A Little Cheatin' Going On - April 16, 2011

Good Saturday morning! The breeze is light, the sun is shining and most of the snow is gone. Can we start spring now? Winter seems rather tenacious this year. I used that big word there to prove that I did actually attend college not that long ago. In the Reader's Digest this month is an interesting story on cheating in college. At first, I didn't think too much about it; kind of a "glad he isn't talking about me" kind of thing, but then, something occurred to me. I may have competed against a pro at some point in my college courses. My grade at some point may have been less because a classmate paid for a paper written by a pro while I used my own work. I must be the amateur in this because I had to pay up front to be there while the article is written by one who receives a pretty penny for his writing services. Any one of us may not think that an epidemic of cheating hurts us, since we choose honesty, but we do have to compete against this cheating, this dishonesty and lying. Imagine if you had to write an essay to try for a promotion at work, and the other fellow went out and paid some professional writer to bang out a 'bang up' essay while you gave up your evenings for a couple of weeks to produce you own work having not written an essay since college some 20 years ago. The other fellow's work, professionally done and paid for, would probably look a lot better than yours and the promotion would be his. You would cry foul of course, that is assuming you found out what he had done, but would that do any good? We should cry foul over this epidemic of cheating in our colleges too. Are we to 'tattle' then as we learned as children? Yes, actually the Bible does have something to say about that: "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." (Eph 5:11) This does not say that we are to run to the authorities right off, but that may be one option. Exposing the works of darkness could mean speaking out from the pulpit, and, yes, writing of it in a devotional or magazine. Certainly we should expose deceitful works to each other when it involves a scam or con that is going on. Exposing might be taking that most painful path and confronting in love the person who is doing wrong. What if that other fellow was a deacon in your church? The article points out that seminary students had used the 'cheat' company's services too. But that shouldn't come as a great surprise to us. After all, we have been warned that false prophets and teachers would come in the last days. We also realize that some folks are getting into the ministry to become a famous televangelist and pull in lots of loot. Kind of makes you wonder if any of the sermons you hear on the telly have been um, ghost-written? Have some of our beloved ministry shows become performance art instead of preaching? Some of that will happen in the end times, some is probably going on now. "Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Let the Spirit guard your mind, come to the Lord in prayer. The deceptions of the enemy are many in this age. Bucky