Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday September 12, 2006

A good friend, Austin Bennett, sent yet another quote along with a sage observation:

"Larry, you dwell in the arena of public opinion and depend all too frequently on the good will of others for your bread and cheese. Here is a thought to keep in mind:

"Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of the few; and number not the voices, but weigh them." Immanuel Kant

The validity of the statement stands on its own legs, but think about the wisdom of it and the lessons that can be learned from its implications. May I use an extreme example of how to apply this quote in your own life?

If you are a thief and get only the opinion of other thieves, you will be considered alright. If however you have a few victims on your counsel team, you will get a totally different idea of things!

We preachers are the worlds worst for failing to see the folly of getting only the opinions of fellow preachers and limiting this opinion to those of our small group on the assumption that we are the only group with any truth worth considering. For instance, if a preacher has a legal problem, you will most likely get the worst possible advice from a fellow preacher. I am the exception to the above rule. If you should have a legal problem I will give you the best legal advice one preacher can possible give to another preacher: Go see a good lawyer! When it comes to legal matters preachers as a rule are more arrogant than jail house lawyers and more ignorant of the finer matters.

In many matters a preacher would do well to not only discover the mind set of fellow preachers, but it might be good idea to find out how the idea strikes the truck driver or janitor.

Weighing the 'voices' is a safer and more valuable practice than is listening to the noise of the madding crowd. Every book I have ever read on succeeding in an enterprise gives the advice to get expert advice. In our complicated world no one person has all the needed expertise for your endeavor.

In the living of life on a daily basis the reliable, expert instructions in the word of God are given freely in order for you to have life and have it more abundantly through faith in Christ.

Failure to get expert advice in legal or other matters can result in enormous loss, even imprisonment with the resulting loss of reputation, prestige and pecuniary benefits.

Failure to heed the instruction in the Bible results in eternal denial of all good things.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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