To be the best...

Finally, brothers and sisters, 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

Jesus said, I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

It’s many years since I last had a bath. Showers are so easy and quick,  and also (I’m told) more hygienic, that they have become the norm for me as for many others. Which suits me fine.

But there is one thing about baths that leaves me with a feeling of nostalgia – that lovely sensation of sinking luxuriously into warm, comforting water, and just enjoying a delicious soak. Ah! – so relaxing, so calming!

There are other experiences which give us that sense of wholesomeness and well-being: just looking at a beautiful view, perhaps, or closing your eyes as you Iisten to some music that moves you, or walking by the sea. Such experiences have a real effect of recharging us.

Well, the verse I have chosen for today can have that effect – if, that is, we let it. It is basically a simple list of human qualities and characteristics, and I want to suggest that we allow ourselves the luxury of a thorough mental, spiritual soak in them. Take two minutes, please, to s l o w l y read.

Paul, an old man probably close to death, is getting to the end of this short, affectionate letter to his Christian friends in Philippi (for the background history, go to Acts 16, where it’s clear that his initial visit to this historic city was anything but easy). He wants to leave them with positive, encouraging thoughts, and this is what he comes up with. He tells them – and us - to “think about such things”, by which he means to not just read them through at a gallop, but allow our minds to dwell on them, for only so can our lives be changed. Are we up for that challenge?

It's striking that the list isn’t specifically “Christian” – many unbelievers would entirely agree with what Paul says at this point. So the implication is that, living as they do in a multi-religious but basically pagan setting, the Philippian Christians should stand out as especially worthy of respect, putting even the finest of their neighbours and fellow-citizens in the shade. They are to be “honourable”, “noble”, “admirable”, examples of “excellence” and “praiseworthiness” of character. Those words may strike us as pretty old-fashioned in today’s brash and gaudy world; but who cares (as long, of course, as we don’t come across as “holier than thou”)?

I wonder how the western world as many of us experience it today might rewrite that list? “Whatever is vulgar, whatever is coarse and tawdry, whatever is self-serving, whatever may even be dishonest and underhand, whatever is shallow and cheap, whatever gives me an advantage over others, especially those at the bottom of the pile… those are the things to focus on.” We would never, of course, say such a thing, but…

Perhaps I’m being unduly cynical. But it’s hard to avoid the feeling that many of us live in an essentially consumerist, materialist society, and one where the religion of “me-first” is worshipped by so many.

A classic film called Cat on a hot tin roof, from a play by the American playwright Tennessee Williams, features a central character called Big Daddy, the rich patriarch of his family. Big Daddy isn’t, if I remember rightly, a great model of virtue himself, but he has reached the point of being disgusted with other members of his family for their shallowness and dishonesty. Eventually he bursts out in anger, “This place just reeks of mendacity!”, whereupon one of his young female relatives protests “But Big Daddy, I don’t even know what mendacity is!” And you feel like replying “Too right you don’t, you’re so wrapped up in your false, petty little world! You never spoke a truer word!” (I assume anyone reading this blog will know what mendacity is…?)

The tragedy of our fallen, sinful world is that those ugly characteristics simply seep into our bones little by little and day by day. Putting it another way, it’s as if they are in the very air we breathe. Blatant lies are put on line constantly – and we immediately accept them as true because we’re too lazy to even think about checking them.

Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer and, in the opinion of many, a failed president of the United States. A couple of weeks ago he reached his one hundredth birthday, and it was interesting to see the expressions of respect and admiration for him from political commentators of various colours. A failure as president? Perhaps so; let God be the judge. But a humanitarian, an anti-racist, by all accounts a humble and gracious man who seems to try genuinely to live out a simple Christian faith. Far from perfect, of course, as he is the first to confess – yet I must admit that I find myself thinking of him as I read Philippians 4:8.

Perhaps there is a single catch-all word which gathers up those various qualities mentioned by Paul: I’m thinking of integrity. My dictionary defines it as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”. That doesn’t cover everything in Paul’s remark – but I suggest it’s not bad for a start.

Having soaked our minds in Paul’s list, let’s ask ourselves the question: Do I seek to be a person of determined, Christlike integrity?

Father in heaven, I don’t very much like the person I see when I look honestly within me – far from the best I could and should be, and far short even of many who don’t profess to follow Jesus. Please, by your Holy Spirit, put within me a holy ambition to bring you glory in all I do and say and think. Amen.