Just Wait Till Dad Gets Home…

  • Friday, November 11, 2011

  • 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

    He always brought us gifts. Money was extremely limited and barely sufficient to cover bare necessities. But after times of travel, Dad always brought each of us a small gift to let us know he thought of us and missed us while he was gone.

    "Therefore do not go on passing judgment (assessing each other) before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts..." 1 Cor. 4:5

    "Just wait till Dad gets home…" Those were dreaded words! My father was an itinerate preacher and Bible conference speaker. In the days of my childhood, communication systems were nowhere near as sophisticated as they have become today. We lived 13 miles south of town on a residential high school campus. The 'compound' had a phone in the administrative office. If, during his travels, Dad desired to connect with Mom, he would call the school, someone would sprint to our house and retrieve Mom who would rush to the office to take the call. But because calls were billed by the minute, the conversations were, at best, very brief. The other form of communication was "snail mail." However, on more occasions than not, the letters would arrive after Dad had departed that area and moved on to another. Many times, Dad's letters would arrive home after he had already returned.

    Mom was, on many occasions for extended periods of time, both mom AND dad in our home. She had three boys and one girl. My Sis was kind of like the Holy Spirit in the family, omnipresent and "perfect." My brothers were mischievous troublemakers. Well, I confess, I contributed more than my share to the chaos. Anyway, it seemed that no matter what trouble we were creating, my Sis would know it before WE knew it and then Mom was informed. (See what I mean by "Holy Spirit?") In the early days Mom was quite well equipped to make necessary behavioral corrections even in Dad's absence. However, as we grew, Mom's sense of influence diminished and she would more regularly resort to these frightening words, "Just wait till Dad gets home!"


    As I am repeatedly reading chapter four of Paul's correspondence to First Church of Corinth, he calls on them to contemplate the three realms of judgment (or assessment) to which each must maintain awareness:

    1.    We are examined by others. Whether we like it or not, the observations and subsequent opinions of others DO matter. They can see what we cannot. They can provide invaluable insight and guidance. But they can never truly assess motivations of the heart. Only the spirit of a man understands the thoughts of a man.
    2.    We are examined by self. There must be a habit of self-reflection, a private pattern of "come to Jesus" moments. Knowing our own thoughts and our own hidden secrets means that we must take personal inventory if we are to be ultimately approved. That being said, we are prejudiced. We are self-justifying. We are more in love with ourselves, than we are loving toward others. We are self-protective and self-vindicating. We MUST exercise self-assessment. But even WE can never truly discern, with accuracy, our own dark recesses and our own flawed motives. "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord." 1 Cor. 4:4

    3.    Finally, we are to be examined by God. He alone truly knows the darkness of our souls, the hidden secrets of our humanness and the authenticity of our motives. His evaluation of us is inevitable and unavoidable.

    In our family, we were skillful at observing the behaviors of each other. It was called "tattling" and we were really experts at it! As already stated, my Sis was very gifted at passing early judgment. Until the moment of accountability before Mom arrived, we spent little energy in self-assessment/judgment. She would draw us into that mode by simply asking, "What were you thinking? Or WERE you thinking?!?" The thing that motivated serious attitude adjustment and influence behavioral changes was the dreaded line, "Just wait till your Dad gets home!"

    "Therefore do not go on passing judgment (assessing each other) before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God." 1 Cor. 4:5

    If only I would have spent more time behaving myself so that my Father's return could have been anticipated with expectation rather than dread because of correction. "Just wait till your Dad gets home!"

    See you Sunday, Church!

    Pastor Tom

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