Episode Transcript
No matter how hard we work, how hard we discipline ourselves, we manipulate ourselves, we will never reach true satisfaction in this life if it's based upon us and our performance. But if we humbly embrace the word of Christ, we can have full joy. Now listen, as passionate as I may seem up here, I wrestle with giving in to the lie of the world.
I counsel all of you here that throughout different times we have opportunities to sit down. And if you've been in a counseling session with me, I try my best to let you know I too suffer from sin. There is no one who's arrived. There is no one who has achieved perfection. This is why he says, confess your sins to one another; hold onto one another; encourage one another; strengthen one another.
When the body functions as it should, a bunch of broken, fractured sinners, and you all get glued together with what- Christ, all of a sudden, love comes pouring out. How is that possible? Because the power of the spirit is there. Someone asked me the other day about what I think about the power of the Spirit.
I'm thinking it's lacking in most churches. You want to know why? Because the churches don't see themselves as broken pieces being brought together in Christ. Literally, Paul says the power of the spirit is in the body of Christ when the body of Christ functions as it should. And how does the body function as it should? Under what? The word of God.
That's why he says consider how to speak truth to one another. What's truth? Truth is this: you don't need the things of the world because God has exalted you. I need that to be told to me tomorrow when my truck breaks down. We need the community of this church to embrace this teaching. Remind yourselves who James is writing to.
He's not writing to individuals. He's writing to the churches that are suffering, who are in exile. Many of you, this letter appeals to you, because some of you just left states where you're thinking, I don't want to be in this state anymore. I'd rather be in exile outside this state. But guess what happened when you showed up to Tennessee? Not to bust your bubble-it's messed up here too. Guess who lives in Tennessee? Sinners.
You can't escape it. We need Christ. And when the community of Christ decides not to make this message the center point of their community, we will devour each other. Literally, James says, why do you fight and devour each other? It's because your passions are at war with one another.
And so I do you no service, and I do not help you if I don't remind you of what true joy comes from. It does not come from selfishness. It comes from sacrifice. When you lay your life down and you understand that when you do, you're doing it for the benefit and love of another, God promises joy. So we can either take God at his word, or we can keep trying the system of the world.
Mind you, no one has ever been satisfied by the world.
Everyday Grace 048
