Jump Start # 1664

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

  I was watching some of the Olympic track and field events yesterday. The long jump and the high jump are a couple of sports that I once did in school. Our verse came to my mind, especially with the high jumpers. If they “fall short,” the bar falls and they don’t win. Coming short in a running race, a swimming event, in shot put, in pole vault means no medals. The athletes at the Olympics have gathered from around the world to not just compete, but to win. They want to go home with a medal. Falling short is not in their plans.

Our verse today, oft quoted by preachers and students of the Bible, reminds us of the terrible consequences of sin. Sin leaves us short of what God wanted and expected for us.

There are two central thoughts here:

First, all of us are in this together. All have sinned. There are few things in life that we can saw “all” have done. Not everyone has gone to college. Not everyone in the world has tasted Coke-Cola. Not everyone owns a home. Not everyone has eyesight. Not everyone has money. Not everyone has been incarcerated. Not everyone has had a job. Not everyone has been married. Not everyone has had children. Not everyone has flown on an airplane. Not everyone has been to a museum. I was watching a video this morning of questions that were asked on a college campus. Most didn’t know who won the Civil War, nor who the current Vice-President is. All of them, but me, watching, knew who Brad Pitt was married to.

However, we all have sinned. All of us. The American. The African. The European. The smart college nerd. The grease monkey who is always tinkering with cars. The cool guy. The jerk. The super star. The nobody. All of us have let God down. All of us have disobeyed Him. All of us have sinned. That puts us all in the same boat. That means we all have the same need—salvation. That is so unique. I need what the millionaire needs. I need what the movie star needs. I need what Olympic gold medal winner needs. I need what you need. We all have sinned and we all need salvation.

Second, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. We all let God down. The very definition of sin is to “miss the mark.” I think of an archer who is trying to shoot his arrow at the bullseye. He misses. He misses the target completely. He’s not close. There is no second place with God. There is no podium standing for those who came close. It’s all or nothing. And with all of us, it is nothing. We missed. Falling short of the glory of God implies that God had a plan for us. God saw us achieving great things with Him. We missed it. We fell short. We didn’t become what God wanted. Sin disappoints God. Sin hurts God.

This discussion leads to a question, why do we sin? The answer can be complex, but it’s not, actually. We sin simply because we put ourselves in front of God. We do what we want. We do not look at consequences. The thrill of the forbidden fruit blinds us to all other things. It’s the moment. It’s the fun. It’s not thinking spiritually. It’s all about us. Maybe this is why Jesus in defining discipleship started with us. He said, “if anyone whishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Deny self is where Jesus started. Self gets in the way. We say things like, “I just don’t feel like it today…” so we don’t do anything. We say, “Why should I,” so we don’t. Deny self.  It’s not about you anymore. The universe no longer revolves around us. Science teaches us that. The Bible teaches us that spiritually. Sin problem is a self problem. Too much of self will kill the soul.

To conquer the pattern of sinning, it must start with our thinking. Jesus said out of the heart of man is what defiles a man. We say things that we shouldn’t because we first thought those thoughts. We do what we do because those actions began as thoughts. Our thoughts is the source of our attitudes and actions. Change the thoughts and you change the behavior. Often, we address the actions and find ourselves fighting these things over and over and over. They don’t stop because the mind is still producing wrong thoughts. We must fight this at the other end, in the mind.

Could that be the reason we find passages that talk about “renew” the mind; set your mind on things above; whatever is pure, let your mind dwell upon these things; let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. These expressions are dealing with the thought processes. Change the thinking and you change the behavior.

God has made us for something better than what Satan offers. The devil always offers inferior choices. We fall for them because they are easy and shinny. They catch our eye. Then the thoughts begin. Paul told the Corinthians to capture every thought for the obedience of Christ.

Everyone you meet today needs Jesus, no exception. Everyone you meet today has the same problem, whether or not they know it or will admit it. Everyone you meet today can be forgiven if they will only believe and obey Christ.

Everyone…

Roger