by
Dr. Jack Hyles
Several
times in the Bible we are admonished not to remove the ancient landmarks which
our fathers have set. The Psalmist said, “I shall not be moved.” All of us know
institutions such as churches and schools that have changed and deteriorated
with the passing of the years. The sad thing is that this deterioration takes
place unknowingly. The Bible says that Samson did not know his power was gone
from him. The reason for this is that Satan does not change us suddenly or
dramatically. He moves the landmarks a little at a time until we change
unknowingly. As slow as the hands move on a clock so Satan leads us to deterioration
and apostasy. If we do not succumb to his tactics, it will be because we have a
carefully planned program of resistance. Many things should be part of that
program.
1. Analyze and know ingredients. When a victory
is won, carefully relive the ingredients of victory. When a defeat is suffered,
carefully analyze the ingredients of defeat. When a person has a good day he
may or may not know why he had a good day. All of us have come home at night
living on the top. Before retiring it would be wise for us to analyze the day.
If the ingredients of the day made for a good today, they will no doubt make
for a good tomorrow. When one has a bad
day he should not just mark it off until he analyzes carefully what he did, how
he did it, and where he went, with whom he was, etc. He can thereby avoid such a combination of ingredients tomorrow
and all the tomorrows.
When
we know the ingredients of both success and failure we will be able to place
together the proper recipe. If this recipe is used regularly, victory can be
enjoyed regularly. Institutions as well as individuals should reexamine and investigate
the means and circumstances that led to success and plan the future accordingly.
2. Know your pattern of behavior. Usually we
react the same way to the same stimulus. There are certain things that make us
mad; there are certain things that make us sad; there are certain things that
make us glad. If we can intelligently relive our sadness, our madness and our
gladness, we can utilize the stimuli to enable us to react with some degree of
consistency. This will enable us to continue using the same stimulus, just as
we continue using the aforementioned recipe. The individual or the institution
thereby becomes somewhat predictable because he has learned the way to arrive
at a desired end. To be sure, we are
human, and human beings do not always react to the same stimulus the same way.
However, there are some basic stimulus that will usually cause the same
reaction and the same response. We should know these and avoid those that cause
us to change for the bad. We should make friends with those which have done us
good before.
3. Do not judge by the changing of others. Far
too many of us judge right or wrong on the basis of our distance from wrongdoers.
Hence, as the world changes we change, staying exactly the same distance behind
the world, for to us right and wrong is a relative thing in comparison with
those who do wrong and with those who do right. For example, it is sad to see
the skirt lengths of Christian young ladies rising just because the skirt
lengths of the world are rising. We are
very careful, however, not to be like the world. We just want to stay the same
distance behind them. In doing so we change! As the world gets worse and worse
we can find ourselves the same distance from the world and yet be worse now
than the world was before. If it was wrong for young ladies to show their thighs
10 years ago, it is wrong today. This is only an example. There are many others.
Because of this philosophy, we change and don’t know we are changing, because
we are judging ourselves by the distance we keep from the world’s standards and
not by what is right and what is wrong to do.
4. One should not expect to change. Do not accept
the philosophy that it must be done in these days and that since it is harder
to live right, we cannot live as we always lived. The very fact that one
expects to change is a part of the changing.
5. One should know the difference between
improvement and change. Improvement comes on purpose; change usually comes
unknowingly. Improvement is usually enjoyed by the careful whereas change is
enjoyed by the careless. Institutions do not deteriorate because they plan to
deteriorate. They deteriorate without realizing that the process is taking
place. They are like a boat without an anchor. It does not appear to be moving
until we find it far away from shore. There
are certain anchors that the Christian institution should lower. The anchor of
the Bible, the anchor of the deity of Christ, the anchor of the will of God,
the anchor of soul winning and other such anchors will help to keep us from
drifting. Improvements come by making a habit of the good. Change and deterioration
come by just supposing that everything must be all right.
6. One should weigh himself every day. The clock
that loses a minute a day will in 60 days lose an hour if it is not set daily.
The individual or institution which is not weighed daily and whose compass is
not checked daily will soon find itself way off course and in bad spiritual
health. One should check his position every day to be sure that he is not off
course. One of the sad things about the
Christian life is that we do not become dissatisfied with a little bit of
wrong. The best housewife hates a speck of dirt. The best mechanic hates a spot
of grease. The best husbandman hates one locust. The best preacher hates one
sin. The best judge hates one crime. The best athlete hates one defeat. The
best doctor hates one germ. The best botanist hates one weed. The best musician
hates one unharmonious note. The best writer hates one grammatical error, and
the most consistent Christian hates to veer one degree off course. Because of
this, the land must be surveyed every day. Our spiritual height must be
measured every day. Our course must be charted every day. Think of all the
things the Apostle Paul did daily. He died daily, and he buffeted his body
daily. The wise Christian will make a daily check on his position. the wise
Christian institution will check its position every day, not in its relation to
other institutions, but in its relation to what it was when God blessed it most
and to its nearness to the purpose of its founders. Look at the great liberal
universities which were founded by fundamental people and financed by
fundamental dollars. Their change did not come dramatically. It was a slow
gradual evolution. Even the most astute of its leaders did not realize a change
was taking place. The landmark was moved so slowly it could not be seen, and
yet one day the institution awakened to find itself asleep, came alive to find
itself dead, found enough light to find itself in darkness, walked straight enough
to find itself in crooked, had just enough health to find itself incurably
diseased and had just enough strength to find itself too weak to recover.
Beloved,
let us not let Satan do this to our institutions. Let each of us that is
connected with a Christian school or church check itself constantly to see if just
a little deterioration has set in. Let us go to the doctor before we can get
cancer. Let us cure its pimple when it first begins and not lament its death later.
All
of this is to say that we should hate mistakes; we should hate wrong. Clean the
garment the moment it is spotted. See the doctor first at the first sign of a
temperature in order that we may avoid following the path of institutions who were
founded as we were founded and who one day held the exact position that we now
hold and yet who gradually and unknowingly died.
7. Before eliminating a weakness one should see
what is on the other side connected to it. It may be that the very weakness
which we eliminate is not a weakness at all, but rather a necessary part of
strength. For example, one who is tenacious may appear to be stubborn. One who
is confident may appear to be cocky. One who is zealous may appear to be proud.
One who has conviction may appear to be bigoted. So often in our sincere desire
to improve ourselves we roll into spiritual surgery to remove something that
appears to be bad but which is connected to the very thing that makes us unique
and successful. This is often caused by egocentricity and is
self-introspection. Many institutions
and individuals deteriorate because they become disenchanted with the very
qualities that are necessary for success. Let us say with the Psalmist, “I
shall not be moved,” and let us guard daily the landmarks let they be moved
ever so gradually by the enemy.