Being SPECIFIC about our Sin

Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips. — Isaiah 6:5

"When I get into the presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense; I realize the concentration of sin in a particular feature of my life. A man will say easily — “Oh, yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he gets into the presence of God he cannot get off with that statement. The conviction is concentrated on — “I am this, or that, or the other.” This is always the sign that a man or woman is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but the concentration of sin in some personal particular. God begins by convicting us of the one thing fixed on in the mind that is prompted by His Spirit; if we will yield to His conviction on that point, He will lead us down to the great disposition of sin underneath. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously in His presence.

This experience of the concentration of sin is true in the greatest and the least of saints as well as in the greatest and the least of sinners. When a man is on the first rung of the ladder of experience, he may say — “I do not know where I have gone wrong; but the Spirit of God will point out some particular definite thing.” The effect of the vision of the holiness of the Lord on Isaiah was to bring home to him that he was a man of unclean lips. “And he laid it upon my mouth, and said Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated."  -Myutmost.org July 3rd

This, my friends, THIS! This is what is missing in our discipleship, and this  leads people to being the type of people who say and do such awful hurtful things to others!!!! NOT RECOGNIZING OURSELVES AS SINNERS IN THE SPECIFIC!!!! THAT is the problem. We can't just have a vague sense of sin in our lives, as Chambers puts it here. It has GOT to be specific, or we are not going to be growing in Christ and the fruit of the Spirit. 

We can't say "Oh yes, I realize, I am judgmental." No...even THAT is not specific enough. How are we judgmental? In what avenue? Those are the QUESTIONS. We must realize, "I am judgmental of my mother," or "I am judgmental of my pastor," or "I am judgmental of the person of another race who is sharing her experience, and I'm having a hard time listening to her without finding a reason to say she is wrong in her tone or how she's sharing." THIS is how we recognize we are sinners, in the SPECIFIC. 

Let me get personal to myself lest I come across as holier than thou. I cannot say "I am a sinner," or "I am too materialistic," and leave it at that, believing I am now on the path toward godliness and becoming LESS materialistic. I have got to say, "I am too materialistic in my need to look perfect before I leave the house." or "I am too materialistic in my inability to save money because I keep spending it each month on things for my home or clothes," or "I am too materialistic in that it is easy for me to waste money on clothes but I think twice before donating to causes or giving extra tithe because I know we are on a budget, and I need to save." THAT is how I eradicate sin in my life....by GETTING SPECIFIC and confessing it to others, or at least to trusted friends. (I'm not suggesting you all have to blog about everything that happens to you in any given 24-hour period. You can leave that to me. I've got it covered). But get SPECIFIC with someone, with some people. Be held accountable; confess, and then APOLOGIZE. Right wrongs!!! Say, "I'm sorry. I have been judgmental of YOU (fill in the ______). I have done _______, and I am sorry. I have thought _______, and it was wrong." Make RESTITUTION with your words and thoughts the same way you have judged with your words and thoughts. 

That's just one example. There are certainly more ways to be sinners than judging carelessly and too often or by being materialistic. But the point is, get specific. Don't be vague about sin...unless, however, you want sin to continue to fester in your life and boil over the top. If we don't get SPECIFIC about our sin, we guarantee our churches won't grow, that people will leave our churches, visit once or twice but NEVER join with us and our endeavors. We guarantee that we will forever be lauding our way as the best way and perhaps only way to the extent that push people away and eventually dwindle into nothingness.... Get specific about sin people. It's not ENJOYABLE, at first at least, but it's worth it! But, it allows us to grow, TO CHANGE, actually to CULTIVATE the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus was a specific healer...a specific teacher. He wasn't vague in His healing of people or speaking into their lives. Don't be a vague Christian... let's get real. 

Done. 

image taken from Facebook.com