The War We Must Fight

I have come to the conclusion over the past few weeks that I, and probably many others, do not wage war against sin as I should.  I am convinced more and more that most American Christians, myself included, focus on salvation to the detriment of sanctification (i.e. the process in which we become more Christ-like during the rest of our lives after salvation).  I have reached this conclusion because more often than not, in my life at least, I think I try to hide sin rather than fight sin.  I wage my war against the fruit of sin (that is the outward actions) while rarely fighting against the root of sin (the sinful attitudes of the heart).  I am currently reading a book entitled The Mortification of Sin by John Owen.  Now the original version of this, which I read several months ago, is very hard to read and I realized that I missed much of its punch due to the fact that I didn't understand it.  However, there is a version of this book that has been abridged and made easy to read by a man named Richard Rushing and it is rocking my world a little bit.

I would like nothing more than to sit here and type quotes from this book, but I will instead try to summarize what is blowing me up so much.  Namely this: there is not a day that will pass from now until I die that I will not be engaged in this war.  If I take a day off, sin will seize upon that day and prevail.  Now, to be clear, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that one is able to wage this war.  Without Him, this war turns into religious duty that will suffocate and crush whoever tries to fight under their own strength.  But warfare it is non-the-less.  Even when I am not under direct attack from sin, I must be preparing for battle.  Just because a soldier is not engaged in actual combat does not mean that combat isn't coming.  And if that soldier isn't preparing for the enemy while at rest, then he will surely be defeated in battle.  Do I constantly wage war?  Too often not.  Just in the past 72 hours I have allowed my mind and thoughts to be distracted and to venture into sin.  For example, a fairly significant injustice was done to people I care about and rather than fighting against the anger that resulted, I indulged in it.  And before long bitterness and malice were raging in my heart.  This should not be, but the enemy seized upon a moment and before long I was having to repent.  Which brings us back to the point that this war must be waged by the power of the Spirit.  My natural self will always indulge in sin, which is why we are called to take up our cross daily and follow Christ.  Dying to ourselves and our natural inclinations and pushing further and further into His Grace and Truth. 

Hope pt 2 - Politics

So this is a bit of a follow on to the last post addressing what it is we put our hope in.  Besides money, success, and the opposite sex I would argue that the thing Americans like to put their hope in more than anything else is politics.  It has been something of an anomaly for me to watch people (especially college age kids) simultaneously profess a lack of trust in the political system and a strong desire to change society via the political system. And the more I watch the 24 hour news cycle covering the 2012 election (mistake number 1) the more I realize how many people, democrat, republican and independent alike, put their hope in legislating change that they think will bring about utopia.  Now, I will lay my cards on the table before proceeding.  I am a registered republican, I tend to be conservative in my view of life, and I work at a conservative Christian university.  With that said, let me attempt to upset everyone.

In the last election, President Obama hit a chord with people by preaching hope and change.  And people by the millions believed him and bought into his program.  It was hysteria over a man that I have never seen before (until Tim Tebow became the 13th apostle).  53% of our nation put their hope in Obama to change the system.  And the reality is, the right is no different.  Their hope is just in someone else.  Both sides ignore one glaring issue: No empire, kingdom, or republic is eternal save that of Jesus Christ.  America is going to run its course and end some day.  Might be our lifetime, might not.  But Babylon, Persia, pick your Ming dynasty, Greece, Rome, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, England, all have run their course.  Are we really that arrogant to think we won't also.  And in the meantime, we continue to put our hope in politicians and policies.  Rick Santorum won three primaries and the conservatives rejoiced.  Really?  If Barack Obama wins again this year, slightly more than half our country will rejoice and think that hope and change are still coming.  If he loses, then slightly more than half our country will rejoice and think that hope and change are still coming.  Either way, the other half will prepare for doomsday.  Our hope is in the wrong place people.  By all means, exercise your right to vote.  Vote your conscience.  But vote realizing that no matter what you vote, America will end one day and the Kingdom of Jesus won't.  You are born into the first because your daddy had enough game to catch the eye of your momma.  You are born into the second because your hope is no longer here, but in Jesus.  Stop putting your hope in the government to legislate morality (the right) and provide everything for everyone (the left).

Hope

My wife and I are ESPN junkies.  There is a better than average chance that if the TV is on, ESPN is the channel that it is set to.  Tonight we sat down for a quick minute after taking the pooch to the park and there was a show on in which ESPN had put together several pieces highlighting some stars from this past NFL season.  It was a kind of "behind the scenes look" at the lives of these football players, what motivates them, etc.  There were two that stuck out to me because, in one very key aspect, they were polar opposites: Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers.  Now I don't know either of these guys from the man on the moon, but I couldn't help but notice the striking difference.  

Now I will preface this little commentary with this: I have no idea what was actually going through the minds of these two men during these interviews.  But I did watch their faces, and this is what it looked like to me.  First came Cam Newton who exuded a youthful exuberance.  The future lay before him: there are superbowls to win, pro-bowls to attend, records to be re-written.  The essence of life flowed from a game that he is dead set on conquering.  On the other hand there was Aaron Rodgers.  He has been there and done all that Cam Newton aspires to.  He has re-written the record book, done the pro-bowl, won a superbowl and made a city forget a first ballot hall of famer.  And the look in his eyes while the reported was going over all those accolades with him was one that looked like boredom.  I don't know what he was thinking, but he looked bored, as if he had come to the realization that everything he had achieved still left him lacking.  The reporter then asked him about the NFL MVP award and what it would mean to win that.  For a brief instant, that same exuberance that was all over Cam Newton's face came into the eyes of Aaron Rodgers as he truthfully answered that winning the award would mean a great deal, as it would be a vindication for the work he has put in when no one is looking.  And then, in a flash, that exuberance was gone.  It was as if his mind caught up with his emotions and he knew deep down that it would just be another award that would give him a cheap high and leave him empty again.

What is our hope in.  Hope, by definition, is expectation for that which is unseen and/or unrealized.  Rodgers hopes to win the MVP because he hasn't won it yet and he has real expectation for winning it this year.  If I said I hoped to be married some day you would think I am crazy (because I am already married).  What is our hope in?  Or put another way, what is it that we hope for?

Seven years ago today (the wednesday before the superbowl - which was actually Feb 2 in 2005) I was put under anesthesia for a surgery in which they planned to remove my large intestine.  I remember two things clearly from that day.  First, I remember the surgeon.  She stood at the end of my bed and, after telling me what she thought was wrong, said, "You are never going to fly airplanes in the Navy again."  In the amount of time it took you to read that sentence, my world ended.  The only other thing I remember from that day was crying between the time she told me that and I went under for surgery.  I cried because everything my hope was in was ripped out of my hands in a heartbeat.  My whole life had been dedicated to earning a pilot slot and then excelling in flight school and I had finally made the big leagues.  I had made the equivalent of an NFL roster.  I was flying the newest, most advanced fighter in the Navy.  I was Cam Newton.  Only, I was Cam Newton in training camp and I would never get a rookie season.  I got drafted, signed, and went through training camp only to lose my dream in the first game of my rookie season.  Everything I hoped for, everything I thought was important was gone in an instant.

I ended up being in surgery for five days.  I woke up on the day the Patriots last won a superbowl (maybe that's why I am cheering for them this weekend...).  I woke up in a new world, a world in which my hope was not in flying, could not be flying ever again because as much as I wanted to fight it, I knew I would never fly fast jets again.  And then I came to a realization: everything in this world will fail me.  One day my job will be gone.  My house will be gone.  All my little electronic trinkets that I think are so cool will be in the trash.  Either I will die or the people I love will die and be gone.  This world, and all that is in it, is passing away.  And so I ask, what I had to ask myself: what is your hope in.  Now, there were quite a few other things that happened that I will probably write about in the coming days, but the realization I came to is that my hope must be in Christ.  For if Christ is not God, then there is nothing worth hoping in.  But if He is who He said He is (God) then He is the only thing worth hoping in.