March 25, 2011
Who Me?
Sometimes a preacher will use an illustration in his sermon as a means of rebuking or correcting some sin he sees going on amongst the church members. More often than not when we hear the example we automatically think it’s intended for someone else rather than ourselves. We do something similar when we can’t recognize ourselves in a parable. Jesus told the Parable of the Talents and, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them.” (Matt 21:45 NIV). It’s interesting that unbelievers are often more astute than believers.
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2 comments:
Gail;
-----Without righteousness no one can see God. We have been made righteous in Christ so that we can see God. John wrote, “No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” (I John 3:9) So it becomes easy for the believer to presume a righteousness about himself, a sort of biased way of viewing himself that filters his own faults from his self examination. But that is the making of a big mistake.
-----John also wrote, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (I John 1:8) And Paul wrote, “Let God be true though every man be false.” (Rom 3:4) Every Christian is certainly a man. So what gives? Do we sin or not? Since we are still men, how can we say we are not false? If we presumed such unrighteousness about ourselves, then we would see ourselves in every parable and sermon.
-----We sort our issues into categories like murder, stealing, borrowing. Most of us would not think of murdering, might think of stealing, and might even borrow on our own terms. The same person who would not think of murder will hatefully call the guy who cut him off in traffic a jerk. The guy who would not think of stealing might vociferously support the politics which takes from the achievers and gives to the recliners. So even though we think there may be some sin we would absolutely not do, we probably still do it in the subtlety of the same fibers making the things we will do and everything else in its category as well. Every one of our biases can be penetrated in one way or another. We do sin. And we are false.
-----What reconciles John’s saying that we can not sin to his saying we deceive ourselves if we think we do not is confession. The righteousness we are is not our own. It is Christ’s imputed to us. In our operational selves we are yet unrighteous. But in our spiritual selves we desire to be completely righteous. By this desire we abide in Christ and have no sin, even though our actual behavior remains somewhat outdoors and does have sin. The confession of this situation is the only activity we can make which truly results in righteousness, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9) So we must look for ourselves carefully in parables and sermons, not to belittle ourselves, but to keep the confession process going well and strong.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
I remember a preacher once talking about the "L" shaped Amen. One hand was raised to God, the other was pointing at someone else.
I agree that this is a tendency we need to fight. Every time I find myself thinking "I hope my wife is listening" it is a clue for me to pay attention.
Thanks again.
Grace and peace.
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