Why it is good to see the depth of our sin ...

The questions we ponder are vital because they represent where "the rubber meets the road" in our life. Good theology is essential, but unless you begin to process it and reflect on it, it adds little value to your life. I have been "chewing the cud" on the uglyness of my sin and the glory of our Savior and wanted to say a couple of things, primarily from my experience and the path God has brought me on thus far. So, here goes ....

It is good to focus on our sin

• because we think more highly of ourselves than we ought
• because we don't understand the depth of our need of Christ
• because we tend to reduce our concept of sin to things we personally don't struggle with but see other do
• because we tend to trivialize sin to just the big, obvious sins of adultery, murder (abortion), or violence
• because we tend as a larger community to make up our own standards of sin - smoking, drinking, dancing, length of hair, wearing anything but a suit to church, having our kids in public school, no facial hair, not hunting animals, or failing to "do church" the way we prefer - that have little or nothing to do with the life God to which calls his people
• because we often become complacent in our "goodness" and slip into self-righteousness, looking down upon others
• because we need to know how hard the struggle against sin really is if we are going to help another person grow in Christ to overcome their tenacious sin
• it tends to kill pride

It is good, when we see the depth of our sin, to focus on Christ

• because we see our utterly helpless condition and His great love for us
• because we see that this is not just actions that can be blindly reconditioned, but goes to the very core of our being in what we treasure, long for, desire, and believe
• because He is our only hope
• because we must despair of our ability to stand before God as a "basically good person" and throw ourselves completely on the grace of Christ freely offered
• because we must see ourselves as unprofitable servants of the Most High, dependent on Him for the smallest ability to help another
• because sins, whether "respectable" or "despicable" still deserve the wrath of God for eternity
• because we must learn to love one another through our sins, deferring to one another, putting aside preferences, and considering others more than we consider ourselves
• because we dare not reduce the gospel to mere respectable behavior, but know the depth and Glory of it so that our exuberance for it is not contrived, but flows out of a truly grateful heart
• because God calls us to wage war on sin, and we do not have the strength for the battle in ourselves - but Christ does, and He lives in us
• because humility, being poor in spirit, being crushed, being contrite, being repentant, and being meek are traits that God values in people he aids

When we see that sin is so wretched and dark, and we see that it is in us, we long for the light freely given. When we understand the truth about ourselves, and then understand what God has done for us, there is no other response that is appropriate but love, gratefulness, humility, thankfulness, joy, peace, and awe. We will want to be patient with others as we understand how the Lord is patient with us. We will want to be kind because he has been kind. We will want to be gentle because he has been gentle with us. We will grow in self-control as the Spirit grows us to see what He has done on our behalf.

In short, it seems that to fail to note the depth of our sin and our struggle with it - and the depth of Christ's love and His victory over sin and death and His provision for the struggle - leaves us with a stunted capability of love for the Lord. In Luke 7, we see Jesus being anointed by a "sinful woman." The parable he tells points to the fact that those who have a greater debt cancelled, love the person who forgave the debt more. It's not so much that the "sinful woman"s sins were so much worse than the pharisees or ours, but that she knew how sinful she was. The Pharisees thought they were basically good people, not in desperate need of help - so they loved Jesus little. This woman knew she had no hope but Christ's mercy, so when he freely forgave her, her response was one of deep, unashamed love. And that seems like such a great place to be that it is worth struggling with the depth of our sin and the filthiness of our "righteousness" before God.

It is not just looking into the deep, dark stench of a well that our sin is, but that from within the well, we see the gloriousness of the rescue of our souls by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The darker the darkness, the more stunning the light is in comparison.