S5 E19 - An Unholy Buc-ee's Sign

As we traveled back from camp, my friend Will and I were taken back by some signs being sold at Buc-ee's. They were mocking Scripture, particularly from the book of Joshua, and making light of the things God has said. It was startling, but not surprising. 

We are called to be holy, because God is holy. And a such, that means he should be honored as holy - and that includes his Word. Have we been set apart for him? Have we treated him as common, or holy? 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

We are a day behind, but here we are finally for this week’s episode! Thank you for your patience as I am playing catchup from being gone all week at SALT Bible Camp down at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. It was an extraordinarily encouraging week as roughly 40 boys and a few handfuls of teachers and counselors all came together for an intensive week of Bible study, prayer, and song worship together. When I say intensive, I mean that 9 ½ hours each day were given over to these kinds of activities. It was so encouraging, and I am so filled up after getting to experience the week together with old and new friends alike. There are so many things that I wanted to write about this week, but I finally ended up settling on one particular thing that happened, and it happened on the drive home from Tennessee back up to Danville. My young intern Will and myself had loaded up the Subaru and started our trek out of the state park, and we made an executive decision to not go back up through Cookeville but instead to go back up through Crossville. The reason? Well, it could be for no other reason than to stop at a Buc-ee’s of course! If you’ve never been to a Buc-ee’s before, you probably don’t understand the hype. But once you walk in and experience the chaos and magnitude that is the supersized gas station chain, you’ll be hooked. We were dreaming of brisket, beaver nuggets, and kolaches as we pulled in and found a parking spot. Normally my trips inside are completely food related, but this time I wanted to find some souvenirs for my kids – so we found ourselves wandering the eclectic collections of random merchandise on each side of the store. 

Now, up to this point, I have been very high on Buc-ee’s, especially for the food. But as we wandered, Will and I stumbled across something that gave us both pause – and for good reason. One small section of the store was dedicated to funny and witty signs that one would display in their home. You know, things like, “Dinner’s ready when the smoke alarm goes off”, or “life is short, lick the bowl”, to be displayed comically above a toilet. As we scanned the signs, there was one section that made us stop in our tracks. I’m sure that most of us know the famous quote from Joshua 24:15, which states, “As for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord.” Contextually, it is a powerful statement of faith in the face of idolatry and wickedness, calling for the people of Isreal to abandon their false gods and serve the one true God. Well, there was a whole section of signs for sale that were dedicated solely to the mockery of that verse. A couple of examples of these were, “As for me and for my house, we will serve margaritas – Salt 24:7” or “As for me and for my house, we will serve tacos – Fiesta 24:7”. Listen, I’m all for a good joke, and I believe that Scripture clearly demonstrates there is a time and place for humor. I even love a good Bible or preacher joke from time to time. But this? Well, I looked over at Will and said, “This this way too far.” To make a mockery of Scripture, twist it, and then make a profit off of it…I don’t find any part of that funny. 

The whole ordeal reminded me that far too often, mankind does not have an appreciation for God the way that we should. Reverence, holiness, and veneration are not words that we enjoy or employ in our everyday lives – and yet as Christians, they should be part of the bedrock of our lives and our faith. Drawing from the language used frequently throughout the book of Leviticus, the Apostle Peter would say the following in 1 Peter 1:15-17, “But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy’. If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.” While most of us have likely heard the term ‘holy’ in our lives, there are perhaps some of us that are not entirely sure what that term means. To be ‘holy’ is to be consecrated, set apart from everything else. Behind the term is the idea of dedication, something that is not treated like everything else – but is special in nature. Think of your finest china that you own – it is put in a special place, used only for special occasions, and handled with the greatest care. It is set apart, it is holy, and it is treated as such. There are two things we want to break down from this text as a result of knowing this. 

First, the text reminds us that we ourselves are to be holy. In fact, look further at the language that Peter would use in the context: he says that we are living as strangers while here on this earth. What does he mean by this? He means that we do not live and act like the rest of the world that is still walking in darkness; instead as children of God, we are called to be different. In fact in Leviticus 20:26, the Lord would say specifically to Israel, “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.” Like Israel, we should not look and act just like the rest of the world if we belong to Christ. We have been called out of our fleshly lusts and worldly pursuits, and we have been called to something far greater – to walk in love and light as people of God’s own possession. Such behavior is strange to the world. Peter would say later on in the same letter that those around us are surprised that we do not join them in the same flood of wild living and even slander us as a result. As Christians, we must be willing to endure ridicule, and even poor treatment, on account of our being different in all things – the way we talk, the way we joke, the way we dress, the way we act, the way we love, the way we forgive, the way we work – all things. But why? We are we called to be different and to be holy?

This brings us to the second point we want to bring out of the text: that God is holy. We are to be holy, because God himself is holy and must be honored as holy. In Isaiah 40:12-18, we read the following concerning the Lord of hosts: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on the scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave him counsel? Who did he consult? Who gave him understanding and taught him the paths of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales; he lifts up the islands like fine dust. Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are considered by him as empty nothingness. With whom will you compare God? What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?” What a great question Isaiah asks us: who is like our God? Who can you possibly compare him to? God is all powerful, all knowing, ever present. He is the creator. The first and the last. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. There is no one like him. The question that remains is this: do we treat him as such? God being holy and our regarding him as holy are two very different things. This is why Peter called for us to conduct ourselves with reverence in this text. As a holy and righteous God, we should not be flippant towards God or treat him as common. That includes not only God himself, but also his Word. The gospel of God is the power unto salvation, and yet we can treat it as if it was just an ordinary common thing. Something to be twisted, mocked, ridiculed, or ignored. 

My friends, God is not mocked. What we sow is what we will reap (see Galatians 6 for further study on that matter). God is not a joke. His Word is not a comedy. We must approach God as holy, and we ourselves must live in the same way. Let us conclude with the words of Peter in chapter 3:15 of his first letter once more, “But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 19 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.