Please Pass the Gravy

Default modes are not necessarily a bad thing. We all have them and sometimes we need them. Things in life don’t always pan out the way we want. Sometimes our other modes . . . professional mode, parental mode, religious mode, party mode . . . become insufficient. Default modes, at least, give a person something to fall back on when all hullabaloo breaks loose.


Unless, of course, your default mode is faulty.
Then you might really be in trouble.


Fear doesn’t make a good default mode: it is too doubtful and scary.
Self-centeredness is unadvisable: there are no supportive relationships in it.
Depression and panic fail as functioning systems: you can’t move forward when you can’t move at all. Anger and bitterness close the door on any hope of peace.
Prideful arrogance turns us into untouchable despots.


Good default modes are simple.
Unembellished.
Timeless.
They are based on something outside of ourselves.
They are discernable when everything else is haywire.
And they are a place we can call home . . . we could find ourselves living there for quite a while.


I have been getting a sense lately that it is time for Christians to find their default mode. Scale things down a bit. Shake off all the fluff. Get down to brass tacks. I am really not a doom-and-gloom type of person, but I sense a storm coming. Maybe a big one. And my down-home, southern sensibility tells me that diligently preparing for a storm is better than finding yourself stranded . . . without resources . . . in the midst of it.


Here are some tips I have found helpful in building a default mode that can weather a storm. I have used it a few times. It has served me quite well.


I Don’t Know
There is no shame in not knowing something. Mark Twain says, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Some of life’s most poignant journeys begin by admitting that you simply don’t understand. And being humble enough to look beyond yourself for answers.


God Is Faithful
Faith in God is as necessary as breathing. And trusting His faithfulness is the most essential element in any default mode.


The 10 Commandments Are Good
There is nothing in the universe more beautiful than the character of God. Everything He stands for and everything He does flows effortlessly from His impeccable character. The 10 commandments were the first written record of God’s Heart and Soul. To stray from their Truth or to in any way demean the power of their revelation is to place your life on a dangerous tangent. Don’t worry if you find them a bit convicting. That’s a good thing. It means that your God-given conscience is still intact . . . and that the Lord can still lead you to repentance. Exodus chapter 20.


The Sermon on the Mount is Truth
It is easy to fall into self-deception when life gets difficult. And the enemy is always there to feed us mystical revelations, confirming “prophetic utterances”, and well-meaning condolences from friends to help us build a case “for” our endangered self interest and “against” those who endanger it. A “them versus us” mentality is very, very dangerous. It is self-aggrandizing in the least. Cultic at its worst. The Sermon on the Mount is a clear description of Godliness that elegantly disassembles the cult of self. You really can’t go wrong to embrace it. Matthew chapter 5.


Right and Wrong Still Exist
There will always be a bit of an outcast in the life of a disciple of Christ. Popularity must always defer to righteousness. We must never become like the world in an effort to win the world. We must never offer a false cup of justification to soothe someone’s pain when repentance is their only real hope. “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Luke 14:34-35


Be Still
Struggling in the company of the Lord brings growth. Striving without Him brings hopelessness. It is good to shush ourselves. Be still. Listen. And wait. These things develop a life-discipline that allows us to hear and believe the One who is soooo not like us . . . but wants us to be soooo like Him.


Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the future is all grace-and-gravy for the disciples of the Lord Jesus. But it still wouldn’t hurt to take a look at our own default modes. We might be needing them . . .


Psalm 46