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"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this they will also reap.  For the one who sows to his/her own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary."  Gal. 6: 7-9
 
Pop culture's general disregard for timeless scriptural principles must in some measure be related to our separation from the land.  As we have quickly transformed our nation from rural to urban, we have lost track of what it means to be country.
The closest most folks get to the country is country western music and designer boots.  They may "Boot Scoot Boogie" at the Stockyards on Saturday night and raise their alcohol levels high enough to ride the mechanical bull, but that glamorized version of farm living is a far cry from milking real stinking cows, shoveling genuine horse manure from tiny wooden stalls, and chopping obnoxious weeds with a dull hoe with a real wooden handle complete with slivers.
Is there anyone left in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />America under fifty years of age who has any clue about "bringing in the sheaves?"
The concepts of sowing and reaping mean little to city-slick urbanites who have always secured their bread and milk at 7-11.  The closest they've been to the harvest is Happy Hour in Grapevine.  They wouldn't know a bushel if it jumped out of the bushes and bit them on the backside.
The language of farming has grown archaic – replaced with techno-acronyms.  (Anyone have a child in F.F.A.?)
It's too bad, because many of the great gospel truths were taught in the context of planting seeds and harvesting souls.  Jesus, though a craftsman by trade, loved to make great truths simple by repackaging them in terms that agricultural folks understood.
Everyone in the First Century knew what to do in the spring and the fall.  Seeds were sown, watered, fertilized (yes, organically!), and then finally harvested.  The more seed planted and the better the crops weeded and nurtured, the greater the reaping at the end of the season.
When the Apostle Paul expanded the metaphor in the Letter of Galatians, his audience understood the exhortation.  They knew God gave the seed, the rain, and the harvest.  They understood firsthand that their reaping was in proportion to their sowing.  So, when he says, "God is not mocked," they knew he meant that the universal farming principles put in place by God could not be displaced.
They also understood that those basic agronomous principles also possessed broader application.  In this case, Paul spoke to them regarding the nature of human conduct.  A life lived well, in holiness and perseverance, will be guaranteed a bountiful harvest.  A life lived sparingly in matters related to the Spirit will not produce a meaningful yield.
The prophet Amos, a farmer when he wasn't preaching, called it a Spiritual famine (Amos 8:11).
Natural laws cannot be circumvented.  Principles as timeless and steady as the seasons will not be denied.  "God will not be mocked."
It's worth noting that in the context of Galatians, the Apostle's words are configured in a way that contrasts life in the flesh (carnal, immoral, impure, sensual, and flagrant) with life in the Spirit (love, joy, peace, and hope).  The latter is advocated, the former condemned.
For all you city-dwellers void of manure on your flip-flops, here is what the text says: If you choose a lifestyle that denies God's laws and instead live to gratify the sensual desires of the flesh, there will be no harvest at the end of your brief season.
It is a message consistently promoted throughout scripture.
The Hebrew preacher summarizes the principle well in chapter eleven when he holds up the disciplined life of Moses as an example for all: "He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward" (11:24-27).
Now that's what Paul was taking about!  Moses was a real Spiritual farmer.
While we're on the subject of contrasts, who might we compare the ancient prophet Moses with from our contemporary scene?
How about one of our most respected and adored American heroes, the great actor Jack Nicholson?
Smiling devilishly on the cover of Parade Magazine (12/9/07), the headline from Nicholson reads: "I make my own rules!"
Inside, author Dotson Rader begins the brief biography by writing: "After decades of great films [59 of them] and grand love affairs, actor Jack Nicholson says: 'I want to go on forever.'"
Tough luck, Jack, that ain't the way it happens.  You reap what you sow.
And what has Nicholson sown in his seventy years?  Here are a few quotes from the article to provide a sampling of a life poorly lived:
"Hey, you can have whatever rules you want – I'm going to have mine.  I'll accept the guilt.  I'll pay the check.  I'll do the time.  I choose my own way."
"Nicholson's success and ageless charm may explain why young women still desire his company – although, he admits, on most mornings he wakes up in bed alone."
"I'm such a wag!" he says, winking.  "I'm a scamp.  I don't deny it.  I like myself."
"Nicholson has done nothing to conceal his personal opinions, behavior or taste for parties, clubs, drugs and sex.  He is unabashed about his bad-boy lifestyle."
"At some point, I've asked every woman I ever lived with to marry me.  But they know me too well.  I'm the archetype of the man who is a problem.  Men look at stuff like sex very differently from women.  It's one of the enduring, unsolvable problems of the gender gap.  A male person has more in common with a male dog than he does with a woman."
It's really rather amazing that an old log like Nicholson commands so much admiration.  How can any man as immoral as the aging actor find mainstream respectability and popularity?  He is everything we don't want our children or husbands to be, yet women flock to his movies and drool in their popcorn.
I don't find bad-boys charming.  I spent the first half of my life imitating them and reeking general havoc and the second half trying to help emotionally repair women deserted and abused by a man they figured was bad to the bone to begin with.
I marvel at the continued stupidity of women (and men) who hook-up with a lover who left their last lover to be with them.  What makes them think an old dog can learn new tricks?  Come the next full moon, he will break his leash and dash down the alley chasing a fresh sent.
There is a sad day coming for the sexually promiscuous.  "God will not be mocked.  For what a man sows, he will reap."  You can count on it.