Religion Grab Bag (1)

Lately I've been thinking about repentance and its necessity in the life of a Christ follower.

Around most people I'm pretty quiet, but on paper, I have kind of a big mouth. Anyone can sound like a big shot by throwing around terms like sanctification and relevant. Vintage this and vintage that. Look at me, I have a serious looking thumbnail photo!

But the truth is, one of the few things I can really say for sure about myself is that I have this side of me that wants to do three things: hate people (F#&* you!), fornicate (F#%* me!), and own the world (F%@* my job!). If that sentence offended you, I think my private blog would give you a stroke.

Even after becoming a Christian, the flesh is not obliterated. It's like clockwork. If I feed that side of me, it grows. I then commit selfish acts against others, whether indirectly or directly. Mostly indirectly. That's the worst kind of sin because no one ever calls you on it. You can get away with murder if you slowly drive someone to suicide. But I digress.

Then I have this other side of me that wants to please my Father.

Two sides. They are always at war. I am fighting with myself.

Paul was too, though. In fact, if you are not at war with yourself, Who are you at war with? Those who are being saved have the Holy Spirit, and it is the Spirit that provokes us to change and points out our hypocrisy. If that doesn't rouse some inward turmoil, you are either Jesus Christ or someone who has committed the unforgivable sin. Jesus himself said that the world hates him specifically because he points out its evil, and Stephen accused his eventual murders of "always resisting the Holy Spirit."

So here's the religious act of the week: Avoiding evidence of hypocrisy.

You know you are religious if you intentionally seek out people or gods that will not point out your obvious sins, after which you will proceed to ask them how you can be more pious. Perhaps they commit the same sin or maybe they fear you, but those around you will never make you feel conviction. They were chosen to make you feel good, not to help you grow.

I have to mention this too. It is extremely easy to do the religious act of the week when other people have already tied their faith to you. Institutions of religion love to promote (and give a shiny name tag to) people that aren't ready. I have first hand knowledge of this... the system in which you saunter up the ranks, ignoring every chance to slow down and look in the mirror. You feel important not because God loved you first, but because some PERSON says you are worthy. Some PERSON gives you your purpose in life. Then comes the misbegotten feeling of value and the power addiction. We're conditioned to trust in what important religious PEOPLE say rather than what our Creator says about us.

So forgive me if I pray just as much for my friends that are going to Christian colleges as I am for those who are going to secular schools. False teachers are everywhere. Can one honestly weigh the difference in sin between self-righteousness and outright paganism?

Bottom line: People who get inflated...pop. There's no spiritual future in avoiding the truth of Romans 3:10.

Speaking of which, I decided to go ahead and make these thoughts a blog entry because I came to Panera Bread to work on some classwork, and I ended up sitting next to five obese religious women who have been talking about food for the entire hour it took me to write this.

Where's Ehud when you need him?