Why Are We So Messed Up?

This weekend I received some troubling news concerning some one I care about deeply. I won’t go into the details of the situation in this venue, but suffice it to say that this is the latest in a long series of “troubling” news reports, and maybe the most hurtful. It has really caused me to think about why we make the decisions we make. Here’s what I’ve been pondering.

The more I have thought about this, the more I see it in people’s lives, the more I believe it is true. Sin leads to more sin. Bad decisions lead to more bad decisions. Poor understanding only degrades into worse understanding. Scripture clearly teaches this in Romans chapter one. When an individual decides to ignore God, to ignore repentance, the course of his or her life only goes from sin to sin, from bad choice to bad choice. And until you recognize the downward spiral you are in, you won’t escape it.

This is true for everyone, even for believers. I know Romans one is describing the actions of a person who rejects God, and not believers. However, all believers still struggle with the vestiges of sin, even though we are new creations in Christ. Sin still has its seductive attraction for believers and believers are no less susceptible to sin than lost people. Therefore, we too can become entangled in sin, and even deeply so.

What makes it worse when a born again person strays is that unlike the lost person, he or she is in willful rebellion against the One who saved them. Lost people don’t willfully rebel. They cannot choose any other way to live. Saints, though, choose to rebel on a daily basis. We can choose righteous living because the Holy Spirit enables us to live righteously.

So how do we get out of it? How do we recognize when we are in a spiral? The sneaky thing about sin is that it is most deceitful. Many times we enter the spiral without recognizing we’ve entered. Sin doesn’t usually present itself to us as outright rebellion. Sometimes it tempts us overtly. But many times it appeals to our hurts and wounds as a quick fix. And I think it is here, where our hurts and wounds lie, that sin finds the easiest door to open. Anything that will help us to feel better faster is what we tend to pursue. But the real answer is not a quick fix.

At least in my life, I’ve noticed that God most often is methodical and gradual about changing me. It’s almost as if He goes slow so I will take note of the ugliness of my sin as He removes it. And make no mistake, almost always, slow is painful. So for me to quick fix my pain with something else is essentially short circuiting what God intends to do. And you could say that what might have taken God six months, turns into two or three years of painful molding; all because I won’t allow Him to do His work in me in His way and in His timing.

So the question we all need to ask ourselves is, “What is my quick fix?” Is your quick fix food? Is your quick fix money? Is your quick fix sex? The person I mentioned at the beginning of this entry thinks that romantic relationships will bring the pain and dissatisfaction to an end. Failed relationship after failed relationship, each one worse than the last. And the last one was physically abusive. When will the spiral end?

For those of us who are born again, the spiral ends when we stop looking to the pleasures of the world for satisfaction. Jesus Christ is our greatest satisfaction and until we recognize Him as that, Jesus will continue to be one priority among many in our lives, but never what He should be – our ultimate, all satisfying, all powerful, all consuming King, Savior, and Friend.

For the person who has never been born again the spiral ends when you recognize that you have offended a Holy God, and need to be reconciled to Him. And He provided a way for you to be reconciled to Him that gives you all the benefits of Heaven at His expense. Jesus Christ died, and suffered the wrath that you deserved to endure for all eternity, on the cross. Believe in Him, receive the gift of forgiveness God offers you through Jesus, and be born again. Your spiral will never cease until you do this one thing.

One more thing. The fact is that many of us have made so many bad decisions upon bad decisions that our lives have actually spiraled out of control. When you make the decision to turn about and repent, the inertia of your life will continue to push against you. Consequences may never be lifted. But God gives grace to the humble. Repentance is an act of humility. God will extend grace to you in those moments. They will keep you afloat in the whirlpool. Ultimately, God will finish the good work He begins in you when you are born again. The sum of your life is not defined by your mistakes. It is defined by God’s grace and how He still wins in spite of our best efforts to cause Him to fail. In the end, He is left standing, and what we were in the beginning is lost to eternity because He has made us like Jesus.

My heart many times wants to explode out of my chest because I so badly want people to understand the Truth. I hope that this small burst of passion bodes well with you.

Lessons From a Brash Request

Several days ago I was reading through Mark 10. Verses 35-37 were amusing to me. Here’s what they say:

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

I find this amusing only because of their audacity and brashness before the rest of the disciples. It appears to be some sort of a power grab on their part. And they’re doing it right in front of the rest of the disciples. Forget about doing it with any degree of stealth or tact – no – they just come out and say what they want without regard for anyone else. I suppose that in itself is admirable. Candor , even when abrupt, is better than secrecy and stealth. But I digress.

There are two things wrong here. First, they want Jesus to be their own personal genie.

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

Second, they want power and authority which they do not deserve.

“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

Neither of these are things we should pursue as believers. They are actually behaviors which go against the grain of what God teaches us in the Scriptures. We should never demand that God do anything for us and we should never crave authority and position.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, though. There is one redeeming quality in their request, and I hope it is something that sinks deep into your heart. The redeeming quality of James’ and John’s request is that they asked for proximity. They wanted to be right next to Jesus. At least in my mind, it gives me cause for compassion toward their request. And so it should be with us.

There are far too many Christians in the world who want the benefits of being born again, but could care less about their proximity to Jesus. Can I say something here that might anger some people? I’ve got news for everyone. A desire for close proximity to Jesus is one of the marks of truly being born again. If you can honestly say you don’t care about your proximity to Christ but yet still claim to have been born again, you are a liar and the Truth isn’t in you. The Psalmist doesn’t say for nothing:

“25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” – Psalm 73:25-28 (emphasis added)

Forgive me for my blatant candor, but this is not a topic that should be confronted with delicacy and tact. We all need to be shaken out of our slumber. It is my conviction that in the American church there are more lost people who think they are saved than truly saved people. In my mind, it is the best explanation for why the church is so bereft of the Holy Spirit’s power. It is my prayer for everyone who reads this that we become serious about our proximity to Jesus. It is also my prayer that if you have been in church for a long time and have never considered your proximity to Jesus that this brief blog entry would cause you to think and examine your own condition of heart before God.

Hope you’ll come back again.