So I’ve been preaching
through the book of 1st John and this Sunday is my last
message. There’s just one particular
verse I thought I would blog about today.
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies
in control of the evil one. 1st John 5:19
The apostle John is
speaking to those who believe in and follow Jesus as the ones who are from God,
and the “whole world” refers to those who don’t follow Jesus. Now if you are
someone who does not follow Jesus or consider themselves to be a Christian, and
I were to say to you that the devil is controlling you, I bet you might be
offended. For starters you may not even
believe in the devil. Your line of
thinking would probably go something like this; “Stupid fundamentalist
Christian! Who does he think he is
telling me I’m controlled by the devil? Only I control myself!”
I guess I wouldn’t blame you for responding in that way. And for what it’s worth, in terms of what it
actually means I’m really not all that fundamental at all. I’ve known plenty of fundamentals over the
years, and they’re really not all that fun; just mental (sorry I couldn’t
resist).
But here’s the deal. I actually do think anyone who doesn’t put their
faith in God through the person and work of Jesus Christ is actually being controlled
by the devil. They just don’t know it. They are controlled in one of two ways.
1. The Rebel Way
This says I’ll do what I
want when I want. It’s very much a
“self-discovery, blaze my own trail” kind of mentality. This would be the younger son in the parable
of the prodigal son. No one is going to tell you what is right and what is
wrong, you’re going figure that stuff out for yourself. And as long as you’re not hurting anyone else
then you’re just fine. Let me ask all of
you a question having to do with someone recently in the news. Do you think Philip Seymour Hoffman was
hurting just himself and no one else with his drug addiction? I’d say he was hurting his kids, he was
hurting his family, and he was hurting those who loved him. He was harming a lot more than just
himself. Do you think maybe he was
controlled just a little by his drug addiction?
“Under the control of the evil one?”
And you know it’s not so much the addiction that the devil uses to
control us; that’s just the end result.
It’s more the “I’m going to live free, and do my own thing, and no one
can tell me what’s right and wrong” attitude that Satan uses to control us
with. It’s so sad to think that the very
things people do in the name of being morally free, are the things that in the
end lead to being a slave to addiction.
2. The Goody-Goody Way
This way is sort of the opposite
of the Rebel way. It represents the
older brother in the parable of the Good Samaritan. And guess what? He was just as lost as the younger brother if
not more. The goody-goody way says I’m
going to do what’s right. I’m going
follow the rules. I’m going to pay my
taxes, and give to charity, and I’ll try to be a family man. All stuff that sounds good and innocent
enough. So what’s the problem? Well the problem is in the motivation. They’re doing it to try and earn something
from God. They’re trying to buy off
God. They figure, hey I’m better than
the next guy, so I must be alright with the big guy upstairs. Satan loves this
attitude, because the people with this attitude are buying in to a lie, and
he’s controlling these people with a false belief system. He’s got them thinking everything is going to
be okay if they just work at following the rules.
In the end neither of
these ways work. The only true life choice is to follow Jesus. To realize that you can’t blaze your own
trail and define your own morality, and you also can’t earn your way to God by
following a bunch of rules; but to know that God loves you and desires a
relationship with you, and you follow Him because of his demonstrated love
through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
the only true way, and through Him is eternal life. Only when you choose to follow Him do you
find true freedom. Jesus is the truth
that sets us free. What does He set us free
to do? To live for Him, and to love God
and love others as He has called us to.
Not because we are trying to earn anything from Him, but simply as the
only logical response to the love He has shown for us. It’ kind of funny how it works. By following and
obeying someone and His call on your life, you actually find more freedom. It’s funny, but with Jesus this principle
works. I just wish Philip Seymour
Hoffman would have figured this out before he started experimenting with drugs.
