Honoring Christ In Our BodiesSample

We Have a Problem

We Recognize we have a problem though we have confidence that God can fix it …

The mantra for the culture of our world today when it comes to dealing with difficult things is, “why do bad things happen to good people.” When we give into believing this false worldview we take the place of the entitled victim whenever we encounter anything that feels negative. The Scripture's portrayal of humanity, on the other hand, shows that humans are anything but entitled or innocent victims when it comes to sin and suffering. Romans 3:10-18 clearly demonstrates that humanity is willfully sinful and hopeless to the greatest degree without God’s intervention and salvation:

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

The question we should rather be asking is “why do good things happen to bad people.” We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and the works of our own hands have made our world a mess. We are not innocent victims, we are culprits and the problem. We are not entitled to anything good but God is gracious and good enough to extend us grace anyway. 

When we deal with addiction of any kind, food, sexual perversion, physical abuse, or otherwise, the first step to healing is not diet plans, exercise, abstinence, or right treatment of the body (though these help). Our healing first happens at the worldview level where we admit that our problem is sin. Our problem is our desires. We seek comfort, satisfaction, release, rest, and affirmation in things other than God whether it is food, pornography, cutting, masturbation, alcohol overuse, gossip, or any other addictive sin. 

 

Visit www.gardencityproject.com/7-cycle for more information. Accompanying this study is over 300-Hours of video footage from 150 of today's top Christian thinkers on culture, creativity, innovation, and invention at www.makejesusculture.com and www.gardencityproject.com. We aim to help churches develop grass roots culture formation for their contexts. Go now!