Waves of Conviction

Yesterday, I posted a comment on Facebook that generated a fair amount of response. Essentially, I pointed out that I believe the Superbowl can reveal one of the greatest idolatries in America today.  There was some good back and forth dialog and it ended peaceably. This morning, a good friend challenged my post and subsequent responses as seemingly antagonistic and judgmental.  Because he is a man whom I have asked to speak into my life and whom I trust greatly, I have been thinking and praying a lot about my response today.  God, as He so often is, has been faithful in showing Himself as well.  When I apologized this morning, I joked that you might laugh if you saw how many readings seemed to have relevance today.  Since they have continued to accumulate, I thought I would share them briefly.  Even if you don't see a clear link, I have...all day long. 

The first came from a reading in Proverbs 30:12-14: "There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives." I fight with this tendency every day. Yesterday, I didn't fight it very well. 

Second, a post called "the Jesus Juke" by Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like came up in my reader.  Acuff addresses the tendency among some believers to take something mundane and turn it into a statement about our faith, or our lack thereof.  I did that yesterday.  I am sure I do it more often. 

Third, a post at Ligonier entitled "What about Me and My Weeds?" showed up.  The author points out that it is a good thing to be "aghast" at sins, but that the ones best dealt with are the ones closest to home.  He concludes, "I am a child of the Father, in union with the Son, and indwelt by the Spirit. I have been born again unto good works. I am a new creation, and so my sins, rather than being small by comparison, dwarf the peccadillos of the damned. I haven’t been given much, but have been given everything. And so everything is required of me. I, as a Reformed person, am the worst of the lot. I would rather spend my time debating about the place of good works in the life of the Christian, than cultivating good works in my life. I would rather hone my “worldview” than see the log that is in my own eye. I think sanctification is a doctrine, rather than a calling. And I am more interested in having my mind renewed than in being transformed. I would rather look down my nose at piety than I would seek it out.


"Lord have mercy on me, a sinner, and teach me my sin."

Fourth, there has been an interesting dialog about Gospel grace and the pursuit of holiness that stemmed from a Christianity Today article.  Justin Taylor provided a useful summary of the "debate."  In the penultimate paragraph, Taylor cites Dane Ortlund, "For the regenerate, holiness has taken on a strangely attractive hue, for God is now our loving Father, not our wrathful judge. We now delight in the law in a way we never did (never could) before. But the law itself remains impotent to generate this holiness. The law can guide us, but not propel us. It is a steering wheel, not an engine."  Holiness is our calling as Christians, but it is only through grace that we have any hope. 


Fifth, Jared Wilson shared the following, "When I see people weary or hardened under the brutal weight of religious hyper-spirituality, I am saddened that they do not know the freedom of the gospel of grace. And when I see people indulging in the hedonistic excess of license, I am saddened that they do not know the freedom of the gospel of grace. Legalism and license are separate categories. But they are in the same category of Departure from the Gospel. Neither cures the other, but the gospel cures both."

Sixth, Serena Woods at Grace is for Sinners has a beautifully penned essay on grace.  She writes, "I could talk about self-control, rightly so. I could talk about doing the right thing and what my conservative opinions of a Christian life should look like. I may even get a lot of encouragement from other well-meaning do-gooders. We could have our own club, totally separate from ‘the world’ and draw the shades to our heart while we enjoy how Christian we are. Meanwhile, we suffocate a fallen sister because our lives don’t offer hope, they offer moral standards. You know you’re sending the wrong message if one of your members leaves the group when they make a moral mistake.


"God set up grace so that He would never lose anyone. Set your life up that way, too."

I suspect I will continue to learn this lesson for the rest of my life. Understanding the call to holiness with my utter inability remains a mystery to me.  I don't yet see how much responsibility is mine and how much is God's in my sanctification, though the more I understand grace, the more convinced I am that not only was my salvation secured by the blood of Christ, but my sanctification too.  I come back to loving God and loving others as my base responsibility, and today, that is hard enough. 
"O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8KJV)