Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way.
If you’re on social media, you’ve probably received advertisements to purchase different things from the Wish App. If you don’t know what that is, essentially the Wish App sells very poor imitations of genuine products that are usually shipped from somewhere in China, it’s very vague. Sometimes the products are terrible because they are just so poorly made it’s hard to believe that someone was ever duped into spending money on them. But sometimes they products are not what you had hoped for or just crazy different because they were not designed with the same standards that most American products are designed with. For example, something that you order in Extra Large would likely be the equivalent of a small or medium here in America. Well I’m not here to talk about Wish or something I bought from the app (because I would never) but there was something today that kind of reminded me of this. So Kylie’s sister Tara and her husband Phillip got Ava this really cool coloring set for her birthday that is unlike anything I have ever seen. It has this large play mat that activates different colors when it comes into contact with water. So the “pens” that it comes with are not filled with ink or anything, you fill them up with water and the tip soaks up some of the water allowing you to write and draw on this large play mat. It’s such a genius product for young kids – you don’t have to worry about them sticking the pens in their mouths, or writing on the walls or furniture because it’s just water, so it’s super safe. But there is one thing about it that really messed with me this morning. Ava was playing with all of this but apparently one of her pens had run out of water, so she asked me to refill it. I took it from her, went to the sink and filled it up. But for the life of me I couldn’t not get the cap back on. I sat there for probably a good 30 seconds thinking, “I cannot be this stupid” as I tried to twist the cap back on. I legitimately said out loud, “Okay, what am I doing wrong here? Righty tighty, lefty loosey,” as I twisted the cap. Well, as it turns out that is not the rule when it comes to tightening things wherever this product was manufactured. I turned the cap the other direction to the left, and sure enough it started to tighten. It was completely backwards from any other thread I’ve ever used in my life. I was curious so I started checking the other pens, and sure enough every single one of them was backwards too – turning right loosened it and turning left tightened it. It was so strange to me, I mean not like driving on the left side of the road or left side of the car kind of strange, but still backwards from everything I had ever known. Sometimes things might seem a little bit backward to us in this life, and in general it’s not wrong it’s just different. It doesn’t matter what direction a thread screws or what side of the road you drive on, certainly you might be more comfortable with one or the other, but it doesn’t make the other one wrong.
The problem is that there are many moral issues that society tries to approach in the same way – that it’s not wrong, it’s just different. We live in a culture where boys are now girls or girls are now boys. Where men marry men and women marry women. Where promiscuity and vulgarity is celebrated and where abortion is promoted. And in the worlds eyes, these things are just different – but not wrong. How far we have fallen in our culture today to call that which is depraved good. I am reminded of the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 5:20-21, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” How these words form Isaiah accurately portray the condition of the times in which we are living, where that which is evil is celebrated and promoted as good and that which is good is now condemned by as evil. If you hold open a door for a woman out of courtesy, you very well might be labelled a sexist or misogynistic. If you as a random act of kindness offer to pay for a meal for a first responder or a police officer, you might be branded as a racist by others. If you believe marriage to be designed by God as only between a man and woman, you’re considered a bigot or ignorant. And all of these things are done from the loud, belligerent voice of arrogance from those who have become wise in their own sight. And yet professing to be wise, the world around us have become fools. Certainly, God will bring judgment upon this world that celebrates that which is evil as good and that which is good as evil, it’s all backwards. However, if God will bring judgment upon the world for such things, how much more will God bring judgment upon those who bear his name and participate in the same things? You might be thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me, I stand for what God’s Word stands for!” Well…maybe we do in word, but what about our actions? I am reminded of a quality of love that Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13:6, “It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” Examine your life for a few moments: what do you find entertainment from? You might preach that which is true, but if you turn and take enjoyment from shows, music, or movies full of the very things you preach against – are you not just as backwards as the rest of this world? Do you claim that you believe God’s word is the standard for marriage between one man and one woman, but then turn and lust after others and commit adultery in your own heart? You see, it’s so easy to point the finger at the rest of this world that has everything backwards and condemn them. Make no mistake, it is backwards and wrong…but do not excuse yourself when you do the very same things in a different way. I know that I certainly need to take a closer look at my life and ensure that I am not walking hypocritically, and I have a feeling that perhaps there are others of you who do too. Don’t be a Wish App Christian, a cheap imitation of the real thing. Let us celebrate truth, not only with our words, but with our actions & with our heart.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.