4th February, 2022.

WHEN GOOD MOTIVES CLASH WITH GODLY STANDARDS

2Tim2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” NIV

Pastor Temi Ola once shared a story about an evangelist who was into prostitute evangelism. This preacher told him that their method of reaching out to prostitutes entailed taking them out and getting romantically involved with them even to the point of having unholy body contact with them( paraphrasing). While we know that evangelism is the heartbeat of God and the motive of reaching out is to win them unto the Lord, the man's method is totally in opposition to godly standard. Do you know Uzzah? That was the man who tried to steady the ark of covenant from falling when the oxen pulling it stumbled. His motive was to prevent the ark from falling yet God struck him dead instantly, 2 Sam6:1-7. That seemed too harsh right? Truly he had good intention but his method didn't match with God's standard.

In Numbers 4:15, God gave a clear instruction about the holy articles( ark inclusive): "After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. BUT THEY MUST NOT TOUCH THE HOLY THINGS OR THEY WILL DIE. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting”. No matter how innocently it was done coupled with good motive as we've seen in the case of Uzzah, touching the ark was in direct violation of God’s law and was to result in death. Also, the process involved in carrying the ark was too casual. David took some men to carry the ark rather than allowing the Levites to bring it to him. That was a great mistake, since it ought never to have been put upon a cart, old or new. It was to be borne upon men’s shoulders, and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath (Exodus 25:12-14; Numbers 7:9), using the poles prescribed. God was just in His judgement because from the starting point to the time when he struck Uzzah, there was a breach of standard even though they had good motives.

Good motives aren't enough. When walking with God, adherence to His principles and standards comes first. Good motives must not clash with godly standard. There's so much talk about having good intentions in today's world even from the pulpit, we hear such messages often. Such messages are backed with a popular mantra, "Once it is good for humanity, it is good for God". That maxim is not necessarily true in light of God's word. As a student writing exam, it may seem good to man to help a colleague in the exam hall with answers but it is totally against God's standard. Masturbation, sexual involvement with a widow/ widower or someone whose spouse is far away may seem good to humanity as a way of relieving sexual tension but it is totally against God's standard. Some persons believe helping a woman whose husband is impotent to achieve pregnancy is a form of help while some traditions also believe that it isn't a bad idea for a man to have children outside wedlock if the wife at home isn't fertile. All these scenarios are borne out of good motives to help but they clash with the standards of heaven. When godly standards are involved, what is good for humans may not be good for God.