Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do.
The first post in this series was, My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third: I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
The fourth: The Big Lie
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-lie.html
If we we're honest with ourselves about human nature, we would know that the question is not “How could a Leader sin so grievously?” but “Why hasn’t it happened sooner?” When we live in such an atmosphere of denial how can we help but be ambushed by the sin that we pretend (usually for each other but also sometimes for ourselves) is no longer there?
Atheists know this. Why don’t we? Just who do we think we are? Whether it’s a public leader or us, when we “fall,” (meaning our sin has been exposed) it’s not because we’ve come to the end of the line - it’s just the truth of the situation is now known to others.
Having our sins exposed can actually be a good thing. In Daniel we find, “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end . . .” When I tell my clients that the affair or whatever is a great opportunity for growth, they look at me like I’m crazy. What I mean is, the exposure of sin SHOULD send us back to the drawing board, back to basics, back to Jesus.
How can we possibly present a gospel of forgiveness if it is being presented by people who supposedly don’t need forgiveness anymore? And if the point of the Gospel is forgiveness, daily forgiveness, then why do we pretend that we can somehow outgrow our need for forgiveness? How in the world can I suggest a forgiveness for you that I myself don’t need? How is it that a Church that was once filled with the most base that society had to offer, now makes those people feel like it would be one more place where they feel “less than” and unacceptable?
It is a fact of relationships that we connect through our points of weakness - We do not connect through our points of strength. We, who profess the name of Jesus do so because we've recognsed and admitted that humans are weak, we are in need of forgiveness, forgiveness on a daily basis.
God help us if we pretend otherwise.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A Bit of Canadian History
~ 17,000 men from China took part in building the Western Canadian portion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
4,000 died in the process
The survivors disappeared into history with not even one of their names remembered as having been part of this Herculean task.
4,000 died in the process
The survivors disappeared into history with not even one of their names remembered as having been part of this Herculean task.
The Big Lie
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do.
The first post in this series was: My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
While Ginx feels strongly about how much Christians spend on clothes, I personally think there is something far worse. We, as Christians, often perpetuate a lie.
The biggest sin, the most damaging sin that Christians perpetrate is the message that we can become good people, that we can live beyond the grasp of sin, that we can attain holiness this side of heaven. Thousands of books have been written and billions of dollars have been made telling people, Christian and non Christian alike that we can, if we “do God” just right, someday be free from the influence of sin and thereby be righteous people here on earth.
That’s why we are so surprised when Preachers fail. We mistakenly believe that Pastors must somehow be closer to perfection than we are. Why else would they be Pastors? How else could they be allowed to be Pastors?
I walk a fine line in counselling. On the one hand, I want people to know, that I know, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I want the clients to know that I don’t see myself as more spiritual than they. I’m just this guy with some training and experience who feels called to walk alongside those who are hurting. The problem with that is, people WANT to believe that some people CAN get it right. People want to believe that I’m better than they are in the area for which they are seeking help. They want to believe that if I can get it right then perhaps they too can get it right.
After all, why should someone come to me if I’m just as screwed up as they are?
If my clients understood the nature of sin, they would not be surprised at all that - yes I’m a marriage counsellor and - yes my wife rates our marriage at 9/10 - but I don’t always treat her the way I should. My insensitivity is not reserved to the blogsphere. If we understood the nature of sin, we would not be surprised at all when Pastors are caught with someone other than their wives, or when Christian business people succumb to greed, like buying expensive suits. In reality, I think that we don’t WANT to understand the nature of sin. We want to believe the lie of possible perfection because if perfection or “very good” is possible then:
We’re ALMOST there.
We’ve almost got it figured out.
We’re almost holy even as our Father in heaven is holy.
All it will take is:
Just one more rededication.
One more book.
One more really sincere prayer of repentance.
What a joke! And worse, the joke is on us. That’s why there is such outrage when very public Christians leave their marriages or are charged with fraud or ?. By falling into the grips of sin, the Singer or Politician or Evangelist is making the charade of perfection impossible to maintain for the rest of us. They’re making “us” look bad.
Can you see how wrong that is? Can you see how far from reality that is? In truth, we aren’t ALMOST close to anything resembling leaving sin behind. To believe otherwise, to present to the world otherwise is to set the teaching of Jesus up for ridicule. To present otherwise is to “give great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme Him.”
Should we who follow Jesus be different? Should there be less sin in our lives as a result of following Jesus? Yes and yes. And in reality, there is less sin in our lives - NOT - than in other people’s lives necessarily, but less than before we met Jesus. I truly am a new creation in Christ Jesus. When I told a women who I went to highschool with about my life, and what I’ve been doing she replied, “You! But you were the worst one! Yes, Jesus does rescue from slavery to sin. Jesus does give us the option and the ability to resist a pattern of sinning, but sin is not and never will be absent from our lives and we’re fools if we think otherwise. Christian or non Christian, we’re fools if we think otherwise.
The first post in this series was: My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
While Ginx feels strongly about how much Christians spend on clothes, I personally think there is something far worse. We, as Christians, often perpetuate a lie.
The biggest sin, the most damaging sin that Christians perpetrate is the message that we can become good people, that we can live beyond the grasp of sin, that we can attain holiness this side of heaven. Thousands of books have been written and billions of dollars have been made telling people, Christian and non Christian alike that we can, if we “do God” just right, someday be free from the influence of sin and thereby be righteous people here on earth.
That’s why we are so surprised when Preachers fail. We mistakenly believe that Pastors must somehow be closer to perfection than we are. Why else would they be Pastors? How else could they be allowed to be Pastors?
I walk a fine line in counselling. On the one hand, I want people to know, that I know, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I want the clients to know that I don’t see myself as more spiritual than they. I’m just this guy with some training and experience who feels called to walk alongside those who are hurting. The problem with that is, people WANT to believe that some people CAN get it right. People want to believe that I’m better than they are in the area for which they are seeking help. They want to believe that if I can get it right then perhaps they too can get it right.
After all, why should someone come to me if I’m just as screwed up as they are?
If my clients understood the nature of sin, they would not be surprised at all that - yes I’m a marriage counsellor and - yes my wife rates our marriage at 9/10 - but I don’t always treat her the way I should. My insensitivity is not reserved to the blogsphere. If we understood the nature of sin, we would not be surprised at all when Pastors are caught with someone other than their wives, or when Christian business people succumb to greed, like buying expensive suits. In reality, I think that we don’t WANT to understand the nature of sin. We want to believe the lie of possible perfection because if perfection or “very good” is possible then:
We’re ALMOST there.
We’ve almost got it figured out.
We’re almost holy even as our Father in heaven is holy.
All it will take is:
Just one more rededication.
One more book.
One more really sincere prayer of repentance.
What a joke! And worse, the joke is on us. That’s why there is such outrage when very public Christians leave their marriages or are charged with fraud or ?. By falling into the grips of sin, the Singer or Politician or Evangelist is making the charade of perfection impossible to maintain for the rest of us. They’re making “us” look bad.
Can you see how wrong that is? Can you see how far from reality that is? In truth, we aren’t ALMOST close to anything resembling leaving sin behind. To believe otherwise, to present to the world otherwise is to set the teaching of Jesus up for ridicule. To present otherwise is to “give great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme Him.”
Should we who follow Jesus be different? Should there be less sin in our lives as a result of following Jesus? Yes and yes. And in reality, there is less sin in our lives - NOT - than in other people’s lives necessarily, but less than before we met Jesus. I truly am a new creation in Christ Jesus. When I told a women who I went to highschool with about my life, and what I’ve been doing she replied, “You! But you were the worst one! Yes, Jesus does rescue from slavery to sin. Jesus does give us the option and the ability to resist a pattern of sinning, but sin is not and never will be absent from our lives and we’re fools if we think otherwise. Christian or non Christian, we’re fools if we think otherwise.
I yam what I yam
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do.
The first post in this series was: “My Favourite Commandment”
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second post: “My Favourite Sin”
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
One of the things about becoming a Christian is that it is God who draws us to Jesus Jn.6:44. Atheists would like to use this as “See! I told you there wasn’t freewill.” Wrong, wrong, wrong yet again.
God draws to Jesus those He ALREADY knows will accept His offer of salvation.
God draws to Jesus those He ALREADY knows will exercise their freewill to stop rejecting their Creator and instead they will CHOOSE to accept the forgiveness being offered.
God does this drawing in by means of two primary methods.
.One, is through an awareness of God’s love and patience and mercy and grace.
.The other method of drawing in is through opening our eyes to our desperate need for forgiveness, i.e., opening our eyes to our sinful and corrupt nature.
Often these two methods of contact are used in combination.
I’m a really good example of Christians who sin. I don’t own any expensive suits, Ginx, but . . .
Anyhow, there’s another guy who is very similar to me. The apostle Paul described himself as the “worst of sinners.” That’s really something for a Pharisee to say. You have to understand that Pharisees believe that they can be “good” people, just based on their behaviours. Now, this guy Paul? The guy killed and tortured people so, you know, he was pretty bad. On the other hand, Paul justified his killing because he was doing it for a good reason - to get rid of Christians.
The thing is, I’m just as bad. If motives and thoughts count, Paul’s got nothin on me.
Some people might say,
“That’s stupid. If we go by what we think, then all of us would fail.”
Now you’re getting it. :-)
Our thoughts determine what we do.
Pure thoughts > pure actions.
Evil thoughts > evil actions.
“For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean." Mark 7:21-23
This was written, I might add, several thousand years before psychologists “discovered” the same.
Without God’s standard, without the objective morals, values and obligations that exist BECAUSE God exists, we all invent a moral code that ensures that we pass. Without God’s objective standard of right and wrong we judge others by their behaviours while judging ourselves by our intentions. Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, many today judge one’s righteousness by outward appearance. For many, our goodness is dependent on what we can get away with. Not so in God’s world. God judges by who we really are and we really are desperately wicked.
The process that takes us from thinking that we’re good people, to accepting reality is shown in Acts 9:18. Prior to meeting Jesus, Paul thought that he was a good person. He thought in fact that by killing Christians, he was doing God a favour. After his encounter with the risen Jesus, Paul’s physical and spiritual transformation from blindness to sight was described as “Something like scales falling from his eyes.”
When God reveals our sinfulness to us, we go from self-righteousness (thinking that we are good in and of ourselves) to realising we have no righteousness apart from that given to us by Jesus. When God reveals our sinfulness to us, we go from finding fault with others (Paul persecuting Christians) to realising that those who we’re condemning are loved by God. God loves atheists and when I condemn atheists as opposed to atheISM, I am fighting against God Himself. When I condemn atheists as opposed to atheISM, I am working against what God is doing in their lives. Not a good situation.
I am what I am and what I am is a sinner in desperate need of forgiveness.
So, if I’m “saved” aren’t I supposed to be a good person? Now that I’m a Christian, aren’t I supposed to be perfect? That’s what many people seem to think. That’s the standard to which they hold us. Actually, that’s just a smokescreen. For example:
1. People demand that Christianity make Christians perfect
2. People see that Christians aren’t perfect
3. People use that as an excuse for not becoming a Christian
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming atheists or anyone else for thinking that Christians are supposed to be these really good people.
That’s a lie that we ourselves project and in some cases, we even believe it ourselves. More on that in the next post.
The first post in this series was: “My Favourite Commandment”
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second post: “My Favourite Sin”
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
One of the things about becoming a Christian is that it is God who draws us to Jesus Jn.6:44. Atheists would like to use this as “See! I told you there wasn’t freewill.” Wrong, wrong, wrong yet again.
God draws to Jesus those He ALREADY knows will accept His offer of salvation.
God draws to Jesus those He ALREADY knows will exercise their freewill to stop rejecting their Creator and instead they will CHOOSE to accept the forgiveness being offered.
God does this drawing in by means of two primary methods.
.One, is through an awareness of God’s love and patience and mercy and grace.
.The other method of drawing in is through opening our eyes to our desperate need for forgiveness, i.e., opening our eyes to our sinful and corrupt nature.
Often these two methods of contact are used in combination.
I’m a really good example of Christians who sin. I don’t own any expensive suits, Ginx, but . . .
Anyhow, there’s another guy who is very similar to me. The apostle Paul described himself as the “worst of sinners.” That’s really something for a Pharisee to say. You have to understand that Pharisees believe that they can be “good” people, just based on their behaviours. Now, this guy Paul? The guy killed and tortured people so, you know, he was pretty bad. On the other hand, Paul justified his killing because he was doing it for a good reason - to get rid of Christians.
The thing is, I’m just as bad. If motives and thoughts count, Paul’s got nothin on me.
Some people might say,
“That’s stupid. If we go by what we think, then all of us would fail.”
Now you’re getting it. :-)
Our thoughts determine what we do.
Pure thoughts > pure actions.
Evil thoughts > evil actions.
“For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean." Mark 7:21-23
This was written, I might add, several thousand years before psychologists “discovered” the same.
Without God’s standard, without the objective morals, values and obligations that exist BECAUSE God exists, we all invent a moral code that ensures that we pass. Without God’s objective standard of right and wrong we judge others by their behaviours while judging ourselves by our intentions. Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, many today judge one’s righteousness by outward appearance. For many, our goodness is dependent on what we can get away with. Not so in God’s world. God judges by who we really are and we really are desperately wicked.
The process that takes us from thinking that we’re good people, to accepting reality is shown in Acts 9:18. Prior to meeting Jesus, Paul thought that he was a good person. He thought in fact that by killing Christians, he was doing God a favour. After his encounter with the risen Jesus, Paul’s physical and spiritual transformation from blindness to sight was described as “Something like scales falling from his eyes.”
When God reveals our sinfulness to us, we go from self-righteousness (thinking that we are good in and of ourselves) to realising we have no righteousness apart from that given to us by Jesus. When God reveals our sinfulness to us, we go from finding fault with others (Paul persecuting Christians) to realising that those who we’re condemning are loved by God. God loves atheists and when I condemn atheists as opposed to atheISM, I am fighting against God Himself. When I condemn atheists as opposed to atheISM, I am working against what God is doing in their lives. Not a good situation.
I am what I am and what I am is a sinner in desperate need of forgiveness.
So, if I’m “saved” aren’t I supposed to be a good person? Now that I’m a Christian, aren’t I supposed to be perfect? That’s what many people seem to think. That’s the standard to which they hold us. Actually, that’s just a smokescreen. For example:
1. People demand that Christianity make Christians perfect
2. People see that Christians aren’t perfect
3. People use that as an excuse for not becoming a Christian
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming atheists or anyone else for thinking that Christians are supposed to be these really good people.
That’s a lie that we ourselves project and in some cases, we even believe it ourselves. More on that in the next post.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
My Favourite Sin
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do. The first post in this series was: "My Favourite Commandment"
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
If people were to go by my behaviours, they would probably say that Rod’s favourite sin is judging. Anger would be a close second and they both mix together rather nicely to form a potent combination of nasty. While Jesus has brought me a long, long way, my willingness to flirt with anger and judging is far too common. I’ve harmed more relationships with these two behaviours than any of the other crap that I’ve pulled over the years.
Atheists who throw Mt.7:1-5 at Christians do so for no other reason than to deflect criticism of their own behaviours. They misunderstand the message completely and not so innocently.
Nevertheless, my own judging of others is completely out of line.
“THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defence or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practising the very same things [that you censure and denounce]. [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things. And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict? Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent.” Romans 2:1- 4
When it comes to judgment day, I’d much rather be accused of being too forgiving than too judging. I want to be too forgiving, but instead, I’m someone else. Luckily for me, we are living in the age of forgiveness. God is persistently refusing to give up on wayward people such as myself. The day of justice will come, but it is not now.
Here’s the thing about judging. Judging is the opposite of mercy. Our Creator is a working definition of Mercy - Our God IS Mercy.
A couple days ago, I heard an atheist say that if Jesus hasn’t come by now, He isn’t ever coming back. Gee, that’s original. 2nd Peter 3:2-15. Rather than thinking that this amount of time is a long time to wait, we should be blown away by God’s mercy. I don’t like to wait for thirty seconds for my kids to obey me and God waited for thirty years for me to come onside. God will not cut short the days He has planned for Creation until every last person who is going to be saved, is saved.
That is one of the things that is wrong with judging others and trying to change others. There is nothing in God’s plan about “fixing the world,” prior to Jesus' return. During this stage, sinners don’t get fixed. We get saved.
Once I’m saved, it is not my job to go out and fix others. My job is to point others toward the same salvation that was offered to me. As is oft said, evangelism is one beggar telling other beggars where to find food. As Christians, we don’t leave the realm of the sinner. As Christians we are merely given the tools that allow us to interact in a different relationship to sin, our sin.
Just a few important facts:
Both heaven and hell will be filled with sinners.
Heaven is for sinners who have accepted their state of sinfulness and accepted forgiveness.
Hell is for sinners who have refused to accept their state of sinfulness, and refused forgiveness.
Both heaven and hell will be filled with people who don’t think they deserve to be there.
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
If people were to go by my behaviours, they would probably say that Rod’s favourite sin is judging. Anger would be a close second and they both mix together rather nicely to form a potent combination of nasty. While Jesus has brought me a long, long way, my willingness to flirt with anger and judging is far too common. I’ve harmed more relationships with these two behaviours than any of the other crap that I’ve pulled over the years.
Atheists who throw Mt.7:1-5 at Christians do so for no other reason than to deflect criticism of their own behaviours. They misunderstand the message completely and not so innocently.
Nevertheless, my own judging of others is completely out of line.
“THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defence or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practising the very same things [that you censure and denounce]. [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things. And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict? Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent.” Romans 2:1- 4
When it comes to judgment day, I’d much rather be accused of being too forgiving than too judging. I want to be too forgiving, but instead, I’m someone else. Luckily for me, we are living in the age of forgiveness. God is persistently refusing to give up on wayward people such as myself. The day of justice will come, but it is not now.
Here’s the thing about judging. Judging is the opposite of mercy. Our Creator is a working definition of Mercy - Our God IS Mercy.
A couple days ago, I heard an atheist say that if Jesus hasn’t come by now, He isn’t ever coming back. Gee, that’s original. 2nd Peter 3:2-15. Rather than thinking that this amount of time is a long time to wait, we should be blown away by God’s mercy. I don’t like to wait for thirty seconds for my kids to obey me and God waited for thirty years for me to come onside. God will not cut short the days He has planned for Creation until every last person who is going to be saved, is saved.
That is one of the things that is wrong with judging others and trying to change others. There is nothing in God’s plan about “fixing the world,” prior to Jesus' return. During this stage, sinners don’t get fixed. We get saved.
Once I’m saved, it is not my job to go out and fix others. My job is to point others toward the same salvation that was offered to me. As is oft said, evangelism is one beggar telling other beggars where to find food. As Christians, we don’t leave the realm of the sinner. As Christians we are merely given the tools that allow us to interact in a different relationship to sin, our sin.
Just a few important facts:
Both heaven and hell will be filled with sinners.
Heaven is for sinners who have accepted their state of sinfulness and accepted forgiveness.
Hell is for sinners who have refused to accept their state of sinfulness, and refused forgiveness.
Both heaven and hell will be filled with people who don’t think they deserve to be there.
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