I’ve got a friend (I know surprising huh?). This guy loves Jesus probably as much as anyone I know. We did church together for a long time and I love my friend, probably because He loves Jesus and He loves me.
Regardless of how much my friend loves Jesus ,he struggles. He struggles with one specific sin and that’s how I know he loves Jesus, he sins and he hates it. It’s the people who habitually sin and it doesn’t bother them that I worry about.
My friend’s sin is bad, it is something that was a very mainstream sin but now it has become something that, while it is still done by a high percentage of our culture, it is only practiced in secrecy. I am one of several accountability partners and we went to lunch not too long ago and my friend shared how he had failed again and how the safeguards were not working.
About halfway through lunch my friend referenced Matthew 5:29-30 which tells us to cut off body parts if they cause us to sin. Jesus tells us it is better to go to Heaven without a hand or a foot than go to Hell with both eyes. I’ve been telling you Jesus is radical and not only that Jesus is serious, probably the most serious person I know.
Just so you know, the idea of Matthew 5 is about our willingness to do what is necessary to keep us from failing God and following Jesus at a high level. Mutilation was not the point. Hebrews 12:1-3 is similar when it says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” The best application of Matthew 5 is to stop sinning and keep the eyes.
A lot in the church are disgusted at my friend and I get that. Sin and especially his sin is hard to reconcile. Does the church do well at letting people know the best of us mess up and sometimes we mess up big? It seems like we enjoy hiding our sin and allowing our pew neighbor to think we have it all together. The opposite is true in Scripture: we are to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16).
Church is the only place that in order to get in you have to admit you’re a failure, so what happens once we get in that we become so hypersensitive and prideful? I think the church would be a better place if we practiced James 5:16. I’m sure we would probably like each other more if we could say, “Wow! You too?” We all know it’s hard to breathe behind a mask. What if we all stop pretending and trying to fool others that we are better than we actually are?
I think it was John Piper who said we cannot leave people alone in their sin. I’m guessing my friend is not hearing too many others say, “Me too.” This is probably one of the reasons he feels so bad, he is alone and thinks it’s only crazy people who do what he does. I’m not saying sin is okay, but I am saying there is a real challenge that needs to be addressed. In the meantime, pray for my friend.
He told me to tell you that.
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