Every single person on the face of
this earth is guilty of inconsistency at one time or another. I look at some of
the things that I have said in sermons and videos or have written in blogs and
other media and sometimes cringe at what I hear or read. There is no doubt that
consistency is a jewel that we often struggle to keep polished. But there is
inconsistency that comes with the natural human tendency to forget, and
inconsistency that comes because the individual committing it is blinded to the
truth. Take the recent forum on Netroots where several women, including members
of Congress, were discussing a variety of issues.
At one point during the discussion,
one of the members of the panel, complained about the status of alien children
who are detained at the border. According to her, the children were in
"cages" and, since all of those children are "our children"
we should care about that. "Children who are treated well and who are in
cages, are still in cages." The solution, according to the lady, is to
treat them the way they should be treated, code words for letting them stay in
the country without regard to their legal status or why they're here.
During another segment of the
conversation, one lady makes a comment to the effect that there was a great
push at the beginning of the current congress to impeach Trump, but that such a
move has sort of died down. One of the congresswomen then forcefully said that
they should not worry because "we're going to impeach the (bleep)."
How is that for diplomatic language? Of course, this comes from an individual
who is part of a generation that is all about tolerance and civility and
respect. Yet, if you were to point out the inconsistency, she will likely be
incapable of seeing it. Why? Why is it that the natural man is completely
blinded to his inconsistencies, especially when it comes to moral issues?
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians
4:2-4, that the god of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.
Unbelievers, by their very nature, are incapable of seeing what the truth is.
That is why you see what you see in so many of these folks: they say one thing
from one side of their mouths, and immediately contradict that with what comes
out of the other side. And they do it with seeming ease, simply because it
comes naturally, they don't have to think about it. Thus, you can hear a
Democratic congresswoman speak of how we need to take care of alien children
because they're "our children", but the same person will then
immediately speak about how we need to fight to keep abortion legal.
It is imperative for us who believe
in the God of the Bible, to police ourselves in order to ensure that we are as
consistent as our God is. God doesn't think something is right one day and then
change His mind the next. He has given us a revelation that tells us, in no
uncertain terms, what is pleasing in His sight and what is not. We don't have
the right to change that. The current confusion that our society is experiencing
concerning marriage, for instance, is a clear example of what happens when we
begin to think that God's commands are optional. And it all goes back to the
sovereignty of God. Begin to erode the sovereignty of God in your life, and a
whole host of garbage will follow.
Stay grounded. Understand that God
is sovereign and that He has not outsourced that sovereignty to us. People are
inconsistent. God is not! Soli Deo Gloria.
"I look at some of the things that I have said in sermons and videos or have written in blogs and other media and sometimes cringe at what I hear or read."
ReplyDeleteBut Mike - you are still relatively so new at all this! You shouldn't be cringing yet! About a year ago, while cleaning out a box of papers & assorted junk I found an old cassette tape from about 35 years previous with me preaching before a small group in Round Rock, Tx. I was mortified at how awful I sounded! Nothing was commendable! My voice was awful, my continuity was awful, my content was awful, my word choice was awful...I was boring. I seemed in search of a spiritual idea I never could put my finger on. It was very, very bad. Having heard you from the beginning, minus whatever short time you may have spent with the C of C early on, you were always a 1000% better than my earliest efforts.
David, you're too kind. Although I do not have a great body of work to my name, I do have enough over the years to realize that my theological beliefs have changed; in some ways, quite drastically. As you know, to go from the C of C to a believer in Reformed Theology is like going from night to day. It is primarily because of that shift, that I can say that I "cringe" when I see and read some of the things I've said and written in the past. But, even those things that make one cringe are events that God uses in the life of the believer to hone his learning and to make him what He wants him to be. So, I rejoice that all that has led to where I am today--all because of the grace of God! Thanks for your comments.
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