The Rules . . .

I just watched the NCIS season finale. This is easily one of my favorite shows. Great stories, good mystery with liberal doses of comedy thrown in . . . just great stuff. The finale tonight dealt a lot with Gibbs’ rules. This list numbers into the 50’s now, and it’s basically Gibbs’ code of conduct; how he approaches life, what he’s learned through experience, etc. Simply put, if you know the rules, you know the man.

Gibbs’ rules are interesting. They range from the practical (#2 – Always wear gloves at a crime scene) to the borderline paranoid (#40 – If it seems someone is out to get you, they are), from instructional (#7 – Always be specific when you lie) to what can only be learned the hard way (#12 – Never date a coworker). A new, almost philosophical rule was added tonight: #51 – Sometimes, you’re wrong.

So, all this talk of rules of conduct got me to thinking; what rules do I live by? What is my code of conduct? The easy. Sunday-school answer is “well, the Bible, of course!” The problem with that is twofold: 1) the Bible is 66 books of direction on how to live. Very few people that I know of have memorized the entire thing and can recall specific verses on a moment’s notice. 2) No one can possibly live up to everything in the Bible every day. (Romans 3:23 – For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of His glorious standard.) In light of this, I’ve decided to compile my own list of rules. I’m sure this will take some time to bring together, but I already know rule #1: It’s always about people.

C. S. Lewis said, “You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” And, elsewhere, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” We are all eternal beings in temporary homes. Our bodies will wither and die (I know, pleasant thought, isn’t it?), but our souls will go on for eternity. It’s our souls that make us who we are. Our bodies only contain us. So, doesn’t it make sense to invest in something eternal over something temporary? Possessions will break and become obsolete when the “next big thing” comes along. Bones break, bodies get sick, and eventually go back to the dust from whence they came. But the spirit, the soul . . . these will exist from this realm into the next.

This is why my 1^st inviolable rule is what it is. It always has to be about people, because Jesus was always about people. Just read through the New Testament. Everything he said and did was an investment in the lives of people so that they could spend eternity with Him. Jesus knew that this earthly life is not the beginning and end of it all. This is just a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things. I want to be about what Jesus was about, and that boils down to one word: people.

How about you? If you were to compile a personal list of rules, what’s #1?

All I want for Christmas . . .

It’s now officially the Christmas season. People are now rushing around, trying to get the best deals on gifts for friends and loved ones. Gadgets and toys, all priced to move, the perfect way to show people just how much you love them.

Pardon the above sarcasm, but the older I grow, the less I understand the correlation between stuff and affection. Is the trading of items the best way we know of showing each other that we care? I refuse to believe that. That’s not the example of love that has been set before us.

Sacrifice is the level of love to which we are called. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) This is the example we’ve been given to follow. This is how Jesus showed His love for us, by giving His life in exchange for ours, so that we could know the Father, so that we, as broken, flawed people, could be seen as flawless by God, and rescued from the Hell that would await us otherwise.

Every year, my parents ask me what I want for Christmas, and every year I struggle with what to ask for. I insist that I really don’t want or need anything, and they press until I name something. I’m not complaining, mind you. It’s just that, while in the past I’d have had no trouble listing off a litany of things that would make my life “easier,” or “better,” now I find that all I want is to see my folks and spend some time with them, to live more fully in the life that Jesus has set before me, to live out the plans He has laid out for me, and . . . well, you get the idea. These are things that can’t be found in any store. They’re matters of the heart, and there is no price tag that can be placed on them. Make no mistake, “stuff” may help the economy right now, but the most important commodity our world has is the human heart and the condition of the soul. “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” (C. S. Lewis, “The Weight Of Glory”)

So, along with the physical gifts that tradition demands we buy, let your heart be known as well. I am blessed to have people in my life who are very good at this, and I strive to be better at it. My prayer is that this Christmas is less about the material, and far more about the eternal.

Merry Christmas, my friends. May God bless you far beyond anything you could imagine.