Think Backwards, Live Forward OR "Dealing with Bad Decisions"
Think Backwards; Live Forward
“Dealing with Bad Decisions”
Sabbath School Class
December 21, 2019
Larry R Evans
Introduction
Before you ask the appropriate question, “What does this have to do with today’s Bible study,” stay with me and I think you will see.
The strategy of Amazon is straightforward. They think backwards. That’s right, they “think backwards.” According to one of their executives, Ian McAllister, “working backwards begins by ‘[trying] to work backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for a product and trying to bolt customers onto it.’”
For a new initiative to see the light of day, a product manager must write an internal press release announcing a finished product.
"Internal press releases are centered around the customer problem, how current solutions (internal or external) fail, and how the new product will blow away existing solutions," writes McAllister. "If the benefits listed don't sound very interesting or exciting to customers, then perhaps they're not (and shouldn't be built)."
While this
may seem like a novel new approach, it is not. The
U.S. Navy's Special Projects Office in 1957 used something similar to guide the
Polaris nuclear submarine project. The acronym
P.E.R.T., which stands
for Program Evaluation Review Technique, was the organizational approach used.
I first became aware of this when I wrote my doctoral project on church
planting. To use PERT planning, you
simply begin with what the finished product should look like and work backwards
to the starting point.
How does this
have anything to do with our study today about “Dealing with Bad Decisions.” It’s simple.
We consider the harm or damage done by bad decisions and decide the kind
of outcome, we would like to see take place given the present situation we face.
Sometimes we can’t undo the damage done by a decision, but we work towards the
best solution we can. This is why I used
the title for this Bible study, “Think Backwards; Live Forward.” We look at God’s ideals and work back from there.
Nehemiah Facing Community Compromise
As we review
In our week’s study, it seems three keywords or concepts emerge: Accountability, Integrity, and Commitment. Books
have been written about all three concepts.
But for today, when we think of “accountability” let’s keep in mind two
prepositions: “to” and “for.”
If you are
accountable “to” someone, that person is responsible for some aspect of your
well-being. If you are accountable “for” someone, you are responsible
for some aspect of that individual’s well-being; you affect their life beyond
the surface level. You honor the
relationship over time, both by being a good steward of resources and by being
a guardian of someone else’s welfare. Regardless of whether you are part of the
“to” or “for”, accountability involves relationships and not just a command
center issuing orders.
There are
some challenges as we study our lesson, but I found that if I keep these three
end objectives in mind, some of the issues raised find some resolve. Keep in mind, a key variable in all biblical
stories are the various personalities involved surrounding a problem and the kind
of attempts made to accomplish these three objectives.
Ezra and
Nehemiah found themselves leading and hopefully restoring a group of exiles whom
God had planned on giving a new start. They have God’s ideal in mind and they
found some serious discrepancies. Nehemiah returns after being gone and
discovers a real problem. The distinctive identity that God had wanted for his
people was being compromised (Neh. 13:23-26).
Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had
married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the
language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not
know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses
down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them
take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in
marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for
your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that
Solomon king of Israel sinned?
Before we talk
about Nehemiah’s approach, what “curses” did he call down upon them and why?
The curses are those for breaking their covenant commitment with God as
outlined in Deuteronomy 27-29. God had a plan and a purpose for his people, and
they broke their commitment to Him and sacrificed their own integrity.
Their intermarriage resulted in their children no longer understanding the home
language which limited their access to God’s instruction. (Neh. 13:24). The
leaders had allowed this to happen and Nehemiah placed the blame squarely on
those responsible. Unlike Greek and Western
independence, the Hebrew people saw themselves as a “community” (Lev. 10:6; 2
Chron 31:14-18; Gen 35:11). The
individual’s identity was part of the community. The curses were inevitable and
would impact all in the community. It was a serious charge. The leaders needed
to be reminded that their actions did have consequences and not only for them
but for the community. Note what their ancestors had been told.
However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not
carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these
curses will come on you and overtake you (Deut. 28:15)
We squirm at
the idea of a “public shaming” when we see Nehemiah beating some of the men and
pulling out their hair (Neh. 13:25). Yikes!
At the same time, we need to keep in mind that pulling hair(only for “some
of the men”) as described here was sometimes a form of despair (Ezra 9:3) but
also punishment (Isa. 50:6). Granted such
action seems out of character for us today.
We must keep in mind, however, that Matthew 18 suggests that the
community still plays an important role although we don’t call it “public
shaming” – at least I would hope that is not the objective. (Matt.
18:15-20). This is where we need to “think
backwards.” The end goal is to have a
community that is committed.
No doubt commitment can be temporary if done out of fear, but this is
why we made the presentation we did last week—God begins telling His story
with Genesis 1 (creation and God’s plan) and not Genesis 3 (sin and its judgment). When that perspective is lost discipline
becomes more punishment than redemption.
Preserving the Distinctive Identity of
the Community
If we begin
reading any book in the middle, we are bound to have some misunderstandings
about somethings in the book. Reading the Bible has much to do with beginning
with the right perspective. The problem areas begin to fit into a wholistic
mosaic. Peter reminds us of God’s intention for His distinctive people in 1 Peter
2:9,
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
To make his point
even more clear, Nehemiah draws some lessons from the history of God’s own people,
Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon
king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He
was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he
was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing
all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying
foreign women?” Numbers 13:26-27
The
temptation of intermarriage, however, began long before Solomon. In Genesis 6:1,2
we find,
When human beings began to increase in number on the
earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters
of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
The descendants
of Seth were enticed by the descendants of Cain. The power of influence is
clear whatever form it may take.
You may never know the result of your influence from
day to day, but be sure that it is exerted for good or evil. Many who have
a kind heart and good impulses permit their attention to be absorbed in worldly
business or pleasure, while the souls that look to them for guidance drift on
to hopeless wreck. Such persons may have a high profession and may stand well
in the opinion of men, even as Christians, but in the day of God, when our
works shall be compared with the divine law, then it will be found that they
have not come up to the standard. –EGW Counsels on Health, 413
It wasn’t only
Nehemiah that was distraught with the practices and changed values of the people,
so was Ezra.
But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we
have forsaken the commands you gave through your servants the prophets. Ezra 9:1,2
Note the 4-fold
commitment or covenant renewal that the people themselves had made. Nehemiah
was the first to sign the agreement and was followed by 83 leaders. (Neh.
10:2-27)
1. No intermarriage (mixed marriages) with
“peoples around us.” (Neh. 10:30)
2. True Sabbath observance (Neh. 10:31)
3. Debt cancellation and celebration of a
Sabbath year (Neh. 10:31)
4. Financial payments and services for
worship in the house of God. (Neh. 10:32)
In Reflection: Thinking Backwards but Living Forward
If we begin
with the “Thou Shalt Nots” we miss the perspective that was intended. When God gave the 10 Commandments, for
example, as recorded in both Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20, He set them in the
context of hope and purpose,
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery. –Ex 20:1,2
The Commandments
were given from the perspective of freedom, not of bondage. God’s people had been “saved” (Ex.
14:30). Think back but live forward
by remaining free from Egyptian and Babylonian influences.
The great
threat for God’s people was always and still is a myriad of influences that
seek to rob God of a people who distinctively live for Him and the values
of His kingdom. Legalism and liberalism each work to distort, malign, and
deceive God’s elect.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty
power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore
put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may
be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Eph. 6:10-13.
Perhaps the “Think
backwards, live forward” principle is summarized best in a single
sentence:
The great sin
of God’s people at the present time is, we do not appreciate the value of the
blessings God has bestowed upon us.” Ellen White in This Way with God, p.48.
Accountability,
Integrity, and Commitment – something to consider as we think backwards while
living forward.
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