Category: Ethics

My husband owned an insulation business after high school.  There were many old houses where he lived, and most did not have modern insulation.  With an insulation blowing machine, bales of insulating material can be blown into wall, ceiling, and attic spaces, providing a strong barrier against outside temperatures.  He did this relatively easy job and made good money at the time.

In our new house, my husband realized that although our heat pump/AC is good quality and more than sufficient capacity for the square footage, extra insulation in the attic would take some pressure off the system, prevent AC and heat loss, and lower our electric bill.  After a lot of legwork, he found the insulation, an insulation machine to rent and a guy to help in the attic.  The plan was going along fine this spring until there were some complications with renting the machine.  Week after week, turning into months, the machine was out for repairs, or we had scheduling conflicts.  Summer arrived and the AC ran, plus the attic got VERY hot!  But the plan came together, and he was finally set.

On the designated day, my husband went to pick up the insulation machine.  He and the salesperson checked out the machine and turned it on for a test run.  It seems the sales guy didn’t know how to properly operate the machine.  Either an incompatible outlet or the wrong extension cord caused a surge or a short in the machine when they plugged it in.  Smoke and sparks flew, and the machine cord was compromised.  My husband insisted the machine would still be fine for him to use but the management insisted that the machine must go back to the repair shop.  The project remains on hold for us, with about twenty bales of insulation stored in our garage!

This reminds me that there is always a proper way to do things.  Equipment runs well when it is run correctly.  Misuse results in breakdowns and damage.  This is true in life too.  Things go well when good choices are made and wise, safe practices are taken.

I see a strong emphasis in the Christian faith on God’s love and mercy lately.  In reaction to the impression of criticism, legalism or negativity, Christian writers and pastors are focusing their words on God’s compassion and forgiveness.  We should not underestimate the breadth of God’s great mercy and His willingness to forgive us and welcome us into salvation because of the gift of His Son’s work on the cross.  That is completely true and cannot be forgotten.  But Scripture also speaks much of following directions, living by God’s plan, obeying what God says.

Like the insulation machine, when operated according to the directions, the machine runs properly.   When there’s misuse, the machine malfunctions!  God created us and wrote our owner’s manual.  From the pages of the Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments and the lessons of the Israelites and the patriarchs of the faith, to the pages of the New Testament with Jesus’ confirmation and expansion of the commandments through epistles of instruction to believers in the church, we have the directions for how this life works.   We cannot be fooled into depending on God’s love and mercy as an excuse for living by our own set of rules.

The longest chapter in the Bible (Psalm 119) is a poem all about the beauty and value of God’s laws:  “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” (Psalm 119:32)  Obedience to God’s commands results in freedom, safety and peak performance.

A crooked mechanic almost duped my neighbor. She took her car in for its annual safety inspection and the car failed due to a burned-out brake light.  The mechanic proposed fixing the brake light for three hundred dollars:  $100 for the “specialty” bulb and $200 for the labor requiring two technicians.  When I mentioned this to my husband, he immediately smelled something fishy.  He checked out our neighbor’s brake light and it worked perfectly.  They drove back to the auto shop for re-inspection and the light came on so the car passed the safety inspection. The inspector mumbled something about a faulty wire.  But this was not about a temperamental wire or bulb.  This was a rotten case of taking advantage of an older single woman who was apt to not completely understand her car’s condition but who was very able and likely to pay her bill.  Such dishonest business, targeting the vulnerable, repulses our sense of basic decency!

Locally, another criminal story unfolded. A pregnant teacher went missing on the first day of school.  She was found dead within a week and her boyfriend of six years was charged with her murder.  Only a deep kind of evil draws a man to kill his unborn child and its mother.  The young teacher also had floundered in life.  She dated her boyfriend for years without a marriage commitment and became pregnant without a husband (remember the 7^th commandment, Exodus 20:14?).

It is easy to view these individuals with an air of disdain and a whiff of superiority. We feel above the corrupt cheater, the heartless killer, and the morally compromised.  But the Bible warns us about this misperception:  “The heart is deceitful above all things and it is extremely sick; who can understand it fully and know its secret motives? (Jeremiah 17:9 Amplified Version) Jesus further expanded the scope of sin with these piercing indictments:  “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.  But I say, if you are even angry with someone you are subject to judgment! You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5: 21, 22 and 27)

Let misconduct and the cruelty of this world provoke you, but at the same time, be mindful of your own secret tendency to stray.