Train Ride
"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts...........(v. 32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
-Romans 1:21-32
When it became clear this was the next passage we would look at in Romans, I immediately knew why. The things listed in these scriptures are almost like a news story of our society today. I'm going to list a few of the things Paul mentioned, and see what you think:
-futile thinking
-darkened hearts
-fools
-sexual impurity
-shameful lusts
-exchanging of natural relations for unnatural ones
-depraved mind
-filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity
-envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice
-gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful
-invent ways of doing evil
-disobey parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless
Well, whaddaya think? I could give a number of examples we are all familiar with for every one of these things. It's almost erie how much it describes us today. So does that mean we are basically no different than they were all those years ago? I sometimes think that the world is so horrible now it is the worst it has ever been. But a study of scripture shows that sin has been around for a very long time.
There are two points in this passage of scripture that really scare me. The first one is the third sentence in the passage...."Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts. Gave them over is the part that scares me. The word 'gave' comes from the Greek word paradidomi which means ' to give into the hands of another' or to 'surrender'. Wow. As patient and loving as our God is, this passage tells me that eventually He basically just gives us our way. So, I guess if we choose to participate in activities that show we prefer the dark side, being the gracious God He is, He will grant us our desire. When I picture myself in God's hands being handed over to participate in whatever I want, it almost makes me sick. Think about that for a moment. Although a scripture in John says:
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
- John 10:28
It gives us great comfort to know that after salvation we can't be taken out of His hand by anyone. But the passage in Romans doesn't say we are taken out of His hand....it says He willingly hands us over . I have heard God described as a gentleman, One who won't force us into anything we don't want to do. If we don't want to love Him, if we don't want to live under His guidelines and commandments, we don't have to. I guess it's like human relationships in this way. If someone were 'forced' to love me in some way, is that really love? I want someone to love me for my sake, for the sake of love, not because I forced the person to love me. That's no love at all. I believe it is the same with God. He wants us to want Him. He wants to be our focus....He wants our loyalty. And if we show, time and time again, that we have no desire to be a part of what He has to offer us, He will hand us over to what we want. Simple as that.
The second part of this scripture is almost as frightening as the first:
"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
I want to be very careful in explaining what I believe this passage says. There are many of us who have family members and other loved ones who are participating regularly in what the Bible labels as sin. I'm thinking particularly of homosexuality at this time, but any other sin would also apply. In this part of the passage, I'm looking at the word 'approve'. The King James Version uses the words 'have pleasure in'. The original Greek word for this is suneudokeo, which means to think well of, to assent to, to feel gratified with. Then, when you look further at the English definition of assent, it means a 'formal expression of agreement especially after thoughtful consideration'. In other words, after we think about it deeply, we have decided to agree with the act of the sin we are speaking of. THAT's pretty upsetting! I have decided, after careful consideration, that I agree or approve of something God has declared as sin?????? REALLY??? Here's where this gets a little tricky. I think it is obvious that I cannot agree or approve of an act God has declared sin....that's just wrong on every level. But the kicker is, I am still called to love that person. I am called to show God's love to everyone. Approval of sin is very different from not accepting the sin but still loving the sinner. After all, I believe that my sins of gluttony or hurting another person with my words is just as bad. Sin is sin, and it all needs salvation.
With all that said, I do believe our media community has gone too far. It seems everything we watch on television or most movies contains profanity, sexual innuendo, and/or homosexuality. Anything goes, and if we disapprove we are considered intolerant and radical. Here's where the rubber meets the road in my opinion. By watching and reading this type of thing we are stating our approval of it. The more we participate in those types of events, the more we show approval of them.
Sometimes people I know might do something I consider sin. Do I beat them over the head with my Bible? Do I threaten to never speak to them again? Do I lecture them every time I see them about their behavior? Nope. My concern is my behavior, not theirs. If I am someone who obviously follows Christ, then my beliefs are probably known. I may even have to state a certain behavior is sin. So I don't have to constantly "preach" at another person about their sin. I have a plank in my own eye I need to take care of.
I don't want to be handed over. I don't want to continue in sin, and I don't want to approve of it either. I want to stay in the palm of His hand, right where I belong. And hopefully, by showing others the joy in Christ, and using my Bible to read rather than hit others with , sin won't look that good to anyone. Because compared to a life of following Christ, sin turns out looking like it really is. Ugly, and not even remotely worth it. So I'll continue to work on my "stuff", knowing I'll never get it completely in this life. But the journey to conforming to the image of Christ is quite a ride. And I want to stay on the train.
-Romans 1:21-32
When it became clear this was the next passage we would look at in Romans, I immediately knew why. The things listed in these scriptures are almost like a news story of our society today. I'm going to list a few of the things Paul mentioned, and see what you think:
-futile thinking
-darkened hearts
-fools
-sexual impurity
-shameful lusts
-exchanging of natural relations for unnatural ones
-depraved mind
-filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity
-envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice
-gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful
-invent ways of doing evil
-disobey parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless
Well, whaddaya think? I could give a number of examples we are all familiar with for every one of these things. It's almost erie how much it describes us today. So does that mean we are basically no different than they were all those years ago? I sometimes think that the world is so horrible now it is the worst it has ever been. But a study of scripture shows that sin has been around for a very long time.
There are two points in this passage of scripture that really scare me. The first one is the third sentence in the passage...."Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts. Gave them over is the part that scares me. The word 'gave' comes from the Greek word paradidomi which means ' to give into the hands of another' or to 'surrender'. Wow. As patient and loving as our God is, this passage tells me that eventually He basically just gives us our way. So, I guess if we choose to participate in activities that show we prefer the dark side, being the gracious God He is, He will grant us our desire. When I picture myself in God's hands being handed over to participate in whatever I want, it almost makes me sick. Think about that for a moment. Although a scripture in John says:
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
- John 10:28
It gives us great comfort to know that after salvation we can't be taken out of His hand by anyone. But the passage in Romans doesn't say we are taken out of His hand....it says He willingly hands us over . I have heard God described as a gentleman, One who won't force us into anything we don't want to do. If we don't want to love Him, if we don't want to live under His guidelines and commandments, we don't have to. I guess it's like human relationships in this way. If someone were 'forced' to love me in some way, is that really love? I want someone to love me for my sake, for the sake of love, not because I forced the person to love me. That's no love at all. I believe it is the same with God. He wants us to want Him. He wants to be our focus....He wants our loyalty. And if we show, time and time again, that we have no desire to be a part of what He has to offer us, He will hand us over to what we want. Simple as that.
The second part of this scripture is almost as frightening as the first:
"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
I want to be very careful in explaining what I believe this passage says. There are many of us who have family members and other loved ones who are participating regularly in what the Bible labels as sin. I'm thinking particularly of homosexuality at this time, but any other sin would also apply. In this part of the passage, I'm looking at the word 'approve'. The King James Version uses the words 'have pleasure in'. The original Greek word for this is suneudokeo, which means to think well of, to assent to, to feel gratified with. Then, when you look further at the English definition of assent, it means a 'formal expression of agreement especially after thoughtful consideration'. In other words, after we think about it deeply, we have decided to agree with the act of the sin we are speaking of. THAT's pretty upsetting! I have decided, after careful consideration, that I agree or approve of something God has declared as sin?????? REALLY??? Here's where this gets a little tricky. I think it is obvious that I cannot agree or approve of an act God has declared sin....that's just wrong on every level. But the kicker is, I am still called to love that person. I am called to show God's love to everyone. Approval of sin is very different from not accepting the sin but still loving the sinner. After all, I believe that my sins of gluttony or hurting another person with my words is just as bad. Sin is sin, and it all needs salvation.
With all that said, I do believe our media community has gone too far. It seems everything we watch on television or most movies contains profanity, sexual innuendo, and/or homosexuality. Anything goes, and if we disapprove we are considered intolerant and radical. Here's where the rubber meets the road in my opinion. By watching and reading this type of thing we are stating our approval of it. The more we participate in those types of events, the more we show approval of them.
Sometimes people I know might do something I consider sin. Do I beat them over the head with my Bible? Do I threaten to never speak to them again? Do I lecture them every time I see them about their behavior? Nope. My concern is my behavior, not theirs. If I am someone who obviously follows Christ, then my beliefs are probably known. I may even have to state a certain behavior is sin. So I don't have to constantly "preach" at another person about their sin. I have a plank in my own eye I need to take care of.
I don't want to be handed over. I don't want to continue in sin, and I don't want to approve of it either. I want to stay in the palm of His hand, right where I belong. And hopefully, by showing others the joy in Christ, and using my Bible to read rather than hit others with , sin won't look that good to anyone. Because compared to a life of following Christ, sin turns out looking like it really is. Ugly, and not even remotely worth it. So I'll continue to work on my "stuff", knowing I'll never get it completely in this life. But the journey to conforming to the image of Christ is quite a ride. And I want to stay on the train.
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