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“After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked. When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done.”
(Genesis 9:20–24, NLT)

Isn't this a startling story about Noah?
He is in God's Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, but he made mistakes and sinned against the Lord just like we do.

But notice the different responses his children had to his sin.

One chose to exploit the situation, broadcasting and gossiping about his father. He chose to run his father down and demean him. He chose to try to build himself up by tearing another down.

But the other two sons did something different.

They covered his sin. They did not exploit it for personal gain. They did not try to show how right they are by how wrong their father was as Ham did.

Here is a Happiness Hint and a key to success in Life:

Think, "If I were him or her, how would I want me to be?"

This simple spiritual principle is what made the Good Samaritan good. He put himself in the place of the person who had been beaten and robbed and thought,
"If I were him, how would I want me to be?"

Condemning others is what Jesus warned against when he said,

““Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1-2, NLT)

Does that ever cross your mind when you see someone mess up?

Many people have way too much time on their hands and they become busybodies, meddling in other people's business that is really not their concern at all.

Remember this warning from Proverbs,

“Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.” (Proverbs 26:17, NIV)

Having been in church leadership for almost 40 years now, one thing that I am absolutely convinced of is that the church is a "God thing." I have heard what has been said and done behind closed doors by church leaders and often marveled that the church exists at all. If the church were up to man, we would have destroyed the church a long time ago because of being harsh, unkind, gossipy and unbiblical in our approach so often.

As a pastor, I have been called everything but a child of God; cussed out in church in front of my own children and the church while I sat there and took it. I was punched by another pastor once who was jealous of the growth God was giving our church. I was told to go to another church by a Sunday School teacher solely because of my race. I have been mocked, blamed for everyone's problems in every area of their lives, and nit-picked to death over inconsequential matters of opinion by church attenders, who threaten to take their tithe dollars elsewhere if I don't do what they demand. People have met me on the street and told me to "Go to hell," and spit in my general direction. (They were surprised when I responded with, "That's impossible. God doesn't lie, and He made me a promise in Ephesians 2:8-9. Why are you so upset at Him - and me?") I've been lied to, lied about, and threatened with legal action because someone is unhappy they aren't getting their way (not the Lord's way).

Maybe some of that was "my fault" - but not all of it. I am not comparing myself to the Apostle Paul in any way, and I think in most cases it was because at times people do not like what the Word of God says and they take out their hatred for the invisible God on the visible messenger.

And we wonder why more than 60% of young people who graduate with a degree in ministry choose to do anything else but ministry within five years of their first church experience.

A veteran Christian man told me once,
"We better stop beating up our pastors or there won't be anyone around to shepherd our children and grandchildren."

And we wonder why people do not want to walk into a freezer on Sunday morning to have someone, with nothing but a harsh face, no smile, and a condemning attitude talk about "the love of God." Usually this "great news" is shared with such monotone I feel like running up to check the pulse of the speaker to see if he is still alive - or at least wake him up!

What about you? 

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has thought about this more than once.

I'd love to hear your experiences! Please hit "reply" and share your thoughts!

• If I were him or her, how would I want me to be?

Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau

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