A Dog Defined Righteousness

Earlier in the week I was listening to a local Christian radio station on my way to work. The morning DJs were talking to a well-known national bounty hunter.

You have probably heard of him. His name is “DOG”

His actual name is Duane Chapman and he runs his bail bond & bounty hunter services out of his hometown of Denver Colorado. Since the launch of his show in 2005 Dog has become a national icon of vigilante justice.

Moreover, apparently, he professes to be a Christian.

Normally I don’t make it a practice to question someone’s profession of faith. However, I heard quite a few things during the course of the interview that made me concerned about the times we live in.

Towards the beginning of the interview one of the DJs brought up the fact that Dog is often seen on screen smoking cigarettes and offering tobacco to his captives. He asked him how he justifies his habit while professing Christianity.

Dog’s answer was astounding to me. He said, “Well, you know… Just 10 years ago, people would put you in Hell for smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes were sin. Today, they’re really not that big of a deal.”

He saw nothing wrong with smoking cigarettes. He saw nothing contrary to scripture or the spirit of God. His attitude and tone of voice made it sound like the DJ was a legalistic Bible thumper for just breaching the subject.

What made it worse is that the DJ – whom I originally thought was asking a serious question and addressing a concern – turned and agreed with Dog stating, “Yea, my pastor says that cigarettes won’t send you to Hell. They’ll just make you smell like you’ve already been there.”

A few moments later, the other DJ asked another question. She pointed out the fact that in nearly every episode Dog can be heard cussing and ranting. She mentioned that his words aren’t just cuss words, but some of them are the “hard ones.” She then turned and said that many people today don’t believe a person is a Christian if they talk like that.

“But you are a very strong believer.” She said.

It was as if she was trying to use Dog as an example to illustrate even the most righteous and strong believers can cuss and not be tainted by their swearing.

I drove stunned.

I turned off the radio and pondered what I had just heard. Three public figures – who professed a strong faith in Christ – were working together to justify sinfulness and re-categorize it as anything but sin.

What a dangerous place to be.

The word still says,

“For I am the LORD, I change not…”

- Malachi 3:6 -

What was sin to God 10 years ago is still sin today. For those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ, our bodies are no longer our own. We are bought, with a price and our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost.

It is still a sin to defile God’s temple…

Our tongues ought to be under subjection to the Holy Ghost, not filled with all manners of filthy language. We now live in a world with a Dog defined righteousness. Sin is no longer fearful and Christ has become a supine and benevolent enabler whose holiness is subjective to our fleshly desires.

When we can confess Christ one moment and then turn around and cuss someone out as we light a cigarette the next moment – something is most definitely wrong.

We need a revival of righteousness…

We need a revival of God inspired convictions…

I’m not talking about the standards we wear on our backs – they are necessary and I’ll preach them all day long – but I am talking about God given convictions that run deep in our heart and govern our behaviors, attitudes, speech, and lives.

Righteousness doesn’t need to be defined by a self-serving Dog. It needs to be preached by a passionate and loving Saint, Pastor, Sunday school teacher, Children’s Pastor, etc. It needs to be shouted from the rooftops and declared in the streets. It needs to be taught to the children and embedded in the young. It needs to be illustrated by the adults and emulated in the youth. It needs to become our coat, our garments, and our breastplate in a world whose love of truth has evidently gone to the Dogs.

One of the greatest things a Sunday school teacher, Children’s Pastor, Pastor, and Parent can do for their kids is teach them what sin is and how to avoid it. Teach them that a spade is a spade and God doesn’t play cards. Teach them that holiness is obtained, only through a life of righteousness and that NO SIN will ever enter the kingdom of Heaven.

Our society wants to teach our kids that truth is relative. We need to remind them that it is absolute. Sin is sin and there is no getting around that. One man’s trash may be another man’s treasure, but that principle does not apply to sin.

Sin is sin, no matter how you slice it or how you justify it.

Sometime in the near future, let’s talk to our kids about sin. Let’s remind them that God demands holiness and no sin will ever be justified in the eyes of God.

Dog doesn’t define righteousness, God does.

Here is an illustrative game that I’ve used when teaching our kids about sin. On white bulletin board paper, or poster board, draw a target like you would see on a dartboard. In the bulls-eye, write 10,000. Make the bulls-eye small so that it is hard to hit. Let the kids take turns throwing paper balls at the target. They get three chances each. They only score if they hit the bulls-eye, and they have to hit it every time after their first time in order to keep their points. If they hit it on the first try, but miss it the second or third time, then they lose all their points.

The point of this game is to make it impossible to win.

That is the way sin is. Sin is defined as, “missing the mark.” The only way to do it right is to hit the bulls-eye. Every time a kid misses the bulls-eye, he sins. Even if he hits the bulls-eye once, if he misses it at all during his time he sins. The only way to win is to be perfect and hit the bulls-eye all three times. It is impossible, everyone will miss the mark.

Likewise, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

I use this to teach about sin and how only with God’s help can we hit the bulls-eye. Turn the paper over and reveal another target, this time the bulls-eye is huge.