Saturday Morning Devotion- Talking Sin in a a Culture that doesn't Believe in Sin

                                 

(image from youtube.com)

Read a good one this morning my friends, Talking Sin in a Culture that doesn't Believe it:

Once again, TGC for the win…. I’ll spare you the introduction and get right to the heart since that is what this article is all about in the first place.

“The Bible describes sin as both rebellious unbelief and also idolatry. In today’s culture I’ve found that the concept of idolatry (using God-substitutes to give our life meaning instead of God) is often easier for people to initially grasp.

One day I arrived at the salon, and when I greeted Theo I realized he was very low. As I sat in the chair, I put my hand on his arm: “Theo, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” He looked at me and said, “Becky, you are the only customer all day who’s even noticed that I’m depressed.” 

He continued, “I’ve had a partner for several years. To be honest, I cherished and worshiped him. But last week he moved out, and I am absolutely devastated. Since you’re a Christian, are you going to tell me our relationship was doomed because I’m a homosexual?” 

I took a deep breath:

Oh Theo, I am so grieved to see you in this much pain. Actually, I think the issue you are struggling with is deeper than sexual identity. In fact, I have a straight friend, Anna, who just told me the exact same thing: she met the love of her life and was certain their love would heal them both. But he recently left her for another woman and she is now clinically depressed. Yet what I find interesting is that you both told me that you worshiped your partners, which is very insightful.

“Why is that insightful?” he asked. 

I told him:

Because we have been created to love and worship God. We have worshiping natures. Where we run into trouble is when we try to worship something other than God; when we put something else in God’s place. It can be good things or bad things, but God-substitutes will always fail us, because they aren’t big enough to ultimately build our lives upon. Theo said, “That is exactly what my partner told me! He said I was trying to make him my everything. He even said, ‘I’m not god! I can’t possibly meet your every need and, frankly, it’s exhausting.’”

I said:

That is why god-substitutes are seen as sin in the Bible, because we are demanding they give us what only God can give: identity, purpose, being totally understood and perfectly loved. The Bible even has a word for God-substitutes—idolatry.” -Becky Pippert, TGC

NOTICE- she didn’t talk to the guy about whether or not being gay was a sin. She dealt with the guys ROOT issue which included addressing the guy’s PAIN. That is what Jesus does… he doesn’t bang on our tooth because He thinks it looks dirty and infected, He gives us a shot of Novocain so we don’t die of pain and then excises the entire rotten freaking tooth down to the rotten root so that we all the gunk will quit coming out of our lives….  

So Theo looked at Becky and said: “So you’re telling me that, according to the Bible, my suffering is actually due to the fact that I’ve been worshiping the wrong thing?”

And it gets better- Theo continues, ““What scares me is that what you’re saying makes so much sense,” Theo answered. “That to find the love I’ve been searching for all my life, I have to get my relationship to God sorted first. But . . . I couldn’t come to God, Becky, not after all the things I’ve done.” 

“Theo,” I replied:

The only reason any of us can come to God is because he loves us. Jesus came from heaven and died on the cross for our sin because everyone needs God’s forgiveness. There isn’t anything we can do to deserve such a gift except to thank Jesus for all he has done for us—tell him we are sorry for our sin—and invite him to come into our lives as Lord.

‘The only reason any of us can come to God is because God loves us.’

 To my surprise, Theo replied:

Becky, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for speaking plainly without making me feel judged. Thank you for saying that you’ve also tried God-substitutes. Thank you for telling me that God loves me and wants a relationship with me when I am feeling so worthless. You’ve already given me some books and a Bible; I think it’s time I start reading them.”- Becky Pippert, TGC

Just read the entire article- my excerpts don’t do it justice. But this is what I’ve been trying to preach, my friends, why I say we should care about BLACK lives- because THEY MATTER- to God!!! They matter IN THIS WORLD. ALL OF OUR PAIN MATTERS- ALL OF OUR HURT MATTERS- ALL THE INJUSTICE MATTERS… whether you are black or white or green! Don’t tell me not to complain about injustice done to blacks simply because you are white and you don’t complain about your injustice… because I say in response…. YOU SHOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR INJUSTICE. COMPLAIN TO GOD! HE CARES! COMPLAIN TO ME! I CARE! Perhaps the problem is that we have been so shut down by awful counselors and Job’s friends that we’ve forgotten that Jesus is our WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, a FRIEND CLOSER THAN A BROTHER, WHO LOVETH AT ALL TIMES AND CALLS US FRIENDS. We need to all care about each other and help one another- help dig out the root causes and quit focusing on what we see as the gunk on the top of the tooth. (Man, I need a less disgusting analogy).

So good morning- happy Saturday. Be blessed my friends. And stop feeling shame over sin or listening to people who just condemn you and tell you that you have missteps and misdeeds that are dirty. Instead, come to a God who offers living water that nourishes the dry, lonely, bent crevasse of our souls.