Does sin bother you? Are you sensitive to all the junk you see everyday? Or has the saturation of nasty stuff on TV made you lazy about sin? Have the sselfish actions of others made your heart hard and shallow? Do you care anymore about abusive language, or sexual exploitation, or violence, or hurting kids, or starving people, or freezing families, or depressed coworkers? The writer of psalms 119 says that his heart breaks over this stuff— because he is allowing God to shape the way he looks at our world. "Streams of tears flow from his eyes" when he sees God’s ways not followed. His soul yearns for things to be as they should be… but aren’t.
psalm 119:129-136
Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands.
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.
Direct my footsteps according to your word;
let no sin rule over me.
Redeem me from the oppression of men,
that I may obey your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant
and teach me your decrees.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
for your law is not obeyed.
Thanks for your insight, Paul. May you be empowered to live more and more like Jesus among your coworkers. I really appreciate your story here.
I think it’s hard for many Christians to hate sin and then still be around it. So they end up avoiding it, like you say- because that’s easier. But total avoidance isn’t a holy response to sin at all.
I can’t imagine anyone hating sin more than Jesus… and yet he stepped right down into it. He did that so that he could save people from the dead-end result of sin. That’s what I hear you saying too. I’m praying for you and others in your situation who have the opportunity to be lights in the darkness.
I’ve recently been reminded how “sheltered” my vocational experience has been over the past 7 years. Now, back in a trade and on job sites each day, I experience the reality of desensitization in regards to moral and ethical standards. I suppose that, in many ways, those who are not followers of Jesus don’t feel any need to hide their sin, so we are exposed to it more frequently.
I think Christians have for far too long been offended by sin to the degree that it has caused avoidance of “sinners” instead of a loving embrace of the person for the purpose of showing and being Christ’s love to and for them.
That is what has become very real for me over these past two weeks; that I am exposed to the reality of sin every hour of my work day. But what bothers me is not so much the sin (the cussing, gossip and moral digression), but rather that many of my co-workers don’t even know what it means to live! And even more, Jesus isn’t even on the radar screen, but rather, a weekend of habitual behaviors they hope will somehow bring about a different reality than the last. Benjamin Franklin, I believe, said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
I think my heart is beginning to realize that my co-workers need Jesus…I say that because my head knows they need Jesus, but i’m not sure my heart is broken for them…yet. I hope that, like Jesus, my “sinner” co-workers don’t see me as judgmental, but rather as someone whose life is rooted and found and wonderful because of Jesus.