Legalism and Liberalism

In Jesus' time on earth there were two main Jewish sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees had their own definition of 'righteous', and they added many of their own rules and regulations to the law of Moses.  The Sadducees were slow to believe anything supernatural, and even denied basic things like the resurrection of the dead.  They would treat righteousness as a relative and ambiguous thing.  These two sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees, represented two opposing ends of a spectrum.  These ends are called legalism and liberalism, with the Pharisees representing legalism and the Sadducees representing liberalism.

Its important for Christians to understand this, because the spectrum hasn't changed, and because there are still people today falling into legalism and liberalism.  Its important to notice that Jesus does not commend either the Sadducees or the Pharisees, and on separate occasions He calls both of them wrong.  Jesus silences the Pharisees in Matthew 22:18-22, who are trying to trap Him, and right after that, in Matthew 22:23-32, He rebukes the Sadducees for not believing in the resurrection.  He does this because both ends of the spectrum are not good and not correct.  Legalism is largely what Paul fights against in his letters; and liberalism is fought against by basically every New Testament writer - James, John, the writer of Hebrews, even Paul and more.  Understanding that it is a spectrum, with two evil extremes on both ends, is very helpful in understanding the Bible.  There are a number of passages that might seem to contradict, but if you know that these passages are meant to correct two opposite extremes, then it makes sense.

Legalism
Legalism starts with good intentions.  A person wants to be righteous, which is always a good thing.  But that person lacks maturity and understanding.  They fail to biblically define and understand what righteousness is.  So when someone comes along and says "rock music is sinful," or "showing your belly is sinful," or any number of other things, they automatically accept it as fact.  So there starts a list of sinful things without any foundation in the word of God, and that list becomes a huge burden.  Legalistic people do not in reality please God, because their silly rules are a distraction from doing the things that God truly does desire.  In the Bible Jesus commands us to love and to forgive and to make disciples and to pray and to worship and to seek first the kingdom of God.  These are positive actions directed toward one end - the glory of God on earth.  And these commands have nothing to do with alcohol or the way a person dresses or the words a person uses, or any of the things legalistic people are typically talking about.  Thus you can see how all these rules, which are found no where in Scripture, become a distraction from the real commands and the things that God really desires.  And when those legalistic people place their rules on other people, especially when they accompany them with threats of hell, you can see how it creates more problems.  There is a reason Jesus reserved His most vicious comments for the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  Read Matthew 23 (the whole chapter) sometime, and you will see how God feels about hypocritical teachers who place heavy burdens on people.  The solution to legalism is to question everything that is supposedly sinful.  And the way to do that is to read the Bible.  If something is truly sinful, there will be a reasonable basis in Scripture for saying so.  But if Scripture does not address the issue, then there is good reason to ignore it.  We must have a good understanding of God's word to know what is sin and what is not sin.  Paul wrote about the freedom a believer has in Christ.  Legalism is affront to that freedom.

Liberalism
At the opposite end of the spectrum there are some people trying to shoot down the very commands of God.  Whereas legalism is adding to Scripture, liberalism is subtracting from Scripture.  Liberalism seeks to create doubt in the word of God, and ignores the sins that are truly sins.  The liberals will say that homosexuality is not a sin, even though its clear in Romans 1:26-27 that God thinks otherwise.  Liberals will say that there are no gender roles in marriage, even though Paul and Peter both wrote about the roles of husbands and wives.  Liberals will distort Jesus' teachings on judging and forgiveness to condemn those who rightly say wrong beliefs are wrong or rebuke those who sin.  Liberalism falls into a bigger cloud of fallacies, relating itself to relativism and universalism.  Its basically the idea that there is no right or wrong, and that everything is relative, so there is no room for rebuking someone's sin or wrong beliefs.  It subtracts from Scripture by ignoring plainly written truths in Scripture, and the result is obvious: sin.  Sin is not good, and sin leads to hell, and anything that encourages sin is likewise not good by leading to the thing that leads to hell.  So liberalism is just as bad as legalism, and it can cause just as many problems, but in a different way.

There is a simple solution to both: Try not to go too far in one direction or the other, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, try to understand God's word - the Bible.

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise - why destroy yourself?  Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time?  It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.  The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.  Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

How To Be Content

There is a lot of value in being content.  It may not be the thing that most people seek.  Most people are seeking money and power and satisfaction of their carnal desires.  But being content, for those who are, is like a warm bed in winter and a glass of iced lemonade in summer.  And its rare to find content people.  So for anyone who desires contentment in this crazy world, what is there to do?  Something very real, based on Someone very real.

Having a clear conscience
A guilty conscience will haunt the person who has it.  Someone might get away with a crime, and not be thrown in prison, but his conscience will eat him up.  So much so that he may wish to be found out and brought to justice, so that he can pay retribution for his deeds.  As Solomon says in the Proverbs, "A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death" (Proverbs 28:17).  The only way to have a clear conscience is to be reconciled with God and with those people hurt by deeds done, and to be righteous from then on.  That starts with asking God for forgiveness, and asking God to give the Holy Spirit for regeneration.  Only a person who is born again can stop sinning and have a clear conscience.

Knowing the truth
Anyone who knows the truth, and that truth which is important and relevant to life, will have confidence in what he does.  There is no fear in the person who knows the truth, except the fear of God.  There is confidence.  There is an inward joy as others are speaking about things that he understands.  Sometimes there is an inward laughter.  And gaining knowledge of the truth is not hard to do.  It starts with reading the Bible.  The ultimate truth, whether God is real and Jesus is who He said He is, and whether the Bible is true, is something that must be answered first.  And that can be answered by studying the reasons people believe the Bible and the evidences supporting the Bible.  There are perfectly logical arguments for believing that the Bible is what it claims to be.  Once that is answered, and the truth is known in that regard, then you must read the Bible and meditate on its meaning.  All of the most important truths are found in the Bible.  Not only things that are general in nature, but also things quite specific and profound.  Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Having faith in God
When people talk about having faith in God it is usually about salvation.  Of course a Christian has faith in God for his salvation, but that isn't what I'm talking about here.  See, if we truly believe what the Bible says about God, then there is very good reason for us to have faith in God for everyday salvation.  Should we be worried about our bank account?  Should we worry about accidents?  Do we need insurance and a retirement fund?  If we have faith in God, the answer is no.  He has many multitudes of angels, and doesn't the writer of Hebrews say that angels are sent to serve Christians (Hebrews 1:14)?  And in Romans 8:28, Paul writes that God works to the good of those that love Him.  Even bad things that happen to Christians are turned into good.  So with faith in God, there is no way to worry about life.  Faith in God and worry are two drastically contradictory things.

Being satisfied with the greatest reward
There is no greater reward possible than the reward of eternal life.  Life with God in heaven, at the New Jerusalem, and with all the universe in our possession, is simply beyond compare.  So what is the point of desiring things of this world?  With that great reward of eternal life, how can anyone be wanting?  Eternal life brings satisfaction.  It brings satisfaction in Christ Jesus.  This starts with being born again.  Being born again starts with knowing the truth and having faith in God.  By the grace of God we are given the Holy Spirit, and with that we are given satisfaction and confidence and a clear conscience.  These things produce contentment.  And contentment is a gift that is largely undervalued in our world.  People don't realize just how wonderful it is to be able to say, "It is well with my soul."

What If

What if you could worship the living God with a complete stranger anywhere, on the street, in the middle east, or next to you on a plane?

What if the fear of God and reverence for God were commonplace anywhere you went?

What if prayer were seen as a righteous and holy act, encouraged at every venue?

What if every sports star, movie star, famous singer, business owner and politician gave thanks to God for all their successes?

What if every person on earth knew the name of Jesus, knew the Holy Spirit and the word of God?

What if the love of God saturated every inch of the earth, and every person were treated with the utmost respect because they are made in the image of God?

What if every person shared this in common: We all went to church on Sunday morning, worshiped our Lord and took part in Communion?

What if war were only a thing of the past, because the world is filled with brothers and sisters in Christ?

What if every nation on earth would wrap their arms around any nation that is hit with disaster?

What if we laughed together, praised together, cried together, celebrated together, and shared all our brilliant ideas with each other?

What if God blessed the world with harmony, peace and prosperity, and the effects of the curse were reversed?

What if a poor person were considered to be anyone with a car older than ten years?

What if the worst disease we feared were chicken pox?

What if Bible studies were so common that you could attend five a week if you wanted to?

What if we looked at God's word so intently that we were discovering new and amazing things every day, put there by God for us?

What if having a cross around your neck were an endearing symbol, bringing brothers and sisters together in one purpose?

What if new and glorious songs of worship were created every day by people endowed with divine talent?

What if obedience to Christ's commandments covered the earth?

What if disciples were made of every nation, tongue and tribe, and we all joined together to give God glory and praise and honor and reverence?

When Jesus prayed this: "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  He did not put it out there as only a good prayer.  Our mission on earth is to bring about that fulfillment.  We are God's vessels to this end.  And when that is accomplished, and God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, we will see the closest thing to heaven that could possibly be seen on earth.  We work to this end.  The first thing is to fulfill the great commission, making disciples and teaching them to be obedient to Christ's commands.  When we do this, the rest will follow.  God will bless the earth, and all the great and glorious things I mentioned will be true.  Brothers and sisters, I urge you to pray and work relentlessly to accomplish this.

The Consistency of The Old And New Testaments

You've probably heard, somewhere along the line, someone say something to the effect of, "God in the Old Testament is so different than Jesus in the New Testament."  The idea is that the Old and New Testaments paint such a different picture, that you can't really believe both of them at once, and that God either changed or God did not inspire both texts.  The problem is that there are a number of people, both in and out of the church, that know so little about the Bible that these kind of misconceptions exist.  I know I used to have this misconception, and before I read the Old Testament all the way through, I was a little bit nervous.  I read it at first with a considerable dose of skepticism, because I did not want what I might read in the Old Testament to affect my beliefs or thinking.  I realize now how foolish and ignorant that was.  Let me demonstrate, with a few examples, how consistent the Old Testament and the New Testament really are, and how a Christian can read both of them with full confidence.

The judgement of God
This is something that popular opinion might relegate to the Old Testament.  Y'know, "Jesus is so loving but His Father is so judgmental," idea.  Not so fast.  Jesus does not let sinners off easy, but just the opposite.

Not every who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  -Jesus in Matthew 7:21

The really disturbing part of that is that He is speaking about people who consider themselves to be Christians, otherwise they wouldn't be saying "Lord, Lord".  Now take a look at what Jesus says to the religious leaders of His time:

You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?  -Jesus in Matthew 23:33

Doesn't sound like the nice, loves-everybody, teddy bear Jesus, does it?  And that's not all...

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'   -Jesus in Mark 9:47-48

Whoa.  This is all New Testament.  So much for the idea that the New Testament is all about God's grace and forgiveness.  Anyone who knows the New Testament knows that there is plenty of warnings, both for believers and for nonbelievers, of the wrath and judgement of God.  Look at how the return of Jesus is described:

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  "He will rule them with an iron scepter."  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  Revelation 19:13-15

Now if you think this is somehow different than what's in the Old Testament, let me refer you so something David wrote in the Psalms:

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.  Psalm 2:12

God's grace to the meek and brokenhearted
This is the other side of the coin.  Its a common misconception that God in the Old Testament is always judgmental and mean; that there's no grace.  Those who have read the Old Testament know that God shows a lot of grace and love to the people who really need it. 

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  Psalm 34:18

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Psalm 51:17

Now compare that to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  -Jesus in Matthew 5:3-4 

God's love and care for the helpless
Going all the way back to Exodus - the Torah - where so many people can only think of God's vengeance for sin, we find that God is caring and compassionate for the people who need it the most.  See if this doesn't sound like love to you.

Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.  Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.  If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.  -Yahweh in Exodus 22:21-22

Love your enemies
When you say that, immediately people think of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, but its not just a New Testament teaching.  God has been teaching us to love our enemies both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.  If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.  -Yahweh in Exodus 23:4-5

When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father?  Shall I kill them?"  "Do not kill them," he answered.  "Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow?  Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master."  So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master.  So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.  2Kings 6:21-23

These are just a few examples that illustrate a much bigger truth.  I could probably write several blogs on consistent truths in the Old and New Testaments.  I mention these simply to combat some common misconceptions.  Its important to note that Jesus and the apostles quoted or alluded to the Old Testament over 300 times.  Examples of consistent teachings, and a clear connection, are abundant to say the least.  When people try to say that there is some great disparity between the two, its likely either they've never actually read the Bible, or they are looking for some way to attack its credibility.

Only One Way

There is only one way to enter heaven

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me..."  John 14:6

To live in Christ is to obey His commands.  And Christ commands that we give up all worldly pursuits and seek the kingdom of God and the glory of God.  This is not easy to do.  We can see that by looking around, almost everyone is wrapped up in some worldly pursuit or another.  For some people its as simple as money and all the shiny things that come with it.  For others its relationships - family and friends.  And some people are trying to impress, to be recognized as talented or great or smart or maybe even humble.  Some people are trying to climb the corporate ladder.  Some people are trying to find the perfect spouse.  A person could write a book or two just on the ins and outs of worldly pursuits.  But that's not what I'm trying to do here; just trying to establish a basic idea of what worldly pursuits are.  Here we will address those psychological attractions and deterrents to seeking the kingdom of heaven.

If you ask someone plainly whether they want to go to heaven or not, you will almost always get an absolute and obvious "Yes!"  Putting the question so simply makes answering it very easy.  But is it that simple?  Can the desire displayed in that "Yes!" really take a person the whole way there?  Firstly we must tackle the hard realities of Christ's words.  Jesus did not make it so simple for His disciples.  Jesus said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  And we know from the verse atop, following Christ is the only way to enter heaven.  So that puts us in a different position.  Now the question is, "Are you willing to deny yourself and take up your cross daily so that you can enter heaven?"  Denying yourself means crucifying every desire to serve yourself, to honor yourself or to please yourself.  We know this is hard to do, but why is it hard to do?

Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  -Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14

The desire for worldly things is strong because we are constantly reminded of them.  Every time we see, touch, taste, feel or feel an emotion, we are reminded of these things.  It takes zero faith and understanding to believe in sex, or steak, or the praise of men, or a corvette, or a masters degree, or a six-figure income, or a desirable spouse.  We are reminded of these things many times a day; they bombard our mind through our senses.  And yet these are the things that must be denied in the denying of oneself.  That creates a colossal battle in the mind.  It is so much easier to just ignore eternity and focus on all the immediate things, the things that take no faith and provide instant reward.  And we can't have both.  Christ made sure we knew that.  He made sure that we knew that there is a reason why the road is narrow that leads to life, and that we do not ignore that reason.  So what would drive a person to choose God and choose to deny himself?  What is it about these "few" that makes them different from the "many"?

I believe God designed the human psyche in a peculiar way.  He knows what He made, both tangible and intangible.  Even the knowledge gained through the eating of a fruit was made by Him; so there is nothing, not even a man-made thing, that is not or was not known by God.  Every thing made by God is simply what it is, but how we judge that thing, whether we consider it good or bad, is more a matter of our own psyche as it is of the thing itself.  We might find roadkill repulsive, but buzzards beg to differ.  So we might look at our own psyche for once, rather than looking at the world around us, and wonder why some things are considered good and others bad.

We know that human instinct sees worldly things as desirable.  Otherwise we wouldn't be talking about them.  And we know that this is the reason it is difficult to follow Christ's commands and deny ourselves, and the reason for the narrow path.  But I believe there is a greater design at work, one that goes overlooked.  If all there were is our instinctual and worldly desires, then no one would be a Christian.  The path would not be narrow, the path would be nonexistent.  There has to be a deeper desire that exclusively exists in the human soul; a desire for meaning, I believe.  Its not an immediate desire - something you feel right away - and its not something you feel through your senses.  Its a desire that may develop over time.  And its something that our circumstances either contribute to or not.  Every experience adds or subtracts to or from our deepest values and heartfelt desires.  A Christian does not always crucify those worldly desires; sometimes they are unwittingly killed for him.  Now let us consider a situation in which that might happen, and see if that too might be a design of God.

I have a hunch that every worldly pursuit is riddled with pitfalls, and that because God designed it so.  There may be a guy that considers himself to be very honest and good.  But if his goal in life is to climb the corporate ladder, he will be faced with the reality that he must lie and cheat and step on other people to do so.  Suddenly this guy is not so honest and good.  Worldly pursuits lead to an inevitable compromise of morals.  Sometimes they lead to ultimate disaster, like what we see with the prodigal son.  On top of that, if there were any worldly pursuit (for example, having the perfect family) that didn't result in compromising morals or ending up as the prodigal son, it would still leave the pursuer empty.  A good relationship might satisfy for a little while, but there is only so much meaning that can be found in family, friends or a spouse.  This too is designed to fail.  Every worldly pursuit, whether its ignoble like sex and drugs, or noble like having a perfect family, is designed to fail in fulfilling an individual.  So what happens?

There are two things that can happen to a person, I take it, that will lead him to Christ.  The first thing is basically what happened to the prodigal son.  A person pursues his worldly desires and that worldly pursuit ends with disaster.  At that point he comes to his senses, has nothing to lose, and chooses to follow Christ.  This is what I mean when I say that not every Christian crucifies their worldly desires, but has them unwittingly killed.  And this is why I say that disaster can be the best thing to happen to a person; it can be the thing that turns his life to Christ and sets him on the path to eternal life.  The other thing that can happen is when a person realizes that there is nothing on earth that can satisfy his own soul.  This is the guy that has what he needs to survive, and maybe even thrive, physically, but knows that there is something missing in his soul.  He goes searching for meaning, and after some while, he finds meaning in Christ Jesus.  At that point he is faced with the fact that he must give up all his worldly pursuits and seek the kingdom of God.  You can't serve both God and money, as Jesus has said.

This is food for thought.  When you look around at the world, don't just think simply of what is there, think also of what God created and why He created it that way.  Things are designed, even our own way of thinking, in a particular way and for a reason.  Its amazing to me to consider all the things God has designed, from history, to His word (the Bible), to nature, to knowledge, to the unborn baby, to the dynamics of human life.  Everything is designed, and its all designed for a purpose.  The purpose of all those failures and pitfalls in life is to show us that worldly pursuits are the wrong path.  There is only one way, and the way is narrow, and the way requires a particular life, and the way is Christ.

Ultimate Excellence

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

First thing
This is not Scripture, but it is one of my favorite quotes:

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."  -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first thing to excellence is simply to do all things to the best of your ability.  No matter what your calling in life, whether it is noble or ignoble, you can do your job well.  Especially when an entire congregation of saints does their unique duty well, it shows.  Good work cannot be hidden.  The collective excellence of saints shines brighter than the sun.

Maintain perspective
Eternity matters; the temporal does not.  Heaven comes first; we are only pilgrims here.  Remember that many things are trivial, especially as you think of other people's actions.  We can do all things to the best of our ability, but we must remember to bear with the defects of others.  Why?  Because it ultimately is not important.  This is the ascetic mentality. Doing excellent things and being excellent comes from a certain light-heartedness.  Before you can make a safer car, you must remind yourself that mankind survived quite nicely with horses for thousands of years.  This takes the pressure off, freeing your mind and body for the best work possible.

Forgive
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  -Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15

Forgiveness is kinda like plan B.  Obviously plan A is that no one would ever sin against another person.  But we live in an imperfect world.  Mistakes will happen, sins will occur and offenses will be made.  But if we did not forgive people when they sin against us, that would result in continual bitterness and anger.  We simply need to let go of those things, reminding ourselves that those things are not important.  So someone took some of your money?  So what?  So someone slandered your name?  Big deal.  So someone cheated you?  It doesn't matter.  When we forgive each other, that too, takes the pressure off.  Its like we have the freedom to make mistakes, but of course we try our best not to.  Remember, love keeps no record of wrongs.

Do not worry
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own  -Jesus in Matthew 6:33-34

Maintaining perspective and forgiving others are leading to this point: Do not worry.  Since many things are not important, and we all are called to forgive one another, bearing with each others defects, there's simply no reason to worry.  A person cannot be excellent if they're always in a tissle.  Stress can even kill (heart-attacks).  So trust in God, let go of trivial things, and you will be in the right frame of mind to be excellent and do good.

Love
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you  -Jesus in Matthew 5:44

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Galatians 5:14

Love is key.  When people all over the world love their neighbor, and even love their fellow man across the globe, that is when God's "kingdom come," and His "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Love is the most excellent of all, as Paul says, "the greatest of these is love."  If we want to see excellence in the world, in each other and throughout the world, we simply must love each other.

Pray
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  James 1:5

Trust in God.  Prayer is a sign that you trust in God.  If you lack anything needed for excellence, do something so basic: pray.  God empowers us.  God leads us.  We are not orphans, and we do not strive on our own.  We strive with God as our vanguard and our rearguard.  We strive with millions of saints from every tongue, tribe and nation.  You may not think that you have what it takes; that's ok, because you shouldn't trust in yourself, you should trust in God.  Ask Him for what it takes.

To the glory of God
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  -Jesus in Matthew 5:16

Why excellence?  Why love and forgiveness?  Why do we do these things?  To the glory of God!  It begins and ends with God.  We seek Him and His kingdom, He empowers us, and the result is His glory.  Everything in between, even the street sweeping, is done to make an excellent world that begs the question: Where does this come from?  It comes from God.  We shine the light, so that men see the light and want the light for themselves.  Then we let them know the Source of all goodness and excellence.