Fear and Bravery

Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

Luke 8:37

Jesus had just done the unthinkable. You see there was a man who was notorious in this part of the country. He was demon possessed. Not by one demon. Not by two. But by so many that when Jesus asked the demon its name it replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many" (Mark 5:9). Having been possessed by so many demons, this man had uncommon strength. He could not be bound or restrained even by a chain. But he also lived the tortured existence that the enemy wants for us all. He was driven out from society into solitary places. He lived among the dead in the tombs. He no longer wore clothes but went around like a wild animal.

So, you can imagine the stir that it caused when the people of the area heard that Jesus had cast the demons out of this man. When they came to investigate and saw the man clothed and in his right mind, sitting at Jesus' feet, Scripture says they were afraid. 

Now, you may disagree with what I am going to say next, but I would argue that fear was the right response. Scripture says that the "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). When you glimpse how big and powerful and amazing God is, fear is the only wise response. But fear can push us in two directions. Fear of the LORD can push us toward God or away from Him, and this is where they went wrong. Their fear ought to have caused them to fall at Jesus' feet asking for mercy and forgiveness. Instead, it poisoned them against Jesus, causing them to reject Him. Perhaps... if I can suggest this without sounding heretical... perhaps they saw in Jesus some of what they had seen in the demon-possessed man: great power that they could not restrain or control. They wanted to be free of such power, so, they sent Him away. 

Don't make the same mistake. Fear God. But draw near to Him. Tremble at His presence. But fall at His feet as you do so. Be glad that God is so fearfully powerful and mighty. We need Him to be so, because the devils among us are more powerful than we are also. Only a God who is more powerful still can save us. So fear God, but be brave enough to draw near to Him.

I Know Better

And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest...” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Mark 1:42-45

Anytime I would go to visit my grandparents as a teen I would work with my grandfather. He drove a tractor and bush hogged for a living. If you don't know what that is, imagine mowing a large area with a tractor. One of his contracts was to bush hog the small county airport. Just before he set me loose on that tractor, he warned me not to mow too close to the runway lights, that it was easy to hit them. I listened, but I was fairly sure I could do it without any. As I mowed for the next hour I started getting closer and closer to those lights, taking particular pride in being able to get right up close to them without hitting any... right up until I did hit one. I cracked the post. The light hung limply with its head on the ground. I felt awful! What's worse is I had to tell my grandfather. He said that he knew I was going to hit at least one, and that he had hit plenty himself. He was hoping I would learn from his mistakes.  

Somehow, in my sinful pride, I thought I knew better than him. Someone who did this for a living, who had mowed this very airport many times before gave me sound advice, but I thought I knew better. So, I ignored him. I can't help but wonder how often we do the very same with God.  

In the passage above, Jesus heals a man of leprosy and sternly warns him not to tell anyone. That seems odd doesn't it? Why wouldn't Jesus want this man to share his testimony? Maybe this man thought Jesus was just being humble. We don't know. What we do know is that this man clearly thought he knew better than Jesus, because he spread the news around to everyone who would listen. 

"So what!" You might say. "His heart was in the right place. What harm was done?" The passage tells us exactly what harm was done by this man's disobedience. Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. He had to stay outside in desolate places. This one man's disobedience, even if well-intentioned, significantly impacted Jesus' life for the worse. He couldn't go into town to get food or to find a home to lodge in. If He did, the crowds would throng him. It must have been like the ancient equivalent of being followed by paparazzi and by crowds of adoring fans who all want something from you. So, Jesus had to stay outside, in desolate places. The disciples had to get his food and bring it back to him. He had to sleep out in the open air much more often now. All thanks to this one man's well-intentioned disobedience.

Be careful that you don't fall into the trap of thinking you know better than God. Even if God's commands don't make sense to you, obey Him anyway! He doesn't have to tell us His reasons. His purposes don't have to make sense to us. Our job is to simply obey. I mean do we really think we know better than God? Sadly, all too often, the answer in my own life has been yes. Learn from my mistakes.

Take Away My Sins

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 

I John 3:4-6

The Apostle John writes this letter to a church that has been split by false teachers. He writes in part to teach them how to spot false teachers, so they will be better able to defend themselves and their church in the future. John points out that false teachers are set apart from the true people of God by their cavalier attitude towards sin. The false teachers in John’s day seemed to have indulged their flesh in sin and then claimed it didn’t matter because their souls were unaffected by it. False teachers today may use a different rationale, but they often have the same sinfully indulgent lifestyle.

In the verses above, John says, in essence, "Let’s just stop and think about Jesus for a second. How did Jesus feel about sin?" Well, He appeared so that He might take away our sins. This was Jesus' whole purpose for coming was to take away sin. And we know that He Himself had no sin. So, if Jesus has no sin and He takes away others sin, then how could anyone living in Him go on sinning? And John doesn’t mean making a mistake and committing a sin here or there. He is saying that if Jesus is in you, you won't continue in a lifestyle of sin. You won't go on sinning, because Jesus will take away your sins. Not just forgive them but remove them.

Think about that for a moment. Jesus didn’t just come to forgive your sins. He came to remove them from you, to take them away. Jesus was fully committed to this goal, so much so that He willingly died to accomplish it. He died to take away your sins! It isn't enough for you to be forgiven. He wants you to stop sinning! So, you can’t be a Christian and have a cavalier attitude towards sin. You can’t be a Christian and live unchanged. If you are going to follow Jesus, you have to battle against sin...not just in others but in your own heart as well. So, don't just as Jesus to forgive your sins, ask Him to take them away as well.

Hate Evil. Cling to Good. (W.o.W. Rewind)

 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

1 John 3:7-8

Be careful. You have an enemy who wants to lead you astray, to somehow lure you off the narrow path into the thorns and briers of spiritual ineffectiveness. One of his favorite means of doing this is to send others into your life to speak his words to you: wolves in sheep's clothing. How can you spot them? Look at their walk. Just as a wolf doesn't walk like a sheep, so a person's walk (their actions) reveals their true character. If they claim to be righteous but don't do right, they're a liar. 

A recent trend has emerged in Christian circles that values authenticity and genuineness more than righteousness. In the name of being "more real" and in an attempt to connect with lost people, Christians are opening up about their sins and often even curse openly. 

Honesty is good. Of all the people on earth Christians have the least to hide because of the unfathomable grace that has been afforded us through Christ Jesus. And Scripture tells us that we ought to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16). But when we openly name our sin it should be done in repentance. We don't wear our sins as a badge of pride to show how "real" we are in an attempt to win the lost. We dare not use filthy or vulgar language (which Scripture speaks against in Ephesians 4:29) in an attempt to be edgier than other Christians. Certainly we know by now that this world will not be won for Jesus by Christians who have become more like the world they are trying to save. 

No! There is nothing righteous about sin. There is nothing admirable about it. The entire reason that Jesus came to earth was to destroy the devil's work, and to do so especially in us. He died in order to sanctify the hearts and lives of believers. We cannot, we dare not coddle our sin, brag about it, use it to grow our churches, or give sin any refuge or foothold in our lives. To do so is a slap in the face to Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Jesus gave His life to free us from the enemy's grasp, to rescue us from sin. Let us never make light of the sin the remains in us. Let us openly confess that sin to one another, but let us hate even the garment stained by it (Jude 23). And as we lead the way in honesty let us all the more lead the way in mourning over our sin, repenting of it and pursuing life change. May Romans 12:9 light our path: "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." So be sincere, but not at the cost of hating evil or clinging to what is good.