Heb. 11:26 says that Moses “thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.”
Moses had a choice, and it is the same choice we have. We can keep solidly to God’s path or we can lower our standards and walk in the praise and prestige of the world. Moses knew it was better to suffer for His God than own the treasures of Egypt. I believe the standards of Moses were firmly set in him by his parents who raised him until he was old enough to go back to Pharaoh’s daughter.
It never occurred to Moses that he could widen the instructions of God because he felt them to be to narrow. He knew that sharing in the oppression of God’s people meant that he would never be accepted in Pharaoh’s presence, and that was okay. He never says to God, “I see what You’re asking me to do, but I’d like a little lenience. Can I be accepted by my true family and not make Pharaoh mad?”
The fact is there are certain things that never change, because changing those things would invite chaos. If an athlete chooses to run the mile for his track team, it is the same mile if it is run in Kansas or in England. If I go to the high school and shoot a basketball, I’ll be trying to get that ball into an eighteen inch hoop. And if I go to Madison Square Gardens the diameter will be the same. If a kid grows up pitching a baseball, he knows that home plate will be seventeen inches wide in Little League and seventeen inches wide in college and seventeen inches wide if he makes it to the majors.
There isn’t a coach in the world who will say to his athlete, “Oh, is a mile too far for you to run? Then we’ll only make you run three-quarters of a mile and you can still be on the team.” If you can’t compete in the mile you don’t run on the team, right? Have you ever heard of a ref that says, “You mean you can’t make that basket? Then we’ll make that hoop twenty-three inches for you.” It never occurred to anyone to say to a pitcher, “What? You can’t get that baseball to stay within those seventeen inches? Then we’ll just make it twenty-five for you. It is more important that you feel better about yourself than it is to stick with the long-held standards of the game.” If a major-league pitcher can’t hit the plate, then he’s sent to the minors or to a different position. The seventeen inch standard of home plate is here to stay.
As Christians we have a standard to live by, and that unchanging standard is the Word of God. Heb. 13:8-9 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.” Nowhere in God’s Word is it acceptable to change the standards of God’s law to meet our opinions, desires or lack of discipline. There are some strange, new ideas floating around regarding what it means to be a Christian and which practices are acceptable, but if these practices are opposed to the Word of God, then no amount of debate or justification will make them okay. Being a disciple of Christ is the same for everyone. It means Jesus is your Lord and your feelings, hopes, dreams and ambitions take second place to the purposes of God in your life. You can’t stay in Egypt and cross the Red Sea at the same time. You can’t say, “I know God’s Word calls this lifestyle a sin, but God made me this way and you have to accept me and give me a job in your church and not discriminate against me.” No, I do not and will not. The standard of God’s Word remains. It isn’t my rule. If you don’t like it, take it up with the Rule Maker. I just want everyone here to know that in this church, as long as I am the pastor, the standard of God’s Word will be the standard for everything we do.