After reading my last post, my wife asked me if there was anything going on in my life that had specifically prompted the topic on which I wrote. I had to think back to what I had written. It was about the struggle against sin and the power of the resurrection working in us as God's children. I was happy to report to her (and now to anyone who reads this blog) that while there was the usual self-centeredness and self-absorption going on in my thoughts and actions, there was not a recent sin that ranked high on the sin-o-meter that we use to rank the heinousness of our thoughts and actions.
That got me thinking. While I am glad that there was no "huge" indiscretion to have to confess to Sharon, there seems to be a sliding scale we all use to judge how we're doing in this thing called practical sanctification or holiness. I guess it is normal (and I think I could go to examples in Scripture to suggest it is also biblical) to rank sins according to their effect on us, those around us and our relationship with God. In Scripture, for instance, some sins seem to rise to the level of needing to be disciplined by a local church. Others are those we need to confess, commit to avoiding, and move on. John Stott has been helpful in weighing this by suggesting that private sins need to be confessed and dealt with privately (unless they become life dominating sins, even if no one else knows about it). Personal sins (against one other person or a small group of people) need to be confessed and dealt with personally. Public sins need to be confessed and dealt with publicly.
The point of today's musing is two-fold. One is that, while there may be more noticeable consequences to some sin, all sin affects me and harms my relationship with God and with those with whom I have relationship. From God's point of view, as the one who is completely holy, there is no sliding scale, no sin-o-meter, no greater or lesser breach of His standard.
The second is that my wife loves me enough to ask the tough questions. Think about it a minute. There was an answer to her question that she really didn't want to hear. But she loved me enough to risk hearing it so that if she heard it, she could point me to Christ and to accountability and to whatever steps I might need to take to repair my relationship with God, my biological family and my church family. That is a great love.
2 comments:
After varied attempts at controlling my thoughts and actions (which only seemed to make things worse), and making myself miserable in the process, I found it hard to believe that this was the abundant life that Jesus talked about. At the same time I knew that doing whatever I wanted was even worse. My dispair at who I was in my heart is what brought me to my knees in the first place. If I could have controlled myself I wouldn't have come to the Lord.
I've found a sort of peace to this struggle by basically ignoring the things my body tells me I need to do.I know where that road leads to and it's nothing at all like what it promises.
The apostle Paul said something once like "I don't even judge myself" and I thought what an odd thing for a religious man to say. But I don't think he meant he doesn't struggle with sin but that he doesn't focus on how much of a sinner he is. That's God's business, and He can deal with it in His perfect time. Anyone who thinks they can deal with their own sin has no idea how depraved they really are.
But we are God's workmanship, it's in His best interest that we become a beautiful likeness of Him. When that decaying thing that is me cries out, I remind myself that I won't struggle with it forever and thank God for his mercy.
Once again, El Cid, you have added a great insight into these issues. I miss having the opportunity to interact with you weekly. Thursday nights and Saturdays aren't the same anymore. They're not bad, just not the same.
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