It has been a while since I have posted, but life has turned a little hectic. However, as I was absently looking through my files (trying to shut my mind down so I could sleep) I came across this long musing I typed up while a Sophomore in college. That being said, please pardon the lack of professionalism and the format.
29 September 2009
Sin and Repentance
In today’s American culture there is an extreme lack of
morality. Homosexuality and sexual immorality runs rampant, infants are
aborted, criminal activity is widespread, war is seemingly constant, the
economy has been doing poorly, natural disasters seem to get worse and worse,
and our politicians are becoming corrupt. What has happened? Three thousand years ago, the same thing was happening in
Israel and Judah. Homosexuality and sexual immorality ran rampant, infants were
sacrificed to a cult god Molech, criminal activity was out of control, war was
seemingly constant, the economy fell repeatedly, natural disasters seemed to
get worse and worse, and their politicians were horribly corrupt. What happened? Notice the similarity between the two symptoms. It is my
firm belief that the causes are equally similar. Let us first look at what had
happened in Israel and Judah and bring it into our time.
After the death of King David, his son Solomon took over the
kingdom of Israel. Like every other monarch of that day, Solomon married many
foreign women to build diplomatic ties with his neighbors. Unfortunately,
Solomon’s wives led him to worship their foreign gods, causing him to commit
idolatry. Angry at Solomon’s breaking of His Law, God divided the kingdom and
gave the northern tribes to one of Solomon’s generals in an effort to separate
His people from the practice of idolatry or syncretism (which is the combining
of two beliefs). However, the general, doubtful of God’s faithfulness, built
altars with idols for his people to worship as opposed to going to Jerusalem
(the capitol of the southern kingdom under the Davidic dynasty) and possibly
being persuaded to return to the heirs of David. However, both kingdoms
declined into sinfulness and corruption, only the southern kingdom enjoyed
occasional revivals under Hezekiah and Josiah (it is worth noting that the
revival of Josiah’s day delayed the exile until a few years after his death).
The religious leaders mostly encouraged syncretism and idolatry. Thus,
continued the downward spiral until both nations were driven from the land and
into exile. Where did Israel’s fall begin? It began with the sin of syncretism
starting with Solomon.
I wish to submit that that which caused all of the pain and
judgment in ancient Israel is the same thing that has caused the United States
to fall into a similar predicament. I am not advocating however that the United
States is God’s chosen nation and people, rather Christians are God’s people
who share in the spiritual and eternal inheritance of the Israelites. However,
similar to ancient Israel, we Christians have blended Christianity with the
pursuit of happiness that has been abused in this country. We follow what has
been called “vōx populī,” that is “voice of the people,” which is the selective
reading of scripture to fill our own wants and desires. It has become popular
belief that our purpose in life is to be blessed and to live a life of luxury
and comfort with the blessing of God. We need not worry about sacrificing
ourselves and our lives to the faithful obedience and following of God, for He
is a god of love and will bless us no matter what. Little do people realize
that the primary requirement to being a disciple of God and Jesus is
self-denial and suffering. We must also
realize that we have begun to worship idols as well as God. Though we may not
literally bow down and worship an idol or graven image, we certainly set our
focuses, time, and priorities on other things such as convenience, wealth,
pleasure, security, and even family and friends. Jesus said,
“He who loves his father and mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me
is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is
not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost
his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10. 37-39 New American Standard
Bible).
Even what we do give to God is
second best. If we find a few minutes in our day to read the Bible, we usually
just skim it without taking the time to look at what God has to say; even if we
do take time, we let our own agendas get in the way of objectively reading God’s
word and letting the Bible speak for itself. God addresses this issue through
the prophet Malachi. In Malachi 1: 6-14 and 3:8-15 God condemns the people for
bringing unworthy sacrifices; while we do not have to offer the sacrifice of an
animal, we are to sacrifice our very lives for God’s service and the carrying
out of His will.
We also fail to truly obey God out of a pure heart. If we
give our tithes it usually is with a sense of pride, though it may be quiet and
subtle it is there patting us on the back, telling us how good of Christians we
are for doing something good (i.e. tithing). We have substituted the revelation
for God, where He gives us a command and we obey Him, for religion, where we
obey selected parts of scripture and tell God that He owes us for doing good
deeds. Never tell God that he owes you. Once this has been done, God has been
removed from His rightful place in our lives and we are put in His place.
We have also fallen into the sin of compromising the Truth
of Scripture for the sake of acceptability and inoffensiveness; this too is
covered by God in Malachi 2:17. God’s truth is non-negotiable and should never
be compromised for the sake of making people feel good. Because once we twist
God’s word, we put ourselves in the place of God by making our own rules.
All of these areas of short-coming stem from one major heart
issue, the lack of sincerity in one’s faith. If we are sincere in our faith we
should be living a distinctly different life. Divorce rates among Christians
are the same as divorce rates among non-Christians, a fact that should cause us
to cry out in shame. Jesus repeatedly gives a list of attributes for those who
follow and love Him, most importantly, He says, “If you love Me, you will keep
My commandments” (John 14. 15). It is also advisable and very worthwhile to look
at John 15. Many people are aware of the first and greatest commandment that is
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” but many
people also ask “How do I do that?” One very simple answer comes from Micah
6:8, which states, “He (God) has told you, O man, what is good; and what does
the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God?”
In conclusion, this is what I have been called to preach, it
is the same message as that of the prophets, John the baptizer, the disciples,
and of Jesus Christ Himself, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand!” Let us
lay aside the hypocrisy that makes us as white-washed tombs, beautiful on the
outside but containing rotted corpses within (Matthew 23:25-28). Let us today
make a commitment to follow God with all that we have and to offer ourselves as
living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2).
Works Cited
Wide Margin
Bible: New American Standard Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.
