Saturday, January 28, 2006

Uproot, prune, or use herbicide?

I was posting some comments over at the Winthrop University RUF blog recently, and their campus minister's response to one of them prompted this post. You may read the comments to the post on your own, but in summary, he likens West Virginia's usage of DDR in their phys ed program to our treatment of sin. That is to say, how we tend to address the symptoms, not the condition itself.

Yet, upon further consideration of the matter, can we truly address the root cause of our sin? John Calvin would argue an emphatic "No!" and I tend to agree. The Sunday School answer at this point is to say "Well, Tim, that's what Christ is for--He regenerates us and empowers us to overcome by grace." Yet people--good, decent, redeemed people--still sin. Why is that? Is God a liar when He says His grace is sufficient? Is He impotent? Of course not, else we should toss our collective Bibles out and plunge headlong into the logical end result [secular hedonism, or as Francis Schaeffer put it, the endless pursuit of "personal peace and affluence."

So what is the answer, then? Are we doomed and helpless? According to God's word, no, we aren't by His grace. Yet people still sin. Again, the Sunday School answer here is sanctification vs. justification. I.e., we are forgiven, but being made like Christ is an ongoing work-in-progress for each of us. But why would God simply not take away the root cause of the sin--the sin nature inherent to all humans? That is for Him to answer, not I, but I believe it has to do with relying on him and working out our faith from day to day.

I write all this to make this point. I don't believe that it's lack of effort that causes Christians to waver and falter. On the contrary, the apostle Paul himself dealt incessantly with a "thorn in his side." The issue at hand isn't lack of willingness to address the root causes of our vices. Rather, it's a question of motive. Why do we want to get rid of sin in our lives? To make us feel better? To be righteous in comparison to "them heathens"? Because it's just right? If the reason isn't chiefly the glorification of God, then our efforts are all for naught.

But can our motives ever be pure? I know mine aren't. Can I ever be motivated in anything in my life for solely the glory of God--soli deo gloria? I doubt so, more and more as I go on in my constant battle with pornography. Yeah, I deleted it all and have an accountability partner, but this is all too familiar. How many times have I "amputated" that part of my to only have it grow back in a matter of weeks or days, as if it were the limb or some twisted cruel starfish of a joke? I keep praying and begging for purification of heart and motive, but I fear sometimes I may be too far gone. Only God knows, and He's awful quiet lately. IF only my life were indeed sola fide, sola scriptura, soli deo gloria.

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