ONE OF MY favorite scenes in Lean on Me takes place right after Morgan Freeman (Principle Joe Clark) orders the security guards to expurgate the drug dealers and hoodlums from Eastside…
The rest of the student body watches in disbelief and cheers as the riffraff is forced off the stage and out of school forever. Principle Clark then says ominously, “The next time it may be you. And if you do no better than them, it will be you!” After a brief, inspirational charge, he strides past the stunned audience and out of the auditorium. Then one darling young woman turns to the friend beside her and says, “Mr. Clark don’t play!”
That phrase sums up much of Zephaniah’s message: God doesn’t wink at sin; God doesn’t compromise His holiness; God doesn’t sit idly by while His people cavort with idols… God don’t play.
Some of you might be thinking, “Well, I know some real stinkers who’ve never paid a divine penalty for rotten behavior. God seems to be twiddling His thumbs while they have a moral meltdown. Why doesn’t He wallop them for their whopper sins instead of spanking me for minor infractions?” If you’ve pondered along those lines, you’re not alone. There have been many times when I’ve questioned God doles out punishment. When I’ve wondered why He doesn’t obliterate certain people into grease spots — or at least singe them a little.
But we need to remember that the lack of overt, tangible punishment doesn’t mean anyone ever gets away with rebellion against God. There will always be a price to pay for sin. The highest price of all is to be separated from Him. Lisa Harper, “God Doesn’t Do Recess,” Tough Love, Tender Mercies, 72-73
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests—Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the LORD, but who also swear by Milcom; those who have turned back from following the LORD, and have not sought the LORD, nor inquired of Him.” Zephaniah 1.4-6
Mike Benson