Shame and guilt are some of the most uncomfortable feelings the human spirit experiences. Being creatures of comfort, we tend to covet affirmation and validation and shun conviction and godly sorrow. This is natural enough, but when we turn to scripture we find something quite different.We don't have to look much further than the Beatitudes to understand what God is really after.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus doesn't say "Blessed are the holy" or "Blessed are the wise" or "Blessed are the successful." The Christian message is fundamentally a message of brokenness and hopeless inadequacy. In this respect, there is much we can learn from King David. He was royally screwed up, but he had this going for him: he knew how to be sorry. Repentance and righteousness go hand in hand - you cannot have one without the other. "I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us." (2 Corinthians 7:9)
This is the essence of the gospel: bringing our broken hearts to God to be remade by the redemption. And we don't just do this when we "get saved." We do this every day. God doesn't put us in spiritual tupperware - He leads us through the wilderness and the battlefield. This is the trial of faith that Peter and James speak of, and this is why staying a Christian is often a good deal harder than becoming one.
Through all our failures, we learn we must lean heavily on the grace of God. When we do, just like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on the water, we find to our astonishment that it bears our weight.
If I stand, let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you-Rich Mullins
When we see sin in our lives, sometimes it makes us question if we are really Christians. The reality is that sin will continue to ambush us throughout our pilgrimage. Our calling is to fight the good fight, not to attain some state of nirvana or spiritual immunity. Paul saw this clearly, and even went so far as to call himself the Chief of sinners, in the present tense! But he never lost sight of the gospel, and that was the secret of his strength. As C. S. Lewis wrote:
I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience et cetera doesn’t get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. [Prov. 24:16] We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present to us: it is the very sign of his presence.*
The paradox comes in when we realize that we must not sin that grace may abound, because this constitutes a crime against the blood of Christ. (Hebrews 10:29) God has little patience with those who would manipulate His mercy. "Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could." (Jeremiah 3:5) We acknowledge our shortcomings to God, all the time keeping our eyes on the prize of the upward call, aspiring to nothing less than the perfection of Christ.
But we have to know how to blush.
"But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble
and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."
- Isaiah 66:2
and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."
- Isaiah 66:2
*C.S. Lewis, in a letter to Mary Neylan, January 20, 1942
Image courtesy of ncsu.edu
Image courtesy of ncsu.edu
1 comment:
You're right, this is an important but extremely uncomfortable topic. I'm a perfectionist, which I know is not healthy, and I hate to make mistakes at all. Unfortunately, that means I spend a lot of time disliking myself, since I am human...
It's really hard for me to get the right balance of admit something as soon as you notice it, say sorry/repent/fix bad habit - or whatever needs doing; and then forgive myself for having done it!
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