edged.  Cuts both ways.  

A Dangerous Tool

Sadly, I encounter many people who have just enough Bible knowledge that they are dangerous. They know at least a little bit of Bible.  And most of what they know, they actually “mis-know.”

In one of the less famous Old Testament narratives, three kings learn some important lessons about God in the desert.  We need to learn the same truths. We read the account in 2 Kings 3. 

The Desert Experience

The king of Moab decided to stop paying his taxes to the King of Israel.  Jehoram, king of Israel, enlisted the help of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, another close ally.  The three kings embarked on a “collections” mission against King Mesha of Moab.

The Bible says that they took a “circuitous march” for seven days.  (A polite way of saying they got lost in the desert.)  They found themselves in a place where there was no water for them or their animals.  

Jehoram saw this as God’s plan to give them over to the hand of King Mesha.  He was quite worried. Jehoshaphat, who was faithful to Yahweh, sought out the nearest prophet of Yahweh, who happened to be Elisha.  

Elisha assured them that Yahweh had a plan. Yahweh would act in a miraculous way to fill the dry valley with water.  They would not see it coming, it would happen suddenly.  Elisha added that this would be “a light thing” for Yahweh – easy…a piece of cake…no problem.

The kings and their entourage went to sleep in a dry valley.  They woke up in a dry valley.  No clouds, no rain, no overflowing river.  

BUT… at the time of the morning sacrifice, water miraculously began to flow. The whole valley was full of water.  Yahweh acted suddenly and decisively to supply what they needed.  And as He promised, He gave the kings victory over Mesha as well. 

The Desert Lesson

So what does this have to do with me?  And you?