The Best of Intentions

My wife Carol and I recently watched a TV documentary about three African-American fathers who were filmed in 1996 telling of their plans to be good dads.

The program, hosted by Al Roker, followed up a “Dateline NBC” report from 1996 that recorded several births among black women at a Newark, N.J., hospital and interviewed the unmarried fathers of the children as they vowed to be there as their babies grew up.

“I’m gonna be there when you graduate,” one videoed father said to his newborn.

The program tracked down the three “babies who’d become youngsters” (two boys and a girl who were 12 years old at the time of the second filming) and the fathers who promised to stand by them. Jail, joblessness, depression and irresponsibility had intervened – none of those fathers had “been there” for their children.

Each youngster seemed well spoken and well cared for – their mothers deserve credit – but their lives “could go either way, and soon,” someone said. One boy called his father “evil.” The girl, cuddling a cat, said she would never marry. She learned her father was in prison before her mother could snatch away a newspaper telling of his plight.

We sometimes express the best of intentions but often don’t deliver.

Connie Smith commented on some marriages when she intoned these words from a country song: “The wedding bells have barely stopped their ringing / But already all your love for me is gone / On the day that we were wed / Well, I guess we should have said / ‘For better or for worse, but not for long.’”

Travis Tritt in a song called “Best of Intentions,” crooned these lyrics: “Never could build you a castle / Even though you're the queen of my heart / But I've had the best of intentions from the start / …Now some people think I'm a loser / Cause I seldom get things right / …Please tell me you will remember / No matter how much I do wrong / That I had the best of intentions all along.”

Randy Travis sang “Good Intentions,” a song containing these words: “Mama always prayed I’d be a better man than Daddy / And I determined not to let her down / Deserted by the man she loved and left to raise four children / We were the local gossip of the town / …There’s lots of things in my life I just as soon not mention / Looks like I’ve turned out like all the rest / But Mama, my intentions were the best.”

Israel’s King Solomon began his reign with humility and dedication. In Gibeon, God appeared to him in a dream and invited Solomon to ask for anything he wanted. Solomon pleased God by saying, “Give me wisdom to rule your people well.” God gave him wisdom and blessings. The Bible records that God said, “There will not be any among the kings like you all your days, if you walk in my ways, keeping my commandments and laws” (1 Kings 3:13). Solomon later failed to live up to his good intentions.

Before his crucifixion, Jesus celebrated Passover, and then he and his disciples “went out” into the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). Jesus said to his inner circle, “All of you shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’” (Zechariah 13:7).

Peter said, “Even though they all desert you, I will not!”

Jesus said, “Even this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Peter insisted that even if he had to die with Jesus, he would not deny him. The King James Version of the Bible translates Peter’s vehement response as: “If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise.” All the disciples standing near Peter agreed with his pledge of loyalty unto death. The KJV translates their response: “Likewise also said they all” (Mark 14:31). They sounded forth with their best intentions. Before that night ended, Jesus’ disciples left him standing alone, and Peter had denied him three times.

Since the day I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I’ve often fallen short in maintaining my relationship with God and “missed the mark” in loving people. I’m glad God’s grace can save repentant sinners – and cover the confessed sins of believers who fail to live up to the best of their intentions.

Greed - Watch Out for It!

I clinked two quarters into an Aberdeen, N.C., vending machine holding Saturday, January 24, 2009, copies of “The Charlotte Observer” newspaper, which featured this headline: “Jobless rate in N.C. rises to 8.7 percent.”

My wife and I subscribe to “The News and Observer” of Raleigh, N.C., but I buy Saturday editions of Charlotte’s popular paper to peruse its weekly religion section.

The January 24 Charlotte Observer reported that North Carolina’s 8.7 percent December unemployment rate (that figure represents 400,000 idled workers) is the state’s highest since 1983. South Carolina had 8.4 percent unemployment in November – the third highest rate in the nation during that month.

The ongoing economic recession hit the hospital in Pinehurst, N.C. That hospital recently cut 28 fulltime and 26 part-time jobs.

I work in product development for a carpet manufacturer. As my overseer and I recently crossed our company’s parking lot, our boss drove in from lunch, rolled down his car window and reminded us to develop a carpet to sell as a “special” in one of the national big-box stores known for merchandising home building materials. He said we must get that product into those stores or “there could be more layoffs” at our company.

My overseer later said, “Is that pressure or what?”

I heard of a 75-year-old man who trusted an investor “friend” and reportedly lost millions. He and his wife now live on $2200 per month from Social Security. Their children chip in to help them, he said.

In the January 24 Charlotte Observer, I found a column by the Rev. Billy Graham, who is 90 years old. A lady wrote to him, asking if recent scandals and economic hard times might be signs of God’s judgment and of Christ’s return.

“We’ve always had scandals – but they do seem to be getting worse,” the Rev. Graham responded. “The problem is we’ve forgotten God – and because we’ve forgotten God, we’ve forgotten his moral laws. When we turn our backs on him and put ourselves at the center of our lives, we ignore his rules for living and set up our own standards, doing whatever we think we can get by with.”

Greed is behind many of today’s financial scandals (and other scandals, as well), Graham said.

“The Bible warns us to avoid greed and labels it a terrible sin in the eyes of God,” he wrote. “Are these scandals a sign of Christ’s coming? They may well be. Don’t let these things touch you, however, but put Christ first and make it your goal to live for him every day.”

In an article titled “The Three Faces of Greed” (Christianity Today, January 28, 2009), writer W. Jay Wood says, “Sin seldom strides into our lives announcing its hostile intentions. It prefers stealth, camouflage, or even better, to appear friendly. As Thomas Aquinas taught, when we do evil we always will to act ‘under the aspect of the good.’”

Wood, a professor of philosophy at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois), continues, “Greed is an inappropriate attitude toward things of value, built on the mistaken judgment that my well-being is tied to the sum of my possessions. Greed is more than mistaken belief – as if knowing a few more facts would somehow solve the problem. It also involves emotions (perhaps longing, un-fulfillment, fear) and attitudes (a sense of entitlement, rivalry). Greed alienates us from God, from our neighbor, and from our true self.”

Wood says that in an extreme form, Christian justifications for greed lead to a “name it and claim it” gospel of prosperity that “inverts the Gospel teaching about camels, needles, rich persons, and heaven.”

If you have seen a toddler forcibly take a toy from another child, you know what greed is. Greed is inherent in human nature and can evidence itself in individuals, groups, corporations and nations.

Jesus told his disciples, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV).

During economically prosperous times or tough, lean times, let’s give Jesus first place in our lives.