And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Ephesians 4:30)
Lately, I have spent much time meditating and reflecting on the enormous gravity of my sin. While this is not the most entertaining and lighthearted pastime, it has been one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. When we think of sin, we tend to think of specific actions such as lying, stealing, adultery, murder, and other deplorable deeds. The problem with such a view of sin is that we usually fail to bring the conviction we need. We Christians are usually far too easy on ourselves when it comes to the places where sin is present in our lives.
I have this theory that there has been a shift in evangelical Christianity over the past 100 or so years. The discussion of sin has moved from the sins of the congregations to the sins of the pagans. The major moral issues that evangelicalism has taken on have been twofold: Homosexuality and abortion. The problem with this very narrow-minded moral view is that it requires nothing from the churchgoer. The preacher tells his congregation, "Do not be a homosexual!" And they respond, "Thank you Jesus for not making me a homosexual!" The preacher says, "Do not have abortions!" The men respond, "Well there's nothing I can do about that." The women respond, "I haven't had an abortion, so I must be perfect." Meanwhile, the sin that the church is not addressing is running rampant in the congregation.
I just recently finished a fairly in-depth study of the book of Isaiah and there is one passage that I continue to think about again and again:
Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O LORD; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.(Isaiah 26:17-18)
This passage resonates in my heart in such a profound way it is almost breathtaking. I look back at my life as a Christian -- my purportedly "new life" -- and I see how much God has done. I recollect about the times when I have been brought to tears by the beauty of Christ's death and resurrection. I remember missions trips, specific instances of intercessory prayer, and every great sermon I have ever heard. I see all the ways in which I have been moved by the Holy Spirit, but still allow sin to have its way with me. I think about Paul's words to the Ephesians where he says, "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10), but I feel more like I am grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
I am convinced that I cannot continue living my life this way. I recently read a fascinating quote from Jacques Cousteau (who actually is paraphrasing Gandhi):
“If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed [and] if we are not willing [to change], we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect.”
As a Christian, I have long thought that my sin was a personal issue between God and myself. When I am angry, I owe God an apology for not being loving. When I am greedy, I ought to ask God for forgiveness for my lack of generosity. While I still think that sin is between us and God, I think that Satan has fed us lies that our sins does not have an effect outside of ourselves. Obviously, if I murdered someone this would effect the person I murdered, that person's family, and probably other people as well. But we don't tend to think about other sins in this way. When I am being greedy, I am preventing myself from being generous. Therefore, I am sinning against those in need around me. When I am angry, I am not loving my neighbor, so I probably need to ask for forgiveness from whoever my neighbor happens to be at the time.
Sin prevents us from living as a fruitful citizens of the Kingdom. The message of the Gospel is not only (or even primarily) about what we receive from Jesus, but rather what Jesus enables us to give back (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Christians are not called to become rulers, but servants. Maybe when Paul tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, he is reminding us that our sin inhibits the Holy Spirit from working in us "to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). For the rest of this "Grieving the Holy Spirit" series, I am going to talk about some sins I think are prevalent among the church (because I know they are in my own heart) and what good works they are keeping us from.
