"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." - Romans 1:21-23
Okay, so... I'm gonna come down kinda hard today... Don't worry, if you're living a life of sincerity before God, you have nothing to worry about! Otherwise, we're going to be dealing with the hypocrisy of our hearts, today. Lookout! :)
So, here we're going to deal with some interesting territory... the darkened, inner-parts of the human heart. You know, most of the time, it seems like we approach these verses as one who is looking outside the windows of the church, and into the streets filled with the unsaved... However, there is an importance and urgency, within these verses, which we must not fail to reflect on, for our own lives! Here's what I mean...
We, as professing believers, claim to "know" God. Now, obviously we cannot really "know" God, because He is much greater and higher than we could ever comprehend. But that's another topic, for another time, altogether.
Anyways... we know God, as He has revealed Himself to us. But, do we honor Him? Do we treat the Creator of all matter as if He really does matter? Are we thankful for the redemptive work that He accomplished on cross, on our behalf? Or have we, "Professing to be wise," become foolish in our thinking? Have we overlooked the mountain of grace which is before us, and instead built a sandcastle of our own understanding, expecting it to shelter us from the storms of God's judgment upon our sins?
What does Paul mean when he says, "they did not honor Him as God or give thanks..."? Let's look at this... When we as Christians try to "be good" and "live a good life" instead of giving all glory to God for any goodness that is found within us... we demonstrate our works before the world in a way that is most hypocritical! When our actions are not followed with all glory for them being given to God... we are not honoring Him.
As a little aside, here... I understand how good it feels to be praised for doing a good job! We like being praised for our works, but it is dangerous to accept such praise without redirecting it to the One who drives your actions. It's hard to redirect praise! We love the approval of man! But it becomes an extremely addicting drug, if we do not pass it along to the One who deserves all praise and honor! We will become desperate for a "fix" of praise, and will then become resentful when we do not receive it, if our focus is even slightly off! Remember what it means to "take up your cross" and follow Christ? We are called to deny ourselves, and to follow hard after Him! Part of what this looks like is that we give all glory and honor, from any situation, to God! He is, after all, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Such ranking deserves every ounce of praise we can muster from within ourselves!
Back to the verse... here's where an honor-seeking soul gets scary... Paul says that "their foolish heart was darkened..." That's a scary place to be! I'm speaking from experience when I say that it is a dark road, the one the pride will lead you down, when you seek praise in your service. The only way to be an effective servant of Christ, is to deny yourself and to divert all praise before it seeds deep within your heart and becomes even harder to remove. It is a root that sucks the life and vitality from the heart of service.
Well, these aren't very pleasant thoughts... but I hope this will help you to examine yourself, as I must examine myself, to be sure that there is no root of pride or a self-glorifying spirit within us. We must constantly "pull the weeds" that sprout up within our service... If we don't pull them, they will choke out our service, and will cause resentment to take it's place. This leads to us feeling "burnt out" in our service, which then leads to frustration, which leads to us becoming completely ineffective for the kingdom!
Friends, don't let pride win the day! Don't let the desire to be recognized by men leave you without recognition before the Throne! Jesus said, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "
Know Christ! Be known by Him! Serve Him faithfully, and know that your reward is in heaven... where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal! (Matt. 7:20-21)
Friends, we have only covered one side of this two-faced coin of hypocrisy and prideful living... there is yet more to be covered. But we will get to that next week...
For now... I plead with you to examine your hearts for any hint of pride or hypocrisy in your service. These are the things which are better dealt with, sooner, rather than later.
Grace and Peace!
Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
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