Skip to main content

An Atmosphere of Defeat in the Church

There seems to be an atmosphere of defeat in the Christian Church, and an easy acceptance of this atmosphere. There seems to be no awareness that this atmosphere is poisonous. This noxious environment has its own euphemistic vocabulary. The phrascology sounds spiritual unless you are listening, hoping for something biblical.

Here are a few examples:

"I've been struggling lately." It sounds like a warrior in the fight. However it means, "I am putting up a slight effort in a losing battle with my favorite sin."

"It was a learning experience." It's nice to learn something. However it means, "I sinned all last summer" and "I don't know how to keep from repeating it next summer."

"I'm only human" means "I do not want to be godly."

"Everyone makes mistakes" means "We are all incompetant but not immoral."

The Bible speaks of "struggle" but with winning in mind.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." Ephesians 6:10-15

The Bible speaks of "straining" but winning the gold.

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 3:13-14

The Bible speaks of victory and triumph.

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:56-57

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." 2 Corinthians 2:14

The Bible speaks of Power.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength," Ephesians 1:18-19

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." 2 Peter 1:3

This does not seem the atmosphere of conversation in our churches today.

Comments

Valerie (Kyriosity) said…
I've more than once caught myself saying, "I've been struggling with..." and amended it to, "I really haven't been struggling very hard with...."
3:51 AM
Gordan said…
Amen, pastor. The icing on the cake is the fact that when a Christian does somehow manage to appropriate truly Scriptural insight into his speech patterns, his brethren whisper behind his back about his overconfidence and lack of humility.
10:16 AM
Valerie (Kyriosity) said…
I've been mulling this over in the back of my mind all weekend. I think when we (well, I, at least) say that we're struggling with sin, we usually mean it in the same way as struggling with an illness. We've got it, and we don't much like it, but there's really not all that much we are doing or can do about it. It's another symptom of our having bought into a passive, irresponsible, worldly victim mentality.

What we ought to say is that we're struggling against sin. And, as you say, the attitude we ought to have is one that expects victory. This starts with believing the promises of God -- that He will complete the work He's begun in us, that He'll sanctify us through and through, that donning and wielding the full armor will actually be an effective means of fighting sin, that it is truly possible to have victory over sin.
4:48 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a...
6 comments
Read more

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read through the book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right before it: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.     A long time ago, my duty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the United States. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight, then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.    Forty years later, I was no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was in Denver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer I had met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when he was a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayed overnight?” I said, “No, I just remember staying in your home.” He said, “You led the next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.    Ten years after that, I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lifted Up

In the first thirteen verses of John 3, Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was talking about. It was nonsense to him. When Jesus said verse fourteen to him, Nicodemus finally understood Jesus. Here it is: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…” (John 3:14). The reason it made sense to Nicodemus was because he knew of the event that Jesus spoke of. People who had been bitten by a serpent could look at the bronze snake and did not die. Nicodemus knew the Bible story.   Here it is: “Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then ...
Post a Comment
Read more