Christians In Denial Series

CHRISTIANS IN DENIAL

INTRODUCTION

There is a bumper sticker that reads, “Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.” The truth is that all of us have abnormalities that the Bible calls sin. We are all predisposed because of our sin nature to one sin or one problem that disrupts our happiness. None of us are perfect and none of are without problems. Sin is everyone’s enemy. Each of us struggle with something. It may be that we struggle with drugs or pornography. We might struggle with alcohol. We might be co-dependent. We might struggle with overwhelming anxiety or depression. We might struggle with resentment or, bitterness. We might struggle to control our tongues or our tempers. Whatever it is, we all have some defect or some problem that is a result of our own doing. Romans 3:23 says, “Everyone has messed up, everyone has some hang up and has fallen short of God’s glorious idea for their life.”

A. STOP PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE

Galatians 6:7, AMP

"Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at- scorned, disdained or mocked [by mere pretensions or professions, or His precepts being set aside]. He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap"

People speak or pretend and profess something that isn’t, in one of three possible ways:

1. They choose to let their soul convince them that they really are acting on God’s precepts, when they’re not.

2. They hope blindly for "the best," while they try to convince others that they are obeying God’s precepts.

3. They pretend and profess that they can’t act on them, and that God knows and accepts this because of everything that has happened to them.

None of these pretensions or false professions are acceptable to God. You spiritually fulfill God’s precepts and principles by focusing your belief in three ways, already having done whatever practical things you know to do (i.e., praying, avoiding known temptations, reading God’s Word, etc.):

1. Let your spirit affirm and rejoice in what God has said He will do for those He loves. Speak words of praise from your spirit, sing them out loud, rejoice in them quietly, or exult in them at the top of your lungs.

2. Make your soul concentrate on and rehearse how faithful God is. Do not allow it to dwell on the details of your circumstances or how impossible they look.

3. Make your body conform to your belief in the goodness of God. Put a smile on your face, walk with a spring in your step, stop acting depressed, cheerfully fulfill your responsibilities, get busy helping others, etc.

It is not helpful to your spirit when it bravely takes a stand of faith in the face of all negatives odds, and:

-Your mind is filled with doubt.

-Your mouth is speaking fear. Your lower lip is quivering. Your face is bleak.

-Your eyes are baggy from crying.

-Your knees are weakly wobbling.

-Your hands are flapping limply in every direction!

When your soul is fearful or unhappy, it will do anything it can to try to prevent a unified expression of faith that declares God is in control. Every believer has fallen into this trap, and recognizing it is the first step to avoiding it in the future.

The Amplified Bible defines righteousness as "conformity to the divine will in though purpose and action (Rom. 6:18). This is an excellent description of the believer’s soul, spirit and body being in alignment with His plans and purposes.

I have failed several of God’s assignments over the years because I believed what I wanted to believe. I also believed that I knew "exactly" what God did and did not want me to experience as a child of the King.

Illustration

If you are human, I guarantee you have some problem you need to let God change. I don’t care who you are. You could be a leader in the church, a minister, a policeman, a mother, a father, a child, a teacher. All of us have an area in our life we need to improve and work on. The truth, however, is that often we don’t realize the severity of our problem. The one thing the devil does is blind us to ourselves, making us unable to see ourselves for who we really are. Instead of accepting the chinks in our armor, Satan convinces us to put on masks and pretend that everything is all right. This is called denial. Where we refuse to see who we really are in life.

In the days of royalty in England, kings and queens would often commission artists to paint their portraits. But the artist never included their blemishes and flaws. He always made the king or queen look better than they did. They liked to live in denial about what they looked like. I read a quote the other day from super model Cindy Crawford. She said, “Even Cindy Crawford doesn’t look like Cindy Crawford without three hours of make up and hair.” Nobody really looks that good. They have to cover it up and airbrush everything. Covering up what we look like on the inside is denial. We refuse to accept who we really are.