iCrucified

“Before we can conquer the world, we must first conquer the self.” Oswald Sanders; Spiritual Discipleship

The LORD is our righteousness… (Jeremiah 33:16)

I’ve been spending extended time in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah as I meditate and study through other passages of the Bible… sort of like examining all of the Scriptures through Jeremiah’s eyes. Today as I was doing this, I returned to Jeremiah (chapters 2-3) and noticed a disturbing parallel between the retelling of Israel’s and Judah’s unfaithful relationship with God and modern Christianity; specifically, the North American Church. Painting with a broad brush, we are no different. Here’s what I found that led me to this conclusion. I’ll start with a passage from 2 Timothy 3:1-9 – my recap follows:

• People love themselves (2 Timothy 3:2)
• People are ungrateful (2 Timothy 3:2)
• People love pleasure/comfort more than God (2 Timothy 3:4)
• People act religious but reject the power of God to live godly lives (2 Timothy 3:5)
• People have a counterfeit faith (2 Timothy 3:8)

Now, back to Jeremiah and my comparison/parallel observation…

• We feel shame only when we’re caught… (Jeremiah 2:26)
• We keep our back turned to God most of the time, but in times of trouble, we are quick to turn to Him (Jeremiah 2:27)
• We accuse God of wrongdoing (“why would a good God let _______ happen?”), but we are the ones in rebellion and solely responsible for evil in the world (Jeremiah 2:29)
• We like to profess our innocence before God and pretend that He is okay with everything (Jeremiah 2:35)
• We claim to be children of God and profess Him as our Guide, but continue to live our lives on our own terms (Jeremiah 3:4-5)

All of this looks, to me, uncannily like the American church.  It doesn’t have to be this way…and the apostle Paul (speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says it won’t stay this way (2 Timothy 3:9). I continue to pray and teach that we embrace fully the teachings of Jesus and become fully devoted subjects to His Kingdom. It will take first, our determination to overthrow the kingdom of self; a feat that requires a radical faith… This is the essence of what it means to be born again; dying to self in order to be reborn into the Kingdom of God. If we continue to serve self, we are not His disciples and not part of the kingdom. “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

Incline, O Lord, thy merciful ears, and illuminate the darkness of our hearts by the light of thy visitation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Gelasian Sacramentary)