Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Our Own Animal Stupidity - Apples of Gold - June 22, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for June 22, 2010

“Our Own Animal Stupidity”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Have you read much about the Russian Revolution of 1917?

Listen to these phrases from a newspaper.

“…violence broke out…”

“Crowds hurled bottles and other objects at police…”

“…broke windows…”

“….several…fires were set…”

“…fights broke out…”

“…beaten unconscious…”

 “…police fired....rounds to disperse the crowd…”

“Hundreds of officers…on foot and on horseback moved in to clear streets...”

“…people were arrested…”

Armed officers lined up and marched down the street, wielding batons and demanding that the mob disperse.

Sounds about like those crazy old Russians, doesn’t it?

Oh wait.  That’s from the Los Angeles Times.

And it wasn’t about the Russian Revolution.  It’s what happened after the Lakers game Friday night.*

Why do people do these things?  When starving peasants riot – at least that’s understandable. 

But well-fed, victorious Laker fans?

It reminds me of a phrase used by a Russian writer during their revolution.  Listen to this, written by Maxim Gorky.  Here is the phrase.

“….unable to suppress their own animal stupidity.”

It sounds like Gorky is looking down his nose at the dullards in the street from high up in his penthouse suite.  But Gorky had come from the masses himself, and became prominent not because of wealth, but because of his writing.  So it wasn’t that he was looking down on the people in the street, but instead I think he was identifying something that is inside us all – “animal stupidity.”

Listen to Gorky’s sentence that leads up to that phrase.

He wrote, “All the dark instincts of the crowd, irritated by the disintegration of life and by the lies and filth of politics, will flare up and fume, poisoning us with anger, hate and revenge; people will kill one another, unable to suppress their own animal stupidity.”

Have you ever felt that, your own “animal stupidity”?

Maybe you don’t think you have it.  Maybe you have risen above it.

But under the right conditions, out it pops, our animal stupidity.

I’ve seen this in my own life.  Push the right buttons.  Pull the right levers.  Pour me a cocktail of injustice and malevolence and I will drink it to its dregs and set the house on fire.

On the other hand, I have yet to set the house on fire.  So what’s holding me back?

I think it’s the Spirit of God in my life.  As a Christian, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within me, and I sense His divine restraint and wisdom pulling me from my animal stupidity.

The phrase “animal stupidity” is not found in the Bible, but I think it’s similar to what the Bible calls our “sinful nature.”

Colossians chapter two uses this phrase, “indulgence of the flesh.” 

There are two popular ways to deal with our sinful nature’s craving for indulgence.  One way is to simply indulge it. 

If you feel like celebrating your team’s victory by breaking windows, starting fires and beating people senseless, just do it. 

Most people don’t agree with going quite that far, but many think it’s okay to indulge their flesh as long as it doesn’t victimize others.

The other popular way to deal with our sin nature’s cravings is through rules.  For example, the Ten Commandments are rules.  The Pharisees had a lot of rules.  Our government has many rules that attempt to curb our sinful indulgences.  If we don’t, we risk arrest.

Rules, rules and more rules, yet what does Colossians 2:23 say?  “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom…but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

Rules just aren’t very good at stopping us.  When our sin nature calls, we tend to answer. 

But thank God as Christians we have the Holy Spirit inside us!  When that sin nature calls, the Spirit answers the phone!

And if we are sensitive to the Spirit, He will lead us away from our animal stupidity.  Galatians 5:16 says “…live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

It goes on to talk about a wrestling match between the Spirit and our sinful nature.  “They are in conflict with each other,” it says, “so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit…”

And that’s the key – being led by the Spirit, being sensitive to the Spirit, tuning in to the voice of the Holy Spirit inside of us.

He will help us say no to our sinful nature. 

He will help us deny the cravings of our flesh.

He will help us rise above our own animal stupidity.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/18/local/la-me-0618-lakers-20100618

This is why I believe the gospel of salvation through Christ, and the resulting indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is the key to civil peace.  It’s hard to restrain people from the outside, but God can do His wonders from the inside, restraining us and bringing peace to society. 

But there is still a teamwork between us and God.  He doesn’t move in and take over.  We still have our freedom.  We can blow past the restraining wind of the Spirit.  But the good news is that the Spirit is there, always working with us to bring us into line with God’s ideals, and the more we listen and heed, the better off we are personally, and the better off everyone is around us.

© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
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