Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”
“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
    and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    he has rejected you as king.”

• 1 Samuel 15:12-23

“When it comes to mistakes, we need a great deal of tolerance. And a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either.
“This is certainly true when it comes to mistakes in print. Sometimes these are minor and create no problem for anyone. On other occasions they are embarrassing for the publisher as well as the person being mentioned. Like the one l ran across recently in the sports section of the newspaper.
“A volleyball coach was being featured, and the article went on and on about her background, her superb ability, win-loss record, and style of coaching. The next day, tucked away in a much less obvious place, was a one-sentence apology, which said, in the briefest number of words, that the coach was, in fact, a man, not a woman. Ouch! At least they corrected the error!”

• Charles R. Swindoll, The Finishing Touch (Devotion for week 41, Tuesday)

In the case of Saul, he should have known better.  When God said to completely destroy, that is what God meant.  And if Saul had not been found out by the animal noises, he might have kept the plunder for himself instead of the after thought of making sacrifices to God.  Even if that was what he meant to do, he would sacrifice all the Amelekite sheep and cattle so that he would not have to sacrifice any of his own.

The newspaper made a bad mistake.  If the reporter had done a legitimate interview, the reporter would have known the coach was male.

But the newspaper reporter was cutting corners.  Saul was violating a command from God.  As the Scripture goes on to say.  It is better to obey than do a sacrifice.

I have been in that situation and I have made enemies out of people.  Some people cannot conceive of someone who will not cut a corner here or there.  And there is nothing wrong with taking plunder.

But cutting corners is sloppy, and disobeying God goes far beyond cutting a corner.

Have I made mistakes?  Plenty.  And I have probably made more mistakes than I know.  I have had people leave my Sunday school class and never say why.  In some cases, they found greener grass in the other class.  Sometimes they do not like my teaching style.  And sometimes, I say something that offends.  I do not mean offense, but in these days of polarized thinking and being offended by what might actually be the truth, it makes no difference if you intended to offend or not.  You are simply considered inconsiderate and wrong.

Lately, I feel defeated, but I will continue as long as I can.  And if I have to step away from teaching Sunday school, I will probably step away from the church entirely.  I might move in with my son in Tennessee until he kicks me out.

And what bothers me most is that this type of thinking, or non-thinking, is filtering into our churches.

But God is in control.  This may be a major step in the wrong direction, but it may be necessary to establish the conditions that will bring an end to this present fallen world.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.