Tag Archives: no one righteous

Scary lies

 

Sometimes lies sound well-intentioned but have far-reaching and disastrous consequences. I think of the popularity of the “Ouija” board game that toys with consulting mediums, and the “Crazy Eight” magic ball and daily horoscopes that purportedly foretell future events. I reflect on the cute little witches and devils that masqueraded on Halloween. The lie we believed was, “It’s just make-believe. It doesn’t matter.”

 

But beyond the frightful joy we took in such childhood games, we continue to perpetuate truly scary lies as adults. We tell ourselves, “It doesn’t matter” when we are dishonest. We excuse our sins as less serious than others. Jesus revealed this lie when he compared lust to being the same as adultery, and anger the same as murder. The truth is, it does matter what we think in private and what we say to others. Our indifference toward other’s suffering, our obsession with our self-interests, our distractions from seeking God all have consequences as far-reaching as our commitment to purity, honesty, goodness, generosity, empathy and encouragement. The truth is that life matters.

 

Myron Rush commented in his leadership book Lord of the Marketplace that one of the most damaging is the lie that we have two lives: a moral one and a secular one. We live the moral life when we go to church and say a prayer and we live a separate secular life in every other activity we pursue. A well-known presidential candidate exalted this belief saying that he never let his personal faith influence his public actions. We generally regard such thinking as two-faced, insincere, and untrustworthy. Deep down, we all appreciate What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. We want to believe people who “walk the talk” and don’t live double lives. In our heart of hearts we know the truth: we have just one life to live and it reflects all we are. Our spiritual convictions do indeed impact our every day decisions and life goals. If not, they aren’t really convictions are they?

 

Another scary lie (if you accept God’s Word to be true) is that “I am a good person” and that “all good people go to heaven.” We like to think that even if we’re not “as good” as Mother Teresa, we’re “pretty good” compared to others. We say, “S/he was a good person” as a mantra at funerals when we don’t know what else to say. Scripture says “there is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:9) Our righteousness or goodness comes through faith in God’s Son, Jesus, not from trying to score enough good deeds in order to make the list. Some take the truth that God is good, ignoring that he is also holy and just. Accepting a part of the truth while rejecting the other, they conclude “a loving God would never punish his children.”

 

You might think that some lies are too inconsequential to matter or that lies that are told with intention to comfort are not so bad. But lies are truly scary if they lull us into a sense of false security. If we say, “It will all be okay” when in fact great danger is approaching, that isn’t real comfort, is it? If we say, “It doesn’t matter” when a series of small missteps ends up taking us down a dangerous and destructive path, we’re not being helpful, are we? If we could rely on our “goodness” to make us right with God, then Jesus went to the cross for nothing! And if we acknowledge only the goodness of God while rejecting his holiness and just nature, what god are we really worshipping?

 

Let’s be on guard against lies that seem to offer a sense of comfort and peace but really lead us in dangerous ways. They are the scariest of all lies.

 

Don’t be a fool

 

It’s April Fool’s Day, the day of pranksters around the western world. Some think it a great day of jokes that are good medicine for the soul. Others see it as inconsiderate and somewhat nasty and denounce the activities that are after all, based on getting someone to believe a lie. Whatever stance you take on April Fool’s Day, there is a hoax of much greater seriousness that is played out every day of every year: the great lies of the devil.

 

He is described as the master of lies, the prince of deception. His favorite activity is to get people to believe a half-truth that is actually a full lie. Myron Rush, in his leadership book Lord of the Marketplace, said the devil’s greatest lie is to convince us that we have two separate lives: a secular life where we work and play; and a sacred life where we worship and pray. It’s a lie we believe when we consider that our beliefs about God are only a part of our life.  The truth, according to God’s Word is that you and I each have just one life to live on earth. If Jesus is the Lord of that, He is the Lord of all. Believing we have two separate lives sets us up for failure. A heart that believes one thing but acts contrary to that is like a house that is divided against itself. It will always fall.

 

Another lie is that if we are good enough, we will please God and go to heaven. It’s the mantra at many funerals, where we don’t know what to say except, “He was a good person.” The lie is the basis of books and films that tell us angels must do a good deed to earn their wings and dead persons are sent back to earth to ‘get things right’ so they can pass through the pearly gates. The truth told in the bible is that we are saved by grace, not by works, lest anyone should boast. It says, “No one is righteous, not one.” “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Think about it. If we can be good enough to go to heaven, why did Jesus have to die for our sins? Good works are the natural result of maturing faith and they produce greater faith. They aren’t in themselves the path to heaven.

 

A third lie is that once we’ve come to the saving grace of receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, that it’s our work to become better Christians. Yes, we’re urged to discipline ourselves on the path to conforming to the image of God. Paul wasn’t pulling a prank on the church at Galatia when he called them fools for believing that they could become righteous by good works. Works is not faith but faith always works. We become transformed by God by the same saving grace that first saved us.

 

There are so many other lies that invite us to bite into them. Don’t be a Forever Fool. Let the bible be your guide so you don’t fall for the lies of the master deceiver.

 

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12)