No
Other
Foundation
Book 1
Toward
Repentance of Sin and Faith in God
Chapter
One
No
Other Reason
The
mother of all sin is distrust of God. The father of all sin is
self-centeredness. When we think God is either unwilling or unable to
meet what
we believe to be our needs or protect us from what we think is harmful,
we look
to the next most capable person to take charge of that task. In each of
our
minds, the next most capable person after God is ourselves. Therefore,
when we
think God is either unwilling or unable to meet our needs or protect us
from
harm, we take the path of self-provision and self-protection.
When
distrust of God is mingled with this kind of
self-interest, the natural outcome is self-centeredness. For this
reason,
distrust of God and self-centeredness cling to each other like a young
couple
deeply in love. And just as certain as death for all living things, so
self-centeredness mingled with distrust of God results in sin.
Sin
is any thought, attitude, choice, word, or deed which
results in unnecessary harm to anyone who is in any way affected by
what we
think, say, or do. For example, if I steal what belongs to you, I am
unnecessarily causing you harm. If as your employer I pay you in cash
so the
IRS will not be able to tax this portion of your income, I am
unnecessarily
harming my fellow citizens who are depending on the government to
provide them
with goods and services paid for by taxes. Or if as your spouse I try
to
control you in an effort to get what I want, I am unnecessarily harming
you by
seeking my happiness at your expense.
In
accordance with this definition of sin we can see how
the coming together of distrust of God and self-centeredness motivates
us to
promote and protect our own interests at the expense of others. Without
a
doubt, our sin is not always aggressive in nature. We aren’t
always punching
people in the nose or verbally abusing them or talking about them
behind their
backs. Sometimes we sin by getting so busy or so distracted by
seemingly
important things or even unimportant things that we fail to do for them
what we
would want them to do for us should we be in their situation.
God
holds us accountable for having sinned when we know
the right thing to do and choose not to do it. This means we are guilty
of
having sinned when we make choices which in some way involves us in
doing what
we know is wrong, or which results in neglecting, forgetting, or
getting too
busy to do what we know is right.
Missionary
stateswoman, Helen Roseveare, told this story
on herself at a late 1980's Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Urbana
missions
conference.
Helen
had been on the mission field four years when God
began opening her eyes to the truths concerning the crucified life. He
was
teaching her about being crucified with Christ so that she would die to
self
and allow Christ to live in and through her.
Those
first four years had not gone very well. She was
desperately overworked. Being the only doctor for a half million people
meant
there was no colleague to turn to in times of crisis or overload. She
had all
the responsibility, and she let the weight of it weigh her down. She
became
quick tempered and impatient with African nationals and missionaries
alike.
Fortunately,
her African pastor was watching. He saw what
was happening and recognized her deep spiritual need. After making the
necessary arrangements, he came to her village one Friday evening and
told her
to pack her bags. She was to come with him to his village. She got some
things
together, hopped on her bicycle and followed him home. His wife,
knowing she
was coming, had a room all prepared for her in their home.
“When we got
there,” Helen said, “he said to me, firmly but
courteously, ‘You just get
yourself in that room and get yourself straight with
God.’”
She
spent that night, all day Saturday, Saturday night,
and all day Sunday trying to get straight with God. But she got
nowhere. The
heavens seemed like brass. The Bible was dead. She couldn’t
get through to God
in any way that made any difference. By Sunday night she was so
depressed, so
discouraged, had such a sense of failure, and was feeling so hopeless
that she
went to the door of the house. Out in the courtyard her pastor was
sitting with
his wife. Helen
went out and sat beside
them. After a long, painful silence she finally said, “Please
help me!”
Her
pastor looked at her and gently said, “Helen, do you
know what is wrong with you? We see so much Helen we cannot see
Jesus.” He was
silent for a while, then he drew a large capital
‘I’ in the dirt with his heel
and spoke again. “I think you know that person,
don’t you? ‘I’ dominates your
life. Me, my, mine. . .everything has to revolve around you. Your
program, your
vision, what you want to do, how you want to do it –
self is everywhere.”
As he continued to tell her what he saw, his words burned into her
heart like a
branding iron burns into flesh. She knew what he said was true. She was
self-centered, self-seeking, self-serving. Then he seemed to change the
subject.
“I
notice you drink a lot of coffee.” he said. “Every
time they bring you a fresh cup, you stand with it in your hands
waiting for it
to cool. May I suggest something? Each time they bring you a cup of
coffee and
you stand waiting for it to cool, pray a short prayer.” And
as he tapped the
‘I’ he’d drawn on the ground with his
foot, he said, “May I suggest that you
pray, ‘Please God, cross out the I.’”
Why
did Helen insist on me, my, mine? Why did she want
people to rally around her program, and her vision? Why did it have to
be what
she wanted and how she wanted it done? Why didn’t she promote
other people’s
ideas and agendas like she promoted her own? Why was it so hard for her
to see
her own sin? Why wasn’t she sensitive to the unnecessary
suffering she was
inflicting on others? Why? She did not believe that God and His ways
could
adequately meet her needs in this situation. Therefore, she took
matters into
her own hands and became self-centered in her efforts to compensate for
what
she thought to be God’s failures.
It
isn’t that Helen did not believe good and right things
about God, for she did. However, she also believed that God and His
ways were
not adequate for her particular situation. Out of distrust of God and
the
conviction that she had to look out for her own well-being because no
one else
would, she took matters into her own hands. Acting on her own behalf,
she tried
to control her circumstances and the people around her for her own sake
–
placing her interests above theirs. Please God, cross out the
‘I’.
Stan
worked for an automobile company. At the time he
told this story he was the project leader of a group of engineers
working on
the drive train of a particular vehicle. As project leader, he had to
attend
numerous meetings to discuss issues related to the engineering and
manufacturing of the vehicle on which he was working.
A
parts supplier sent a representative to one particular
meeting in hopes of securing assurance the auto company would continue
buying
his parts. He needed this assurance because he had received notice from
the
E.P.A. that he had to upgrade his plant, or be closed down. The cost to
upgrade
was millions of dollars – money which the supplier did not
have and would have
to borrow. So before borrowing such a large amount, the supplier wanted
assurance the auto company would continue to buy his parts. If he could
not get
the assurance he sought, he would not borrow the money to make the
changes.
Unknown
to the supplier, the engineers on this project
were unhappy with the quality of his parts. They wanted to change
suppliers.
However, the manager in charge of purchasing had not yet found a
supplier who
could produce the quality required at the price desired. So to ensure
sufficient parts for production of the vehicle until a new supplier
could be
found, Stan’s supervisor told the supplier to proceed with
the plant upgrade.
He promised that the auto company would continue purchasing parts from
the
supplier.
As
Stan sat and listened to his supervisor give this
assurance to the supplier, he was sure his supervisor was lying. He was
certain
the supervisor was vigorously seeking another supplier to provide the
parts.
Yet he remained silent while the supervisor gave the supplier the
assurance he
needed to borrow the money and upgrade the plant.
On
leaving the meeting, Stan confirmed what he believed
to be true by asking another engineer if the supervisor was looking for
a new
supplier. The answer was yes. Knowing the severe consequences for the
supplier
because of the supervisor’s actions, Stan wondered what he
should do. After
considering his options, he asked an engineer who worked directly for
the
supervisor to talk to him about what he had done.
Why
didn’t Stan speak up in the meeting? Why didn’t he
go
directly to the supervisor himself and ask him to deal honestly with
the
supplier? Why didn’t he go over his supervisor’s
head and ask the supervisor’s
boss to take corrective action on behalf of the supplier? Why
didn’t he call
the supplier and warn him of the impending change? Why?
Self-centeredness
driven by distrust that God and His ways would adequately ensure his
financial
security or position in the company should he take such action.
In
spite of all the right things Stan believed about God,
he also believed that God and His ways were not able to ensure his
financial
security at that time in that situation. He chose to trust his employer
–
instead of God – to provide the financial security he
believed he needed as a
husband and father. In trusting his employer over God and
God’s ways, Stan
thought it best to protect his own job security at the expense of the
supplier
and the supplier’s employees. Please God, cross out the
‘I’.
Bob
was raised in a home which modern psychology calls
dysfunctional. His father divorced his mother and was off raising
another
family. His mother had to depend on ADC for the money needed to raise
her
family. But worse than that, Bob had been forced to move in with his
older
sister (a girl in her late teens with three children and a
live-in boyfriend)
because his mother did not want him at home. Having all her children at
home
was too costly and too much bother. She wanted more spending money and
free
time, so she drove some of her children out. Of course, she made sure
the ADC
funds for each child keep coming to her home so she could have that
money to
use as she pleased.
A
family from a local church met Bob through a
neighborhood ministry to young people. Within weeks of their
involvement with
Bob, they wondered what they could do to help him have a better
home-life. They
decided the best way to help would be to take Bob into their home. Out
of
respect for his mother they approached her with the idea. She responded in anger,
cursing this couple
for implying that she, Bob’s mother, was in any way failing
her son. She was
doing the very best anyone could do given the circumstances. Who were
they to
criticize?
Undaunted,
the couple apologized for implying she was
doing anything wrong and then continued to press for permission to take
Bob
into their home. After some tense discussion, she relented and gave her
permission on the condition that she continue receiving the ADC checks
issued
to cover Bob’s expenses.
This
gave a twist to taking Bob into their home which the
couple had not anticipated. To agree with the mother’s
stipulation meant giving
their consent to lying to Social Services. They didn’t want
to be a party to
lying. But they didn’t want to leave Bob in this
dysfunctional setting. So,
they asked more questions. They discovered Bob’s mother had
been lying for
several years concerning several other children who, like Bob, had been
living
outside of her home while she got their ADC money.
Anguished
discussion over what was right in this
situation filled this couple’s time for the next several
days. Finally, they
decided to give in to the mother’s demand in order to help
Bob find a better
life and secure a better future.
How
could a mother love money and free time more than her
children? Why wouldn’t she want to nurture and care for her
own children? Why
would she risk breaking the law for a few dollars? Why?
Self-centeredness
driven by distrust that God and His ways would give her the pleasures,
possessions, and financial freedom she wanted.
Bob’s
mother was not a Christian. But she knew right from
wrong. Yet in spite of her knowledge, she was unwilling to live up to
what she
knew to be right because that would keep her from getting what she
wanted. She
did not trust God and His ways to bring her the happiness she wanted
from life.
So she lied and stole, taking what did not belong to her and placing
her
interests above the good of her children. Please God, cross out the
‘I’.
As
amazing as this may seem, one does not have to be an
unbeliever, an avowed sinner, an atheist, or agnostic to distrust God
and
pursue self-centeredness. Many professing Christians distrust God in
some area
and choose to act selfishly in an effort to make up for God’s
perceived
inadequacies. They openly pursue their good, their happiness, and their
sense
of security at the expense of others. Feeling no shame for their
actions, they
vigorously defend themselves when caught giving their own interests
priority
over the good of God and the well-being of others.
And
it isn’t as if they start each day with the conscious
determination to act like avowed sinners. But neither do they start
each day
with a conscious determination to trust God implicitly and love all
they
encounter as they love themselves. The fact is, most Christians start
each day
assuming they are devout Christians who believe many good and right
things
about God. Yet without admitting it or even thinking about it, they
carry into
each day some amount of distrust of God and the practice of being at
least a
little self-centered to make up for God’s shortcomings. In
other words, they
don’t want to cross out the ‘I’, at least
not completely and not yet.
As
a result of our unwillingness to trust God enough to
cross out the ‘I’, our society is in a mess. But
worse than that, the current
state of Christianity is woefully weak, self-serving, and unhealthy.
This may
be hard to see because most of those who call themselves Christians
believe
right things about God and do many good things in the name of God. They
participate
in Sunday church, midweek prayer service, volunteer service in church
programs,
Bible study, and personal prayer. They listen to Christian radio, and
watch
Christian television programs. They read Christian literature. They
openly talk
about their church and its many helpful programs with their neighbors
and
co-workers. And, they give a portion of their income to the support of
Christian ministry – at home and around the world. Yet when
it comes to
crossing out the ‘I’ so as to no longer live for
self but for God; when it
comes to loving others as they themselves want to be loved; when it
comes to
the day-to-day treatment of those living in their own home; when it
comes to
placing the honor of God and the just treatment of others above
financial security;
when it comes to taking a public stand against wrong-doing, no matter
who is
doing it; when it comes to doing what they know is right, that is,
doing
everything they know is right just like they’d expect their
children or
employees to do everything they have been told to do; when it comes to
such
things as these, there are times and ways in which they are willful,
intentional, deliberate, self-justifying sinners.
Therefore,
like the Israelites in Isaiah’s day, many
Christians take pride in their religiousness while distrusting God so
much that
they willfully participate in ungodliness. And to their shame they use
their
religiousness to hide their ungodliness, even from themselves. (Note:
Isaiah
58:1-11)
It
doesn’t have to be this way. Indeed, it ought not to
be this way. Christians are to be the salt of the earth and the light
of the
world. The life we live as Christians ought to shine in such a way that
those
who observe us will think highly of God because of what they see in us.
The
love we Christians have for each other is to be of such a quality as to
convince the people around us that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
The way we
act in our own homes, the way we treat our parents or our spouse or our
children, the way we do our work, the way we speak to or about our
employer,
the way we treat our fellow employees – all these things are
to be done in a
way that brings honor to God, gives credence to His Word, and keeps
critics of
Christianity from having anything legitimately bad to say about us.
(Note:
Matthew 5:13-16; John 13:34-35; Titus 2:2-10)
So
what are we to do? How are we to get from where we are
to where we ought to be? The first step is to realize that wherever we
distrust
God, we will head in the direction of self-centeredness. Just like
sheep, our
tendency – when we distrust God – is to go astray,
that is, to turn away from
God and go our own way. Therefore, we must begin by repenting
– by changing our
mind about God, the trustworthiness of God, sin, self, and all that
that means
about how we should live. Then, we must place our trust in the goodness
of God
and in the reliability of His written Word. Only when we trust God
implicitly
to be our savior, provider, and protector will we throw
self-centeredness
overboard and replace it with God’s way of love – a
love that seeks to promote
and protect the good of everyone affected in any way by our choices and
behavior. Next, we must live up to what we know is right and what we
know is
wrong. We must deal with failure in a way which shows true humility,
contrition, and a commitment to obvious and measurable improvement for
the sake
of those affected by our sinful ways. Finally, though no more or no
less
important, we must value relationships as God values them –
seeking to
establish and nurture relationships of mutual love and trust with God,
first
and foremost, and then everyone who is willing to join us in such
efforts.
And
here you might ask, where did this matter of
relationships come from? Isn’t saving sinners from the
penalty of sin the greatest
of all God’s interests and intentions? To this we say that
saving sinners from
the penalty of their sin is vital, but God never intended for saved or
unsaved
sinners to live alone. God created us and now offers to save us for
community
living – for living in meaningful and mutually life-enhancing
relationships
with one another. In fact, mutual relationships of intimate communion
and
companionship – with God, in the home, and beyond –
are the foundation of all
that is good and worthwhile in this life. Therefore, meaningful
relationships
built on mutual love and trust are to be a priority – first
between us and God,
and then between us and our fellowmen. (Note: Mark 12:28-31)
Think
about this. When we feel cared for and safe with
someone, we feel loved by that person. When we feel loved, we are open
to
building a meaningful relationship with the one who makes us feel
loved. When
we don’t feel loved by someone it is because he is harming
us, hurting us,
alienating us, or in some way giving us the message that he cannot be
trusted
to look out for our happiness and well-being. Therefore, all
God’s commandments
are boundaries set in place to show us how to love so we can and will
live in
loving relationship with one another. God confirms this great truth
when He
says, “Love does no wrong to its neighbor, love therefore
completely fulfills
the law.” (Note: Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)
Beyond
God’s laws, Jesus said the purpose of salvation is
to personally and intimately know God, and God’s son. God
validated these words
spoken by Jesus in giving the life of Jesus as payment for our sin so
we could
be reconciled to God – a reconciliation intended to bring us
into a
relationship of shared communion and companionship with Him. (Note:
John 17:3;
II Corinthians 5:18-20)
According
to the Bible, the Christian husband and wife,
parent and child, employer and employee, and church members are to
model
relationships of shared communion and companionship. (Note:
I Timothy 1:5;
Ephesians 4:1-4; 5:21-6:9)
Jesus
said we are to place the restoration of damaged and
broken relationships above going to Church and worshiping God. He also
said
that if we withhold forgiveness, thus leaving a repairable relationship
damaged
or broken, God will withhold His forgiveness of us. (Note: Matthew
5:21-26;
6:14-15; 18:21-35)
From
these words which God has given us in His Word, we
see the importance He places on loving relationships – be
they in the home,
local church, neighborhood, workplace, or other such communities.
Therefore, we
can see how distrust of God coupled with self-loving individualism
works
against God’s intentions for loving relationships, and
therefore works against
God himself.
It
is my opinion that self-loving individualism, whereby
we each promote and protect our own interests first, is the current
state of
our society. It is also my opinion that there is far too much
self-loving
individualism in the Church. To me, the current condition of the
universal Body
of Christ is deplorable in spite of all the good that is found in it.
Something
must be done.
I
may not be able to do much, but I want to try to do
what I can. I acknowledge that I do not know all the questions, nor do
I have
all the answers. What I have is hope.
My
request of you is to carefully read and think through
what is written in this book. I urge you to search the Scriptures as
you read
to see if what this book says is true. Many passages of Scripture have
been
included for the purpose of directing you to God’s Word. He
is our source of
truth. His Spirit is the one who enlightens our minds to the truth. So
I
implore you, look to Him and His Word as you read.
The
farther you get into this book, the more you may
think I am calling for perfection. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. A
loving parent does not require perfection in his children. Instead, he
looks
for sincere effort, an eagerness to learn, a measured and consistent
growth, a
right attitude toward success, a realistic way of dealing with failure,
and the
desire to do one’s best. These are the qualities which
validate sincerity and a
loving heart towards God. Therefore, doing your best and dealing
properly with
failure will make you as godly in this life as is humanly possible.
Let
the wise read and add to their learning. Let the
discerning read and gain guidance. The Lord God is our life, and His
truth,
when put into practice, is our joy.