August 20, 2010

• Furthermore

  When my brain gets this liquified, I turn to bulleted lists to keep my thoughts straight.  I also cheat and borrow from things I said from an earlier time, when I could still string words together meaningfully.  Here is a comment I received on the last post from SonnetJoy:

   

  I think most Christians completely forget that we really *are not* somehow inherently more worthy than others, and I know I hear from many nonChristians about how Christians lord their Christianity over them, and it completely turns them off from seeking a Savior.

   

  Response: Very true.  Not only are we not inherently more worthy than others, we also aren’t sinless saints once we follow Jesus.  We are not without desires, temptations, and falls.  When we proclaim to be sinless (or just plain better than others), we don’t just crush the hearts of other believers who know their own struggles, we turn off seekers who know us, and see past our deception.

   

  When we forget who we are, and forget that we need a savior, we hurt 3 groups of people.

  1)  We hurt other Christians who are struggling with the same thing.  By presenting an image of perfection and “holier than thou,” those who struggle become even more burdened with shame than they already have.  The become plagued with questions of “what am I doing wrong? Why won’t God help me with this? Does God love me like he loves [so and so]?”  I think of Casting Crowns’ Stained Glass Masquerade when I think of this situation; The opening line says it all: Is there anyone that fails? Is there anyone that falls? Am I the only one in church today feeling so small? 

  It’s one of the self-perpetuating problems of the church today.  In the olden days, it was called Phariseeism.  In modern times, we call it being delivered from sin and temptation and never falling into sin ever again.

   

   

   

  2)  We hurt people who are not Christians but want to know about Jesus.  When we pretend to be without sin, it destroys our testimony.  We deliver a false gospel of attaining perfection on earth.  What’s worse, people see us.  They see right past the deception.  They know we are just like them, weak and broken, but we pretend to be otherwise.  No wonder people call us delusional and misguided.  It’s because we cannot see the plank in our own eyes.  And yet, we go around trying to tell other people how to be moral and to follow Christ.  Our hypocrisy is at the worst when we go around trying to “save” people.  We are not the saviors.  Nor have we ever been.  Nor will we ever be.  We are the ones who have been saved, and will continue to be saved until the day we are called home.

   

  3)  We hurt ourselves.  When we forget that we need a Saviour, we cease to call upon Him.  We go about doing our own thing, living our lives, and are perpetually frustrated at a God who isn’t giving us what we want.  Instead of looking to a Lord to worship and love, we are looking to a Cosmic Santa to bless us every moment of our lives.  And then when hardship comes, we become angry and bitter.  We question why God is so harsh.  We doubt His goodness.  And we wonder if He is still there.  Or worse yet, we believe He is there, but suspect He is toying with us.

  When we forget our position before Christ, we also forget who God is.  We forget who we once were, and in doing so, we unwittingly go back to being where we need to be – crying out to a Saviour to rescue us.  It is a vicious cycle the need not be repeated.   Maintain your position before Christ. Remain attached to the vine.  And escape the cycle of disappointment.  Pain will still come, but it is better endured while rooted by the stream instead of dried out in the desert.

   

  Whatity what what?  I’m going to bed.  Goodnight!

  • 1:30 am
  • 5 Comments