"It's okay, God will forgive me tomorrow"

It was a rare moment of vulnerability under less than ideal circumstances. My friend's behavior and ongoing consumption were troubling and not a little awkward to observe. I had not intended to run into him that night. Now I felt I couldn't leave, could I? Not at least until he gets home safely. He then said something that was refreshingly raw and honest if not surprising because, hey, I'm his pastor and I'd be preaching again in a couple days: 

"It's okay, God will forgive me tomorrow."

He's right by the way. 

Those who trust in Jesus are relentlessly and continually forgiven by the Father who has accepted them. You may remember when Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive and offending brother: "Seven times?," he asks. To which Jesus replies, "I do not say to you seven times but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:21-22). Peter is asking: Is there a limit to forgiveness?  Jesus' uses a concrete number in response (I believe to indicate the concrete substance of divine forgiveness) but his overall point is that forgiveness in the Kingdom of God is limitless. 

Two Paths

There are other deterrents to self-destructive choices - what it does to the individual, the fuller life that the individual misses out on, the effect those choices have upon those we love. Much can and should be written on all of these - my purpose for writing is God's forgiveness. Even one destructive choice sets us down a path in which we are prone miss out on God's forgiveness. The objection: "But I thought forgiveness was relentless and continual (see above!)." True, but even just a few self-destructive choices may block the way for forgiveness. It may appear like I'm contradicting myself, but let me explain. 

The book of Proverbs envisions life as the choice between two paths - the path of wisdom and the path of folly (often under different names). Once you set foot on one of those paths, especially the path of folly, you tend to choose what you previously chose - only to a greater degree. 

So Proverbs 4:14-19. You'll notice how quickly any foolish choice escalates. One moment Wisdom is pleading with us: "Don't even think about setting a casual foot or an adventurous, one-night indescretion down the path of wickedness" (vv.14-15). Just like that (cue snap of fingers): A person's very food and drink are the destructive choices they make (v.17). Their rest is no longer sleep but they can only rest by bringing company down to their misery (v.16).

In other words, Proverbs says: Don't even mess with the idea that "it's just one night" or "it's okay to get crazy every once in a while." More quickly than you know: Such behavior becomes your lifeline.

Then the next step quickly follows: "A hardened heart" (Hebrews 3:13) or a "seared conscience" (1 Timothy 4:2). Proverbs 4:19 calls it "deep darkness." This compound Hebrew word is a rare one that Solomon seems to use rather intentionally - it is the same compound word used in Exodus 10:22 of the 9th plague ("pitch darkness in all the land").  That 9th plague - the last one preceding death itself. Solomon is describing a conscience that is no longer able to see through the darkness to tell right from wrong. According to the Wisdom of God, what starts as a casual flirtation, a rare but wild weekend, indulging in something that stokes your curiosity, turning to comfort food to numb some other pain turns more quickly than you would dare believe into a nearly deadened will. One choice, two choices, three choices, and suddenly you find yourself enslaved to keep on choosing what you previously chose.  

"It's okay, God will forgive me tomorrow." Is grace available for the person who has made and continues to make choices to walk down that self-destructive path? Yes. However, by going down that path, I leave myself utterly in the hands of a merciful God. Why risk it?! The deepest and most practical problem with hardened heart, the seared conscience, the blinded spirit is that it can no longer tell it is in need of forgiveness. Justifying, rationalizing, procrastinating - such posturing can rarely again recognize the need for grace. 

Because of the Holy Spirit's quickening what was dead, God has made me alive together with Christ! (Ephesians 2:5). I pray that this gracious resucitation of my dead conscience applies only to my past. Avoid that path, Ryan! Avoid that path, dear reader!

This gives my life meaning (Sun Follow-up)

They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver or gold are not able to deliver them in the day of wrath of the the LORD. They cannot satisfy hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was their stumbling block.     - Ezekiel 7:19

Idols cannot save you, they can neither satisfy nor fulfill you - they take the place of the living God and so cause you to stumble instead of walk with him, which we were designed to do (Ephesians 4:1; Galatians 5:25). 

When you hear the word idol, what do you think of? Some think of some small or large statue to which a worshipper bows down and expects protection in return. I used to live in the suburbs of Chicago and once a 40-foot statue of the Virgin Mary was delivered to a parking lot adjacent to the local Catholic church (it was on a North American tour...no kidding). Hundreds of Catholics lined up to burn incense, give flowers, and sing songs of worship in the direction of the statue. If you think of an idol more abstractly (ie. the #1 thing, person, value, activity in your life that occupies the place of the living God), your mind may make an immediate bee-line to the big 3: Money, Power, Sex. The thinking then goes: As long as I'm not addicted to any of these, I'm good." Maybe, maybe not...

In his book The Gospel in Life: Grace changes everything, Rev. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York identifies twenty categories of idolatry. 

Keller identifies many good things we make into ultimate things and, thus, "unclean" things" in God's eyes.  You are likely worshipping an idol if you honestly say "yes" to any of the following: 

LIFE ONLY HAS MEANING/I ONLY HAVE WORTH IF...

1. "I have power and influence over others." (Power Idolatry)
2. "I am loved and respected by _____" (Approval idolatry)
3. I have this kind of pleasure experience or a particular quality of life" (Comfort idolatry)
4. "I am able to get master over my life in the area of _____" (Control idolatry)
5. "People need me." (Helping idolatry)
6. "Someone is there to protect me and keep me safe" (Dependence idolatry)
7. "I am completely free from obligations or responsibilities to take care of someone" (Independence idolatry).
8. "I am highly productive and get a lot done." (Work idolatry)
9. " I am being recognized for my accomplishments, and I am excelling in my work." (Achievement idolatry).
10. "I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions." (Materialism idolatry).
11. I am adhering to my religion's moral codes and accomplished in its activities." (Religion idolatry)
12. "This one person is in my life and happy to be there, and/or happy with me." (Person Idolatry)
13. I feel I am totally independent of organized religion and am living by a self-made morality" (Irreligion idolatry)
14. "My race, nation or culture is the best." (Racial/Cultural/National idolatry)
15. "A particular social or professional group lets me in" (Inner Ring idolatry)
16. "My children and/or my parents are happy with me (Family idolatry)
17. "Mr. or Ms. 'Right' is in love with me" (Relationship idolatry)
18. I am hurting; in a problem; on the do I feel worth of love or able to deal with guilt" (Suffering idolatry)
19. "My political or social cause is ascending in notoriety and influence" (Ideology idolatry)
20. "I have a particular kind of look or body image" (Image idolatry).

A portable Virgin Mary

There are two instances in which humans will typically admit to any of these things: 1. Honesty or 2. Extremity. I'd recommend the former, owning up to idolatry, as opposed to waiting for God to work such difficult circumstances in your life such that you are compelled to discover (through pain and heartache!) the idol that you rely on to give your life meaning or yourself worth. 

If you do own up to it, here are some strategies to expel its influence over you: 
(1) Confess it to the Lord and trust that He will forgive you (1 John 1:9). Your idolatry certainly has affected you and caused hurt toward others, but your sin is primarily toward the living God (cf. Psalm 51:4).
(2) Ask God to replace your idol with Himself (as puritan Thomas Chalmers once said, there is "an expulsive power of a new affection" that helps keep the idol from returning); 
(3) Take a temporary break from any contact with it - just as the above passage from Ezekiel suggests it might be to you "an unclean thing" for a few days (cf. Ezekiel 7:19); 
(4) Seek accountability from a brother and sister in Christ whom you've given permission to ask you about it. 

God made our brains to change: Repentance & Neuroscience (Sun Follow-Up)

This past Sunday I preached about a non-Christian, a Christian, and a group of Christians

all of whom radically changed their minds when God spoke to them (Acts, ch 9). Such a change of mind, we learned, is called repentance. The New Testament word translated as "repentance" is metanoeo (meta - "to change condition" and noeo "exercise the mind or think"). The more habitually one changes their mind toward God's truth, the more increasingly the mind itself begins to change such that actions/habits begin to naturally follow (cf. Acts 26:20). 

A recent surge of research has emerged regarding the neuroplasticity of our brains - that is, our brains are adaptable, not static, and therefore have the ability to re-wire themselves in a way that shapes our behavior. In other words, God so wants us to be people of continual repentance He has built within our minds flexibility for change. The physical make-up of our brains testify: You can change!  

Nathan Hrouda of Summitview Church (Fort Collins, Colorado) aptly explains this phenomena, but how also its opposite is also true - "Addicted to staying the Same: Thoughts on Repentance and Neuroscience." The further we slip into addiction/idolatry - our brains become increasingly wired toward misplaced pleasure and destructive habits.

I pray we (myself included!) might first change our minds and believe that our highest pleasure will be found in Christ and the things of Him - in serving or praying for another person, spending time praying or even singing a psalm, enjoying the stillness of God out by the sea or your back porch, doing that next hard thing God's way even though it doesn't make perfect sense - and watch our minds might become increasingly wired toward true and lasting pleasure (Psalm 16:11).