Thankful for the rumble strips

Posted on May 27, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 7 Comments

In the area I live, the highway department has spent a lot of time and money cutting grooves in the side of the roadway that create noise if the driver strays outside of his driving lane. I call them rumble strips because they cause the car to rumble as you drive over them.

The rumble strips are quite useful and will likely prevent crashes due to driver inattention. The noise is so annoying that even someone who is falling asleep will be awake in an instant as soon as the rumble strips are encountered.

The warning the rumble strips provide is helpful to the driver in arriving at his chosen destination safely. Scripture provides similar warnings to keep us out of spiritual ditches.

For example, in Galatians 5, I encountered the following list:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19–21, ESV)

Many times when I have heard teaching on verses 19-21, the implication was that these are typical of those outside the church. It as if Paul is giving us a list of how we behaved before we encountered Christ.

But is this true? By coming to Christ do we no longer struggle with these things? My observation of myself and others in the church causes me to conclude that this is not true. We continue to struggle with these even after becoming a Christian.

I’ve seen plenty of rivalries, strife and jealousies in the church. I know Christians who regularly experience fits of anger. Many of the works of the flesh have been manifested at some point in church life. So Paul cannot be giving us a list of behaviors of only non-Christians.

What then is the point of this list? Perhaps the purpose is like the aforementioned rumble strips. The list gives us warning of when we’re getting off track. While orgies may be outside of our current experience, idolatry certainly is not. While you may not be tempted toward drunkenness, jealousy is probably lurking. Few of us can say that we do not experience inappropriate anger at times. How many of us can honestly say that we have never said or done anything that stirred up strife in the church?

The point is that when my focus is not on fulfilling the two great commands to love God and love others, I am likely to drift off the road into one of the works of the flesh. This list is a helpful assessment tool to keep us between the lines and moving in the right direction. When we find that we’re moving toward one of the works of the flesh, a course correction is in order and priorities must be reestablished.

I thank God that 1 John 1:9 is part of his revelation to us.

On rationalization of sin

Posted on April 17, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 9 Comments

This morning I read the story of Achan whose sin caused the defeat of Israel when they went up against Ai. This story can be found in Joshua 7:16-26.

As a 21st Century American, I bristle when I read this story. I want to tell God that it was such a little sin. It seems natural that Achan should desire the goods that he confiscated. He had a momentary lapse of judgment and for that he and his entire family got stoned?

The danger of grace is that we can take Grace for granted and lose perspective on how serious God is about sin. I once heard a definition of sin as man playing God in his own life. By this definition, anything that I do that is contrary to what God expects is a sin.

I observe in myself and I believe I observe in others that humans have an almost infinite capacity to rationalize sin and make it sound legitimate. In this we follow our first parents in their response to the very first sin. Adam blamed Eve (and God) and Eve blamed the serpent.

When confronted with sin, like Adam, I want to find a way to say that it is not my fault. But it is my fault, the fact is that I choose to disobey.

The fix for this problem is not a legalistic system of do’s and don’ts. Legalism exacerbates the problem by focusing attention on the symptoms rather than the disease. The disease is a heart that is unwilling to yield to God. Legalism does nothing to soften the damaged heart and bring it in submission to God.

Legalism produces two undesirable effects. For those who are successful at keeping the rules, pride sets in which makes the heart even more unresponsive to God. For those who recognize their inability to keep the rules, an inappropriate sense of unworthiness can set in. This sense of unworthiness can then trigger rejection of the very God who gives them worth.

The sin of Achan was not that he desired the loot. The sin was that he did not desire God more than the loot. As C. S. Lewis points out, the problem was not that Achan’s desires were too strong, they were weak and focused on the wrong thing.

We presume upon Grace when we rationalize sin. The fact that we don’t end up under a heap of stones is not because we don’t deserve that heap. I share in the sin of Achan and that is why this story makes me feel uncomfortable.

Chesterton on original sin

Posted on April 3, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

“Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin – a fact as practical as potatoes. Whether or no man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing. But certain religious leaders in London, not mere materialists, have begun in our day not to deny the highly disputable water, but to deny the indisputable dirt. Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved. Some followers of the Reverend R. J. Campbell, in their almost too fastidious spirituality, admit divine sinlessness, which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. The strongest saints and the strongest sceptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philospher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.”

G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy

Truth – the antidote to shame

Posted on May 28, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

In yet another attempt at trapping Jesus in something he said, the Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. The story is recorded in John 8:1-11, where we are told that she was caught in the very act. I doubt that they gave her time to dress and make herself presentable before dragging her off to this impromptu court date. There she stands partially dressed and alone with the shame of her immorality on display.

Jesus, aware of the injustice of the situation, responds with grace by saying “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). All her accusers, perhaps including her partner in adultery, slink away to avoid further confrontation with Jesus.

The woman still stands alone, but Jesus offers her hope by saying, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Jesus used the truth as the antidote to shame.

What is the truth that proved to be the antidote? That truth was that, with the exception of Jesus, everyone involved in this sordid event were sinners, not just the woman. Jesus acknowledged this truth and then gave the woman the opportunity to change and be different.

Jesus tells us that truth is the path to freedom (John 8:32). As with the woman caught in adultery, acknowledging sin is the first step to finding freedom from it. Ignoring the sin does a disservice to everyone involved.

While we love this story and the freedom it should bring, in some churches shame maintains a prominent role in the church culture. People trapped in such a church are afraid to speak the truth and hide in their shame. In this culture, shame is used as a weapon to force people into a superficial perfection. Everyone feels the pressure to give the appearance of having it all together. In such an environment, real growth is difficult.

A shame-based church culture can also pressure people into conformity to a false sense of unity. Unity is different than uniformity. We are not called to uniformity. We are not called to be all the same and see things the same way. God made us all different and we need each other to be different, including our opinions on how things should be. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that for the church to be healthy all the gifts of all the believers must be operating together.

If there are questions that cannot be asked or if there are people that are above questioning, then truth is not operational. When people who raise questions or make suggestions are labeled as trouble-makers, then truth is not operational. When people are asked to suppress their gifts for the sake of “unity” then the truth is not operational. When people, whether they stay or go, are shamed into silence, then truth is not operational.

No-one enjoys being confronted on sin or shortcomings. No-one likes to hear that the way he is behaving or leading is not perfect or is not having the desired result. Even though it may be uncomfortable, we must strive to maintain a culture where it is mandatory that truth wins out. It is incumbent upon church leaders to create this culture of openness and honesty. If you are a leader and you are not asking for this type of feedback, then you need to do some honest assessment.

Let the truth win out. Shame has no power when the truth of the Gospel is shined upon it.

Thankful for the rumble strips

On rationalization of sin

Chesterton on original sin

Truth – the antidote to shame

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