Some books are worth reading multiple times. One such book it Creed or Chaos? by Dorothy L. Sayers, a book from which I have previously published several quotes.

A recent reading of the book brought to mind her discussion on the seven deadly sins and how the church has been selective in her renunciation of these sins. As listed in the book, the sins are:

Luxuria or Lust,
Ira or Wrath,
Gula or Gluttony,
Avaritia or Covetousness,
Invidia or Envy,
Acedia or Sloth,
Superbia or Pride

The average church has done much in denouncing the first sin but has a spotty record in working against the others. Rather than rehash Dorothy’s essay on the sins, I’ll let you go get a copy of the book (if you can find one) and read it for yourself. It would be worth the effort for you to do so.

What came to mind following a reading of this list is that we don’t have a sin problem as much as we have a worship problem.

When Jesus was asked to name the great command, he named love (and worship) of God as that command (Matthew 22:36-40). The second one is to love our neighbor. Since God loves our neighbor, it could be argued that the fulfillment of the second command is in response to the first command. Therefore, loving our neighbor is an aspect of our worship of God. It seems to me that if we did even a mediocre job of fulfilling these two commands, the seven deadly sins would not be an issue.

For example, lust is a desire to have something that I don’t currently have but think I really need. In our sexually charged culture, we think of lust primarily in terms of sexual attraction, but lust can be a desire for anything. If our desires are subjugated to our worship of God, then it seems that desire for other things would be diminished.

It would be difficult to exercise wrath when I am loving my neighbor as myself. A desire for a close relationship with God would displace food or drink or any other form of physical satisfaction as a proper goal for life. Avarice is the opposite of  loving my neighbor; if I am loving my neighbor, I can’t be cheating him. If I am in worship of God, it is difficult to be envious of my neighbor. A proper concept of worship of God would motivate me to be a good steward of the resources that God provides to me. Being a good steward would prevent me from sloth in any aspect of my life. Finally, a right understanding of God’s righteousness and his provision on my behalf in Jesus Christ should mitigate my pride.

I hope that you get the picture from this very brief overview.

Proper worship of God is the foundation for the conquest of sin. Why is this the case? All seven of these sins result from man (me) pretending that his is in charge of his own destiny. All seven of these sins are acts of open rebellion against God.

But if I am worshiping God, if I am acknowledging my dependence upon him, then, and only then, I have the perspective to see these sins for what they are. They are ugly, no matter how much the culture around me (both church and state) seek to justify them or make them palatable.

In the story of Peter walking on the water, Matthew records Jesus’ response when Peter became frightened and started to sink. Jesus said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

This phrase has often been interpreted as a rebuke of all doubt. The understanding is that Jesus is telling Peter that it was wrong to doubt, the inference being that all doubt is wrong. When this passage is preached in this way, the implication is that we should have complete control over our thought process and that all doubt can and should be removed from our minds. I have heard some preachers say that all doubt is sin.

Scripture does not support this assertion. I wonder if the preachers who make these claims have ever read the Psalms. David and the other psalmists ask lots of hard questions and reveal their doubts about God and frustrations with God. They are brutally honest about their struggles.

I also point to Jesus response to Thomas’ doubt. Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for his doubt; rather than a rebuke, Jesus offered evidence to Thomas (John 20:27). Jesus offered his battle scars to Thomas as proof of his identity.

If Jesus’ words to Peter are not a rebuke of all doubt, then what is the point of the question?

Perhaps we should understand the functional word to be “why.” Understood this way, Jesus is asking “what is at the core of doubt?” What is behind your doubt?

In defense of Peter, the fact that prior to that moment, no-one had ever walked on water would have been significant. The physical properties of water and the human body support the doubt. On the other hand, at this point in Jesus’ ministry, Peter had been exposed to previous suspensions of the laws of nature to know that Jesus was not limited by them.

Why did Peter doubt? The most obvious answer to this is that Peter focused on the seeming impossibility rather than upon the command of Jesus to come to him.

The efficacy of faith is determined by the reliability of the object of faith. Would it be unreasonable to supply the word “me” in Jesus’ question to Peter? Could the meaning of that question be properly interpreted as “why did you doubt me given the fact that you had seen me do so many incredible things before and I asked you to do this?”

In some cases doubt is driven by a desire for more evidence (as in the case of Thomas). The proper response to this form of doubt is to do additional investigation. But there is a point in our investigation of the facts about Jesus where we have to make a choice. The why question gets behind the evidence to expose what is at the core of how we interpret the evidence. We have to act on the evidence that is available, even as we continue our search for truth.

The why question that Jesus poses does not allow us to be content to remain in doubt. Agnosticism may be a legitimate layover point, but it is not a legitimate destination. As Geddy Lee points out, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

“Why” is the functional question.

There are days when the dysfunction and brokenness of the world can be overwhelming. Gardens grow weeds, governments migrate toward tyranny and rejection of the moral law seems to be the order of the day. On top of all this I see my own tendency toward selfishness and rebellion. Everywhere I look I see chaos that results from the Fall.

In thinking about this today, a song lyric started running through my head:

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

These lyrics are from the song Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson which provide a needed reminder of the victory that has been won over the chaos around me and within me.

Yet, the Cross is on only the beginning of the victory. The third verse of the song provides the ultimate encouragement:

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

As Paul tells us in Romans 1:4, the resurrection is the proof that Jesus has the power to conquer the chaos.

When despair seems to be the logical response to all the problems we can see, it is then that we must choose to look beyond the chaos to see the risen Christ as triumphant. He is large and in charge and at some point in time will set all right.

Jesus himself told us,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33, ESV)

Jesus wins. I’m good with that.

In Matthew 13:25-30, Jesus uses a parable to illustrate the fact that not everyone who attends church or claims to be a Christian is the genuine article. In the parable, we learn that an enemy has sown weeds (tares) in the wheat field to displace the good crop. The implication is that anything that is of value will be counterfeited for selfish ends and we should not be surprised when we find non-believers in our churches. This sounds so black and white and from God’s perspective, perhaps it is.

My experience in the church has shown me that even among believers there is “tarish” behavior. These are people who may have a genuine relationship with God, but are not following the Apostle Paul’s command to renew their minds (Romans 12:1-2) and grow. As a result, they remain stuck in their behavior and fail to progress in spiritual growth.

It is doubly concerning when these tarish Christians rise to positions of leadership and influence within the church. Too often leaders rise in the church because they are talented, driven or both. I have in mind a real church in a real city where a very gifted preacher took the primary leadership position from his predecessor who retired. The gifted preacher was not of sufficient character to be effective in leadership of that church but his talent masked this fact for a long time. But in the end, he left a swath of destruction within his family and within that church which could no longer be masked.

Now, you might argue that Jesus is using the tares to illustrate non-believers and this talented preacher certainly could not have been a non-believer. Yes, I’m certain that he had indeed made a profession of faith and it is likely that his theology was Biblical correct and well understood. Yet, James tells us that our faith is evidenced by our works and when a leader has a pattern of hurting people and leaves carnage behind him, one might not question his beginning in faith, but one certainly must question his continued growth.

I’m writing this because a good friend of mine is still reeling from the devastation that resulted from the imprudent selection of this man to be the pastor in that real church in a real city. I have a mixture of sadness and anger in response to this situation. In praying and thinking about this, I was reminded about the parable of the tares. In a sense God was saying to me, don’t be surprised by this. Also the parable teaches me that in addition to being unsurprised, I should also be aware that the Master Harvester has it under control, knows the situation and will respond accordingly.

The good news is that the existence of a thousand counterfeits does not nullify the existence of the real thing. There are many churches where the pastor and leadership team are seeking personal growth in their relationship with God and are seeking to lead others into that growth. While these genuine shepherds may not have the glitz, polish and dynamism that the great orators possess, a steady diet of teaching from such a man will provide for real growth. Meatloaf, string beans and potatoes may not have the pizzazz of sushi, filet mignon or pad thai, but the lack of pizzazz does not detract from its nutritional value.

Satan, the enemy who sows tares, will occasionally be lucky enough to get one of those tares into leadership. While this is regrettable, we should not be surprised. God certainly is not.