Kindness

Don’t Take Your Mouth to Church, Son…

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As a young fellow I cut my musical eye teeth on Country and Western music—especially western. The great folk-country singer Johnny Cash recorded a famous, western lament in 1957: “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” The famous “man in black” recorded a sad, haunting lament that made the tragic story come to life in the mind’s eye.

The old west scene was a distraught mother pleading with her over-confident and ill-advised son to leave his guns at home when he went to town. He didn’t listen—or didn’t heed (which is even worse).

When he got to town he went to the saloon and started drinking strong liquor, got into an argument with another cowboy who was quicker on the draw than he was. As the song goes, the tragic young man ended up dying on the barroom floor with his mama’s words on his lips… “don’t take your guns to town, son…”

And don’t take your mouth to Church son…

We have a saying that the song portrayed in principle: “don’t shoot off your mouth”.

The apostle James (in chapter three of his epistle) wrote about “the untamable tongue.” Likewise, as true Christians we must seek God’s help to tame our “tongues,” —that is tame what we say.

As faithful followers of Jesus Christ we must get serious about the vocal part of God’s way of life. “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity…” (James 3:5-6).

What did James “draw on” for such dramatic—and at times, sad imagery? He used the analogy of actual fire—some of which appears even in our modern phraseology.

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2).

The heartbroken mother in the western song begged her son to leave his guns at home, to keep the flint and from igniting the powder. But her son wouldn’t listen.

And the moral of the story or the song is…

Always speak with kindness and outgoing concern for others—always. When we go to God’s true Church services on the Sabbath (that is by analogy to “God’s house”) let’s carefully and purposefully leave our sharp or unthoughtful words and that “untamable” part of our vocal apparatus at home.

Each Sabbath and annual holyday we have the opportunity to hear God’s Word preached… to hear how our brethren are thriving spiritually… to receive and share warm greetings and truly faith-filled conversation.

Savor the incredible calling of God that brought and brings us to His Sabbath services. Draw strength from good fellowship, and especially, humbly savor the sound preaching from God’s own word. Listen, learn and as another apostle was inspired to write “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”!

Bring true, spiritually converted words to Sabbath services and throughout the week that follows!

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

**All images are property of Amanda Stiver, unless otherwise noted. Please do not re-use without permission.

OUR OLD CATS – WINSTON & CLEMENTINE

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A commentary by Randy Stiver (12-2-2022)*

“Hey mister, would you like a kitten—or maybe two?” The two teenaged sisters were sitting on a bench at a country store in rural Ohio doing their homework on a Sunday afternoon – and were trying to give away some small kittens snuggled together in the basket between their young guardians.

“Actually,” I responded, “our family is looking for a good cat. We just moved here this past summer, but “Duke” (short for Marmaduke) our 19-year-old Maine Coon Cat died last spring. However, my friend and I are going deer hunting this afternoon so I can’t take a kitten right now.” 

Then I asked for their parents’ phone number, promising to call the next day. Long story short… their folks showed us several cardboard box tops filled with three litters of active, month and a half to two months old kittens huddled together in the box tops to ward off the autumn chill.

One smaller orange-gold kitten sat bolt upright watching us while all the others hunkered down to stay warm. He reminded us of Duke and was promptly selected. “Take two,” they pleaded, “please take two!” So we picked up a beautiful, slightly larger, tortoise shell female of light brown shades with black and gold-gray highlights.

Home we went with the two free kittens to fill the spot in our lives that the one and only Duke had held. They were summarily named Winston and Clementine after the famous World War Two era, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife. History aficionados never run out of good names for pets!

The two kittens proved to be excellent rodent-control specialists—Winston in particular—and faithful companion pets. Time passed, and on November 21st Clementine died of old age at 16. Now old, yet spry Winston soldiers on a little sadder and lonelier on his own.

Cats in the Bible

God created cats the same as He created every other creature on earth, whether still living or now only a part of the fossil record. But the smaller felines (like our Clementine) were well suited as companion pets whose day job in rural and urban settings was and has been vitally important rodent and pest control.

Looking back

Who knows. Possibly Adam and Eve had a pet cat or two after their exile from the Garden of Eden where they had disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Archeology shows that cats were kept (and sinfully, sometimes worshipped) in ancient Egypt and elsewhere.

God forbids idolatry—whether fabricated, false gods or “god-ifying” people, creatures or things. God loves cats and all the other animals He created. However, He especially loves human beings because we are His children created in His divine image.

Above all the fish, birds and animals—including felines, God gave His human children the incredible potential to be resurrected into His spirit family, thus to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We must, of course, actively choose good and systematically reject evil in our life-long quest to overcome sin and to faithfully follow Jesus Christ as our Savior.

As creatures we are unique in God’s creation. Much as we appreciate them, cats (and all other pets) do not have the potential for eternal life. Only humankind is made in the image of God and has the destiny of the Kingdom of God.

Cats and character

How do cats or other pets help us build that godly, spiritual character?

We learn persistent kindness and tender heartedness as we care for our pets. This instills in us the loving-kindness of God the Father who feeds the little birds.  “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:20).  Note: as wonderful as pets are, God ranks them below our love for our neighbor and especially our love for God and Christ.

Pets teach balance and value

Caring for a pet or treating animals kindly and with respect in a proper priority schools a child or any person in finding and keeping that vital balance.

Consider the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus asking Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter (read Matthew 15:21-28). She cried out to Him repeatedly—to the point that His disciples requested that Jesus should send her away. Always the “great Teacher” Jesus chose to speak to her and probe her faith a little. He knew it would also be instructive for His disciples – and any uppity Pharisees looking on.

Christ told her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” “Dogs” was an occasional derogatory term then used by the Jews for Gentiles (non-Israelites). Christ was testing both the woman’s understanding and her depth of faith. The dedicated mother persevered in her request for her daughter’s healing when she responded, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

To all His disciples and any Pharisees listening, Jesus’ words had seemed to echo their dismissive opinions about the non-Israelite gentiles. However, He was searching the woman’s faith and teaching all the Jews listening a powerful lesson:  Gentiles (non-Israelites) were and are God’s children too!

However, please note: The “little dogs” who had masters were pets. Pet dogs and cats were therefore not uncommon in the Jewish, other Israelite and Gentile (non-Israelite) communities of the 1st Century. And given the repeating commonality of human nature, the same keeping of pet animals is true in our era.

Take the time to read Proverbs 27:23-27 and Proverbs 12:10 to see firsthand how God wants His people (all of us) to care for our pets as a lesson in loving kindness.

Caring for our pets is a gentle-hearted, character-building duty that has thousands of years of human history behind it. It teaches us to better appreciate God’s creation and to be diligently watchful of our pets and livestock. It also teaches us gentleness, kindness and patience. God desires us to also make sure that above our dear pets, we love God above all and love our neighbors as ourselves.

*This originally appeared as a weekly note sent to my local congregation. If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.