I Guess You Have to do it One Bite at a Time

Are you acutely aware of your own sinfulness, or have you lived in a lifestyle of sin for so long that you are even unaware of your mistakes? I find it very interesting that there are certain sins over which, that once I commit them, I am immediately remorseful and sorrowful and repentant. But there are other sins, sins that may seem small to me, but none the less sins, that I have committed so much that they have become a part of who I am. They have been "written on my heart," and I find myself ignoring or justifying these sins in my life.

Unfortunately, the church does this as well. When a potential pastor is interviewed at most churches he is asked if he is faithful to his wife, if he has ever been divorced, if he drinks, if he smokes, and if he is addicted to pornography. These are typical questions that ultimately come up on the process. But what questions should they be asking? Do you have trouble with gossip? Do you manage your household well? Do you struggle with pride? Arrogance? Envy?

Matthew 23:23-24

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-- mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

The Pharisees were meticulous about following the law, and since the law says to give a tenth of their possessions they did that. Even down to the spices that they used on their food. No one could ever condemn the Pharisees for not tithing. Jesus quickly calls them on it. He states, that they have neglected the things that really matter: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus doesn't say that tithing isn't important, he just reminds them that it isn't the only thing, or even the most important thing.

Then Jesus uses one of my favorite hyperboles in all of scripture. "You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."
You see, both winged insects and camels are unclean creatures that the Pharisees wanted to avoid. It seems pretty obvious that it is much easier to avoid camels than it is to avoid gnats. The Pharisees in order to rid the gnats of an opportunity to land in their wine and sneak into their bodies would strain their wine through some sort of cheese cloth in order to get all of the gnats out before they took a drink. They were meticulous about this. They really didn't want to eat a fly (Perhaps we should tell them that they eat on average 8 spiders a year in their sleep.) Jesus tells them that they are so busy making sure that they avoid such a little gnat, that they allow gigantic camels to make them just as unclean.

As Christians we spend a lot of time and energy and money dealing with personal addictions and other "super" sins. There are thousands of books that are written on the subjects. And although these are good resources, it is so easy to become so transfixed on a few "unpardonable" sins, that we allow the root of our sinfulness (pride, anger, selfishness, etc.) to grow and grow until it makes us unclean.

What areas of your life have you overlooked. What are some sins of the heart that you must confess?