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Exchanged Glory II: The OK Stronghold
Conviction put me in a place where I had no answers. I couldn’t give in to sin, but standing firm against it was too hard for me. I couldn’t return to my old life, but my new life was impossible. There was nothing to do but to fall on my face and cry out to God for a long string of miracles.
The OK Stronghold has been around for a long time. The apostle Paul wrote about it in the following verses.
…even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book.
(Philippians 3:4-6, The Message)
Old-Time OK Religion is a game of “I’ll prove myself” with God, and Paul had the right stuff to be a superstar at it. He was a pure member of God’s chosen race and stood out in following the Law. He was a zealous disciple of the traditions of his people, and in the minds of his countrymen, this made him more than OK. He had reason to be confident in his natural abilities and situation.
When Paul gave his life to Jesus, he realized that his own works could never be enough.
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash — along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant — dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ
(Philippians 3:7-8, The Message)
Compared to the grace of God, Paul’s attempts to be OK through his heritage, strength, and skill seemed like dog dung. The first part of his life had been a waste. He gave up games like “I’ll prove myself,” because in comparison to knowing Jesus they were worthless. He was OK because He had been forgiven and made alive in Christ.
I wasn’t very attracted to Old-Time OK Religion. Being religious looked boring, and many of the people involved in it seemed harsh. I preferred a new kind of OK Religion, one based on the false god of permissive-love, and one that I see becoming increasingly popular in the world today.[22] The new flavor does not hold to a legalistic set of rules to tell us how to be OK. In fact, it sees religious “dos and don’ts” as dangerous. The only standard that matters is to be a basically nice person. The works that make us OK are the ones that give OK feelings to ourselves and others. Our goal in life is to make everyone feel good about themselves.
New OK Religion loves to misquote the famous verse:
Judge not, that you be not judged.
It says that we judge when we point out a person’s sin and say that without Christ they deserve God’s judgment. It tells us that rather than doing this, we should try to minimize the critical Parental messages people hear and feel. We show them love by helping them to escape the pain of being losers in the game of “I’ll prove myself.”
New OK Religion is as bankrupt as Old-Time OK Religion. It doesn’t point to Jesus as the One who gives us our worth. It says we already are OK; we just need a little encouragement to recognize it.
What does Matthew 7:1 really teach? Jesus said it near the end of a sermon in which He strongly condemned many actions, including neglecting any of God’s law (Matthew 5:17-20), going back on our word (Matthew 5:33-37), and lusting after women (Matthew 5:27-30). He warned us about calling Him Lord if we don’t do what He says (Matthew 7:21-23). He told us we could end up in hell for sinning (Matthew 5:22; 29-30). In that context, it is hard to believe He would say in Matthew 7:1 that we shouldn’t point out wrongs and say they lead to judgment. He would be criticizing what He had just done.
We get confused because the word judge could have many meanings. The definition that American culture tends to use today is that we judge when we call an action a sin. Our view is based on the false god of permissive-love, who tries to minimize what society calls evil. He teaches that each person should find their own morals. The ability to decide good and evil for ourselves is considered to be a great gift, rather than the approach that got us into trouble in the first place (Genesis 2:17; 3:1-19). We are told not to criticize those who choose different beliefs, but to support them.
Jesus honored the God of Israel, not the false god of permissive-love. He grew up as a Jew who obeyed the Law of Moses. This Law spelled out rules for just about every area of life, and Jesus told us we should treat it very seriously.
Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures — either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working. Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom.
(Matthew 5:17-19, The Message)
Taking God’s Law seriously involves pointing out sin and judgment. Jesus didn’t leave room for the false god of permissive-love’s view of kindness. He told us that true kindness spreads the truth about how God wants us to live.[23]
What did Jesus mean when he told us not to judge? I believe He was telling us not to punish others outside of the penalties of civil and religious courts.[24] When we hold grudges and refuse to love people, we are acting as judge, jury, and executioner in an attempt to cause them pain. God doesn’t want us to retaliate through harsh words, gossip, or any other form of striking back. Instead, we should love even our enemies and show them kindness in spite of what they are doing.
You're familiar with the old written law, ”Love your friend,” and its unwritten companion, “Hate your enemy.” I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer.
(Matthew 5:43-44, The Message)
We should try to compassionately help people. God wants us to offer forgiveness and hope for change rather than condemnation. Doing so involves pointing out sin, but we do it for the purpose of bringing God’s goodness.
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out.
(Galations 6:1, The Message)
Even though I understood that God’s laws were for our good, I didn’t like the way they affected my relationships. It wasn’t that I was a total rebel who hated His rules; I tried to obey them. What I found hard was telling others that they should obey them as well. I was much too insecure to handle the way in which they might react.
Disagreements were so hard on me that I sometimes ended arguments just when I knew that I was about to prove my point. I was afraid to find out what would happen if I cornered the other person, so I gave them a way out and let them hang onto mistaken ideas.
I was a natural for New OK Religion. It gave me very little reason to argue. If almost anything was acceptable, I could hang out with people, enjoy them, and party.
Permissive-love allowed me to replace conviction with compromise, and I liked that freedom. It made faith a matter of opinion rather than a response to good evidence.[25] It turned religion into a preference rather than a pursuit of reality. It told me that there were many “truths,” and each person could decide for themselves which they would embrace.
If that was the way the world worked, I could avoid conflict. I didn’t have to hassle anyone, and they didn’t have to hassle me.
I liked New OK Religion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the price that I paid for it. If faith was little more than opinion, how could I have much conviction about it? If all “truths” were valid, what good reason did I have to pursue God’s truth? Others weren’t wrong when their beliefs allowed them to go with the flow and have fun. Why should I be different?
Permissive-love produces compromise, and compromise sabotages us. It blinds us so that we accept quick “solutions” that backfire and destroy our lives. When our hearts cry out for short term relief, it allows us to pamper ourselves and stunt our growth. We decide not to grapple with difficulty and find the wisdom to rise above it. Our hearts fail to fight for long enough to develop strength. We hope to avoid life’s fires, but the weakness that grows within our lack of conviction eventually catches us, and we are burned rather than refined like gold.
Compromise makes us weak-kneed before our desires. Without a good reason to stand firm, we follow them into unhealthy thoughts and activities.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (emphasis added)
Permissive-love creates doubt about the truth. It robs us of the backbone to stand against the changing winds of our culture, and we become driven like the wave of the sea. It makes some of us so open to new ideas that we become double-minded, leading to instability. We are unable to wisely sort through conflicting messages, and the raiding demons of our crazy society march into our unprotected hearts.
Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
Addicts especially have become like cities without walls. They can no longer think clearly enough to handle their desires. Once the forces of dependency have opened a breach, compromise can’t hold them out. Only a firm resolve rooted in the grace of God can restore the protection brick by brick.
I know how difficult it can be to rebuild fallen walls. As I climbed out of addiction, my abnormal desires clung to me like hooks in my flesh. They clawed their way into my soul and tore at it in an attempt to drag me back into my foolishness. It seemed unreasonable to suffer as much as I did when a little compromise could have made my life so much easier. My sinful habits looked fairly innocent when weighed against the insanity of resisting them.
Conviction made my life complicated and painful. It forced me into a terrible fight. Truth called for me to give up my Fantasies and face my Monsters Under the Bed. It created a war between my flesh and God’s Spirit, and the battle was beyond my abilities.
Conviction put me in a place where I had no answers. I couldn’t give in to sin, but standing firm against it was too hard for me. I couldn’t return to my old life, but my new life was impossible. There was nothing to do but to fall on my face and cry out to God for a long string of miracles. He would have to take me step-by-step on a journey that would make me far more than I could ever be on my own.
That’s what conviction does. It forces us beyond our own abilities and into the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
I’ve read people who have said that addicts don’t change until they hit rock bottom. I’m so grateful that this wasn’t my experience. The word of God convinced me that if I had half a brain, I had no choice but to turn around before crashing. It spelled out what was before me, and the stakes were far too high to gamble.
In order to escape from the traps of New OK Religion, I needed to grow in conviction so that the walls of my heart could be rebuilt. It wasn’t an easy process. In fact, the emotional fallout from the struggle produced new problems at the same time it solved old ones. In spite of the pain, however, it was worth the effort to walk into freedom.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I talk about the solutions, I need to describe more about how the OK Stronghold hurts us.
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