BEEN LIED TO

BEEN LIED TO:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and drugs; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. -Galatians 5:19-21

Every kid in the world who has ever played a sport or been involved in any kind of competition has heard the timeless phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” Those words are frequently uttered by a delusional parent whose glory days are nothing more than a speck of dust in the rearview mirror of life. Pushing for more, screaming at someone (either their kid, the coach, or a ref), and mapping out their kid's life around skills camps, tournaments, leagues, and competitions. Reassuring themselves by constantly chanting, “Practice makes perfect.”

In high school, I had the privilege of being a part of a team that won several local, regional, and national championships. Between the time I came in as a freshman - and the time I left as a graduating senior - we had numerous new trophy cases installed and immediately filled. In addition to team honors, I also had numerous individual awards and trophies. So when I went off to college I unconsciously believed that they would have nothing to teach me. I’d be a weapon and blessing to whatever school was smart enough to pick me.

Early on, we were hard at practice, no coaches, just the competitors, when our team captain said, “Stop! You guys have probably heard the saying, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that’s a lie. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Something that’d I’d been indoctrinated into in high school was the concept and culture of “perfect practice.” We’d never settled for an “okay” practice. I didn’t know anything else. I practiced daily - multiple times. In the snow. In the rain. At home by myself. With a teammate whenever I could. We made up games we would play to make us better at our craft. So when our college captain looked around and saw what many would consider “acceptable” or “okay,” he stepped in and said, “STOP!” He gave us an assessment of where we were as a team and let us know that it was unacceptable.

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

I was already hardwired for perfect practice. I had the bruises, scars, ribbons, medals, team and individual accolades to prove it. But it ran even deeper than that - far deeper. Even if I’d never won another trophy - I could never settle for “okay,” because quite honestly “okay” sucks.

The trajectory of our team was forever altered that day. Because of events beyond our control, our team only competed once my freshman year, but we dominated. To say we won every event by a landslide would be a gracious understatement. We literally looked like men competing against children. At the end of the year, I was voted the team MVP.

So what does any of that have to do with the Bible, Galatian 5, or Jesus? Or was that just a (not so cleverly disguised) bragging montage by the author of this blog?

Paul told us that the acts of the flesh are blatant, obvious, overt, flagrant, conspicuous, loud, and obtrusive. They look like what Paul described as “sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and drugs; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like.” So when we look at our lives we use the Jerry Springer assessment methodology… “I’m not as jacked up as those people, so I’m okay.” God, like my college captain, never was - and never will be - satisfied with “okay.”

God’s exclusive standard is perfection. Unlike one of the many heresies in mormonism, Christianity doesn’t believe in multiple tiers of heaven. Christianity is not a class system, but rather a caste system - there’s only one position: as an heir to the throne of the King - determined at the time of your rebirth. There’s perfection in Christ (the born-again children of God, i.e. sheep) and “other” (goats).

He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right (sheep), ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…’ Then He will also say to those on the left (goats), ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!... And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

-Matthew 25:31-46

Paul followed up his statement (about the obtrusive nature of our depraved selves) with a PROFOUND pimp-slap in saying, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Although we’re okay with our self-assessment of being “okay,” God isn’t. We might look at that list of sins (sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and drugs; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like) and reckon, “Well at least I’m not a (fill in the blank).” But Christ, our Captain of perfection, is shouting “STOP! I don’t want ‘okay.’ I require perfection.”

Paul goes on to describe the fruit of the Spirit - not only via tangible characteristics but by describing what it looks like in practical everyday life:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no Law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.

-Galatians 5:22-26

Paul said, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Do you know what “crucified” means? It doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to be “okay” with the flesh and its passions and desires. It doesn’t mean that we use our own personal subjective standards for life, “At least I’m not that guy!” or “I’ve never done THAT!” Crucified means nailed down to endure a long, painful, horrendous, excruciating suffering unto eventual death. Our flesh and its passions and desires have been crucified, but they’re still up there on that cross of selfish autonomy - screaming for us to let them down, to embrace them once again, to comfort them, to surrender to their screams of anguish. They’ve been crucified, but they’re not dead this side of eternity.

Why do we still struggle with the fullness of life in Christ and the full expression of the fruit of the Spirit? Because our sin isn’t dead. It’s been crucified. That’s why Paul wrote elsewhere, “...in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Sadly, we are unaware. Scripture tells us over and over and over and over that God is NOT okay with sin. He’s not okay with our inherent sin nature - so Jesus came, suffered, died, and rose again, but we don’t live as if that’s true.

He’s not okay with the sins of the flesh (sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and drugs; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like) after we’re born again - so He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, but we reckon that we’re “good enough” because Jesus loves us.

He’s not okay with self-absorbed lives that do nothing to promote or proclaim the gospel - so He calls us to the obedience and privilege of participating in His mission to the ends of the earth… but we reckon that’s for someone else.

He’s not okay with us playing the ignorance card - so He inspired Paul to write, “and anything that does not come from faith is sin,” but we reckon sin as moral behaviors rather than the condition of our relationship with Him.

God is not the obnoxious, overbearing, screaming sports parent trying to relive glory days vicariously through His children. God’s glory isn’t waning now, nor will it ever be. God is not only perfect but is the absolute ideal of eternal perfection. Our Captain literally speaks to us through Scripture, the living Word of God. He lets us know that our self-assessment of sin is not okay - His assessment is all that matters. He lets us know that there’s no such thing as “good enough.” That’s why we’re stuck practicing the things of the flesh that have been crucified with Christ. We willfully listen to their screams and cries and give in because we reckon “God will forgive me.”  We voluntarily return to our chains of bondage to sin when we focus on what we’ve sacrificed or lost rather than intentionally focus on losing ourselves in Him.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” That means that the fullness of life in Christ is lacking in none of these. Are you lacking love? Joy? Peace? Patience? Kindness? Goodness? Faithfulness? Gentleness? Self-control? Even those who deny God’s existence can experience one or more of these things. There are “kind” atheists. There are the “peaceful” Ghandis of the world. Like marginal Christians, they look at the lives they “practice,” and through delusional self-assessment conclude: “By golly, everything looks okay.” But our Captain beckons, “STOP!”

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Our Captain doesn’t want us to be deluded or delusional. We’ve been lied to about the fullness of life in Christ. We’ve been told that it’s okay to be just “okay.” God never said that. He demands perfection. Not in the sense of mindless legalism. How’d that turn out for the nation of Israel? Temple destroyed, conquered, scattered, and ultimately rejected the Savior whom Scripture anticipated. As we read earlier, Paul told us that there is no law and no legalism regarding the fruit of the Spirit.

Perfection is God’s exclusive standard. If you’re living the life of an “okay” Christian (whatever that is), and you’re not continually allowing yourself to be stretched, purified, refined, broken, and reformed into the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit living in and through you… then you’ve settled for the brochure or postcard and stopped short of experiencing Him. You’ve been lied to.

Are you okay with “okay” or do you want glorious perfection in Christ?

That’s what I thought.

Blessings!

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com