New Years Resolutions; Humility before Happiness

I just watched Mel Gibson in the movie "The Patriot" again.  There was one scene that struck me.  Colonel William Tavington, a ruthless commander in the British Army, is discussing tactics with Lord Cornwallis.

Cornwallis has just finished drafting a Land Grant to another officer when Tavington enters.

Cornwallis: This is how His majesty rewards those who fight for him as gentlemen.

Tavington:  I dare to presume my own meager contributions will be rewarded one day.

Cornwallis:  You may presume too much.  His Majesty, like history, judges us not only by the outcome of the war, but on the manner in which it was fought.  We serve the Crown, and we must conduct ourselves accordingly.  Surrendering troops will be given quarter.  These brutal tactics must stop.

Tavington:  Is it not enough, my lord, that I have never lost a battle?

Cornwallis:  You serve me, and the manner in which you serve me reflects upon me.  I would've thought that a gentleman from a family as esteemed as your would understand that.

Tavington:  My late father squandered any esteem in which we were held, along with my inheritance.  I advance myself only through victory.

Cornwallis:  You advance yourself only through my good graces.  The colonials are our brethren, and when this conflict is over, we will re-establish commerce with them.  Do you understand, Colonel?

Tavington:  Perfectly, my lord. 

This conversation did not keep Tavington from committing more atrocities--one scene shows him summoning a village into a church, and promising mercy if information is given about the location of the militia. But when this information is given, the evil Tavington orders the church doors locked and the building burned, with all of the townspeople in it.  When some of the villagers protest that he had promised them mercy, he replied that God may show them mercy in the next life, but it was not Tavington's intent to show any mercy in this one.

Tavington later convinced Cornwallis that he could capture the leader of the American Militia, but it would require him to use the brutal tactics that Cornwallis found unacceptable.  Tavington promised to become a rogue officer, out from under the chain of command, so that Cornwallis could remain blameless.  Tavington's hope, if the British had won the war, was to be named regent over Ohio.  Of course this didn't happen, either in the movie or in history--the British did not win the war, and there was no American aristocracy of landowners, as Cornwallis had envisioned.

I thought about our battles with the world, and the fact that our actions reflect upon our Lord.  If we represent Him well, He may reward us.  But if we do wicked things in His name, it brings shame upon us. We only live by the grace of God.  If we lose favor with Him, there is nothing to keep Him from withdrawing His blessing from us--in fact, He could decide to snuff us out.

When I was in college, I ran for student counsel president.  My platform was that we represent Christ in this world, and that as servants (even slaves) to Him, we have no "rights"; we only have responsibilities.  My argument was that as college students, we relied upon the good graces of our parents and the University.  The University had accepted us into the student body, but that was subject to our compliance with University rules and policies--those who did not follow University rules could be expelled.  We received instruction from our professors, but we were not guaranteed a passing grade; we accumulated credit hours based on successful completion of each class, but there was no guarantee that a degree would be conferred upon us.  We had to do our part, to get the work done, to follow the prescribed degree plan, and to reasonably reflect the University and our families in the work that we did.

Needless to say, I lost the election.  People love to believe that everyone--students, citizens, even humans--all have "rights".  They seldom stop to reflect that those "rights" are granted to them by a government, or a Constitution; they forget that a Constitution could be rescinded or that a government could be overthrown.  Certainly the US Constitution is interpreted very differently today than it was 200 years ago.

Romans 13:1 says "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."  Remember that the Christians to whom Paul was writing may have been experiencing persecution at the hands of these rulers.  Certainly they had no "right" to worship as they wished.  Even today, there are countries which do not allow believers to congregate in public worship, or to evangelize openly.

So in this season of New Years resolutions, keep in mind the grace of God.  Instead of resolving to stand up for your "rights", think of ways you can be responsible for yourself, for your family, for your community, and for your God.  Remember that your good works may lead sinners to repent; conversely, your sins may become a stumbling block to unbelievers.  As you think of how you want to improve yourself this year, start with humility.  James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Somehow I don't think that having a mind-set of "my rights above all else" exhibits the humility that James was talking about.

James 4:7-10 is a good place to start when making Resolutions for the New Year:

1. Submit yourself to God.
2. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3. Come near to God and He will come near to you.
4. Wash your hands, you sinners--you want to be able to lift "holy hands" to God.
5. Purify your hearts; do not be double minded.
6. Grieve over sin.
7. Mourn for those without Christ.
8. Cry out to God for mercy.
9. Change your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom--don't think so much about your own personal happiness that you fail to get serious about sin or its consequences (both in your own life, and in the lives of your friends and family.  Remember sin separates men from God.)
10. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

As I said before, the key to success in the Christian life is humility; to count others as more important than ourselves.  We should call for God's mercy more often than asserting our "rights"; we should covet God's grace more than our own success or happiness. An old saying in our church is that "Happiness depends on happenings; Joy depends on Jesus."  We can have joy even when bad things happen.

Blessings on you and yours in 2013.