A few days ago I learned a life lesson, or at least I was reminded. We were invited to a barbecue. There are some details I should add to that statement. It was expensive to cover the cost of food. The weather was cold, wet, and windy, although we were able to find a sheltered place. And some people stayed home, so the group was small.

One man stayed outside in the wind and rain to cook most of the food. He worked hard.

There is one important detail that I skipped over. I didn’t really want to go, but this was a summer party for a Bible study group that we attend, so we went to show our support. About half-way through the event, I realized I was with some of the nicest people that I know, and they could make any group activity work, even a barbecue in bad weather.

The quality of the people made the quality of the event.

It reminded me many years ago, when I was much younger, I was one of the organizers of a Sunday picnic in the park, for a small and struggling church in a small town where we lived. I would never recommend me for that job, but I was given that responsibility.

I did my best, but the event was simple, and a few people came. That event also had poor weather, and I had to move the group into a picnic shelter with a fireplace. Somehow, we made it work. People sang, and prayed, and spoke about how God was working in their lives, and we had a kind of pot-luck meal.

Later, I spoke to one man who was critical about most things, and I am still surprised by what he said. He really enjoyed that meeting, and I think the other people who attended did too. There are some people who can form a group and make anything work; good people.

I am still surprised and relieved many years later. It was easy to plan a picnic for those good people. They had something in them that could make any meeting successful.

So, what is the spiritual lesson?

Watch this video and think about how inspired you are:

Or maybe, how depressed you are now.

I am writing as a Christian and the Bible talks about truth that applies to barbecues and even the religious violence that seems to be everywhere in the world:

Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (1 Peter 3: 17 and 18)

Those words are so common with Christians that they have become mostly a feel-good statement. We should know what they mean.

Grace: This is something free from God that changes our lives.

Glory: The right and best things that we should all see and do.

We should make a personal decision to follow the truth. We will know we have made the best choice, when we see ourselves grow “in grace and knowledge.” Any -ism or ideology or religion that does not produce better people is a false truth.

Here is one example, in history, of a “truth” that turned people into monsters. Imagine executing people who wore glasses, in the name of your “truth”:

There is a lesson here for all of us. Is your “truth” producing better people? If the members of your group had a group event, would they make it work, with their personalities?

We were told by a man named Jesus that real truth will make us free:

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8: 31 and 32)

It is a useful exercise to judge all the claims about truth by the quality of good people that it produces. Some -isms in our modern world have shown themselves to be false because they they produce failure. I think we should all take a careful look at ourselves.

I am writing as a Christian, and I am sure that all of us, including me, need to improve ourselves, before we convince the neighbors that our “truth” really is true. It is also obvious that so many “truths” can only take people in the wrong direction, and that tells us that they are false.

I hope we can learn this lesson.