Several times in the Bible we are admonished not to
remove the ancient landmarks which our fathers have
set. The Psalmist said, "I shall not be moved."
All of us know institutions such as churches and schools
that have changed and deteriorated with the passing
of the years. The sad thing is that this deterioration
takes place unknowingly. The Bible says that Samson
did not know his power was gone from him. The reason
for this is that Satan does not change us suddenly or
dramatically. He moves the landmarks a little at a time
until we change unknowingly. As slow as the hands move
on a clock so Satan leads us to deterioration and apostasy.
If we do not succumb to his tactics, it will be because
we have a carefully planned program of resistance. Many
things should be part of that program.
1. Analyze and know ingredients. When a victory is
won, carefully relive the ingredients of victory. When
a defeat is suffered, carefully analyze the ingredients
of defeat. When a person has a good day he may or may
not know why he had a good day. All of us have come
home at night living on the top. Before retiring it
would be wise for us to analyze the day. If the ingredients
of the day made for a good today, they will no doubt
make for a good tomorrow.
When one has a bad day he should not just mark it off
until he analyzes carefully what he did, how he did
it, and where he went, with whom he was, etc. He can
thereby avoid such a combination of ingredients tomorrow
and all the tomorrows.
When we know the ingredients of both success and failure
we will be able to place together the proper recipe.
If this recipe is used regularly, victory can be enjoyed
regularly. Institutions as well as individuals should
reexamine and investigate the means and circumstances
that led to success and plan the future accordingly.
2. Know your pattern of behavior. Usually we react
the same way to the same stimulus. There are certain
things that make us mad; there are certain things that
make us sad; there are certain things that make us glad.
If we can intelligently relive our sadness, our madness
and our gladness, we can utilize the stimuli to enable
us to react with some degree of consistency. This will
enable us to continue using the same stimulus, just
as we continue using the aforementioned recipe. The
individual or the institution thereby becomes somewhat
predictable because he has learned the way to arrive
at a desired end.
To be sure, we are human, and human beings do not always
react to the same stimulus the same way. However, there
are some basic stimulus that will usually cause the
same reaction and the same response. We should know
these and avoid those that cause us to change for the
bad. We should make friends with those which have done
us good before.
3. Do not judge by the changing of others. Far too
many of us judge right or wrong on the basis of our
distance from wrongdoers. Hence, as the world changes
we change, staying exactly the same distance behind
the world, for to us right and wrong is a relative thing
in comparison with those who do wrong and with those
who do right. For example, it is sad to see the skirt
lengths of Christian young ladies rising just because
the skirt lengths of the world are rising.
We are very careful, however, not to be like the world.
We just want to stay the same distance behind them.
In doing so we change! As the world gets worse and worse
we can find ourselves the same distance from the world
and yet be worse now than the world was before. If it
was wrong for young ladies to show their thighs 10 years
ago, it is wrong today. This is only an example. There
are many others. Because of this philosophy, we change
and don't know we are changing, because we are judging
ourselves by the distance we keep from the world's standards
and not by what is right and what is wrong to do.
4. One should not expect to change. Do not accept the
philosophy that it must be done in these days and that
since it is harder to live right, we cannot live as
we always lived. The very fact that one expects to change
is a part of the changing.
5. One should know the difference between improvement
and change. Improvement comes on purpose; change usually
comes unknowingly. Improvement is usually enjoyed by
the careful whereas change is enjoyed by the careless.
Institutions do not deteriorate because they plan to
deteriorate. They deteriorate without realizing that
the process is taking place. They are like a boat without
an anchor. It does not appear to be moving until we
find it far away from shore. There are certain anchors
that the Christian institution should lower. The anchor
of the Bible, the anchor of the deity of Christ, the
anchor of the will of God, the anchor of soul winning
and other such anchors will help to keep us from drifting.
Improvements come by making a habit of the good. Change
and deterioration come by just supposing that everything
must be all right.
6. One should weigh himself every day. The clock that
loses a minute a day will in 60 days lose an hour if
it is not set daily. The individual or institution which
is not weighed daily and whose compass is not checked
daily will soon find itself way off course and in bad
spiritual health. One should check his position every
day to be sure that he is not off course.
One of the sad things about the Christian life is that
we do not become dissatisfied with a little bit of wrong.
The best housewife hates a speck of dirt. The best mechanic
hates a spot of grease. The best husbandman hates one
locust. The best preacher hates one sin. The best judge
hates one crime. The best athlete hates one defeat.
The best doctor hates one germ. The best botanist hates
one weed. The best musician hates one unharmonious note.
The best writer hates one grammatical error, and the
most consistent Christian hates to veer one degree off
course. Because of this, the land must be surveyed every
day. Our spiritual height must be measured every day.
Our course must be charted every day. Think of all the
things the Apostle Paul did daily. He died daily, and
he buffeted his body daily. The wise Christian will
make a daily check on his position. the wise Christian
institution will check its position every day, not in
its relation to other institutions, but in its relation
to what it was when God blessed it most and to its nearness
to the purpose of its founders. Look at the great liberal
universities which were founded by fundamental people
and financed by fundamental dollars. Their change did
not come dramatically. It was a slow gradual evolution.
Even the most astute of its leaders did not realize
a change was taking place. The landmark was moved so
slowly it could not be seen, and yet one day the institution
awakened to find itself asleep, came alive to find itself
dead, found enough light to find itself in darkness,
walked straight enough to find itself in crooked, had
just enough health to find itself incurably diseased
and had just enough strength to find itself too weak
to recover.
Beloved, let us not let Satan do this to our institutions.
Let each of us that is connected with a Christian school
or church check itself constantly to see if just a little
deterioration has set in. Let us go to the doctor before
we can get cancer. Let us cure its pimple when it first
begins and not lament its death later.
All of this is to say that we should hate mistakes;
we should hate wrong. Clean the garment the moment it
is spotted. See the doctor first at the first sign of
a temperature in order that we may avoid following the
path of institutions who were founded as we were founded
and who one day held the exact position that we now
hold and yet who gradually and unknowingly died.
7. Before eliminating a weakness one should see what
is on the other side connected to it. It may be that
the very weakness which we eliminate is not a weakness
at all, but rather a necessary part of strength. For
example, one who is tenacious may appear to be stubborn.
One who is confident may appear to be cocky. One who
is zealous may appear to be proud. One who has conviction
may appear to be bigoted. So often in our sincere desire
to improve ourselves we roll into spiritual surgery
to remove something that appears to be bad but which
is connected to the very thing that makes us unique
and successful. This is often caused by egocentricity
and is self-introspection.
Many institutions and individuals deteriorate because
they become disenchanted with the very qualities that
are necessary for success. Let us say with the Psalmist,
"I shall not be moved," and let us guard daily
the landmarks let they be moved ever so gradually by
the enemy.
