What if...

I muddle along with my lack of standing on many spiritual issues. I happen to think that homosexual sex is sinful behavior, but I don't think that people who practice this sin are any more sinful than people who indulge in gluttony, materialism, heterosexual sex outside of marriage, or pride. So I enjoy the company of homosexual friends and relatives and hope they enjoy my company.

I also have friends who have had abortions.
But I would not participate in helping a friend have an abortion.

So what if my cousin invites me to a wedding? Or my ex-husband? I want to celebrate my friends' joys but not behaviors I count as sin.

As is often the case, I can't find a "policy". I need to rely on prayer for guidance, once again, as always, ....

Life and Death

Romans 6:5-14 (The Message)

3-5That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.

6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call!

What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word.
When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.
From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.

12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

What happens to my resolutions?

Romans 7:13-25 (The Message)

13I can already hear your next question: "Does that mean I can't even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?" No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God's good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own.

14-16I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

17-20But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

I said something at work that could get me fired. I was being flip and certainly didn't MEAN any harm, but it was in very poor judgement. Very very poor judgement. (whacks self on head)

As a distant friend told me on the phone tonight,"You will make mistakes at work."

I have missed the mark so many times. I will miss the mark over and over again. I need a Savior to set things right.

Here's a PS. I am listening to John Piper speaking about these verses. I've made a link to part 2 of the 3 part series. I'm so glad to have a holiday to put time into this. I think it's important.

It's New Year's Eve.

from Psalm 51 (the NIV version)
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,

from Psalm 51 (the Message version)
8 Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. ... 10 God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

This psalm was written after Nathan had the guts to tell David what he had done wrong when he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged to have her husband killed. Terrible wrongs that hurt many people. But David knows his greatest sin was against God.

Sins that hurt "only ourselves" are also sins against God.

This is a good time for a "Genesis week from the chaos of my life."