Lenten Devotions - Day 09
“I know all about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.” Psalm 51:3-4
Sin. We are not very comfortable dealing with questions of sin. Well, our own sin, anyway. We are much more comfortable dealing with the sin of some unidentifiable mass of people without names or those whose actions have personally offended us.
We can easily decry an unknown, unidentifiable mass who systematically kill unborn babies. We can decry the destruction of the family and the way divorce has damaged so many lives. We can paint sin out most any way we choose, especially when we are removed from the individuals struggling with hard choices. When we identify the face of a friend or family member in crisis, issues suddenly take on a different hue. When hard choices come down to my life, my situation, and my family, circumstances suddenly look vastly different from mass murder, escalating divorce rates, and corporate greed. We weigh issues differently when we are personally involved.
It is one thing to decry war over mineral rights. It is a far different thing to understand that my desire for cell phone gadgetry is complicit in the death and torture of hundreds of thousands of people between my cell phone and the mining of precious minerals in an African nation I have never visited. It is one thing to brush aside reports of starving billions in unknown reaches of the world and quite another to overlook a mother in line at the grocery store, unable to pay for the meager items in her cart.
“Someone should do something about it” ignores my responsibility to be God’s means of resolution. Standing on the sidelines to decry the sins of some nebulous “corporate greed”, “mass murderers”, “terrorists”, and “criminals running rampant” does not do justice to my own neglect in delivering justice, equity, mercy, compassion, and God’s love for those in need.
Too often we hide behind slogans that speak of society’s attack against the church or the morals and values for which Christianity stands. Feeling ourselves threatened from the outside, we resort to a defensive posture or return our own attacks against a nebulous foe. In the process, we fail miserably to address our own sin. This is the sin we have the power to do something about. This is where the battle really begins. This is where the war is won or lost.
Jesus did not come attacking the society around him so much as pointing the way of righteousness and justice through his own example. Sure, he decried the hypocrisy of those claiming to speak for God. More often, however, he taught his own disciples to look inside their own hearts and lives. It is not the sins of the world for which I need to be concerned. It is my own sin. That is the one I can address. Are we willing to judge ourselves with honesty?
God knows our sin. What is the major obstacle in your relationship with God that keeps you from becoming God’s wholehearted servant? Confess that sin and make plans for God to help you beyond its influence.
“Lord, you know my sin and failure. Help me to see myself according to your perception.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Sin. We are not very comfortable dealing with questions of sin. Well, our own sin, anyway. We are much more comfortable dealing with the sin of some unidentifiable mass of people without names or those whose actions have personally offended us.
We can easily decry an unknown, unidentifiable mass who systematically kill unborn babies. We can decry the destruction of the family and the way divorce has damaged so many lives. We can paint sin out most any way we choose, especially when we are removed from the individuals struggling with hard choices. When we identify the face of a friend or family member in crisis, issues suddenly take on a different hue. When hard choices come down to my life, my situation, and my family, circumstances suddenly look vastly different from mass murder, escalating divorce rates, and corporate greed. We weigh issues differently when we are personally involved.
It is one thing to decry war over mineral rights. It is a far different thing to understand that my desire for cell phone gadgetry is complicit in the death and torture of hundreds of thousands of people between my cell phone and the mining of precious minerals in an African nation I have never visited. It is one thing to brush aside reports of starving billions in unknown reaches of the world and quite another to overlook a mother in line at the grocery store, unable to pay for the meager items in her cart.
“Someone should do something about it” ignores my responsibility to be God’s means of resolution. Standing on the sidelines to decry the sins of some nebulous “corporate greed”, “mass murderers”, “terrorists”, and “criminals running rampant” does not do justice to my own neglect in delivering justice, equity, mercy, compassion, and God’s love for those in need.
Too often we hide behind slogans that speak of society’s attack against the church or the morals and values for which Christianity stands. Feeling ourselves threatened from the outside, we resort to a defensive posture or return our own attacks against a nebulous foe. In the process, we fail miserably to address our own sin. This is the sin we have the power to do something about. This is where the battle really begins. This is where the war is won or lost.
Jesus did not come attacking the society around him so much as pointing the way of righteousness and justice through his own example. Sure, he decried the hypocrisy of those claiming to speak for God. More often, however, he taught his own disciples to look inside their own hearts and lives. It is not the sins of the world for which I need to be concerned. It is my own sin. That is the one I can address. Are we willing to judge ourselves with honesty?
God knows our sin. What is the major obstacle in your relationship with God that keeps you from becoming God’s wholehearted servant? Confess that sin and make plans for God to help you beyond its influence.
“Lord, you know my sin and failure. Help me to see myself according to your perception.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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