So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the
glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like
him as we are changed into his glorious image~ 2nd Corinthians 3:18
On Tuesday afternoon, while Chandler, the
seven-year-old boy I tutor, quietly finished a project, my daughter Abigail and
I had a brief discussion regarding this week’s blog topic. I threw out a couple
of possibilities for subjects and she responded to all my ideas with….well,
let’s just call it tepid enthusiasm. I
finally suggested writing about “the worst thing you can do.” Chandler’s eyes
got wide, his head shot up, and we had the following exchange…
Chandler (excitedly): I know
what is the worst thing you can do.
Me: Oh, really, what is that?
Chandler: Ignore your
teacher when he talks.
Me: Why is that the worst
thing, Chandler?
Chandler: Because when you
ignore your teacher you will have no idea what’s going on. Then you might
accidently do the wrong thing and get a time out for not listening. And then
you might yell at the teacher because it’s not fair and get sent to the office.
Me: All that happens just
because you ignore your teacher?
Chandler: Yes.
Me: Has that ever happened
to you Chandler?
Chandler: I don’t really
want to talk about it…
Abigail: I think you have a
blog topic, Mom.
Chandler’s take on the “worst thing” is both
precious and amusing. I truly treasure the chance to get a peak into his view
of the world, but his conclusion is a bit naïve. Ignoring a teacher is without
question a foolish thing that has the potential for many unpleasant
consequences, but there are lots of “worse things.”
There are the really nasty worse things.
The offenses that all decent people everywhere agree are wrong: the big sins of
murder, theft and adultery. Then there are the lower-level worse things that all
of us are guilty of from time to time but nobody likes to be a victim of. This
list would include every behavior and attitude found in the Apostle Paul’s
description of the kind of conduct we should expect as we approach the last
days…
People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant,
revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,
malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God~ 2nd Timothy
3:2-4 NASB
Self-centeredness, greed, lack of
gratitude, adultery, arrogance, murder, gossip, brutality, immaturity,
irascibility, and lack of concern for others are vastly different worse things
with vastly different consequences, but they are all fruit from the same foul
tree (sin). At the root of all of these actions is the very worst thing...
Unwillingness to
self-examine and make changes
No normal person relishes self-examination
because it inevitably leads to the exposure of attitudes and behaviors that are
unpleasant to acknowledge. As uncomfortable as self-examination can be, it is essential
because it is how we begin to see ourselves as we really are. Seeing ourselves
clearly is the first step toward spiritual growth and the pursuit of holiness. Christian
growth and the pursuit of holiness is not about perfect church attendance,
giving gobs of money to worthy causes, how we look, or even about helping poor
people.
Those are all good things, but they are
not the goal. The aim of Christian growth and the pursuit of holiness is inward
transformation. Inward transformation requires a willingness to look at the
ugly parts of ourselves honestly before a wrong attitude hardens into a wrong
action.
The Bible is clear on the need for routine
bouts of self-analysis. 2nd Corinthians 13:5 says…
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test
yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course,
you fail the test?
Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse
eloquently in The Message….
Test
yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking
everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand
evidence, not mere hearsay that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you
fail the test, do something about it.
The hazard of self-examination is that we
get stuck there, turning healthy self-examination into unhealthy naval gazing.
Navel gazing can easily morph into a pity party where we regularly wallow in
our imperfections and inadequacies rather than move forward. Self-examination becomes
a powerful tool that God uses to form us into His image when we take the information
we discover and parlay that self-discovery into transformation.
I am confident of this very
thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day
of Christ Jesus ~Philippians 1:6
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