Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Jeremiah 6:12-16
World class athletes train for 10 to 12 hrs a day preparing themselves for their competition. Only a few of these athletes ever make it to the Olympic games. Standards are set and if the athletes don’t reach those standards they aren’t allowed to compete.
What if our country decided to lower the standards of competition? Anyone who wanted to go to the Olympics and represent our country could go. What would the result be?
Would the true athletes train and act differently? No, but what incentive would, they have if anyone could represent our country in the most competitive of all arenas other than life. We also need to look at what would happen when other countries’ athletes showed up for the competition. The Olympic committee didn’t change the stringent standards and our chances of getting a gold would be slim to none.
What if this same idea of lowering standards was done in the church? Just think about people growing up thinking all they have to do to get into heaven is be good and moral. Just pray a prayer and you’re in like flint. What a rude awakening many will have on Judgement Day. God never changed his standard, Hebrews 12:14 is true: “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” What if God’s standard and our failure to meet it is both greater than we think.
The church in many instances has lowered the standard of what it takes to be a Christian and in doing so made sin more acceptable. We’ve given it new names, but we’ve not gotten rid of it. People who claim to be Christians would never go to a movie theater, yet they watch HBO in the comfort of their living room. Pornography is considered an awful sin, yet some will read romance novels with the same images, only in black and white not in color!
1. Where Has Sin Gone? (vs. 12-13)
Sin has disappeared! In 1973 Dr. Karl Menninger wrote a book entitled Whatever Became of Sin? People today are asking that same question. Society has been lowering God’s standard of holiness. It has been said that there are to ways to meet a standard: live up to it, or lower it. The church has been lowering.
Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”
Whenever people lose sight of the holiness and perfection of God, they rid themselves of an absolute standard of right and wrong. No sin. “No one who does good.”
All you have to do is pick up any newspaper and read about someone like the man from Boston who was acquitted of flying drugs into the United States because he suffered from “action addiction syndrome.” An emotional imbalance that makes a man crave dangerous adventure!
The vanishing conscious is having people regret what they have done only after they are caught. There is no remorse or sorrow for the act just getting caught. We have counseled away all our sins. The American Psychiatric Association no longer identifies pedophilia, sexual desire in an adult for a child, as a psychiatric disorder.
2. What Happened To Holiness? (vs. 14-15)
Jeremiah is writing about the false prophets who provide Band-Aids over mortal wounds, and people eliminated guilt, so they don’t even blush.
Jeremiah 6:14-15 says; “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,’ says the Lord.”
Social analyst and U.S. Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, coined the phrase “defining deviancy down.” It means to take what is deviant and make it seem okay when compared to even worse extremes.
We compare our sins to the sins of our neighbors and friends. “Well so and so committed adultery; all I do is flirt!” or “I know I hate her, but at least I didn’t kill her!” You can see the problem can’t you? We compare ourselves to others but not to God. Compared to our friends and neighbors we aren’t so bad. Compared to God, look out.
2 Corinthians 10:12 says; “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves, they are not wise.”
Sin has disappeared from our vocabulary because we have found better ways to do it. We can do wrong but not as wrong as our neighbor. We must be careful not to watch others to judge where we are spiritual. To be wise we need to have our eyes on God!
3. The Gospel of Our Fathers. (v. 16)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer used the phrase “Cheap Grace” to define how cynical the church had become toward God. The world finds a cheap covering for its sins. It has no real desire to be delivered from sin.
For the past few decades the church has defined itself by growth not doctrine. Believers have turned from repentance to recruitment. They have done everything to bring people into the church not into the Kingdom. Pastors invite people to come to Christ not because He is God and that is what He desires, but because we were told, “God will fix your problems.” The world has infiltrated the Church more than the Church infiltrated the world.
2 Kings 17:32-33 says; “They worshiped the Lord but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.”
Sin has lost full meaning even in the church because God has been “sold to the lowest bidder,” the world. God desires more than a prayer. If you want to live up to God’s standards, we must “deny (ourselves) and take up (our) cross daily and follow (Him)” Luke 9:23.
Sin is not merely the act, but it is the evil desire behind the act! Where do our desires come from? The heart. Sin has vanished from our vocabulary because we have been calling the wrong things sin. Many people make resolutions to change their behavior. Some counselors use behavioral psychology to help people, ACT differently, but never change their desire. Many people try to convince themselves to desire godly things. People join accountability groups in order to share what goals they have in desiring to be more like Christ. Many call themselves “Christians” who have changed their actions and desires, but never allowed God to change their hearts. That would mean true repentance, something that is far more difficult than we think.
How do we change those things which have been spoken of this morning? How do we regain our outlook on sin? We regain our outlook on sin by seeing it through our Father’s eyes. What behaviors or actions have you asked God to change but never asked Him to change the desire? That’s missing the mark! What desires have you made an effort to get a control over but never asked God to change your self-will or heart? That’s missing the mark again! Are you ready to ask God to reveal the “real” sin in your life and are you ready to ask God for a true heart that is repentant? If so then come immediately don’t hesitate.
As we sing the chorus “Change My Heart O’ God,” allow God to just that. Change our hearts so that we may begin or once again worship Him. Some may need more time to make their decisions or they may be struggling with how they view God altogether. As we sing the chorus “Jesus Lover of My Soul,” allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in our life.
Works Cited
Feinberg, Charles L. “Jeremiah.” Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. 2vols. Barker, Kenneth L. & John R. Kohlenberger III eds. Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2000.
Kinder, Derek. “The Message of Jeremiah.” The Bible Speaks Today. Motyer, J. A. ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Menninger, Karl. Whatever Became of Sin? New York: Hawthorne, 1973.
Radmacher, Earl. Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House eds. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville: Nelson, 2000.
Walvoord, John F. & Roy B. Zuck eds. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 2 vols. Downers Grove: Victor Books, 1997.
Zuck, Roy B. The Speaker’s Quote Book. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999.
