Rev. Steve Foss, First Baptist Church Sun Lakes
Common sense is best defined as something that is truthful and widely known. Now, I’m not yet 70, though I have lived long enough in this world to have learned from an early age about the birds and the bees. Growing up with six sisters and a brother, it was obvious (often painfully so, especially when your sister slaps the back of your hand with a hair brush) that boys were different than girls. At the age of five, I was already playing army with the other guys in the neighborhood while my sisters were playing house with their neighborhood friends. It seemed widely accepted that males and females are similar, yet different—each adapting to their roles in life and relationships. It became a common-sense thing.
In high school, our chemistry teacher taught us the “scientific method,” which was systematically comprised of a sample population divided into groups: variable groups with a lettered designation and a control group that was never “manipulated” by chemicals or actions placed upon the other groups unless the action affected no change within the control group (like a placebo group in drug testing). The teacher exposed us to our first statistical analysis of data collected to explain the changes in the variable groups as compared to the control group and what conclusions could then be reached as a result of the study. This method became common-sensical. Her emphasis was letting science speak for itself, such as males are only males, and females are only females—genetically speaking.
In a similar way, we should study the Bible and let it speak for itself. When done in the right fashion, the Bible reads you. We may think we read it for devotion or understanding, though the Bible, like a mirror, allows one to see himself/herself through God’s eyes: encouraging those who seek to walk in its precepts and exposing those who reject God’s way and choose to walk in darkness, rejecting the blessing of God’s wisdom and favor. Once you’ve read the Bible through several times, it becomes common-sensical in a spiritual way. The Bible puts it this way: “Love not the world, neither things in the world; for if you love the world, you do not love the Father” (1 John 2:15-16). James, the half-brother of Jesus, was inspired to write it this way: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
As Christ followers, the spiritually common-sensical idea we acknowledge is that this world is not our home—that would be Heaven. Let’s discover its promises together. See you Sunday!