I generally write about the process of striving towards godly living. I generally write under the assumption that those who read this blog have already made the first leap towards that end; receiving the precious gift of God's grace, but for the last few days I have been pressed upon to make no assumptions...so today we go back to square one...back to the Gospel. It's a 3 part explanation that begins with some stepping on toes.
1. I'm wretched,You're a Sinner, & We ALL fall short.
We live in a world that breeds contradicting natures: self-loathing & narcissism. Self-loathing being the extreme disgust with oneself...this usually focuses on the physical. We hate our frizzy hair, our flabby stomachs, our Bingo arms, the fact that we're a size 8 instead of 4. The list of flaws in our physical appearance is endless. We spend our lives striving towards some standard of perfection which is unattainable, at least by any healthy measure. Women despise mirrors due to their reflection, yet spend hours staring in them. We spend lavish amounts of money on clothes, makeup, personal trainers, & plastic surgery....all in the hopes that we just might be beautiful...only to find that regardless of our attempts, we do not see beauty reflecting back. The physical repulsion becomes mental, & suddenly we are unlovable. What began as an infatuation with appearance has become a parasite within the mind. We hate ourselves...or at least most do to some degree. The flip side to this is narcissism. Narcissism is the extreme love of self, the preoccupied worry over oneself rather than the community as a whole...it's the inability to truly care for others because all all we care about is ourselves. Our society is cultivating this disease. We take the rights deemed to us by our Creator, pursuit of life, liberty, & happiness to the most infinite extreme. We seek these things utterly unaware & unconcerned for the impacts that pursuit might have on others...& the consequences, whatever they might be, are worth it if in the end we are happy. We look at ourselves, shrug, & think "I'm a pretty good person." The vast majority of us have done nothing terribly wrong in our lives. We've told a few lies, perhaps stolen something trivial. Indeed when compared to the likes of Charles Manson, well we're saints! We look at those around us, at the dirt in their lives, at the awful things they do, & we start to feel pretty darn good about ourselves. We puff up with pride. We are good people. We go to church, tithe, give to various charities, help others in our communities, but the crux of it is that when it all boils down the motivator is ourselves. We do all of those things...for us...because of that warm, fuzzy feeling we get, because of the notoriety that comes when others see us performing 'selfless' acts. The tricky thing about narcissism is that we often cannot even see it. We are deceived into believing that we are selfless...that we are good, when truly it's all about us. What can we get, what does this do for me, what will others think? Me, me, me. The tragedy is that between this self-loathing & narcissism, we are caught. We are dazed, confused, & empty. There is a bottomless chasm within us that seeks to be fulfilled, & so we begin this tirade of attempting to fill the void. More...more will do the trick. More money, more adventure,more sex, more clothes, more muscles, more cars, more charity work, more tithes in the offering plate, more freedom...more, more, more. We pour our lives out in the search for what will fill the void, yet despite these grandiose efforts we are still empty. (James 3:14-16, "But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.") Here's why. We are wretched, we are despicable, we are worthless, we are self-serving, we are sinners. Each of us from the serial killers & child molesters down to the mere gossips & envious...we all fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23 "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.") Every single, stinking one of us, is wretched. We want to believe that there are varying degrees of sin, that some are worse than others, & that as long as we don't do the 'bad ones' that we are somehow good. We want to believe that we will be judged two by two, & that as long as the guy standing next to me is worse then I get in (to Heaven). We want to believe that as long as we hide our stinking thinking deep within our minds, never giving it a voice, that the thoughts don't matter. The core of who we are is like filthy rags, dirty & smelly (Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin.When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."), & regardless of how valiantly we try to remove the odor of our filth, it remains. The chasm cannot be breached...not with money, not with possessions, not with pleasure, not with travel & adventure, not even with acts of charity. It's a bottomless pit that consumes us. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 "Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people." ) That's the bad news. Each one of us is unworthy of the love of someone as Good as God. God is so good that He cannot even exist in the presence of bad,& we are bad...because of that we are separated from Him. (Isaiah 59:1-2"Look! Listen! God’s arm is not amputated—he can still save. God’s ears are not stopped up—he can still hear. There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in you. Your wrongheaded lives caused the split between you and God.")
Hearing what was just shared, & acknowledging to ourselves that we fall into the category of bad, of wretched, of sinner...is the hard part, but it's the first step. If we don't/can't see ourselves as sinners, we don't/won't see ourselves as needy of Grace. For me, as a person who has spent her life trying to be as good as possible, I truly struggled with seeing myself in this light. I wanted God's love, I wanted to feel accepted, but I had a very hard time acknowledging myself as a sinner...I can now say with shame & humility that I am utterly unworthy...that I am wretched to the core. Be not ashamed, be not self-conscious in this admission...scripture is clear that no one is exempt from this status.
2. God provided a bridge to breach the chasm.
Since Adam & Eve took the first bite of forbidden fruit, the gap has separated humankind from their Father. Can you imagine the pain of having a rift, tension, & discord between you & your parents...you & your children? I don't even want to think about it, yet that is the relationship between sinners & God. I despise conflict, yet it is constant...because God is good, & we are not. From that very time when Adam & Eve were cast out of the Garden, & when the chasm was created there's been a need for intercession & a mediator (the act of going between) between man & God. God spoke through prophets to convey His love...& blood sacrifices were given to momentarily atone for sin. I am certain that Abba despised that the gap was bridged only temporarily...I am certain that only that great pain could have convinced Him...could have been worth the ultimate sacrifice. (John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.") God made a permanent bridge...He made a way to fill the void...with the blood of His son. Nearly all of us are familiar with this story. We are nearing the Easter season in which we honor it, but we must remember that it is a TRUE story. God became man, in the form of a baby...who grew into manhood in this sin-filled world. That man walked among sinners. That man was perfect, sinless. That man was good, truly good. That man was beaten within an inch of his life. He was ridiculed. He was spit upon, & humiliated. That man was murdered...for me...for you. 2,000 & some years ago I believe that Jesus, in his suffering envisioned my face & yours. I believe that the name of every person was before him, & that he deemed us worth the cost. That man died. That man rose again. That man ascended to the Father. That man made it possible for us to cross from wretchedness into goodness, & that my friends is Grace...Amazing Grace. That life & death made the bridge between us & God permanent. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.")
(Ephesians 1: 13-14 "And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.")
After acknowledging our wretchedness, there is but one thing to do...cry out to the Lord & ask for Grace. I am certain that over the years many of you have sat in a pew & heard the alter call. I am certain that many have heard this message before. I am equally certain that there is at least 1 person to whom this message, foreign or familiar, has struck a nerve...someone who is perhaps humbled or angry at being convicted, someone who is tired of shoving things into the void, someone who is weary of feeling dissatisfied, someone who is at the end of their rope. God is calling you, my friend. He is calling YOU by name. He is longing for you to cross that bridge, & to come to Him. It's that simple. Confess your sin, acknowledge that Jesus provided the bridge by his blood, & take the Father's hand. His love wipes away all the dirt & grime & makes us, you & me, white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”says the Lord “Though your sins are like scarlet,I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.) The search is over...the void is, or can be, filled, if only you embrace the Amazing Grace of our Father. Here by your computer, your Ipad, your phone, or whatever device you are using to read this, you can very simply ask God to come into your life. To those who have made this step before, we are always called to repentance & to renewing this walk. My heart is yearning for all to know Him.
3. Make fishers of men.
There's just one thing left to do. Strive to live your life as God asks...all of that is found within His Word. He very clearly lays out expectations for our conduct. The last task before us to is to share this news with others. We are to lay out the bad news (we are wretched), the good news (Jesus bridges the gap), & to help others come to know God. That's the great call, the commission for those who believe in Him. (Matthew 4:19 "Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”)
(Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”) This is God's will for my life, for your life...the accepting of His grace, the fulfilling of the mission....that will fill the void...that is what we were created for.
I wholeheartedly pray & hope that this has been a blessing...that those who read this will yield to God's calling. He desires to fill the void, & to close the gap...allow Him to do so...you will never regret it. Be Blessed this day!
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