I have lived a busy life. When I returned from the military and could no longer practice my profession because of blindness, I went into two areas of investments, the stock market and real estate. In real estate, before you build anything or even repair anything, you figure the cost. Just as important as figuring the cost of a physical building is figuring the cost of moral actions. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have [sufficient] to finish [it]? (Luke 14:28)
Many times in my life, others have come to me wanting assistance because they had not figured the cost of their actions. Firstly, I want to discuss a 20 year old man who came to me from his life of homosexuality having spent much time in the “bath houses” with a diagnoses of HIV AIDS. This was in the days before there was any treatment at all for this very mysterious disease. When it was diagnosed you could almost depend on the death nail. Terrified, his only escape from the embarrassment to his family and his own ego was suicide. But he was afraid to go through the suicide experience alone. As is the case with assisted suicide, now legal in many states, or the infamous Dr. Kevorkian, he wanted someone with more knowledge than he, standing by. He messed up. Astounded and ridden with pathos and commiseration, I tried to find an escape for him other than death. I called some authorities at the university and made arrangements for him to see professionals there. He later died but not from suicide. He had not really counted the cost of his lifestyle, to himself, to his loving family, his friends, a country and Savior who needed his talent.
Another young man worked for me. His girlfriend was very interested in having sex with him. The first sexual penetration, she became pregnant. Then, she was not so interested in him anymore. His mother, a lawyer, persuaded the young girl to have the baby. Then his mother took the baby and reared the child as his brother. In the home and in the community, this young boy, as far as the world knew was the brother of the father. The mother had already elicited a promise from the older son that he would never tell the child that he was his father. Young people should count the cost before they engage in any type of sexual activity which can involve not only themselves but their families and the innocence of a child.
A young black man who did some work for me, mostly driving, was a victim of HIV AIDS. He had a very responsible job in the corporate world. As an attractive person, he was enticed to have one fling with a homosexual fellow worker and from that one experience in the gay world, he contracted AIDS. The medical authority who made the diagnosis told him that he must tell his wife; because there could be no more sexual activity between the two of them. He described to me how she screamed and went into convulsions before she was taken to the hospital, a complete physical and psychological victim with disappointment in her unfaithful husband. He failed to count the cost before he yielded to the temptation from the one person Satan sent his way.
A university student, later married to a very fine Christian girl told me about their inability to have children. He said however, my first year at the university I paid for two abortions for girls whom I had impregnated. He said, “I paid for the killing for two of my children and now with the wonderful woman whom I love very much, we have been unable to have children.” He asked, “Is God holding me responsible for the murder of my own two children?” He failed to count the cost and the knowledge was with him every day of his life.
These four characterizations happened in a town of 120,000 people. You do not have to go to a large city or even a third world country to find examples of the cost involved in a stupid lifestyle. Several times in scripture, we have an account of God talking with someone, even with Satan. Satan told God that he was patrolling the earth seeking whom he could beguile. Job Chapter 1 Satan is always on the job. If he does not bother you, then you can be sure that you are already his.
Two great stars have died in recent years among many others, as a direct result of homicide. In each case, Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, their attending physicians have been accused of prescribing chemicals leading to their death. Of course, doctors over prescribe chemicals to millions which lead to their death. It just so happens that with famous people, death causes are revealed. Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, Hypocrites prescribed an oath, which states among other things “Do no harm.” Most medical schools have stopped using this Hippocratic oath but it still amazes me that the most courageous course of study in the world, leading to your ability to care for the disability of others, a doctor would get caught up in overprescribing or not using the intelligence that God has given to the dumbest among us. One does not have to be in practice one day before learning that he must exercise more self-control than his patients. His patients do not know how to control the sin of illegal sex. His patients do not know how to control the sin of overeating. His patients do not know how to control the sin of addiction. If there is one metaphoric absolute in the world controlling all human activity, it is the absolute of discipline. We live in a permissive society. Undisciplined, we think we can do anything without consequence. Character determines destination. The best determination of character is discipline.
Throughout Asia, particularly in Burma, the adept knowledge of the weaving of fine carpets and tapestries is handed down from one generation to another. I went into sheltered areas, saw entire families sitting on the ground in a disciplined way, having counted the cost of silk thread and accuracy, weaving expensive carpets knotting them on the back. (The back appears ugly with so many knots.) Hand making magnificence with entwined weaving of colored threads of beauty, God given patterns...ready to last for centuries... The older these carpets are, the more valuable they are. One does not buy them due to the evidence of work found in the knotting on the back. It is the work of making a thing of beauty that determines not only a carpet, but a life. The disciplined threads from years of struggle and learning will make a carpet or a life worth the cost.
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