10-23-11 The Healthy Approach To Our Own Lists

Our study of the New Testament book of Romans

has brought us to the last two verses of the 14^th chapter.

It is a two verse section

in which Paul shares with us

the three principles that reveal to us

how we can have a truly healthy approach to what our God has shown each of us about sin,

and righteousness,

and personal morality.

As we have moved through this 14^th chapter

we have seen repeatedly

the dramatic difference between religious systems

and true life with the King.

Man-made religion devises and enforces an external system of rules and regulations,

do’s and don’ts,

and then seeks to motivate the adherent to faithfully comply with that system.

Our Lord, on the other hand,

has no interest in trying to motivate us to pledge allegiance to any external system.

What He seeks for each of us

is a life freely lived in His presence,

a life in which He grows us into greater and greater conformity with Himself,

and in the process we find ourselves more and more free

to be the unique creations He designed us to be.

There are two equally powerful

and equally destructive forces

that Satan uses to keep people under bondage -

immorality

and religion.

Some personalities are more prone to one,

while others are more prone to the other,

but in the end they both have the ability

to bring about the same degree of slavery.

Both destroy relationships,

both dominate the lives of those caught in their power.

Immorality digs into the flesh,

creating emotional,

physical,

and psychological addictions.

It never fulfills,

it never delivers what it promises.

It demands,

and dominates,

and drives its victims to destroy any and all relationships that stand in the way.

Man-made religion, on the other hand,

is far more subtle in its destructive power,

and therefore at times far more dangerous.

Because it clothes itself in the appearance of righteousness

it is often even applauded as being a virtue by those who observe it.

Both of these evils are easy to recognize for those who are looking for them.

The bondage of immorality, of course,

is evident in the way it drives those held in its power

to sacrifice any significant relationship that stands in the way

for the sake of the immoral behavior.

The bondage of religion, on the other hand,

destroys relationships

by arming the one caught in the power of religion

with a spirit of judgment that accepts or rejects others

on the basis of whether or not they “understand the truth”

or “have seen the light”

in the same way as the person caught in the religious bondage.

Those who meet the standard are accepted,

the others are rejected,

and always the TRUTH,

or the SYSTEM,

or the MESSAGE,

or the MISSION

or the GROUP

is more important than learning how to love those that God has placed into our lives.

As I was writing up these notes,

and thinking once again about the destructive and deceptive power of that religious spirit,

I remembered once again

that remarkable conversation between the Apostle Peter and the Lord following the resurrection.

Do you remember that final personal interview between the two?

JOH 21:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs."

JOH 21:16 He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

JOH 21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.

I love that account so much

both for what it says

and for what it doesn’t say.

This was, of course, Peter’s final commissioning service

for the work that his God was calling him to.

Jesus asks the one question

upon which everything else is built -

“Do you love me?”

He knew the answer, of course.

He knew Peter loved Him.

But He wanted Peter to understand a crucial truth.

He wanted Peter to understand

that the most effective way he could ever express his love for his Lord

was to learn how to love and nurture the people God brought into his life.

I find it fascinating

that, when Peter affirmed his love for the Lord,

the Lord did not respond by saying,

“Then preach the Word!”

He didn’t say,

“Then present the truth!”

He didn’t say,

“Then go do mighty things in My name!”

What He did say is,

“Tend my lambs, shepherd my sheep, tend my sheep.”

There is such a gentleness,

and a kindness,

and a tenderness,

and a compassion built into those words.

They are words that can only be understood

and obeyed within the context

of real, living, personal relationships,

one relationship at a time.

And they are words that the mind of religion can never understand,

because the mind of religion elevates the MESSAGE

or the MISSION

above loving the individual.

Now, as I mentioned a few minutes ago,

there are two forces that war against the true life of Christ within us -

immorality

and religion.

And in the most remarkable way

both of those forces are addressed in the final two verses of this 14^th chapter of Romans.

The force of religion is confronted by Paul in his opening statement where he says,

ROM 14:22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God.

Paul tells us that, in a remarkable way,

God creates for each of us our own unique sphere of faith.

This is not some “one-size-fits-all” religion

with a rigid, universal list of do’s and don’ts.

This is our God

stepping into each individual life,

and then working with each individual life

within the context of our own unique strengths and weaknesses.

This is our God speaking to each of us

with communication that passes only between us and Him,

communication in which He carefully crafts for each of us

our own unique steps to stability,

and recovery,

and health,

and freedom.

And let me tell you how this works

in the life of every growing child of God.

As you begin to build a growing foundation of moral stability into your life

you will find that there will be times

when your Lord will establish some boundary in your life

that He doesn’t seem to have established in other Christians lives.

In His own perfect way

He’ll say to you,

“My child, given the weaknesses you have brought into your life with Me, right now this is not for you.

I don’t want you to look around you

at what others are doing or not doing.

This has nothing whatsoever to do

with anyone else.

This is just between you and Me,

and this boundary that I am setting

comes to you as another expression of My love for you.

I want you free,

and right now part of your pathway to freedom

involves My closing some doors

that will lead you back into bondage if you go through them.”

Let me give you a mental picture of it.

Picture a house built on a busy highway.

This house is set back from the road a little way

and it has a beautiful grassy front yard.

Inside this house there lives a dad and a mom and three children,

ages 4, 5, and 6.

The parents want their children

to have the freedom to play in that front yard,

but the traffic on the highway makes it impossible.

So what do they do?

They build a fence between the edge of the front yard and the road.

And with that fence in place the children are free.

They can go anywhere they want in that yard without fear.

There are some places in your life

where your God has build a fence

because He wants you free.

There are some places

where He has said to you,

“Not here.

Not now.

Not safe for you...”

And, it is very possible that He has even posted an emotional guard along that fence

in the form of some person you care about very much

who will be deeply hurt

if you choose to cross over that fence.

Such acts on His part

are among the most powerful expressions of His love

because it communicates to us

the intimate nature of His involvement in our lives.

And there is no way that any man-made religion can ever do that.

Religion keeps us all caged inside the house,

and then it uses fear,

not love to keep us there.

When Paul says,

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God,

he is telling us that we are to accept and hold to the boundaries God has established in our lives personally.

We are to recognize them as the expressions of His love that they truly are.

But that isn’t where Paul stops.

After saying, The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God,

he then goes on to say, Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

And just as surely as we are to accept and hold to the boundaries God has established in our lives personally,

so we are to accept and enjoy the freedom He has given us.

And, remarkably, one of the most difficult places in all the world

for a person to accept and enjoy the freedom his Lord has given him

is in the world of religion.

Maybe another mental picture will help.

Picture a huge open field

with thousands people gathered on it.

And they all have their hands up,

supporting a massive slab of concrete.

It’s heavy work,

and it’s certainly no fun,

but everyone is in there doing what they can to keep this thing from crushing them all.

And then every once in a while

someone will work his way to the edge of the crowd

and then, when he gets right to the edge,

he’ll drop his hands

and bolt out into the sunshine crying,

“This is stupid! We don’t have to hold that thing up.

We’re free! In Christ we’re really free!”

Then he’ll look back at all those people standing under the slab,

and he’ll hear them saying,

“How dare you leave us under here!

You get back under here and pick up your share of the weight.

You’re not free.

You’ve got no right to freedom.

Now get back under here with the rest of us.”

Welcome to the world of religion.

When Paul says, Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves,

he is telling us

that the most powerful evangelistic tool we will ever have

is a life that proclaims the kind of freedom that can only come through Christ.

We have already heard Peter’s command to us

that we act as free men and women.

It is a commandment given to us

as an essential ingredient in our never ending battle to illustrate the difference

between man-made religious systems

and true life with the King.

And the first two principles given to us by Paul

for helping us to develop a healthy approach to our own personal “lists” are these:

1. We are to accept and hold to the boundaries God has established in our lives personally.

2. And we are to accept and enjoy the freedom He has given us.

And then, finally,

in verse 23 he completes the picture

by giving us what, in many respects,

is the most freeing principle of all.

The verse says,

ROM 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Do you know what Paul is telling us there?

He is telling us that the attitude,

not the action determines what is and is not sin in our lives.

And if ever there was a dividing line between religion and true Christianity it is here.

Religion loves the external list of rules.

And the truth is, our flesh loves it too.

It’s fascinating to see the creative ways in which our flesh can get around any rule ever written.

I was in a conversation some time ago

with a man who had spent some time living in Israel

and he was telling me about some of the rules they have there.

The orthodox Jews accept the commandment not to work on the Sabbath.

The building my friend lived in was a high rise with elevators.

But pushing the button for the floor you want

is considered work

and, therefore, forbidden on the Sabbath.

So the builder installed a “Sabbath Elevator”.

It is programed to run continually up and down,

stopping on every floor,

without anyone having to push a button.

We look at that and may think,

“That’s so dumb!”

But the truth is,

that is typical of the way our flesh always responds to a law-based pursuit of righteousness.

Paul says,

ROM 7:5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

You remember my illustration...

It is essential that during the next 3 minutes

none of you touch the chair in front of you.

Don’t touch it with your finger.

Don’t touch it with your toe.

Don’t even think about touching it.

And when I say that,

what do you suddenly want to do?

That is the way of religion,

and it is why it can never lead us to truly godly living.

But when God begins to rebuild our lives

into conformity with Christ,

building into us true, growing righteousness,

he throws out all of the lists.

He tells us that,

ROM 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.

And through that union between us and Himself

He creates within us

a heart that longs for a life that pleases Him.

That is one of His many incredible recreative acts in the lives of His people.

I could never do that for you.

The most gifted and powerful preachers who have ever lived could never do that.

At best all they could do

is to stir up intense emotional guilt feelings for our failures.

But God creates within us

a hunger and a thirst for righteousness.

And then he tells us that true righteousness

is not a matter of our actions,

but rather it is a matter of our heart intent.

He takes our eyes off of the lists,

and turns them onto our underlying motives.

It isn’t what we do

but rather why we do it that determines righteousness and sin in our lives.

And right there is the key to our freedom.

When we start each day

with no idea what lies ahead,

we don’t have to turn to some system

hoping we can jump through all the hoops just right

and avoid all the pits.

All we have to do

is begin each day

by coming back to the central truth of life with the King.

I’ll give it to you in the form of a prayer.

“Lord, you have promised me

that you are living in me

and will live your life through me.

I’m going to rest in that promise this day.

You alone can give me eyes to see what I need to see,

and the ability to respond the way you want me to respond.

I can’t live this life for You,

but I trust that you can and will live it through me,

and I will once again this day rest in that truth.”

Amen.