The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-06-24
On The Rock
Lesson For June rs, 1860

PLEASE NOTE the title o.
this column. It is On the Rocl
not On the Rocks. The English
language is peculiar. On the
Rocks is a nautical expression
referring to a ship cracking w
on a rocky reef. On the Rocl
is builders expression, refer
ring to solid foundations. Yor
could mix the metaphors by
saying You'll never go on the
rocks if you re on the Rock"
Bypassing Jesus
We are not surprised when
people who make no claim to
being Christians lowrate Jesus
and refuse to consider him an
authority. But it is surprising
and saddening besides, to find
protesting Christians bypass
ing Jesus as Number On e
authority in their lives. One
way Of doing this is to say that
Jesus was not giving directions
for this life. even for this world:
but that he was telling us how
we should live when the King
dom of God comes on earth. In
other words, that Jesus was CIV
ing directions for some future
era, not for then and there in
Palestine nor for here and now
in America. Another way of by
passing Jesus is to take the op-
poSite tack, and claim that
Jesus was speaking only for the
old dispensation or period of the
Law, and that all his moral di-
rections and ideals went out
when the Holy Spirit came at
Pentecost. Still another way to
bypass Jesus is to allege that
his commands were impossible,
and that he knew it; but he
wanted to set the standard so
high that people would give up
trying to be good and rely on
faith instead Of works.
Taking Jesus Seriously
Jesus himself gave no support
to such lopsided caricatures Of
his tie a hi ing, and intentions.
Everything he said indicates
that he intended to be taken
seriously. He speaks distinctly
of some who would one day call
him Lord - but mot do what
l tell you" duke 6:46): and he
has nothing good to say of such
people. Jesus talked to real peo-
pie with real problems. What
mainline Christians have dis
covered down through the ages
is, that what Jesus said to the
people he met face to face is
still good for our day and for
all time. It is nothing better than
double-talk to call Jesus Lore"
or even God" and refuse to
pay attention to him when he
gives directions for living.
Building On The Rock
The exact word lin the Creek
is ION THE rock" not ION A
rock" Anywhere in the world
if you go down far enough, yol
strike rock; and all the rock Of
the world is connected together
by the mighty forces God has
created. So there is one Rock
on which an enduring life car
be founded: Christ and his teach
ings. But a question may come
to mind. Human beings are oil
enormous variety. Their prob
lens are innumerable. Jesus
could not, and did not, give us
his mind as to many Of the most
difficult problems of our time
How then can we say that his
teachings are the bedrock OF all
truly successful living?
Jesus could say this. not be-
cause he was new Moses, not
because he was delivering rules
for everybody on all occasions
He could say this because his
teachings are the universal bed
rock beneath all the variety of
human personalities and situa-
tons. AS we saw when looking
into the Golden Rule" Jesus
gave us principles rather than
rules. He does not do our think
ing for us. He furnishes the
foundation, each of us has to
build his own house on it.
Tested BY Storm
A house of cards will stand up
so long as no one breathes on
it. A house with any flimsy un-
derpinning, or none. will stand
so long as the weather is good.
The test of a house is not sun
shine but storm. And if there
is one thing certain about every
mans life, it is that the sun will
not always shine upon it. Bright
days may be certain to come
too; but they are not the ter
rible test. The dark days, the
blizzards and the floods and the
hurricanes, are the times sure
to come for each Of us. Tw Q
houses may look just the same
before the storm. How they
look afterwards is what counts