Growing Up! Key #4

Across the course of the past dozen years, both of my parents and my father-in law have died of cancer. Not all that suprising, considering that cancer trails only heart disease as the leading cause of death among American adults. It is no wonder that the last word any patient wants to hear from his or her doctor is the dreaded "C" word!

In the spiritual realm, there is something that is just as devastating as cancer is in the physical arena. It is sin. However, sin is not something that is talked about at all in our culture any more. In fact, New Testament scholar D. A. Carson commented that the most frustrating aspect of doing evangelism on university campuses is that most students have no idea of sin. According to Carson, "They know how to sin well enough, but they have no idea of what constitutes sin." And the sad reality is that the idea of sin is also disappearing from many churches as well. In the church's drive to be "seeker sensitive," many have eliminated the S word from their vocabulary. This is tragic for if Christians fail to see sin for what it is (and then deal with it biblically), it is a malignancy just waiting to spread and snuff out life! This brings me to a fourth key to spiritual growth: we must cultivate a CLEAR VIEW OF SIN! By this I mean we must learn to see sin as God does. We must resist the tendency to sugar coat our sin and seek to justify it or rationalize it in any way. When we fail to see sin for what it is - a rebellion against the authority of our Creator and therefore something that deeply offends Him - we will never deal with it biblically. As a result, it will spread its poison throughout our soul and we will never experience healthy spiritual growth.

So ... pray and ask that God would help you to see sin clearly. Do not adopt the attitude of our culture which tends to minimize sin on one hand or even glamorize it on the other. See sin as the offense to God that it really is. Spend a moment reflecting on these words penned by Isaiah the prophet: "For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite'" (57:15). It is only when we have a clear view of sin that we will ever be contrite and lowly in spirit. And when we are contrite and lowly in spirit - we will experience the very presence of God!

Thanks for listening,

pj