A very common practice today in the world of photography is procedure called airbrushing. Airbrushing makes alterations to what is real so that a photographed person or object appears to have no imperfections.
Airbrushing can remove all warts, wrinkles, scars, freckles, zits, tats, moles, flab, sweat beads, and boogers and present us "perfect" to the world.
For many Christians, our religious customs can have the same effect. Rather than acknowledge the imperfections in our lives, we cover them with our church attendance, good deeds, spiritual soundbites, and pious prayers.
It only stands to reason that when we choose to cover rather than confess our flaws, we are more prone to stand in judgment of those whose faults are there for the world to see.
In Psalm 51, David's raw and real psalm of confession, he shares the single greatest sacrifice we can give to God. It is not perfect church attendance. It is not righteous adherence to the law. It is not presenting to the world that we have our spiritual act together. What God desires most from us is a broken spirit. God despises pride and rejoices in remorse. He is blessed by our humble admission that we are deeply flawed, scarred by sin, and far from perfect.
To put it bluntly, we Christians must stop pretending. We must stop masking our inadequacies by flaunting our faith. We must stop trying to project the image that we don't struggle with sin like those "unbelievers." Why do you think non-Christians rejoice when a believer falls?
Truth be known, unbelievers don't have as much of a problem with Christians who sin as they do with Christians who pretend they don't.
God is not the least bit impressed with spirits that are strong, self-secure and saintly. He admires spirits that are hopelessly, helplessly, irretrievably broken. He wants His followers to exhibit contrite hearts; to confess our faults one to another; to openly own the fact that we are sinners who fall far short of His glory.
Why is it so important to God that our spirits be broken? Because:
(a.) we will never accept a Savior until we recognize how much we need one, and
(b.) we will never effectively relate God's truth to others if we are living a lie.
Airbrushing can remove all warts, wrinkles, scars, freckles, zits, tats, moles, flab, sweat beads, and boogers and present us "perfect" to the world.
For many Christians, our religious customs can have the same effect. Rather than acknowledge the imperfections in our lives, we cover them with our church attendance, good deeds, spiritual soundbites, and pious prayers.
It only stands to reason that when we choose to cover rather than confess our flaws, we are more prone to stand in judgment of those whose faults are there for the world to see.
In Psalm 51, David's raw and real psalm of confession, he shares the single greatest sacrifice we can give to God. It is not perfect church attendance. It is not righteous adherence to the law. It is not presenting to the world that we have our spiritual act together. What God desires most from us is a broken spirit. God despises pride and rejoices in remorse. He is blessed by our humble admission that we are deeply flawed, scarred by sin, and far from perfect.
To put it bluntly, we Christians must stop pretending. We must stop masking our inadequacies by flaunting our faith. We must stop trying to project the image that we don't struggle with sin like those "unbelievers." Why do you think non-Christians rejoice when a believer falls?
Truth be known, unbelievers don't have as much of a problem with Christians who sin as they do with Christians who pretend they don't.
God is not the least bit impressed with spirits that are strong, self-secure and saintly. He admires spirits that are hopelessly, helplessly, irretrievably broken. He wants His followers to exhibit contrite hearts; to confess our faults one to another; to openly own the fact that we are sinners who fall far short of His glory.
Why is it so important to God that our spirits be broken? Because:
(a.) we will never accept a Savior until we recognize how much we need one, and
(b.) we will never effectively relate God's truth to others if we are living a lie.
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