The Lie
A few years ago, the Lord put it on my heart to write a book. This idea has been mulling around in the back of my mind for awhile, the idea is a non-fiction book based on a recurring theme in 1 and 2 Kings.
It will be called High Places, in reference to the high places the kings allowed to remain in Israel that consistently led to idolatry. As I've been slowly working through this book, I've felt like there are some excerpts I need to share now, before the book is released.
I have no idea when it will be released, I'm not even close to being done now, but God will tell me when I've finished I'm sure. The following is adapted from a chapter called "The Lie" and I feel like it needs to be shared now.
There’s an issue I have seen plaguing believers today, and it breaks my heart. This is something I have seen rear its ugly head time and time again recently. It’s something that I call The Lie.
Make no mistake, there are a lot of lies that Christians believe. We have an enemy who is called the Deceiver, do you think he is good at lying? But this is something special. This is something that keeps us right on the edge, teetering into gray areas and keeping us just slightly off balance. What is The Lie? The Lie desperately wants us to believe that we don’t need to worry about what we let into our lives because the sin problem is not anything tangible that we can simply grasp, it is only our sinful nature. It takes the scripture “Everything is permissible,” (1 Corinthians 10:23, HCSB) to an unhealthy extreme. Let me give you some examples.
The Lie tells the struggling alcoholic that he can go to bars with friends as long as he doesn’t drink, because bars aren’t the problem; sin is the problem. But what happens as soon as the alcoholic walks into a bar? No, this isn’t the start to a cheesy joke. This is real life. The alcoholic is going to have a drink. Or nine or ten. The Lie is powerful.
The Lie tells the struggling porn addict that he can get on the internet while no one is home to see what he does. Because the internet isn’t the issue, right? Sin is the issue. But we all know how that story ends.
The Lie tells the struggling gossip that she can keep her weekly coffee date with her friends who don’t stop gossiping, because the gossiping friends aren’t the problem, the sin is. Her friends are really funny, but she can keep herself out of the gossiping.
The Lie tells the woman struggling with envy that it’s okay to want better for your family while scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram because those platforms don’t make you covet, sin makes you covet.
The Lie tells the Christian that he can watch Game of Thrones every week because it’s just good entertainment, and naked women aren’t the problem, a lustful and sinful heart is the problem.
The Lie tells the unsatisfied woman that books can’t be porn. They’re just words and a way to pass the time. Reading is supposed to be good for you, so it isn’t the problem, a sinful heart is the problem.
These are just a few examples of the many-headed monster that I call The Lie. Here’s one more:
The Lie told the kings of Israel that the high places were not the problem and they needn’t worry about them. The issue of the day was idolatry, not the high places. The Lie told those kings that the high places could stay because their heart was for the Lord.
The Lie has been telling the same story for thousands of years, it’s just using different words now. This Lie has been telling us that all things are permissible, as long as they aren’t directly sinful. The Lie tells us, to put it bluntly, that we can leave sinful strongholds in our lives as long as we don’t actually fall into sin.
The Lie sets us up to fail. What The Lie doesn’t tell us is that high places are constantly inviting us to make sacrifices at their altars. The Lie leaves out the fact that the high places we leave up in our lives are begging for our friends, family, time, and money to be left as a sacrifice on that altar.
My goal is not to simply offend everyone who reads this. Although, if you are offended, you may want to take a long good look at why you feel that way. The Lie is persuasive and pervasive. The Lie turns us against thinking rationally. The Lie tells us to get angry when people try and take away things that it tells us are okay. The Lie wants us to have it our way and it doesn’t like being told no.
Let’s beat the lie.
