Topic: Pressing On (Guilt)
Verses:
1. Philippians 3:7-16 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
2. John 8:31-35 To the Jew’s who believed him, Jesus said, “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “we are Abraham’s descendents and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.”
3. Romans 7:21-25 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Take turns reading paragraphs from the following quotes.
“Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace but inwardly are crying out for someone to love them… just as they are – confused, frustrated, often frightened, guilty, and often unable to communicate even with their own families. But the other people in the church look so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to admit his own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average church meeting appears to be.” – Keith Miller
“One of my favorite Peanuts cartoons starts with Lucy at her 5-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life.
‘Life is like a deck chair, Charlie,’ she says. ‘On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they’re going.’
The good ‘doctor’ looks at her puzzled client and asks, ‘which way is your deck chair facing?’
Without hesitating, Charlie replies glumly, ‘I can’t even get my deck chair unfolded.’
Charlie and I are soul mates.
Everywhere I look on the cruise ship of Christianity, I see crews of instructors, teachers, experts, and gurus eager to explain God’s plan for the placement of my deck chair, but I still can’t even unfold it. No wonder, when I peruse the titles in a Christian bookstore, I feel like I am the only klutz in the Kingdom of God, a spiritual nincompoop lost in a ship full of brilliant spiritual thinkers, an ungodly midget in a world of spiritual giants. When I compare my life with the experts’, I feel sloppy, unkempt, and messy in the midst of immaculately dressed saints… and I’m a minister.” – Michael Yanconelli, Messy spirituality
· Read Romans 7:21-25
o How does the conflict with sin prevent you from “getting your deck chair unfolded?” In other words, how does sin stop you from doing what you are called to do?
“There is no room for pretending in the spiritual life. Unfortunately, in many religious circles, there exists an unwritten rule. Pretend. Act like God is in control when you don’t believe he is. Give the impression everything is okay in your life when it’s not. Pretend you believe when you doubt; hide your imperfections; maintain the image of a perfect marriage with healthy and well-adjusted children when your family is like any other normal dysfunctional family. And whatever you do, don’t admit that you sin.
Practically, pretending is efficient, uncomplicated, and quick. Answering ‘Fine’ to the question ‘How are you doing?’ is much easier than saying, ‘Not very well, thank you; my back is bothering me, my teenage children are disappointing me, I’m unhappy with my body, my husband never speaks to me, and I’m wondering if Christianity is true.’ Honesty requires a huge investment of time and energy from the person asking the question (who would then wish they’d never asked).
Some people consider the use of words like messy spirituality rude and audacious. ‘How dare you suggest that people are messy? What are you proposing? Are you suggesting that sin is ok, that we should condone less than a 100 percent effort to serve God? You are too negative. It’s not helpful to emphasize our flaws.’
But the truth is, we are a mess. None of us is who we appear to be. We all have secrets. We all have issues. We all struggle from time to time. No one is perfect. Not one. (I have just paraphrased Romans 3:10).
For a period of time we were lucky enough to have a housekeeper. She would come in once a week to dust, vacuum, and clean every little out-of-the-way corner of out house. I dreaded the day she came, because my wife and I would spend all morning cleaning the house for the housekeeper! We didn’t want the house to be dirty, or what would the housekeeper think?
We act the same way with God. We talk our way out of the spiritual life by refusing to come to God as we are. Instead, we decide to wait until we are ready to come to God as we aren’t. We decide the way that we lived yesterday, last week, or last year makes us ‘damaged goods’ and that until we start living ‘right’ we’re not ‘God material.’ Some of us actually believe that until we chose the correct way to live, we aren’t chooseable, that until we clean up the mess, Jesus won’t have anything to do with us. The opposite is true… According to the New Testament, Jesus is attracted to the unattractive.” – Michael Yanconelli, Messy Spirituality
· Read John 8:31-35
o How does “pretending” make you a slave to sin?
“’Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter [or finisher] of our faith.’ Spirituality isn’t about being finished and perfect; spirituality is about trusting God in our unfinishedness.
I’ll never forget the day Eric, a recovering alcoholic, stood up in our church during announcements. Eric’s lifelong battle with alcohol had been mostly unsuccessful. He had been in and out of jail, and his drinking was taking a toll on his marriage.
‘I need prayer,’ he said. ‘My wife has given me an ultimatum – drinking or her. She’s asked me to decide today, and I just wanted to tell you all that I have decided…’
A long awkward pause ensued, and every person was on the edge of their seat with their face turned toward him, encouraging him, pleading with him to make the right decision. You could have heard a pin drop.
Finally, he stumbled on, tears in his eyes: ‘I’ve decided to choose my wife!’
Applause and cheering broke out. No one said it, but you could hear it anyway: ‘Good answer! Good answer!’ Eric was not afraid to tell the truth; he was not afraid to reveal to all of us how difficult it was to give up alcohol, even for his wife. Eric is a spiritual man. Troubled? Yes. Weak? Yes. Unfinished? Absolutely. But Eric told the truth and admitted that his desire for drinking was conflicting with his desire to stay married. Eric refused to pretend that life is clean and neat, and he knew he had to tell us the way things were, not the way we wished they were.
Jesus understood unfinishedness very well, which is why he was comfortable leaving eleven unfinished disciples. When he died, the disciples were confused, depressed, afraid, and doubtful. They faced a lifetime of finishing, just like you and me. Messy spirituality not only reminds us we will always be a work in progress; it also reminds us that the unfinished life is a lot more spiritual then we imagined.” – Michael Yanconelli, Messy Spirituality
· Read Philippians 3:7-16.
o How does Paul, (the author of Philippians) admit that he is “a work in progress?”
o How does he deal with this?
Questions:
1. How is your past affecting the way you face your future?
2. Why is it important to forget what is behind before “straining toward what is ahead?” Is it possible to forget the past?
3. What are you afraid of? Is there anything that you are really afraid of losing? What can help you overcome your fear?
4. Are you beating yourself up over your past? How can you stop?
5. Read Acts 7:54-8:4 What part of Paul’s past do you think he was trying to forget? What is the prize Paul is talking about in Philippians 3?