You have all heard the stories. Or maybe you know some people that it has happened to personally. Dedicated Christians, servants of the LORD, caught in horrible, shocking and devastating sin. I got one of those phone calls this week. I sat down and cried, and tried my best to encourage my sister in Christ on the other end of the line. But what can you say in such situations except, "I am so sorry. I love you and will pray for you?"
You don't need to know the details. I'm guessing that most of you have heard a similar tale and can fill in the details of your choice. We all know that Christians are still sinners, but for some reason it is harder to process when a fellow believer falls into blatant, public sin. It just hurts in a different way.
And in this particular situation, there was some serious self-deception happening. When the Bible gives a clear command, and a person chooses to believe that something contrary must be what God would want them to do, you can bet there is a whole lot of self deceiving going on.
The scary thing is that we are ALL capable of self-deception. Even those of us that know the truth and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Our hearts really are that wicked, and our natural desires really are that corrupt. That is why, again and again, we MUST study God's Word. We must constantly go back to the living and active Word of God and drown our sinful man in its purifying waters. There is no substitute for constant exposure to God's Holy, revealed Scripture.
If we wander around, oblivious to what the Bible actually says, relying on our inner sense of right and wrong to guide us, we will get it wrong almost every time. Consider Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Or better yet, Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."
How about this:
"She said WHAT about me??? Well, let me tell you something about her..."
Matthew 5:44
"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."
Or this:
"Well, I know I shouldn't tell you this, but you won't repeat it, right?"
Proverbs 16:28
"A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer seperates the best of friends."
Or even this:
"I'm not going to let myself get taken advantage of like that!"
Matthew 5:39
"But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."
You get the idea. Our natural inclinations are often at odds with the commands of God.
I just needed to get this one out of my system. Read your Bibles, girls. Otherwise you may find yourself subject to the deceitful whims of a lying heart. And that much I do understand.
GPS…FINALLY!!!!
9 years ago
6 comments:
Yep. Guilty as charged. The "respectable" sins (like the mindsets you pointed out) are the ones we tell ourselves don't really count...but yes, they reveal the true state of the heart.
My pastor recently said, "There is no sin a non-Christian can commit that a Christian is incapable of falling into".
And at the same time, we don't "fall" into sin. We compromise little by little and then we look up and think, "How did I ever get to this terrible place?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8SYA6rfbs
Good song and video to illustrate my point--"Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns
Ta ta! :)
Hi Sarah! I understand your point about falling into sin, but I think you might only be considering really big, obvious, external sins. I would agree that those are more likely to happen if we make small compromises over time (although I stand by my original assertions that Christians do indeed fall into sins, big and small.)
Think about someone who loses a loved one and falls into bitterness or anger or resentment or unforgiveness. All sins that we can easily fall into.
I think it is a pop-psychology mistake to think that we can keep ourselves "safe" if we guard our hearts in the small things that lead to bigger things. The big things can still spring on us suddenly and powerfully. Not that we are powerless against them or helpless to resist. Its just that not all Christians everywhere are always goig to resist. We are all a mysterious combination of sanctification and sin until the day we die. That is why we need grace over and over and over again.
Anyway, check out these verses and see if I can convince you to rethink your original assertion.
James 5:12
"But above all brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment."
1 Timothy 3:6-7
"not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments Sarah. It made me think!
AM--So true! And as always god used this post to deeply touch my heart as I am very recently grieving the sin of someone I love deeply. Someone I "woulda never thought"... and God has been gracious to remind me that anyone can commit any sin-even meand especially me!! Thankyou for your words of wisdom.
Amen!
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