The Heart

I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll last night that really struck me. (Click on the link above entitled "The Heart" and scroll down and click the sermon of the same name to listen to it). He was preaching through ideas that are seen in Proverbs. Specifically he was talking about how there are two kind of responses that people can take toward trying to get rid of their sin and be better people. The first one and by far the most common is behavior modification. This is when we do everything we can to not lust, swear, etc. We set up rules to follow and passionately try to follow the rules. At this point most of you are probably thinking, "Yea, that's what we're supposed to do as Christians, right?" No, it's not. Say someone with a problem overeating sticks to their regimented program of diet and exercise and they lose all that weight. What does that person now think of people that are overweight (often not always)? It would be very easy for that person to be prideful and elevate himself or herself as better than them. So often though, eventually that person quits the diet and exercise and gains all the weight back. Now that person feels like they aren't worth anything and they are a loser because they slipped back into their sinful pattern of overeating. So to summarize, succeeding in the behavior modification area leads to pride and failing leads to beating yourself up. Here's the big problem with that. In both potential results sin is just being replaced with different sin. Now don't get me wrong, I do this all the time especially in areas like my daily time in the Word and prayer. I'm really proud of myself if I do them and I look down on others who don't, or I sit there and beat myself up for not managing my time well that day. So what is the second option then? Examine your heart. I'll use my example of Bible reading to try and explain the difference. If I don't want to read my Bible on a particular day for whatever reason the first thing I should do is think "Why don't I want to read God's word? What is my heart valuing as more important than God's Word right now?" It could be many things (football game on tv, homework, tired from a long day at school, etc.) By honestly examining my heart I see that the problem is much deeper than just cracking my Bible open for 5 minutes to inflate my ego. The problem is that I am an extremely self-absorbed sinner who needs to be repent and run back to the foot of the cross. That's where Jesus took on the wrath of the Father for the selfish sin I was committing right then. All of a sudden, instead of just modifying my behavior, I've gone to the root of the problem - I have a sinful heart. But the good news is I won't receive the punishment that I deserve to receive because of what Christ accomplished through his perfect life, undeserving death, and miraculous resurrection. If at this point I'm not jumping up and down for joy then there's something wrong with me. Now I should crave to get into God's Word and learn more about Him so I can grow closer to Him and learn to serve Him better. Behavior modification just replaces one sin with another. Examining your heart takes you to the cross where you are reminded of the extraordinary price that was paid for that sin you are committing right then. Daily as we go through life and struggle with sin, let's not just try and simply modify our behavior, let's look at the real problem, our sinful heart, and run to the feet of our Savior!