July 22, 2025

Dear Friends,

How do you measure an opponent or a rival? How do you measure a person of notoriety whom you don’t know personally?

In the high level athletic world in which I was formed, there were players and pretenders. Sometimes the pretenders looked like pretenders (their equipment or the way they talked gave them away) but other times they looked like they were equipped to play. In the world in which we now live, where talk is valued above skill, there are many pretenders, many who call themselves ‘influencers,’  but they get away with it because we have accepted a critical error. This error was brought to my attention by a line from the book, A Man Called Ove, by Fredrick Bachman.

“Men like Ove and Rune were from a generation in which one was what one did, not what one talked about.”

Bachman’s insight finds support from numerous famous figures like Theodore Roosevelt (“The credit goes to the man in the arena …”, Rudyard Kipling (“… fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run …”) and Jesus himself. Bringing his Sermon on the Mount to a close, he said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

To be clear, knowledge matters, at least, knowledge of what is true and right and good (“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge …”; “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows me …”) but not the kind of esoteric drivel which passes for knowledge most of the time in our world today. That kind of knowledge “puffs up”, to quote Paul. A real player plays. A real doctor heals. A real singer enthralls you with her voice. A real carpenter builds something well. 

We live in a world of talking heads. Talking is more important than knowing. Doing falls far down the scale — if it even shows up at all. In the context of the church, we have all kinds of people who decry the evil we are facing but they are mean, fear-mongering and judgmental in their attacks and their pronunciations. Where is the gentleness of Jesus?

We need to be careful to not let our words outstrip our actions. We need to be quick to hear and slow to judge. We need to do what we know we should be doing with regard to others or ourselves. I don’t know about you but I find that if I share fewer opinions but more of my time, I make a greater difference in real time and in the lives of other real people. To a large part, we are what we do. It has always been that way. Jesus said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” So, what do you need to do today? Where does ‘blessing’ lie for you?

Blessings!

Doug