If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That’s true; you can look in 1 John, capter 1. According to the Bible, this is the truth, word for word. And so, because we see this verse and others like it, we look up at God and pray this prayer. It comes, for some, in whispered tones during a moving eulogy given by a gifted preacher at the funeral of a loved one. For others, it comes at a crucial, perhaps life-or-death, moment, coming to mind as a last resort at an instant when it seems the end is near. Those people pray it because they think they are supposed to, as if it is something that they forgot, which can’t be left out before they leave this world. There are still countless other manners in which people will happen to pray this prayer, according to the events of their lives. But many feel that, whatever happens, it is an element that cannot be left out of life, lest the anger of God be unleashed on them in the afterlife. So, we pray. “God, I have sins. You know them better than I. I confess; now please forgive me. Cleanse me from my unrighteousness.”
And what is wrong with this? After all, that’s what God requires of us, isn’t it? If we confess our sins… and then, if we do what is required of us, then God will certainly do what is required of Him, because he is faithful and just. As it says, word for word, “…he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” We do our part, he does his part. Whether we do it early in life or late, that’s all that’s required in order to get to be “OK” with God, and all we can do afterwards is be grateful to God and remember that we are forgiven, if we did indeed initiate that first part of the formula. We confess that we are sinful. He is faithful and just, and will forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I don’t think that I am getting hung up on semantics by saying that in these first two paragraphs, I have misunderstood something. There is something that does not fit, and does not fulfill, if what I’ve already said in my past writing is true. If God, at least as depicted in the Bible, is personal, complete with a personality and a deep desire to know people, then I don’t think he would appreciate us talking about his gift of forgiveness as I have done here, because what I’ve done is reduced a relationship with God down into a formula.
There is a lot of unpacking that is required now. In one sentence, I just equated God’s forgiveness with a relationship with God. And that’s essential; one can’t be forgiven without coming into a relationship with God. But in the formula that I presented, I said nothing of a relationship with God – I talked only of forgiveness. And that’s what we want after all, isn’t it? When it’s all said and done, we will do whatever we need to, just as long as the plan that we follow has forgiveness somewhere at the finish line. Otherwise, what’s the point?
I wonder how many of us can say that there’s something missing from this “just forgiveness” description of the Christian life, but can’t quite figure out what it is or how to articulate it. As I sit in church this morning, I’ve just recited, along with about 200 people, a scripture passage that gats at the missing idea. It is Ephesians 2: “As for us, we were dead in our… sins, in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world… But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ… it is by grace we have been saved.”
This verse – this chapter – of scripture speaks of a relationship that is the very reason for meaningful life itself. And that’s the problem, I think at it’s core: we, in an effort to communicate Christianity simply have reduced the message of Jesus down into a few short verses that can be communicated in 10 minutes or less. We can’t expect someone to give up an entire hour every time we see an opportunity to explain the gospel. But when we only look at verses, we come away with a formula to get forgiveness. When we stop and read chapters, books, and attempt to understand their contiguous meaning, we get what God actually intended – a life-altering relationship that is the reason for living.
Again, think about what things would look like in a relationship with a person – your best friend, your husband, your wife. What if you ever reduced any of those relationships to formulas for getting what you want? The obvious application is an aloof husband or wife, who simply does what they know will please their spouse so that they can get sex. After all, that’s what they want, isn’t it? We can’t get sex any other way, so that is the formula we must follow to be truly fulfilled in a romantic relationship. I hope you don’t have to think too hard about that one to know that sex itself is not what anyone is really after in a relationship. Sex doesn’t comfort you in your weakest moment, or believe in you when even you don’t. Sex is an act; it’s not a person, and only a person can fill those needs. Sex is an expression of unity with another person that is meant to indicate that there is unmistakable unity in other areas. Anyone who is under the impression that sex is the ultimate thing that they can get in relationships has been deceived by the sensuality of the American culture we live in. Sex can’ t give you a fulfilling relationship; it’s not even in a class of things that can – it’s not human!
Now that we’ve got that issue squared away, think about the other person in this quasi-, tit-for-tat relationship. Think of how hurt they would be if they had been under the impression that we desire a mutual relationship with them. They have been investin their lives – all their cares, thoughts, aspirations, and passions – for the purpose of knowing us, while we have been only using closeness to them to get sex. They really want just us, but we have shown that we really only want something that is not even animate.
Go a step further. Think about this in connection with relationships in general, not just with marriage. What kind of relationships in real life do we usually allow ourselves to reduce to formulas for getting things we want or need? Think about those people at work that you don’t like personally (or just don’t know well enough to like personally). Perhaps you’ve been at a job that you don’t like for a long time, and your workplace is filled with them. The stress that they cause is so useless, so unnecessary, that you’ve taken some time to figure out exactly what you need to do in order to get things that you need from them, and nothing more. None of their crying games about the boss that nobody likes. None of their stories about what the waitress at some tasteless restaurant said to them last night, or how their coffee from Starbucks was too sweet this morning, or how much more they like the new TPS cover sheets than the old ones. I don’t want their lives, with the stories, which really sound like just complaints all the time; I just want what I need for right now. That’s the type of relationship we’re talking about. How is that different from you with your best friend?
The difference is obvious – we want our best friends; we don’t want our annoying co-workers and their untimely stories. We enter into life with our best friends, and even more with our wives and husbands. We usually act as if it would be better if the annoying co-worker wasn’t there. And when we’re acting in the “annoying co-worker” mode, we usually act as if they aren’t there in person. Instead, we interact with a formula, designed to give us an output, according to the input we give it. If we give an improper input, we mess things up, and we get back an annoying story – an annoying piece of that person’s life – instead of what the formula was programmed for.
I know, this provides me with an application on two levels. First, while I don’t have to be (and can’t be) everyone’s best friend, I can enter into life with people a whole lot more than I do now. Most of the time, I don’t want to get to know people because I don’t want to expend the effort. If requires too much; I would rather just get what I want and keep those people that I don’t care to know at a generic, faceless level. Otherwise, effort would be required, and risks may be necessary. So, no growth, but no risk. How Christ-like is that? Or, if you don’t claim to know Christ, is that like the perfect, caring, loving teacher and friend that you probably want Christ to be?
On a second level, our application can be to our relationship with God. God says he is our best friend – or, at least, he wants to be. He says he loves us with the same passion he used to fashion the universe and all of its amazing things. But how often do I take his love and just use him like a formula to get what I want? I have become the aloof husband who uses his wife for sex. I have been the annoyed person who just wishes his coworkers would just give him what he needs to do his job, instead of a slice of their lives too. I’ve looked at God, with all of his riches, with the relationship he offers – the thing that can give purpose to all of my life and make sense of everything around me – and said, “But God, I just want forgiveness – I don’t have time to really listen right now.” Just give me what I need, so that I can live the way that I want.
That’s not what God is, nor is it what I would say that I want him to be. But it is how I act, which would then mean that it is what I really believe God’s place is in my life. With my actions, I show that I believe it is better for God to serve his place as the inanimate formula that he is not, than for him to require me to relate with him as he is in reality. He requires risk. He requires growth. The relationship that he offers requires growth, pain, conflict, and change, just like any real, significant relationship will. But it will also change who I am, from someone who does not know Christ, into someone who lives out the life of Christ every day. And I can’t say that for every other type of relationship.
And what is wrong with this? After all, that’s what God requires of us, isn’t it? If we confess our sins… and then, if we do what is required of us, then God will certainly do what is required of Him, because he is faithful and just. As it says, word for word, “…he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” We do our part, he does his part. Whether we do it early in life or late, that’s all that’s required in order to get to be “OK” with God, and all we can do afterwards is be grateful to God and remember that we are forgiven, if we did indeed initiate that first part of the formula. We confess that we are sinful. He is faithful and just, and will forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I don’t think that I am getting hung up on semantics by saying that in these first two paragraphs, I have misunderstood something. There is something that does not fit, and does not fulfill, if what I’ve already said in my past writing is true. If God, at least as depicted in the Bible, is personal, complete with a personality and a deep desire to know people, then I don’t think he would appreciate us talking about his gift of forgiveness as I have done here, because what I’ve done is reduced a relationship with God down into a formula.
There is a lot of unpacking that is required now. In one sentence, I just equated God’s forgiveness with a relationship with God. And that’s essential; one can’t be forgiven without coming into a relationship with God. But in the formula that I presented, I said nothing of a relationship with God – I talked only of forgiveness. And that’s what we want after all, isn’t it? When it’s all said and done, we will do whatever we need to, just as long as the plan that we follow has forgiveness somewhere at the finish line. Otherwise, what’s the point?
I wonder how many of us can say that there’s something missing from this “just forgiveness” description of the Christian life, but can’t quite figure out what it is or how to articulate it. As I sit in church this morning, I’ve just recited, along with about 200 people, a scripture passage that gats at the missing idea. It is Ephesians 2: “As for us, we were dead in our… sins, in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world… But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ… it is by grace we have been saved.”
This verse – this chapter – of scripture speaks of a relationship that is the very reason for meaningful life itself. And that’s the problem, I think at it’s core: we, in an effort to communicate Christianity simply have reduced the message of Jesus down into a few short verses that can be communicated in 10 minutes or less. We can’t expect someone to give up an entire hour every time we see an opportunity to explain the gospel. But when we only look at verses, we come away with a formula to get forgiveness. When we stop and read chapters, books, and attempt to understand their contiguous meaning, we get what God actually intended – a life-altering relationship that is the reason for living.
Again, think about what things would look like in a relationship with a person – your best friend, your husband, your wife. What if you ever reduced any of those relationships to formulas for getting what you want? The obvious application is an aloof husband or wife, who simply does what they know will please their spouse so that they can get sex. After all, that’s what they want, isn’t it? We can’t get sex any other way, so that is the formula we must follow to be truly fulfilled in a romantic relationship. I hope you don’t have to think too hard about that one to know that sex itself is not what anyone is really after in a relationship. Sex doesn’t comfort you in your weakest moment, or believe in you when even you don’t. Sex is an act; it’s not a person, and only a person can fill those needs. Sex is an expression of unity with another person that is meant to indicate that there is unmistakable unity in other areas. Anyone who is under the impression that sex is the ultimate thing that they can get in relationships has been deceived by the sensuality of the American culture we live in. Sex can’ t give you a fulfilling relationship; it’s not even in a class of things that can – it’s not human!
Now that we’ve got that issue squared away, think about the other person in this quasi-, tit-for-tat relationship. Think of how hurt they would be if they had been under the impression that we desire a mutual relationship with them. They have been investin their lives – all their cares, thoughts, aspirations, and passions – for the purpose of knowing us, while we have been only using closeness to them to get sex. They really want just us, but we have shown that we really only want something that is not even animate.
Go a step further. Think about this in connection with relationships in general, not just with marriage. What kind of relationships in real life do we usually allow ourselves to reduce to formulas for getting things we want or need? Think about those people at work that you don’t like personally (or just don’t know well enough to like personally). Perhaps you’ve been at a job that you don’t like for a long time, and your workplace is filled with them. The stress that they cause is so useless, so unnecessary, that you’ve taken some time to figure out exactly what you need to do in order to get things that you need from them, and nothing more. None of their crying games about the boss that nobody likes. None of their stories about what the waitress at some tasteless restaurant said to them last night, or how their coffee from Starbucks was too sweet this morning, or how much more they like the new TPS cover sheets than the old ones. I don’t want their lives, with the stories, which really sound like just complaints all the time; I just want what I need for right now. That’s the type of relationship we’re talking about. How is that different from you with your best friend?
The difference is obvious – we want our best friends; we don’t want our annoying co-workers and their untimely stories. We enter into life with our best friends, and even more with our wives and husbands. We usually act as if it would be better if the annoying co-worker wasn’t there. And when we’re acting in the “annoying co-worker” mode, we usually act as if they aren’t there in person. Instead, we interact with a formula, designed to give us an output, according to the input we give it. If we give an improper input, we mess things up, and we get back an annoying story – an annoying piece of that person’s life – instead of what the formula was programmed for.
I know, this provides me with an application on two levels. First, while I don’t have to be (and can’t be) everyone’s best friend, I can enter into life with people a whole lot more than I do now. Most of the time, I don’t want to get to know people because I don’t want to expend the effort. If requires too much; I would rather just get what I want and keep those people that I don’t care to know at a generic, faceless level. Otherwise, effort would be required, and risks may be necessary. So, no growth, but no risk. How Christ-like is that? Or, if you don’t claim to know Christ, is that like the perfect, caring, loving teacher and friend that you probably want Christ to be?
On a second level, our application can be to our relationship with God. God says he is our best friend – or, at least, he wants to be. He says he loves us with the same passion he used to fashion the universe and all of its amazing things. But how often do I take his love and just use him like a formula to get what I want? I have become the aloof husband who uses his wife for sex. I have been the annoyed person who just wishes his coworkers would just give him what he needs to do his job, instead of a slice of their lives too. I’ve looked at God, with all of his riches, with the relationship he offers – the thing that can give purpose to all of my life and make sense of everything around me – and said, “But God, I just want forgiveness – I don’t have time to really listen right now.” Just give me what I need, so that I can live the way that I want.
That’s not what God is, nor is it what I would say that I want him to be. But it is how I act, which would then mean that it is what I really believe God’s place is in my life. With my actions, I show that I believe it is better for God to serve his place as the inanimate formula that he is not, than for him to require me to relate with him as he is in reality. He requires risk. He requires growth. The relationship that he offers requires growth, pain, conflict, and change, just like any real, significant relationship will. But it will also change who I am, from someone who does not know Christ, into someone who lives out the life of Christ every day. And I can’t say that for every other type of relationship.
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