The number one complaint I get about the grace message from people is that they feel it’s giving us a license to sin. I am certain I’ve heard this accusation no less than a million times in the last five years. It usually goes something like this:
“You mean to tell me that I can do drugs, kill people, rob banks and burn down an orphanage and I’ll still go to heaven?”
It amazes me how folks come to that conclusion after hearing that we are forgiven for everything, and He will never leave us or forsake us. You have to wonder what’s in the heart of Americans today when betrayal and debauchery are the first thing that comes to their mind when offered security in a relationship.
Could you imagine going to a wedding and listening to the bride and groom recite their vows: “I will never leave you – through sickness and health – for richer or poorer – for better or for worse – till death do us part,” and some guy on the front row raises his hand and says, “Woe dude, that means you can cheat on her, do drugs, beat her up and burn her parents’ house down.” It’s interesting that this is the mentality that people worry that others will take when offered a forever covenant with God.
Wow! And he keeps knocking it out of the park:
Most Christian teachings today strip us of our security in our relationship with God. They create uncertainty in the hearts of people as to where they stand with Him at any given time. Once uncertainty has been swallowed, control sets in. It sets in because it is needed immediately. There is a vacuum created with unsureness that needs to be filled with something more powerful than itself. Control is not only needed, but it’s desired as well.
Teachings about accountability partners, spiritual leaders, submitting to authority and church covering are widely accepted with little or no resistance. When a loving God is made to look unpredictable and not so loving, people submit to someone who they think might know better than them. They lose confidence in themselves and their ability to please an unpleaseable God, so they put themselves under the care and control of others in an effort to find security again.
Without security, the Christian life becomes about “NOT sinning.” Every single aspect of a person’s relationship with God is determined by whether or not they have sinned recently. I have found that just about every Christian term is somehow linked to this pattern of belief. Anytime a Christian today is talking about his spiritual struggles, he is most certainly talking about a personal battle with some sin in his life. If a person is struggling to get closer to God, they are usually struggling to conquer a sin or a pattern of sin. When someone feels especially spiritual and close to God, it’s usually because they haven’t committed any of their big sins in the last few weeks. Because they feel as though they got the victory of that particular sin, they feel freed up and confident to approach God.
I’m still looking for the freedom he talks about in this article. It is hard to overcome the insecurity produced by a performance based relationship. Read the whole thing.
7 comments:
This is my faveorite post you’ve posted so far.
I read it yesterday. I saw that there weren’t any comments, that’s surprising. It blows me away. thank you.
Yeah, I’m afraid most people didn’t see it since I double posted on the same day…but it was just too good for me to keep to myself. There are several other great articles on that website as well.
i absolutely adore relevant magazine–for so many different reasons, but the past few issues in particular have had articles that have totally “hit it out of the park”, in your words. the issue previous to the current one had a great article called “faded faith:what to do when your spiritual passion wanes” which you can read here:[ http://relevantmag.com/magazine/magazinearchive/18015-septoct-2009-wilco ]–it’s a digital reader, go to page 54 and you should be able to read it online. i think this article in particular was the first time that i started to really face head-on the issues that had begun to spring up in my life post-TM. granted, they don’t deal with spiritual abuse, but the spiritual dryness, the distance, the searching…it definitely addresses that, and is so validating in a very healing way.
the most recent issue has a great interview with jon foreman, where he talks about switchfoot, not being a christian artist, and trying to live faith out in a practical, tangible way. at the end of the article he states that “i have had moments in my life where i’ve been naive enough to think i’m going to change the world. and it’s a really incredible feeling, the day you realize that’s never going to be the case.” he doesn’t talk a lot about it, and doesn’t even really elaborate, but the moment i read that statement it was as if i too were being released from some naive belief in myself as a “world-changer”. even in writing that i feel this guilty struggle to take it back…but even if it was just momentarily, the weight and burden that comes with feeling responsible for all of humanity’s salvation lifted momentarily. healing is possible.
I agree, that feeling of being responsible for humanity’s salvation is really overwhelming. I really believed I could change the world. I really believed I would see my entire high school on fire for Christ as I prayed so fervently for it and Ron said it was possible. It didn’t happen for me and now high school is long in the past. Did anyone actually have success with that mission?
h. – yeah. I totally get that.
I clearly remember the moment I realized it wasn’t up to me to change the world. All I could do was follow God, trust that He loved the rest of the world as much as He loves me, and have faith that He would use my life to show that to them.
And then I was supposed to let go – I wouldn’t balk from sharing my faith when it came up – or even in approaching someone if I believed God wanted me to – but I started to finally wait on Him and His direction, not trying to manipulate each person into talking about God (when they might not be ready yet), but instead loving them by listening to them and trusting God to direct our conversation where that person most needed it to go. It’s surprising how often the other person comes around to talking about God when you do that – but often they don’t, and that’s OK, too. I have to trust that, in those cases, I’m not the one meant to plant that seed – just till the soil a bit. Because, really, it’s not up to me – it’s between that other person and God what ultimately happens. All I can do is plant the seed, maybe water it (or, just till the soil) – but only God can make it grow.
It was SUCH a release.
AND it allowed me to start sleeping healthily again – no more 4 hour nights because I was impatient to do as much as I could with each day to change the world. Instead, I could sleep the full amount that my body needs (which happens to be 9.5 hours), and trust God to use each day to its utmost.
It’s funny that what TM taught as faith (doing everything you can to change the world) is really the opposite of it.
I love reading these comments.
“It’s funny that what TM taught as faith (doing everything you can to change the world) is really the opposite of it.”
That is so pithy and insightful. I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it that well but you’ve hit the nail on the head.
And you brought up something I had almost forgotten – feeling guilty about needing sleep! I also need about 9 hours to feel rested – and I never got more than 6 at the HA. After all, we’ve got to be productive!
O M G ! ! !
This post…. blows my mind.
This is why I love this blog and the community you’ve created, because thoughts like these are abundant, and I thought I was virtually alone in thinking them.
🙂 🙂 🙂