Honor

            Last summer, I had the privilege of teaching at our local Youth Camp.   My assignment: “ Boyz To Men” for 28, 7th through 12 th graders.   (No, I didn't get to pick the name for my class.)   After two days of trying to teach them how to create a counter-culture of Godly men, I switched gears for the last day and guided them past Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes to that firecracker in the center of our Bibles called Song of Solomon.   It begins with the Beloved (the woman) speaking of her Lover.  

2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--
     for your love is more delightful than wine.

4  Take me away with you--let us hurry!
     Let the king bring me into his chambers.

            The last time I read these opening verses, I began to wonder, what was it about this man that the Beloved found so irresistible?   (And I knew my boys would find it “instructive” to know what makes a man this appealing!)   The first word I taught them was Honor.   Every time the Lover describes his Beloved, it is with honor.   Go ahead and snicker, just like my boys did, at the antiquated descriptions such as the ones found in Chapter 4, but look behind the words and see the admiration… the take-my-breath-away awe that the Lover has for his Beloved.

1  How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
     Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
     descending from Mount Gilead.
2  Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
      coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
     not one of them is alone.
3  Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
     your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
     are like the halves of a pomegranate…

            What I described above is a perfect definition for honor.   It is the awe you feel in the presence of something truly valuable.   Gary Smalley, in one of his older seminars, teaches the concept by holding up a violin.   It looks ordinary… even slightly beat up and worn.   But then he invites the camera in close to reveal that printed on the inside is the word “Stradivarius,” meaning of course that, though common- looking , this particular violin is worth well over $1 million!   As he reveals this secret, there is an audible gasp from the crowd, and Smalley exclaims, “That's it!   That is honor.”    

            I took the illustration a little bit further.   “Guys,” I asked, “What if I were to have that violin here with me?   What would you think if I carried it upstairs, turned it neck down, and used it to stir the spaghetti that is currently cooking on the stove?”   Obviously, that would be foolish… stupid… and wasteful.   (My boys used much more creative words.)   “Or… what if I somehow won a new Ford Mustang… and took it home, parked it in the back yard, ripped the seats out of it, and used it as a storage barn?”   This – for my boys – bordered on blasphemy.

            Psalms says that WE are the crown of God's creation.   Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13:44-45 that I believe, in addition to the “traditional” view, teaches that WE are the pearl of great price.   WE are the treasure lost in the field.   Each one of us has been “bought with a price” and it was “not with perishable things… that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ” ( 1 Peter 1:18-19 .)   Each one of us is of extraordinary, inestimable value.   And, if you still don't believe me, then try to replace someone.   Many of you have experienced the heartache of divorce or a loss by death or even the lesser pain of being separated from a good friend.   None of these relationships are replaceable… so why on earth do we so often treat each other with such disregard and sometimes even contempt?   How can we take one another for granted?   Why do we – all too easily – misuse people?   Since we are made in the image of God… since we bear His stamp and the swirls of His thumbprint… doesn't this kind of treatment border on blasphemy?  

            Why not – instead – gasp in awe when you see your wife?   Why not – as Gary Smalley advises – say, “I can't believe I get to be in the same room with you!”   THIS is honor.   And every relationship you can think of – husband and wife, parent and child, friends, co-workers, ministry partnerships – would be immeasurably improved if we could consistently live it out.  

Walk WITH Jesus,

Jim

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Jim Reynolds – John 14:1-6

Copyright June 08

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BIO

Jim grew up – and sometimes still longs for – the suburbs of Kansas City, but now has the privilege of serving as the pastor of a rural Midwestern church.   He and his wonderful, beautiful, multi-talented wife, Deanna, have two children still with them and one “ Punkin Seed” waiting for them in Heaven; she “went to see her other Daddy” at the age of 5 ½ months.   Jim is thrilled, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity to write for this magazine.  

At this writing , Jim, after sandbagging for six days, is not sure he ever wants to go to the beach again.   He also hopes all of the levees hold and that no more of his city is swallowed up by the flood waters.