ATTITUDE
DR. JIM DIXON
PHILIPPIANS 4:1-8
JULY 10, 1994
In certain parts of the world, people are not allowed to own pit bulls. Pit bulls are dogs that have been bred or crossbred from bulldogs and terriers, and they are by nature highly aggressive. That aggressive nature can be augmented by the irresponsible behavior of some owners and masters. In some parts of the world, pit bulls were bred to attack. In some parts of the world, they were bred to attack bears. In some places, they were bred for dog fights, but they were bred to attack. Any dog will attack if sufficiently provoked, and pit bulls are easily provoked. They may love their owner. They may love their master, but they are easily irritated. They walk around with an attitude.
That is our subject this morning, attitude. Some people walk around with an attitude, and Jesus Christ is very much concerned with our attitude. The word attitude is not in the Bible, but the concept of attitude is all through the Bible. This morning we have two messages from holy scripture. The first message is this: Live by faith. If you want to have an attitude pleasing to Jesus Christ, live every day by faith. In Habakkuk 2:4 it is written that “the righteous [the people of God] shall live by faith.” Attitudinal faith.
In the year 1521, King Henry VIII of England wrote a paper attacking Martin Luther and the Protestant reformers. Pope Leo X, the so-called vicar of Christ, was very pleased because he did not much like Martin Luther. He was so pleased that this Roman pope actually extended to King Henry VII the title, “The Defender of the Faith.” The Vatican was embarrassed a few years later when King Henry VIII of England pulled out of the Roman Catholic Church and founded the Anglican Church. Pope Paul III retracted that title, the Defender of the Faith. But by that time, the British Parliament had been so enraptured by the title, so pleased with the title, that in the year 1844, they decided to make it permanent. They declared that all future kings and queens of England would be given the title, the Defender of the Faith.
If you have read the paper recently, you may have read that Prince Charles recently announced that he will renounce that title when he becomes king. He does not want to be called the Defender of the Faith. Some people say this is because he has publicly acknowledged his adultery and is wanting to marry another woman. People say it is because he has been dabbling in New Age religion and is kind of enamored with Eastern religions. They say it would be hypocritical for him to be called the Defender of the Faith because it refers to the Christian faith. But the truth is that throughout English history many kings and queens of England were Christian in name only. The title Defender of the Faith has always been a little bit hypocritical. Yet the British monarchy has not cornered the market on hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is rampant the world over throughout Christendom.
For those of us in this room, if we call ourselves Christians but do not live by faith, there is a certain hypocrisy in that if we claim to be saved by faith—if we claim to have faith enough to have asked Jesus Christ to be our Savior from sin and Lord of our life but do not live day by day with an attitude of faith. There is a certain hypocrisy in that. It is not always easy to live by faith. I know it is not always easy for me.
A few weeks ago, Barb and I were flying from Nashville to Asheville. We flew American Airlines into Nashville, and there we switched to American Eagle Airlines. We boarded a little prop plane. It only had nineteen seats. There was no flight attendant. You could look right into the cockpit and see the pilot as we flew. The weather was bad that day as we were flying to Asheville. There were great thunderheads, and you could see the pilot trying to avoid them. But eventually it got to where he could no longer avoid them. We had to go right into the middle of them. It was, it is safe to say, kind of panic time. You could look into the cockpit. You could see the radar screen, and it was entirely red. We were in bad stuff. Then hail began to pelt our plane, and it was so loud as it pelted the plane. The lightning was bad, too. It felt like the lightning was in the plane, as it was on both sides. We began to experience elevation drops, where the plane would kind of drop out from underneath you. If you have ever seen any of these old movies, it felt like those planes just before they crashed in the jungle.
Barb and I had our heads down. We were praying, and I was more than a little bit anxious. Yet, Jesus said, “which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27). The Apostle Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). The Bible says, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). It is not always easy to live by faith, particularly when you feel like you are about to crash.
Maybe some of you here today feel like you are about to crash. Maybe you feel like you are about to crash economically; you cannot make ends meet or you have great debt. The Lord says, “Live by faith.” Maybe you feel like you are about to crash relationally. It feels like someone you love very much—a child, a spouse, a parent, a friend—is slipping away. It is hard to live by faith. Maybe you feel like you are going to crash physically. Maybe you have recently been told that you have cancer. It seems like every one or two weeks someone in our congregation hears the words, “You have cancer.” Maybe you are concerned about your health. God wants us to have an attitude of faith, even in the midst of times like that.
No matter what we are experiencing, He wants us to live by faith, to have an attitude of faith. An attitude of faith is what Daniel had in the lion’s den. An attitude of faith is what Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego had in the fiery furnace. An attitude of faith is what Joshua and Caleb had when they returned from spying out the promised land. An attitude of faith is what Job had when he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).
An attitude of faith is what the children of Israel did not have when they grumbled and complained in the wilderness. Despite the many provisions and miraculous blessings God had given them in past days, they grumbled and complained. That is why they were left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. They did not have an attitude of faith. Day by day, the Lord wants us to be people of faith, to have an attitude of faith. Sometimes we need a little help.
I recently read a story about Brennan Manning, a Catholic priest. Years ago when Brennan Manning had been an associate priest at a Catholic church, a woman in his parish called him. She said, “I need you to go and visit my father, who is dying of cancer.” Brennan Manning went to her father’s home where her father was literally on his deathbed. As Brennan came into the room, he saw an empty chair by the bed. Brennan Manning said, “I see that you’re expecting me.” This man said, “No, I don’t even know who you are.” Brennan Manning apologized, introduced himself, and said, “When I saw the empty chair, I thought you were expecting me.” The man said, “Close the door, and I’ll tell you something about that chair. I’ve never told anyone this before. I’ve not even told my daughter. I’ve always struggled with prayer. I’ve gone to church through the years. I’ve heard a lot of sermons on prayer, and yet I’ve always struggled with prayer. The Lord’s always seemed distant to me, and prayers never seemed vital to me. About four years ago, my best friend told me of the promise of Christ in the scripture that He is with us always, that He never fails us or forsakes us. My friend said, ‘Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you, when you pray, take a chair and put it next to you, and by faith think of Jesus as there with you sitting in that chair. Maybe that’ll help you pray.’ I’ve done that these last four years, and prayer has become so meaningful to me. Sometimes I pray two and three hours a day.”
Brennan Manning was really touched by this man’s story. He anointed the man with oil and prayed over him. Then he left. Three days later this man’s daughter called Brennan Manning and told him that her father had passed away. Brennan Manning spoke of the faith that he knew that her father had in Jesus Christ and the confidence he had that her father was with the Lord. Then he asked if she knew if it was a painless passing. The daughter said it was, and a kind of strange thing happened at the end. She said, “I don’t know why, but for some reason, with his final energy, he lifted himself up in bed, leaned over, and died with his head on the chair.” Brennan Manning understood. I think we all understand that this man had learned to live by faith and died in faith. He died in the lap of his Lord.
We all want to live by faith, and we want to die in faith. We do not all need chairs, but we all need to pray. If we are going to live by faith, we need to learn to be people of prayer. We need to be with the Lord in prayer daily if we are going to have our faith encouraged and our faith strengthened. And we need to spend time every day in God’s Word. I am always stunned when I ask people in our church who are Christians how often they get in the word devotionally, how often they spend time in the word and in prayer. Many times people will say they have not had devotions in weeks. How tragic that is. If we are going to live by faith with an attitude of faith, every day we need to be encouraged by prayer and encouraged by God’s words.
Sometimes we need the encouragement of a Christian friend. Is that not true? We need friends to encourage us if we are to live by faith with an attitude of faith. That is why it is so important that we have these cell groups and koinonia groups and opportunities for Christian fellowship where we can encourage one another so that we might day by day truly have an attitude of faith. The just, the righteous, the people of God, shall live by faith. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you that you would have an attitude of faith.
Secondly, we have this message from scripture with respect to our attitude: Be of good cheer. Live by faith and be of good cheer. This was the message that Christ gave to the paralytic in Matthew 9:2. Jesus said these words to the paralytic, “Be of good cheer.” Those are the words that he would speak to each of us today. “You will have tribulation but be of good cheer. I’ve overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always, again, I say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It does not matter what you look like. Be of good cheer.
Psychologists tell us that a lot of us do not feel good about the way we look. Some people look in the mirror and do not like what they see, but be of good cheer. If you do not like how you look and there is something reasonable that you can do about it, like a little diet and exercise, do it. But be of good cheer if you do not like the way you look and there is nothing you can do about it. If you need a head transplant or something, do not worry about it. Just be of good cheer. People are going to love you more for your attitude than for your looks. Be of good cheer. It does not matter what you look like.
It does not matter what you have done. A lot of people, the world over, are riddled by guilt. Christ does not want his people to be riddled by guilt. If you repent, that is what Christ wants. Repent. Turn. Experience His forgiveness. Experience His grace. “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It is no coincidence that the word grace and the word joy have the same root—charis for grace and chara for joy. As we walk in His grace, we have joy.
It does not matter what we look like. It does not matter what we have done. It does not even matter what we are going through. Be of good cheer. Sometimes we lose our joy. We fail to rejoice or give thanks because of what we are going through. Sometimes it does not take very much. I know that is true with me.
Last Monday was the fourth of July, and some of us were at Bandimere Speedway. It was a really fun night at Bandimere, and we had a great time together. As we were leaving, the traffic was horrible. If we think we have an egress problem here at the church, it is nothing compared to the egress problem that night. Thousands of people were trying to get out of Bandimere. Cars were backed up and could not move. I was driving, and Barb, my brother, and my brother’s wife were in the car. We wanted to go south on C-470. Just before we got there, officers were no longer allowing people to go south. They begin to turn us north. It was crowded both ways. We had to go miles north on the frontage road.
We were barely moving, and it was seemingly taking forever. Every once in a while there were little roads going off to the right, seemingly to nowhere. Barb said, “Why don’t you turn off to the right and take one of those roads?” There were no homes there. There was no construction there. It was just hills. It was dark, and we could not see anything. I said, “No one else is turning off.” She said, “That is because no one else knows.” She said, “I kind of remember a road going through.” So we turned right and began to drive up the hill. Finally, we came to a dead end. There was a little dirt road that looked like a four-wheel drive road. We were in the Pathfinder, which we are leasing. I put it in four-wheel drive, and we began to go on this four-wheel drive road. Who knows where we would have gone. Somebody in a four-wheel drive pulled up alongside us. He told us we were on private property and would be prosecuted if we continued.
We turned around and found our way back down to the frontage road. On the frontage road, we could go north or we could go south. As we had been going north, we thought to go south to get back on C-470. Some 40 minutes had gone by by the time we were back to the entrance to Bandimere Speedway. Eventually we got home.
I do not handle stuff like that very well. But God says, “Be of good cheer.” It does not matter about the traffic. It does not matter about any of that. Be of good cheer. Rejoice. Always give thanks in all circumstances. That is hard. Is it not? It is really hard. We live in a world where many people are going through a lot of stuff much more difficult than traffic.
Do you recall that well-known passage where Paul said, “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). That was Paul’s life.
When was the last time you were shipwrecked? You probably cannot remember the last time you were shipwrecked. When were you dying of hunger? And yet it was the Apostle Paul who said, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). It was the Apostle Paul who said, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). What is the attitude that Christ wants us to have as we live life in this world? Be of good cheer.
Some of you have heard of Fanny Crosby. Fanny Crosby died in 1915. She died at the age of 95. She was one of the greatest Christian women our world has known. I think when she died, when she arrived at heaven, the applause must have been thunderous. She was born on March 24, 1820. That first year was really a hard year. When she was 6 weeks old, through a doctor’s mistake, she was made blind. A doctor put hot pads on her eyes because they were irritated. By his mistake, the pads, boiling hot, blinded her for life. She would never see in this world. When she was 8 months old, her father died. She would never know her father, not in this life. Her mother was poor and a servant lady to another family. Fannie Crosby was reared in absolute poverty.
Yet she grew to love Jesus Christ. She gave her heart and soul to Christ. She was called the queen of sacred music. She began to write Christian hymns. It has been said that she wrote more than 9,000 Christian hymns, but nobody knows for sure because she did not copyright them. She did not take credit for many of them. Sometimes Christian friends or ministers called her up and said, “We need a hymn that relates to this subject.” She would write one, send it, and somebody else would eventually claim credit for the hymn or something like that. You have a hymnal in the pew in front of you. Fanny Crosby wrote many of the songs in that hymnal. Great songs like “To God Be the Glory” and “Blessed Assurance.” Fanny Crosby wrote those hymns.
Fanny Crosby went to the slums, where she ministered to the poor. She went to hospitals and prisons and said, “It’s an opportunity to show the love of Jesus.” She became an evangelist and worked with Dwight L. Moody and many others. She became one of the greatest evangelists of her time.
I want to read something that Fanny Crosby wrote to show you her attitude with respect to her blindness. “I have not for a moment felt a spark of resentment against the doctor, for I have always believed that the good Lord in His infinite mercy by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do.” Is that not a great attitude?
When she was 8 years old, she wrote these words, “Oh, what a happy child I am. Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world contented I will be. How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t. So weep or sigh because I’m blind I cannot nor I won’t.” She was 8 years old when she wrote those words. Is that not the attitude that God wants us to have?
Be of good cheer. It does not matter what you look like or what you have done. It does not matter what you are going through. Be of good cheer. Here is the important thing to understand. The phrase rejoice always is a command. It is in the imperative in the Bible. Admonitions are not in the imperative unless we can choose to obey. Attitude to some extent is a choice. We can choose today to be of good cheer, and we will need to choose every day to be of good cheer. Choose every day.
Yesterday, Barb, Drew and I saw the movie Forrest Gump. It was a fun movie. I am not saying that it does not have some bad parts, but it is really an uplifting and fun movie. It is an optimistic movie, a feel-good kind of movie. In the movie Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” There is a certain naivete in that. It is true that in real life not all chocolates are sweet; perhaps some chocolates are even laced with poison. If you do not realize that, you have not lived long enough in this fallen world to understand.
Personally, I do not think secular positive thinking makes a whole lot of sense. You have to have a 75 IQ to buy it. Have you heard of lemmings? Lemmings are sometimes called the rats of Norway. The truth is that they are not rats, and they are not exclusive to Norway. But lemmings are rodents. Have you heard of the legend of the lemmings? According to the legend of the lemmings, these little furry rodents in mass migration participate in death marches where they jump off cliffs and into the sea. Zoologists, those who study animals, have examined the behavior of lemmings. There are a lot of theories as to why this happens. It seems to me that this legend of lemmings jumping from cliffs and into the sea to their deaths is an apt illustration of the predicament of humanity.
Apart from Christ, life is a death march. Secular positive thinking does not make much sense. Cynicism seems more authentic to me if there is no God. But in Christ, positive thinking makes all the sense in the world because it was Jesus Christ who said, “I’ll never fail you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). It was Jesus Christ who said, ” My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29). It was Jesus Christ who said, ” Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:1-2).
His word promises us “in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). All things work together for our sanctification that we might be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Through Christ, positive thinking makes a lot of sense. This morning we had this admonition from God to take the attitude that He wants us to take—live by faith. It does not matter what you look like. It does not matter what you have done. It does not matter what you are going through. Live by faith and be of good cheer. He has overcome the world. Let us close with a word of prayer.