A humbling reminder…

I had a bad attitude today…a sinful attitude.  Its easy to justify a sinful response to someone, particularly when you feel that you have rightly discerned their heart and motive in the matter.  But that justification is just as wrong as any justification that they might render concerning their own behavior; furthermore my discernment is not infallible.  So what makes the difference between them and I?  As far as I know, from their behavior they are not a follower of Christ.  And yet based solely on my own heart response (even if I suppressed foolish behavior) some might wonder if I were a follower of Christ.  So what makes the difference?

I guess the difference comes in what I do with that sinful response.  For the one who follows Christ sin must be dealt with.  Really there are two issues involved in a situation like this.  First is what do you do with a person who has sinned against you?  How do you respond to such a thing.  Second is – if you haven’t responded well – what do you do with your sinful attitude.  Really the other person has probably gone on about their business for the day, they aren’t even thinking about you but you are still fuming.  I’m trying to be real with this because I struggled with it for quite a bit this afternoon.

Concerning the first issue, what do you do when a person sins against you.  My first response today was to become agitated.  Part of the issue is that I was already a bit agitated from something that happened yesterday (both of these issues transpired around work…).  So I should have dealt with it yesterday before the LORD but I did not.  BIG PROBLEM.  When you let a sinful response fester in your heart it is bound to take root and grow into something worse.  So when someone sins against you deal with it immediately.  If you are not in the place to where you can address the person as a believer, and they won’t respond otherwise, then you may need to simply right it off.  I was thinking on a passage in Psalm 37 about not fretting because of evildoers…ceasing from anger and forsaking wrath because it will only lead to evildoing.  In other words, when you become angry about an evildoers actions and respond in anger that response is itself evildoing and leads to further evildoing.  Furthermore we are to follow the lead of Christ who when reviled did not respond in anger but kept entrusting Himself to the One who judges rightly (I Peter 2:23).  This is the example that we have, thus we ought to follow it in all of our doing.

One further thing, when we are sinned against by someone else, our first response is often characterized by a preoccupation with ourselves and how we feel that we have been wronged.   Its not necessarily about justice, though we may say that it is.  Its often about retribution and/or seeking to be recompensed for some right of ours that we feel has been violated.

Sin is a violation against the LORD.  And the LORD is gracious.  He has been gracious to us in Christ, thus we ought to seek to be gracious to all others, regardless of what offense they make.

Titus says

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,  2 to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.  3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,  5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,  6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  (3:1-7)

We are to show every consideration for all men, we are to be kind, to malign no one, to be peaceable and gentle to all, because we were all once foolish…and because God showed us His kindness and love by sending Christ to die for us, not because of our good deeds, but because of His mercy.  If God has done this for us in Christ, we must do no less.

Furthermore God is the One who exacts vengeance, who brings justice.

Romans 12:19-21

19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.  20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”  21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Thus we must leave room for God to bring justice, because His justice is righteous.  Ours is often selfish.  And it is His alone to give as He is the Judge of all things.

Concerning the second issue, if you haven’t responded well, what do you do with your sinful response?  My sinful response was in the heart.  Thus I had to deal with it before the LORD first.  I had to realize that it was sinful.  When I thought a little longer about it and reflected upon some passages of scripture that I had been praying through recently, I was convicted.   Thus I had to seek Him for forgiveness because ultimately any offense is an offense against the LORD who Himself is righteous and expects righteousness from all.  Because some cannot, and we all do not live up to His standard does not require that He lower the standard.  He has provided Christ to help us to be acceptable to God because of Christ and not ourselves.  Thanks be to God!  Seeking the Word was crucial in that step because the Word of God is that which brings conviction to the heart and correction.  It also gives wisdom to know how to respond in the future.

The next step would have been to seek forgiveness from this other person because of your sinful attitude toward them.  Regardless of whether or not they were privy to your sinful attitude.  Especially if it is a believer.  Seeking forgiveness from them for your sinful attitude towards them helps to restore your relationship with them.  If you are not able to seek forgiveness because they are separate from you geographically or otherwise then you must entrust that situation to the LORD.  But be humble and seek the forgiveness.  In my case, the individuals against whom I sinned I will not likely see again.  That is sad because I fear that I may have left a negative view of myself behind for them.  Of course this is not for my sake alone but for the sake of the name of the LORD by whom I am called.  We often (myself included) forget this.  We don’t merely represent ourselves, thus we don’t always have to be right or to “save face” in a given situation.  If we know the LORD, if we follow Christ; then it is His glory that we ought to seek to preserve.  And often the best way to do that is not by retaliation or an angry sinful response, but by humility, being “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger” as James says, and by entrusting ourselves to the LORD, the Righteous Judge.

 

I pray that this confession and exhortation would be a blessing to you today.  Until He comes…

 

Psalm 37:1-11

Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.  2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.  3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.  6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.  7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.  9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.  10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.  11 But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

James 1:19-20

19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;  20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Psalm 11 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 11)

God loves righteousness.  For the Psalmist says “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.  The Lord test the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.   Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.  For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.”

There are so many themes that repeat throughout the greater part of the Psalms.  None are more striking to me than that of God’s love for righteousness and hatred of wickedness.

What are we to say about these things?  For there are many who would claim God’s unconditional love without condition.  God’s love is not unconditionally unconditional.  His love does cost a great deal.  For He has not spilled His own Son’s blood for naught.  He has not slain His only Son without reason.  The condition of God’s love is the blood of His own Son to bring effect to His love.

After all, His love would not be known without His sending of His Son.  And the sending of His Son would have no effect if His Son did not first shed His blood.  And the blood of His Son is necessary because of His perfect love for righteousness.  Because He loves righteousness, anything that is not righteous cannot abide, it cannot remain.

His love for righteousness compels Him to act decisively against unrighteousness and wickedness.  Since unrighteousness and wickedness are not entities of themselves, but acts of rebellion from His creation; God must punish the wicked and unrighteous for every act of disobedience that does not align with the righteous standard of His Son.  The life of His Son is the standard for judging unrighteousness, the payment for its penalty and the basis for new life granted to those who believe.  Were the life of His Son not lived and given as the penalty for wickedness, we would have no concept nor understanding of God’s love.

God’s love for us is not as our love for each other.  [In that sense, certainly it is without condition; for God lacks nothing and even if He did (which is a ridiculous statement), there would be nothing that we could give Him that would benefit Him because the least of what He has is infinitely greater than the greatest that we could give.  We being sinners and Him being perfect in every respect and without want or blemish.]  We love each other, often, for what we feel we will receive.  We are benevolent toward each other for the good that we feel in ourselves or for some praise that others give us on its account.  We rarely love without strings attached.

God’s love was costly.  His love cost Him a great deal more than it could have cost us.  Namely because we were already starting in the red.  We already had a great debt toward Him.  But He overlooked that debt and granted us not only pardon from the debt but also grace upon that grace, the inheritance of a relationship with His Son, to rule with Him, to receive an inheritance with Him when His Son returns to reclaim His kingdom on this earth.

We dare not say that God’s love is totally free.  It is unconditional, but it was costly.  To those who are without God in this life…those who do not know His love…those who do not obey His Son; all you may expect is His wrath.  If you do not meet the righteous standard of His righteous Son, who obeyed Him perfectly at all time; then you must only expect the wages of unrighteousness.  You must expect “snares to rain; fire and brimstone and burning wind [as your] portion…[for] the Lord hates those who love violence.”

But you who meet the righteous standard of His Son, knowing that you meet it only because it has been granted to you from God, that He has united you with His Son and that His Son’s blood has paid the penalty for your unrighteousness; you may take refuge in the Son.  You may rest in His grace…for He has promised that “the upright will behold His face [for] the Lord loves righteousness…”

In a little while, little children, His anger will be kindled against the unrighteousness and wicked of this world.  How will He find you?  Dare you mock the righteous for their trust in Him?  Dare you mock the faithful for their confidence in Him and in His Son?  Tremble in your hearts, let your laughter be turned to weeping and your joy to gloom.  For in a little while His anger will burn against you and you will not be able to stand.  You are standing at the precipice of His Almighty and insatiable Wrath and there is nothing to keep you from falling but His temporary Grace.

Don’t be a fool.  God is not mocked.

Psalm 2 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 2)

God is laughing hysterically about the state of our election process.  Why?  Our election process is for the purpose of electing someone to govern us.  We assume that this person will be able to govern us well and even that he (or she) will be capable of leading us (back) to a position of prosperity and prominence in the world.  We want him to lead us, to guide us in this life.  We want him to tell us how we ought to live…the very implication of governance.  However; this notion is foolish and laughable to God.  The Psalmist says it is a “vain thing.”

The Kings of Psa 2 “take their stand together against the Lord and His anointed…[so that they may] tear [the Lord's] fetters…and cast away [His] chords from them.”  Really what they are saying is that they want the rights to rule and govern themselves apart from God, their creator.  They want to make their own decisions about right and wrong.  They want to make their own standards of law and morality.  They want to write their own commandments to live by.  They do not want the Lord or His anointed sticking their noses into their business.

Regardless of how you slice it, or what spin you put on the political process; we are looking to elect a leader.  We (the collective that is the United States of America…and humanity for that matter) as a whole, do not want God’s governance over us.  We do not want His “chords” to entangle us.  We do not want His rules, His ways, His commands, slowing us down.  So we elect officials from our own ranks in hopes that this one will lead us in the right way.  What is the right way?  Our own prosperity and power.  Our national pride.  Our national identity.  Our way is the way of tolerance.  It is the way of sycretism.  Our way is the way of man’s right to choose and to determine his own destiny.  Our way is the right to free speech, even if that means slandering the very God who made us.  Our way is the disregard for God’s life for our choice.  Our way is the disregard of God’s design for our preference.  Our way is the disregard God’s boundaries for our pleasure.

But God has determined His ruler.  God has determined His Lord.  He has determined the One that He desires to rule over the nations.  And His decision is final.  After all, He is the One who “sits (enthroned) in the Heavens.”  His word shall endure.  And that One whom to whom He has given authority shall “break [the nations] with a rod of iron…and shatter them like earthenware.”  He will rule over them with a rod of iron until they are broken in subjection to His Lordship.  God will not allow us to rebel against Him forever.

Hear the warning “O kings.”  Take heed “O judges of the earth.”  Listen, o man, woman, child.  Do not put your trust in man. “Kiss the Son.”  Bow before the Son.  Worship the Son.  Obey and submit to the Son…”that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled.”

But you, who do obey the Son, you who submit to the Son and who await His return.  Rejoice!  Be of good cheer.  Rest in knowing Him, who holds all authority both in Heaven and on Earth; who Himself is returning soon to claim His rightful throne as Lord over all.  For “blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

Anger…huh, what is it good for…absolutely nothing!

I caught myself saying today “this is making me angry.”  I said that because of some boneheaded errors that I had apparently made at work.  On my way home, I had some time to think about it.  But instead of wallowing in self abasement – which is good for nothing – I thought about the statement “this is making me angry.”

It seems to me that we – I, obviously included – make an art out of passing the buck.  We are extremely skillful, yeah even crafty, at placing the blame for sinful tendencies totally outside of ourselves.  Can anyone really make you angry?  You’d say “yes.”  But think about that.  To say that someone has made you angry is to say that someone has reached inside of you and touched that little red button that is marked “angry” so as to cause the emotion of anger to rise up in you.  I tried to say that in as unrealistic a way as I could possibly think of in my post-work tire.  I say that it is unrealistic because of course no one reaches inside of you to do that.  Anger is an emotion that comes from within.  There may be some injustice that takes place outside of you, or perhaps someone does something that is disagreeable to you in someway, but you choose to respond in anger.  There is a myriad of other emotional responses that you have, but you choose to respond in that way in that particular moment. There is not really any way around that fact.

Now, why that particular thing evokes a response of anger from you can be for a variety of reasons.  Perhaps someone did that to you a lot when you were a child and you have terrible memories of it.  Perhaps your parents chided you for doing it yourself and so you built up an aversion for it so as to not get into any further trouble.  Perhaps you love to do it yourself and get angry when someone else beats you to it.  And maybe its just plain old annoying in and of itself (a universally acceptable annoying think like scratching your fingers across a chalkboard).  Whatever it is, you choose to be angry about it.

So what?  Well, for one thing, I realize that I must work on adapting new terminology.  And much more than that, I must work on my responses to things that are either inside/outside of my control.  I never really need to respond in anger to anything.  What about righteous anger?  Holy indignation?  What about those things that pertain to God’s Holiness and upholding it at all costs?  Well, the proportion of things that I am actually angry about in a righteous, God honoring anger, in the big scheme of all that I ever get angry about, is probably down to the hundred thousandth of the percent.  Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, maybe not.  But most of the time when I’m angry its either at myself or its at someone else.  Neither is ever really justifiable (unless it falls into that small percentage of seeking-for-the-glory-of-God-Holy-indignation moments).

And secondly, I’ll work on owning my sin.  And not casting the blame of it upon some thing other than my own wicked tendencies which tell me the lie that things must go perfectly my way at all times.