Tainted Love Series

“Tainted Love”

Romans 1: 18-25

October 2, 2011

Intro: Today we’re beginning a new series of messages entitled “Classic Rock.” Now for me, classic rock is music from the 1960s but when I talked to Matthew and James I was chagrined to find out that classic rock today is 1980s music! Man, talk @ making me feel OLD! So what we’ll be doing over the next several weeks is taking some songs from the 1980s and finding some biblical truths behind the music.

-One of my favorite songs was the 1981 hit “Tainted Love.” Y’all remember that song? Have to say it’s one of the most recognizable songs of the 1980s! But the song is @ a guy who’s fallen in love w/a girl, but the love doesn’t satisfy him. It leaves him empty.

-The opening lyrics say, “Sometimes I feel I've got to run away I've got to get away , From the pain that you drive into the heart of me. The love we share seems to go nowhere and I've lost my light. For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night.”

-I would quote you the rest of the song, but I’m afraid I might actually break out and start singing. But I believe the words to the song still ring true for so many of us today. People are always in search of meaning and love in their lives. Just @ every book you read or every movie you watch is @ someone’s search for meaning and love in their lives.

-It’s the primo subject of just @ everything we do. I think people are drawn to so much entertainment b/c in the movies they see people living out what they would like to see happen in their lives. We love movies and books where the guy gets the girl. We love it when we see a person be victorious over the world that seems out to get him.

-All of us are looking to love and be loved in a way that will satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. But more often than not, that which we seek after never comes to fruition. It’s my observation that so much of the love we have in this world is tainted and it seems to be like searching for the Holy Grail: we just can’t quite get our hands on it.

-So what’s the problem? The problem is we’re searching for it in the wrong places; we’re searching for it in the wrong way.

Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture the Apostle Paul is going to point out to us several stages that have marked man’s futile search for love and meaning. And it’s my hope as we examine this text that we’ll discover how we can avoid these stages so that we can actually find and discover real love.

TEXT: ROMANS 1: 18-27

Bckgrd: Paul wrote this letter to the Xians who were living in Rome. And throughout this book Paul answers some of the greatest questions that man’s ever had @ the Xian faith. But before Paul got into the great news of the saving power of Christ, he felt compelled to share w/them the devastating lives we live w/o Christ.

-He felt compelled to share w/them why so many people go thru life dissatisfied and defeated. So what are some of the stages that have marked man’s futile search for love? The 1st stage is:

DIV. 1: INTELLIGENCE (vv. 18-20)

Exp: There is a view that holds that the longer man lives the wiser and more knowledgeable he gets. Our technological advances in just the past 10 years are astounding. The internet, social networking, cell phones that you don’t carry in a big bag, the iPad, and on and on are all examples of how far we’ve come. If you look at our advances in the past 100 years it’s absolutely astounding and it doesn’t seem like we’re stopping any time soon!

A.B/c of all these advances you’d think that man’s intelligence is increasing; that his wisdom would be at an all time high. But the exact opposite seems to be happening. I read an article in the paper by John Rosemond several Sundays ago @ our children’s decreasing test scores. There’s more to the article than that but it’s interesting that we test lower than before when we spend more $ per child in education than any nation in the world.

1. So what’s going on? I really don’t believe the root of the problem is political. The root of the problem is our spiritual condition. Paul tells us that God’s wrath and displeasure is being revealed b/c of man’s godlessness and wickedness. I don’t think we’re going to have many who’d argue against the point that we’ve become more and more godless over the years.