Skip to main content

This is How Salvation Works (Sort Of)

Germs on a Keyboard! 
I used this analogy with my youth a week or so ago. I doubt I'm the first to think of this analogy, but my family was doing some thorough cleaning and it struck me how futile it was. The kids are just going to dirty it up again.

Germs are funny things. Once they are out there, they continue to multiply and spread and are seemingly everywhere. And once they’re out there, they are seemingly impossible to get rid of. Which is why all the cleaning bottles tell us they get rid of 99.99% of germs. But .01% remain. And you know what that .01% will do? They will multiply and spread!

I want you to imagine that you could be in a perfectly clean room. It’s spotless, not even .01% of germs live in here. If you’re a germaphobe, this is your paradise. This is the one room where you can relax and know that all is right in the world. If you were ever a fan of the TV show Monk, then you remember his obsession with cleanliness.

But let’s say you leave the room, even just for a minute. When you return to this room, you know what you bring with you? Germs! Good luck getting it clean again, since all the cleaners only kill 99.99% of germs. Many attempts could be made to make the room clean again, but at the rate that germs reproduce it would not be possible. The solution would be to create a new clean room.

No analogy is perfect, but this is what God did in Jesus Christ. The sacrificial system was not working and so God made a New Covenant. I don't want you to assume God is a giant germaphobe with a bottle of spray cleaner in hand, but He does desire us to be clean. He uses to word holy.

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ~Colossians 1:22
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...

But I Wanted It

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...