Saturday 20 May 2006

KILL THEM!

Thou shalt not play Bruch when feeling mopey. Bad idea.

A micro-example of the theory that when we feel sad, or in pain, etc., we have a tendancy to turn to things which exacerbate rather than cure. So the drunk turns to drink, the debt-ridden to shopping, the fat to eating, the lonely to romantic flicks, the guilt-ridden to more sin...

A therapeutic culture. And then we think it odd that for our problem of guilt before God, he doesn't throw us a party so we forget our sinfulness, or for our problem of separation from him that he doesn't sit us down with a nice book about how great we are and a mug of hot chocolate, or for our problem of addiction to sin that he doesn't drive us to a sin off-license and give us a twenty to satisfy ourselves. We think it odd! While our finite man-made therapies don't even work for our man-made finite problems!

Our solutions are to nurture our selfish desires - merely exacerbating the problems.
God's solution is to kill our selfish desires in Christ - rooting out the problem.
In [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ [his death]. (Col 2.11) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh [ie we don't owe the flesh anything: don't nurture it therapeutically!] For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Rom 8.11-13)
Even those cosy pet little desires, mopes, emotions, self-pities,... if they aren't of the Spirit of life, KILL THEM!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a Derek Thomas [http://www.rts.edu/faculty/StaffDetails.aspx?id=40]comment in a sermon on Heb.12:1...

"And our sins - oh how we love them! How we nurture them like our own children! We're supposed to CRUCIFY them."