Over-Correcting

 

Driver's Ed teachers tell us that the worst thing to do when headed off the road is to over-correct. 

An over-corrected car will land in the ditch 

or worse.

 In reaction to the legalism and works-focus of previous generations of Christians, this generation is over-correcting. Rather than recenter on the balance of God's Word, today's Christians are slinging themselves to the other side of the road, headed for the ditch on the opposite side. Or worse.


There is a trend within Christianity that is caving to the world's definition of what "Christian" should be. Since Jesus' day, those who did not know Him wanted to define what He should and should not say or do. Nothing has changed.

Much of this caving is due to Biblical illiteracy among Christians. If we don't really know what the whole of scripture teaches, then it is easy to get sideswiped by the avalanche of pseudo-spirituality masquerading as "the new-and-improved-Christianity." Everyone is packing a few handy verse-lets (usually first quoted by a non-Christian to justify some particular sin) that they whip out at every showdown, never stopping to check whether or not that ammunition is being used correctly.

The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit, which means it can only be wielded properly under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. To pull out a few one-verse statements and use them to dismantle the rest of the Bible is to abuse the Word of God. I don't think He takes that lightly.

The religion of Tolerance has been popular for a couple of decades and is now invading the church as a sub-culture, presenting itself as Love. This is not the Love the Bible defines. Love seeks to align itself with God's perspective, not redefine it. Love seeks the best interest of every human being--which does NOT mean agreeing that sin is harmless. Love cares enough to weep, appeal, pray for and plead with those trapped in sin strongholds. Love chose to come to earth and be tortured to pay the price for that very sin we smile at, excuse, and verbally defend. I don't think God takes that lightly either.

When we start allowing our culture to redefine sin for us, when we start proclaiming that the Bible doesn't mean what it says, when we choose Tolerance over the law of God, when we substitute one-line daily devotions for real study of God's Word, we have ceased to be Salt and Light. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Matthew 5:13

Let's not let that happen to us.
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What? No Rules?

The law of liberty (James 2:12) can be the toughest law under which to live. Most of us feel far more comfortable with a list of rules we can check off and judge ourselves and others by.

The Pharisees did, and if we're honest, we all have a little Pharisee in us--even the self-proclaimed Tolerance gurus. Ever have one judge you for judging them? 

It's not difficult for the man in jail to keep the speed limits. And he can feel quite virtuous for not committing robbery while behind bars. But the law of liberty opens the prison doors and says, "Your standing with God is not based on your record. You can't impress Him nor will He disown you. He has set you free to live for His pleasure alone. In seeking it with all you've got, you will find your own."

But we like bars. We like rules. They work as gauges by which we can judge our own standing and decide that we are either better or worse than someone else. Prison bars separate us and force an outward compliance that doesn't have to go heart-deep.

Jesus came to bulldoze those prison bars and said, in effect, "If your obedience isn't heart-deep, I don't want it."

And that message is too difficult for many. They turn away from freedom to embrace man-made religion with plenty of rules to keep them feeling safe. Some even try to rewrite the law of liberty and interject some of their own rules, just as the Pharisees did. "We need a list. Surely there's a list! Let's create one." 

The thought of self-sacrifice simply for the joy of pleasing the Lord is too foreign a concept. The idea of limiting their own freedom when they don't have to doesn't make sense. They need external motivation and fear is a good motivator. It was that attitude that so grieved the heart of our Lord. It still grieves Him.

The law of liberty threatens no bars, but holds us with cords of love so strong only a Pharisee would try to break out.

 

 

Can I Have It My Way?

Do you remember Burger King's popular slogan back in the day? "Have it your way" helped Burger King reach the pinnacle of business success and recognizably.

The idea of having a hamburger exactly the way you want it has spread like a grass fire in our culture. Self-determination is our national identity. Even shopping for a simple item has become a confusing maze. Every item has a hundred options: colors, flavors, sizes, low-fat, high-energy, super volume, extra-butter... We consider choice a right and expect it to apply to every situation.

Unfortunately, this also applies to seeking God. We assume we can pick and choose what we like about God or Christianity and leave the rest. Even modern evangelicalism has sunk into this mire of "have it your way."

Grace has become the buzzword of the new slew of evangelical preachers and has been spread thickly like mortar over every lifestyle. A chirpy little client of mine announced with confidence that she knew her live-in relationship with her boyfriend was not "the best," but was certain God understood and did not mind. "It's just the grace of God, you know!"

Really? Didn't the Apostle Paul deal with this very subject in the sixth chapter of Romans? How many professing Christians in our day have ever read it?

Since when did obedience to the stated standard of God become optional?

When we set ourselves up as the final authority on our own lives and morality, we have effectively removed God and replaced him with Self. We become our own gods.

And that is not biblical Christianity. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find any precedent that resembles this ideology. The pattern set by those who received Christ as Lord was to forsake sin, forsake worldly lust, and take up whatever cross was necessary to follow him. Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46)

Have you bought into this pseudo-Christian message? Have you decided that you can have God your way? It's not true. We come to him his way, or we don't come at all.

Repentance is the doorway to freedom. It's standing wide open. Be sure you walk through it.