August 6, 2004

          Pig raising never crossed my mind as something that I or my family would ever have a hand in (literally). However, I can now honestly say that the distinct privilege of helping our son recently show his hog at the county fair was a thoroughly new experience to me (especially since I’ve been told that my childhood pet guinea pig doesn’t count).

          My son has learned a lot I think, thanks to good friends and to a plethora of piggy adventures. For example, he has learned that when a hog that weighs three times more than you comes barreling down an aisle of the pig barn squealing his lungs out, you need to brace yourself or you’ll be examining the bottom of the porker’s hooves with a really good view.

          Also, I think that he’s learned that you can make new friends very quickly when you help body block their prize-winning hog as it tries to round a corner in the wrong direction, steering it in the way it should go. Those things, coupled with seeing “sportsmanship” in practice along with the pride and care that can go into the careful nurturing of a farm animal, have all made for some very rich experiences for him and for the rest of my family.

         As the week progressed, I also had the opportunity to watch a number of judges practice their trade in judging various projects, some livestock, some technology, and some life skills. Of course, I wasn’t the only one watching them. Nearly everyone whose son or daughter was managing a project in the fair was carefully scrutinizing the judge’s methods, hoping to glean some understanding as to what each judge was looking for. They would then make suggestions to their sons and/or daughters about things to keep in mind.

         Each judge, it seemed, was holding to a standard against which he compared the animals or projects he judged. I often did not understand all the ins and outs of what each judge was looking for, but sometimes it became clearer as I patiently watched them.

          I must say that there are some striking parallels in the Kingdom of God. Psalm 7 declares that “God is a righteous judge…” (verse 11), who searches “minds and hearts” (verse 9). And as one examines His Scriptures it becomes clear that He more intently scrutinizes us than the judge walking the ring with the livestock or passing by the multitude of wonderful projects lining the walls of the Activities’ Building. “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; His eyes examine them” (Psalm 11:4).

        What is the standard by which God judges His people? It is His own holiness expressed through His Law. Psalm 5:4-5 says, “You are not a God Who takes pleasure in evil; with You the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong.”

          An amazing thought, isn’t it? Knowing that all the injustices that plague our world and beat upon our lives will be vindicated. Each wrong will be judged and His righteous standard will be vindicated! “The LORD reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; He will govern the peoples with justice” (Psalm 9:7-8). Wonderful! But also terrifying!

          As He looks not only “upon us” but deep “within” us as well, He sees all the imperfections that lurk inside us. Though so deep that we ourselves cannot see it, His eyes pierce every clinging rag of self-righteousness and presumption to uncover the truth about ourselves.

          No matter how carefully we may try to sweep the grit and grime of hate, greed, bitterness, lust, gossip, and envy beneath the rugs of success, popularity, and good intentions, He looks beneath the surface and says, “this is NOT clean.” Ever opened a child’s closet door after his or her room has been cleaned only to be buried alive under a pile of toys and dirty clothes?

          No matter how we try to cover the stains of selfishness and sin, they cannot escape the notice of the righteous judge nor can they fool Him.

          Oh, but don’t despair. It’s true that He sees us as we are and knows that “… we were dead in our transgressions and sins, in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

          It’s also true that when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, hungry for the life that only He can give, “because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy, we are made alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (from Ephesians 2:4-7).

          Once we are “in Christ” through faith in Him, His righteousness is applied to us and we suddenly find ourselves cleansed thoroughly in and out, rid of our all old “yuckiness” and, in the eyes of God the Father, filled up with the moral and spiritual perfection of Jesus. Being found “in Him” then, “we do not have a righteousness of our own that comes from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (from Philippians 3:9).

          Even if you feel like you’re doomed to come in last place in the race of life, as you come to Him through His Son, “He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation…” (Colossians 1:23). Jesus, the Spotless Lamb, it turns out, is our “Blue Ribbon” in the eyes of God (from Revelations 5).

(Thom Mollohan has ministered in southern Ohio for the last nine years and is pastor of Pathway Community Church.   He and his wife are the parents of three children.  If you would like to send a comment or question to him, he may be reached by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).