Lesson 7: God's Color Guard

Personal values, goal setting and decision making are key areas to explore. What does God's Word have to say about these vital subjects?

By Gary Petty

The headlines besiege us with news of deteriorating national scholastic performance, a never-ending battle against crime and political platforms that constantly bend to the whims of the latest poll.

The confusion can be so overwhelming that we become calloused to the latest story of a child killed in a drive-by shooting, a terrorist attack or news about a sports hero arrested for taking illegal drugs.

It seems we can't read the editorial page of a newspaper or magazine without someone pointing out that the problem with young people today is a lack of values and standards.

Of course, ask someone to describe what he or she means by higher standards and the real battle begins. The quickest way to classify yourself as a fanatic, inflexible or harsh is to claim that everybody should adhere to a standard of conduct.

Who determines acceptable standards of behavior, talk and appearance? What is a standard?

Is the answer simply a matter of developing a dictionary of dos and don'ts and recruiting morality police to enforce them?

"When you know what your values are, making decisions becomes easier."—Glenn Van Ekeren

What are standards?

Standard comes from an Anglo-Norman word that referred to a flag or banner carried into battle to supply a place for soldiers to rally.

In the 15th century, it took on the meaning of criterion or norm because a person would visit the royal standard to take an authoritative measurement of weight for bartering purposes.

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you got."—Betty Ford

"...seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."—Matthew 6:33

The person who carried the standard—the flag or banner—was called the standard-bearer. Possibly the most honored and dangerous position for a soldier during battle was to be a member of the color guard.

Regiments today still have national and unit flags called "standards" or "colors." In days gone by the color guard was responsible for defending the standards at all costs. In battle, if the colors were captured, the regiment had no point of reference, and panic and disintegration ensued.

We can apply this same concept to Christianity. A standard is a measurement of behavior, set by God, that serves as a rallying point of life.

Standard-bearers

The Old Testament story of Lot and his family, recorded in Genesis chapter 19, is an example of a standard-bearer who allowed his judgment to be clouded by society. His family members grew so complacent with the evil around them that God had to force them to leave their environs even when they knew their destruction was imminent.

In the face of overwhelming injustice and sin, our judgment, like Lot's, can become clouded. We can begin to convince ourselves that abortion is a viable option if you're poor, or cheating on the time card really isn't all that dishonest, or indulging in sex before marriage is OK if you really love each other. After all, we know that God will always forgive us.

Christians are to be God's color guard, gathering around the royal banners of Christ as Lord and Master. Ours isn't an easy calling, but it is a great privilege.

Many people go through life with only a vague concept of personal standards. The goals you set, as well as your accomplishments, even how you define success depends upon the standards, or principles, you choose to live by.

The Creator gives us basic universal standards that define character for His children. It's from these standards that we develop our foundational values.

"If you don't have the power to change yourself, then nothing will change around you."—Anwar Sadat

Values are beliefs that are so important that they define how you spend your life. If I offered you the choice between a box containing plastic jewelry and a box filled with gold jewelry studded with diamonds, emeralds and rubies, wouldn't you automatically choose the real jewelry? You know that gold is intrinsically more valuable than plastic.

It works the same way with real standards. Once a standard forms one of your foundational values, the temptation to compromise will cause such intense conflict that you must choose to change your actions or change your values.

I attended a small college that had the motto "Recapturing True Values." This motto contains the message that something is wrong with the values of many people in society. Spiritual, emotional and mental plastics are valued more than spiritual gold.

Jesus told a parable that the Kingdom of God was like a man who discovered a pearl of great price and sold everything he had in order to purchase it. What are the standards of your life? What principles do you value so much that to compromise would mean to change who you are? What price are you willing to pay for the pearl of great price?

1. Genesis 19:1–29: The story of Lot's family in Sodom. Lot tried to live by God's standards in an evil society.

2 Peter 2:6–7: What kind of stress did this cause? What kind of stress do you experience sometimes when trying to live by God's standards?

Genesis 19:9: What was the reaction of the people of Sodom to Lot's standards?

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."—George Washington Carver

Why do you think it was so hard for Lot's family to leave Sodom?

What vital lessons do we learn from this story about the adaptability of human nature?

2. Matthew 22:34–40: Jesus teaches that all biblical instructions are contained in two great commandments.

How does the first great commandment mold your values?

How does this commandment determine your life's priorities?

How does the second great commandment mold your values?

How does this commandment determine your life's priorities?

3.Exodus 20: God gave the Ten Commandments to help His people in applying the two great commandments in practical living.

"We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners!"—Psalm 20:5

Write how each of these commandments molds your values and helps you determine priorities in your life.

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image...you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

"Honor your father and your mother."

"You shall not murder."

"You shall not commit adultery."

"You shall not steal."

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

"You shall not covet."

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."—1 Corinthians 13:1–3

4. The apostle Paul lists the qualities of character based on godly values in 1 Corinthians 13.

Evaluate how you exhibit each of these traits in your life and what you can do to further develop the qualities of God's love in your character.

Long-suffering, kindness, not envious, not parading self, not vain, doesn't behave rudely, doesn't seek to force others, is not provoked, doesn't think evil thoughts, doesn't rejoice in iniquity, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things

Wrap-up

•  There are standards, or principles, of behavior and thought established by the Creator.

•  The standards we choose are the building blocks of what we value.

•  Our values are beliefs that are so important that they define how we live.

•  To compromise a value causes intense conflict that can only be resolved by changing the actions or changing the value.

To do

•  Set a half hour a week to review this section and consider how much you lived by God's standards over the past week.

"God's Color Guard" appeared in a longer form in The Good News magazine, May/June 1997.