Stupid Things Christians Do
(to mess up their lives)
TCF Sermon
April 18, 2004
Did you ever notice how much of life is full of warnings, full of cautions? You can’t drive from here to home after church today, without seeing something that’s a direct warning or caution, or at the very least, a law or a limit with an implied warning.
Speed limits are an example. They’re an implied warning that if you drive over that limit, you can be ticketed, or get yourself hurt, or hurt someone else.... that’s why we have limits.
There are road hazard warnings. The road narrows ahead – move over or you’ll run out of pavement. There are all kinds of warnings in life.
Most products we purchase have labels warning about improper use. I found a great list of these kinds of warnings. Believe it or not, these are all real.
- a label on a snow sled which says: "Beware: sled may develop high speed under certain snow conditions."
- a fishing lure, with a warning that reads: harmful if swallowed.
- A warning on an electric router made for carpenters cautions: “This product not intended for use as a dental drill.”
- A warning label found on a baby stroller cautions the user to “Remove child before folding”
- A container of underarm deodorant says, “Caution: Do not spray in eyes”
- A cartridge for a laser printer warns, “Do not eat toner”
- A cardboard car sunshield that keeps sun off the dashboard warns, “Do not drive with sunshield in place”
We can laugh about these, and think, who would be foolish enough to need such warnings?
But apparently someone did something goofy enough, or some lawyer, thinks somebody is, or will be, foolish enough, or should we say, stupid enough, to think about eating toner from a laser printer cartridge, or driving with the sunshade in place.
Then of course, we often hear about warnings that go unheeded, and the sometimes very serious consequences of these things, that aren’t at all funny.
For example, how often have we heard the clear warning: “don’t drink and drive?”
But then how often do you hear or read of a drunk driver who causes an accident that kills someone.
How often do we hear about the dangers of illegal drugs...and then hear about someone who died of an overdose, or became addicted and ruined their life.
Not paying attention to warnings, or even to admonitions on how to live, can have serious, or even deadly consequences.
Sometimes, we even witness or experience the consequences of a behavior,
up close and personally, and follow in that path anyway, with the same or worse consequences following. There’s this true story from last year:
Ignoring Coast Guard warnings, David Manley ventured onto the icy surface of Saginaw Bay with his pickup truck one chilly morning. Predictably, the vehicle broke through the ice, but the 41-year-old managed to avert tragedy and escape from the sinking truck. He reached the shore wet and cold, but alive.
Despite his traumatic experience, and despite a day of sunshine and warm temperatures in the 60s, David returned to Saginaw Bay late the following night. This time he was driving an all-terrain vehicle, and accompanied by a friend. Surprise! The ATV also plunged through the ice.
His companion survived, but David had used up his luck. His body was recovered by the Coast Guard southwest of the Channel Islands.
Cautions, and warnings, can be our friends. They exist to keep us well, sometimes they exist to keep us alive.
The same is true of our life in Christ. While we rely completely on the grace of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for our eternal destiny, we Christians often do stupid things to mess up our lives on earth.
We can all think of things we’ve done, or not done, things we’ve seen others do, or not do, things that had at least some short-term negative consequences, or often, even long-term, or life-altering consequences.
The Word of God is first and foremost a book revealing God’s love plan for us. It’s first and foremost a book that details His eternal plans for our salvation.
But the Word of God is also a book full of caution and warning. You see, God doesn’t just tell us in this book how we can be saved, but He tells us how we can live Godly lives for Him, and in doing that, escape the consequences of what we’d otherwise have to classify as foolish, or even stupid, behavior.
While I believe that this fallen, sinful world we live in, just about guarantees some measure of trouble, illness, or hardship in our lives, I also believe that by walking wholeheartedly with Jesus, by devoting our lives to Him, we can escape some of the things we’d otherwise have to deal with in life.
There’s no guarantee of total bliss, even with the Lord, but things do go better when we follow the Lord. This morning, we’re going to look at five things, and this is by no means an exhaustive list – in fact I had to cut it significantly so we wouldn’t be here until 3 p.m. - but these are five of many things we could mention...and I call this list – Stupid things Christians do to mess up their lives.
The Word of God is clear that there are consequences for some of these stupid things. And lest you think I’m being too harsh by calling them stupid things, let me note that stupid is a good translation in some of the many passages of scripture I’ll read this morning.
Doing stupid things doesn’t mean you are stupid. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with intelligence. It just means you are capable of doing stupid things.
Now, foolish is not an exact synonym for stupid, but it’s close:
fool•ish 1. resulting from or showing a lack of sense; ill-considered; unwise: a foolish action, a foolish speech.
- lacking forethought or caution.
And then the dictionary gives this list of synonyms for foolish:
- senseless, vacant, vapid, simple, witless. FOOLISH, FATUOUS, SILLY, INANE, STUPID, implies weakness of intellect and lack of judgment. FOOLISH implies lack of common sense or good judgment or, sometimes, weakness of mind: a foolish decision;
Folly is another word for stupidity or foolishness.
Proverbs 5:21-23 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths.
Here...paths are the things we do... our conduct....the choices we make. This proverb goes on to say starting again with vs. 22...
22His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. 23He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.
Another version says, he’ll be led astray by his own great folly.
Now, the immediate context of this proverb is adultery, which scripture clearly labels foolishness, not to mention sin. But I believe these things in this passage can apply to any kind of sin. The terrible consequences of sin, outlined in several verses before the passage we just read, should be enough to motivate a person to avoid it.
But in this passage, we see even higher motivations to avoid sin. First, God sees.
He sees our hearts, he sees our actions. If that’s not enough, we also see the warning that sin ensnares us, just like a rope can tie us up.
What’s more, we can be led astray from God’s standards, by our own foolishness, or folly.
Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof (NIV says “correction”) is stupid.
Cautions and warnings can be reproof or correction, and to hate them is stupid.
Here’s a passage you conservatives can use next time you get into a political argument:
Eccles. 10:2-3 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. 3Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is.
NAS Eccles. 10:3 Even when the fool walks along the road his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.
Now, what Solomon wrote here in this passage, is that the wise person has the quality of heart and mind that will protect him from danger. That’s what the part of the verse that says “inclines to the right” means.
It’s not necessarily referring to right or wrong, because if that’s what he wanted to communicate, he might have continued by writing that the fool inclines to the wrong, rather than saying “the left,” if he was trying to show a contrast.
Here the King James gives the most literal translation: It says “the heart of the wise is at his right hand.” The right hand, especially in the Old Testament was the place of protection.
We won’t read these, but you might want to look later at Psalms 16:8, 110:5, and 121:5 – these show how the OT viewed the right hand.
Now the opposite of the wise person is the fool, whose lack of sense is clearly illustrated by his behavior. The figure of speech, “walking along the road,” indicates moral behavior.
Titus 3:3 At one time we, too, were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
As believers, the operative phrase here should be: “at one time.”
In other words, it’s the idea that “you used to be this way before you began following Christ.” . ..and you shouldn’t be this way anymore.
Ephes. 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
King David said this to his son, Solomon:
1 Chron. 28:9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
Solomon grasped that message, because in Proverbs he wrote:
Proverbs 4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.
It’s clear from scripture that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It’s also clear that our primary source for this wisdom is the Word of God.
And that brings me to the number one stupid thing that Christians do to mess up their lives:
1. neglect the Word of God
Psalm 119:9-16 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 13With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Let’s bring this idea into a different context – rather than the precepts in the Word of God, those commands, those ways of living that the Psalmist praised, rejoiced in....
if we were writing a similar praise of some of our more secular laws...the rules of our society...it might go something like this:
“How can I keep from hurting myself? By obeying all criminal, civil and traffic laws. I read the law books daily - don’t let me speed, drink and drive or do drugs. I have memorized all the laws so that I don’t break them. What great lawmakers and police we have! I want to learn all about the laws. I tell people all about these wonderful laws, and I’m happy in obeying each and every one of them, even as I’m happy with a million dollar bank account, owning a humongous SUV and a plasma TV. I think about these laws, and how smart they are. I’m happy about them, I won’t ignore them.”
Now, we might actually write or say something like that, if we were able to see how so many of these rules we sometimes chafe under, are there for our own well-being, for our protection. But our tendency is to see rules, and laws, as restrictive, as holding us back from having fun.
The Psalmist didn’t see it that way. Life Application Commentary on this passage:
Most of us chafe under rules, for we think they restrict us from doing what we want. At first glance, then, it may seem strange to hear the psalmist talk of rejoicing in following God’s statutes as much as in great riches. But God’s laws were given to free us to be all he wants us to be. They restrict us from doing what might cripple us and (what might) keep us from being our best. God’s guidelines help us follow his path and avoid paths that lead to destruction.
God’s Word, learned, listened to and obeyed, can help keep us from doing stupid things, foolish things. More than that, it helps us to do good things, Godly things.
So for us to ignore His Word, for us to leave it on the shelf, for us not to take the time to know it, and know it well, only leads to foolishness.
The word neglect in this passage means: to mislay, i.e. to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention.
That’s the key...we’re not oblivious to the Word of God because we cannot get our hands on a bible. For each of us, it’s very available... we all have many Bibles in our homes.
We don’t pay adequate attention to it. We don’t give it the place in our Christian lives it deserves. Of course, we can hear God’s words some without ever reading God’s Word for ourselves.
Just like we’re doing this morning. But Sunday morning preaching isn’t enough. Sunday night teaching at church or youth group isn’t enough. Wednesday night house church, or BASIC bible study isn’t enough. We need to be in the Word ourselves. We need to read it daily, we need to study, to meditate.
Matthew 7:26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
That’s the second part of the neglect. If we hear the Word of God, if we know His Word, and then don’t put it into practice, we’re just as foolish as if we never read or heard the Word at all. Anyone who builds houses will tell you they need a firm foundation. Being hearers of the Word only, and not doers, or neglecting to read the Word at all, makes us foolish, and has the capacity to mess up our lives.
The Word of God is the foundation for building our lives in Christ.
Another key component in building our lives in Christ relates to the second stupid thing Christians do to mess up their lives.
2. forsake the fellowship
Often, you’ll hear journalists and economists talking about the leading economic indicators. These things are not the be-all and end-all of how the economy is doing, that is, they don’t tell the whole story...but they do give us a good idea – and are often very close to the mark.
Now, if I want to begin to get a clue to how someone’s doing with the Lord, if I begin to wonder how their walk with Christ is, one of the key leading spiritual indicators is this....
Are they in church regularly? I mean a lot more often than they’re not. I want to be clear up front that I’m not being legalistic here. I know there are legitimate reasons for not being in church. I know there are seasons of life in which it’s difficult or almost impossible to be here almost every Sunday.
But I have to tell you, when I think back on Christians who end up doing stupid things to mess up their lives, I can very often think back and note that their church attendance while at one time it may have been steady and regular, had slipped into sporadic at best.
When once you would have seen this person nearly every Sunday, and nearly every Wednesday night, now, this person is here maybe once a month, and you see them less and less, until finally they drift away from the church.
And I’ll tell you this, too. Once a person drifts away from church, it’s almost inevitable that they’ll drift away from the Lord.
Elders, leaders of TCF, haven’t we seen that to be true time and again?
Now, usually, when challenged, these people will say something like, “I spend a lot of time on my own with the Lord.” The implication is that they don’t need church to keep them on track in their spiritual life.
I believe that approach is incredibly naïve. I believe it’s virtually impossible to be a Christian in isolation. The Word of God doesn’t teach us independence. It teaches us interdependence. We need each other. We need each other’s encouragement. We need each other’s support. We need each other’s admonishment and correction. We need each other’s wisdom, and perspective, because by ourselves, we can be deceived.
The Bible is full of “one another” phrases:
Over and over, the Bible talks about our responsibility to each other:
Romans 12:10 says we’re to be "devoted to one another"
Romans 15:7 says to "Accept one another"
1 Corinthians 12:25 tells us to "care for one another”
Galatians 6:2 commands, "Bear one another’s burdens
1 Thessalonians 5:11: "Encourage…and build up one another"
James 5:16: Confess your sins to…and pray for each other
1 Peter 4:10 Serve one another
1 John 4:11 Love one another
Do you see a pattern here? We cannot do these “one another” things apart from the fellowship.
Would you agree with me that the New Testament saints described in the book of Acts, especially early on, were for the most part walking closely with the Lord?
The leading spiritual indicator here was this:
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Devoted here means: to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor) :- attend (give self) continually
When we forsake the fellowship, we open ourselves up to stupid things that can mess up our lives. One reason we need each other, and we need the Word of God, is because of the third stupid thing Christians do to mess up their lives.
3. underestimate the world
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.
Definitely, when we’re very vulnerable spiritually, but also when we’re not...even when we’re doing well in our walk with Christ, we underestimate the pull of the things of the world in our lives.
One commentary said this about the passage we just read:
The writer was not dissatisfied with the spiritual state of his readers. Much less did
he question or doubt their salvation, as some expositors of this epistle imply. On the
contrary, his readers may even be viewed as having matured in the faith. John wrote
precisely because their present state was so good. But he wished to warn them about
dangers which always exist, no matter how far one has advanced in his Christian walk.
The world is thought of here as an entity hostile to God. It’s seen as a seductive influence, an influence that we as believers must continually resist. The world competes for our love. We cannot love both the world, and the Lord.
James 4:4 says that friendship with the world is hatred toward God. We’re not talking about loving individuals here.
The Bible also says that God so loved the world. So here in these scriptures, “the world” means the system that’s in competition with God.
Some people think that worldliness – that’s the term we use to describe people who seem to love the world....But they believe that worldliness is limited to our behavior. While it’s true that worldliness is often illustrated by our behavior, that is, the people we associate with, the places we go, the activities we enjoy, the things we do and say, worldliness begins in our hearts.... and shows up in our behavior.
Worldliness is characterized by three attitudes:
1. the cravings of sinful man – that is, being preoccupied with gratifying sinful desires.
2. the lust of the eyes – that is, accumulating things, being materialistic.
3. boastful pride of life... obsession with our own status or importance.
The World’s awful anti-trinity...the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
In other words, sensuality, materialism and pride.
James 4:4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Friendship with the world = sharing the world’s values.
James rebukes his hearers for spiritual unfaithfulness. He uses the harsh word adultery – it’s blunt and shocking, intended to jar the readers awake to their true spiritual condition. Just as saying that the things we do to mess up our lives can be stupid.
To have a warm, familiar attitude toward this evil world is to be on good terms with God’s enemy.
1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
4. desire riches or love money
Hebrews 13:5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"
The Word encourages us to relish what we have, rather than resent what we’re missing.
1 Tim. 6:9-10 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
A few weeks ago, Barb and I rented a movie called “A Simple Plan.” This movie could have been a sermon in story, and the text for that sermon would be this passage I just read.
Because of the language in the movie, it’s hard for me to recommend it without reservation, but the story shows clearly how wanting to get rich, leads to foolish and harmful desires.
It did plunge the characters in this movie into ruin and destruction. It led to lies, deceit, and murder. In this movie, the love of money was the beginning of all kinds of evil.
We don’t talk much about money here at TCF. That’s at least partly by design. We don’t mention finances much because we want to rely completely on the Lord, and never leave any room for anyone to feel manipulated. But sometimes I wonder if we don’t do you a disservice, by not looking more often at the many passages of scripture, which talk of money, and material things.
The dangers, the potential traps, and how we are to treat it. I’ve heard it said that you can tell more about a person by looking at his checkbook than by almost any other means. The idea is that what people spend their money on reveals where there heart is. That’s biblical... where your treasure is, your heart is.
If our treasure is in giving, if we give to the church, if we give to missions, if we give in special offerings, if we give of our resources, it’s one of those leading indicators of our spiritual condition. Unfortunately, at least nationally, Christians don’t tithe.
Tithe literally means 10%, and through the years here at TCF, I’ve learned that 10% is just a starting point when it comes to giving. But statistically, Christians give less than 2% of their income.
What does this have to do with love of money?
An important strategy in overcoming love of money, an important way to overcome the desire for riches, is to give it away!!!
Greed leads to all kinds of evil. To master greed, you must control it at its root. Root out, get rid of the desire to be rich. We do that by being generous – by giving it away.
As we prepare to close, I want to mention briefly the fifth stupid thing Christians do to mess up their lives.
5. fail to seek the Lord
God is my source – I seek Him for wisdom, sustenance, direction. But seeking the Lord goes beyond just specific circumstances. Seek means to follow, to pursue. Seeking the Lord is supposed to be a lifestyle, an attitude, not just an event.
The consequences of not making a lifestyle of seeking the Lord can be disastrous.
Rehoboam was the king of Israel after Solomon. Throughout the early part of his reign, Rehoboam fluctuated between obeying God, and going his own way. Rehoboam had many opportunities for real greatness. Instead, he ended up with a divided and broken kingdom. And here’s the warning for us:
Speaking of this king, the Word says something about Rehoboam that I pray can never be said of any of us:
2 Chron. 12:14 He did evil (why?) because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.
God wants a firm commitment, not the waffling of Rehoboam.
Psalm 34:10 says “those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”
We are warned about the cost of not living our lives with wholehearted devotion. But we are also promised good things when we live a lifestyle, when we cultivate the attitude, of seeking the Lord.
Let’s be wise believers, wise in the purely biblical sense, and not foolish, or stupid. Let’s seek the Lord, let’s be rich toward God and not things.
Let’s not underestimate the world, let’s not forsake the fellowship, and let’s not neglect the Word of God.
Let’s not do these stupid things to mess up our lives.
