fess up
Okay, admit it- you've been watching the David Hasselhoff video... No, No use hiding in shame. Just step out into the light and confess that you've been enjoying this guilty pleasure. I bet you've even shared the video with someone in the office or cubicle next to you... What? You thought I wouldn't know? Come now... I couldn't possibly have been the only one who got a couple chuckles out of the massive studded eagle adorning the Knight Rider's back.
Now, obviously there isn't any true shame in watching a harmless David Hasselhoff music video on your computer- that is, unless you are doing so while you're on the clock for a company and you should actually be doing your work instead. But let's admit it... each day we do act on fantasies, pleasures, and desires that often lead us away from the perfect plan of the Most High God. No, Hasselhoff is not a sin (but Baywatch may be).
I sin. I sin every day. I feel guilt and pain over the sheer number of transgressions that God will bring to mind as I ask him to reveal them to me. Maybe there was a certain way I looked at someone. Maybe there was something I said that spoke pain into another person's life instead of bring the joy of spiritual encouragement and edification. Whatever the sin- it remains this simple fact... it is sin.
What do you do with sin when it rears its ugly head in your life? Personally, I have sought to stick my head in the sand. When I realize faults I desire to run from them. I want to cover them up. I want to shift the blame. I want to hide. I want to run away from the God who desires to walk with me in the cool of the day. I want to sew up some fig leaves. You know what I mean, don't you? Yes... you do.
The Scriptures describe our response to sin in a different light. Haven't you realized that so many of our natural responses in life are actually barriers to godly living? And when we do realize this tidbit we seek to change our ways- because we want to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Right. So why is it that when our knee-jerk response to sin is to hide it, we press on in the thought that it's okay?
Oh, but Gregg... I confess my sins.
Who do you confess to?
I confess my sins to God.
Good. How do you confess these sins?
I confess my sins quietly in the dark of night to God and God alone.
Be honest. This is the way you do it, isn't it? I'm not saying that this is entirely a bad thing. We must confess our transgressions to our heavenly Father- seeking his forgiveness and his power to enable us to cease such unholy actions. BUT, the Scriptures reveal more to this situation than prayer alone. Don't the words of Christ describe the express command to make amends to your brother when you have sinned against him (before bringing your offering to the altar)? This is a humbling action, isn't it? Yes it is. Such is the will and command of God. In our humility, we can see him. In our weakness, his strength is made perfect.
What about Scriptures that speak on confessing our sins before the gathering of the saints? Whooooaaa! Wait a minute! Confess my sins to the other people gathered at church? Yes. What is the shame in this? Why not? Why should I fear this? It is to the pleasure of God that I am obedient to his will. Has He ever asked me (or you) to something that has been of harm or detriment to me? No. Is He not the Good Shepherd who knows what is best for His flock? Yes. Is He not the heavenly Father who wants to give His children only good things? Yes. He does not seek to harm us. The harm we fear is from the others who are hiding behind the a thin veil of pleasantries that is supposed to represent a real Christian.
An authentic Christian is one who is vulnerable and true. Genuine Christianity is lived amidst the muck and mire of this life while straining to press into the light and glory of the next. Jesus showed us a life that displayed its abundance in true relationships with open and broken people. The people who got closest to Christ were the ones who could not hide behind masks any longer, but instead found hope in laying the shards of their shattered lives at the master's feet. Authentic Christianity is approachable. It is not contained in the ivory tower on some hilltop where the saints gather to bask in faux righteousness. The Christian life is bold. It is found in the nitty-gritty of daily living. And it is honest about all things... trial, triumph, sin, and salvation.
Each day I live, I commit the sins of Adam. I like the way Mark Driscoll describes this point. He says that the start of Genesis does not speak only of what happened, but describes to use what happens... each day. Every day we play out the scenes in Eden's garden. You do, I do, ...every day. Somehow I see fit to continue acting upon notions that cross my fallen mind in a perplexing attempt to bring spiritual death upon myself despite the great Life that dwells within me. This is the life that we live. This is the battle we are engaged in. We fight forces unseen in the world around us as well as beneath the surface of our our skin. For me, my greatest adversary is seen as I peer into the mirror. I still see that old man that Paul speaks of in his letters. I identify with the great struggle of conscience he describes in Romans 7. Paul's point is not lost on me though. He describes a way to live that is fueled by the mighty power of God's Holy Spirit. The same force that hovered over the deep and was involved in the initial creation is still involved in powering the waves of change that make me into a new creation. Amazing.
We all sin. Life does not end there. God has provided another way.
Ask God to guide you through a fearless moral inventory of your life. Seriously, be honest with yourself. Then, admit to God, yourself, and another person the exact nature of your transgression. Seek that God would forgive you and remove the sins from your life and character. Pursue forgiveness and reconciliation with those whom you have wronged. Make amends. This is the biblical approach to dealing with sin. Don't hide, thus retreating into darkness. Rather, confess and reconcile so that you may live in Light.
Now, obviously there isn't any true shame in watching a harmless David Hasselhoff music video on your computer- that is, unless you are doing so while you're on the clock for a company and you should actually be doing your work instead. But let's admit it... each day we do act on fantasies, pleasures, and desires that often lead us away from the perfect plan of the Most High God. No, Hasselhoff is not a sin (but Baywatch may be).
I sin. I sin every day. I feel guilt and pain over the sheer number of transgressions that God will bring to mind as I ask him to reveal them to me. Maybe there was a certain way I looked at someone. Maybe there was something I said that spoke pain into another person's life instead of bring the joy of spiritual encouragement and edification. Whatever the sin- it remains this simple fact... it is sin.
What do you do with sin when it rears its ugly head in your life? Personally, I have sought to stick my head in the sand. When I realize faults I desire to run from them. I want to cover them up. I want to shift the blame. I want to hide. I want to run away from the God who desires to walk with me in the cool of the day. I want to sew up some fig leaves. You know what I mean, don't you? Yes... you do.
The Scriptures describe our response to sin in a different light. Haven't you realized that so many of our natural responses in life are actually barriers to godly living? And when we do realize this tidbit we seek to change our ways- because we want to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Right. So why is it that when our knee-jerk response to sin is to hide it, we press on in the thought that it's okay?
Oh, but Gregg... I confess my sins.
Who do you confess to?
I confess my sins to God.
Good. How do you confess these sins?
I confess my sins quietly in the dark of night to God and God alone.
Be honest. This is the way you do it, isn't it? I'm not saying that this is entirely a bad thing. We must confess our transgressions to our heavenly Father- seeking his forgiveness and his power to enable us to cease such unholy actions. BUT, the Scriptures reveal more to this situation than prayer alone. Don't the words of Christ describe the express command to make amends to your brother when you have sinned against him (before bringing your offering to the altar)? This is a humbling action, isn't it? Yes it is. Such is the will and command of God. In our humility, we can see him. In our weakness, his strength is made perfect.
What about Scriptures that speak on confessing our sins before the gathering of the saints? Whooooaaa! Wait a minute! Confess my sins to the other people gathered at church? Yes. What is the shame in this? Why not? Why should I fear this? It is to the pleasure of God that I am obedient to his will. Has He ever asked me (or you) to something that has been of harm or detriment to me? No. Is He not the Good Shepherd who knows what is best for His flock? Yes. Is He not the heavenly Father who wants to give His children only good things? Yes. He does not seek to harm us. The harm we fear is from the others who are hiding behind the a thin veil of pleasantries that is supposed to represent a real Christian.
An authentic Christian is one who is vulnerable and true. Genuine Christianity is lived amidst the muck and mire of this life while straining to press into the light and glory of the next. Jesus showed us a life that displayed its abundance in true relationships with open and broken people. The people who got closest to Christ were the ones who could not hide behind masks any longer, but instead found hope in laying the shards of their shattered lives at the master's feet. Authentic Christianity is approachable. It is not contained in the ivory tower on some hilltop where the saints gather to bask in faux righteousness. The Christian life is bold. It is found in the nitty-gritty of daily living. And it is honest about all things... trial, triumph, sin, and salvation.
Each day I live, I commit the sins of Adam. I like the way Mark Driscoll describes this point. He says that the start of Genesis does not speak only of what happened, but describes to use what happens... each day. Every day we play out the scenes in Eden's garden. You do, I do, ...every day. Somehow I see fit to continue acting upon notions that cross my fallen mind in a perplexing attempt to bring spiritual death upon myself despite the great Life that dwells within me. This is the life that we live. This is the battle we are engaged in. We fight forces unseen in the world around us as well as beneath the surface of our our skin. For me, my greatest adversary is seen as I peer into the mirror. I still see that old man that Paul speaks of in his letters. I identify with the great struggle of conscience he describes in Romans 7. Paul's point is not lost on me though. He describes a way to live that is fueled by the mighty power of God's Holy Spirit. The same force that hovered over the deep and was involved in the initial creation is still involved in powering the waves of change that make me into a new creation. Amazing.
We all sin. Life does not end there. God has provided another way.
Ask God to guide you through a fearless moral inventory of your life. Seriously, be honest with yourself. Then, admit to God, yourself, and another person the exact nature of your transgression. Seek that God would forgive you and remove the sins from your life and character. Pursue forgiveness and reconciliation with those whom you have wronged. Make amends. This is the biblical approach to dealing with sin. Don't hide, thus retreating into darkness. Rather, confess and reconcile so that you may live in Light.
posted by Gregg @ 9:23 AM
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