When that anon said "we need to be honest with ourselves" I immediately thought of Romans 2:13, James 1:22-25 and my Pastor who always starts off every single sermon with "Let us look at our hearts with truth for that is the only way proper transformation will come about". Too many Christians want to appear holier than the next and that is why the church is not balanced, we must be honest with who we really are, acknowledging even the darkest parts of ourselves. It is why we need Jesus.
âFor it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.â - Romans 2:13âBut be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.â - James 1:22-25Itâs vital that we not only learn and understand the Word, but also actively apply and practice it. The Pharisees were a prominent example of individuals who knew scripture like the back of their hands, yet were hypocrites who did not practice what they preached. Like you touched upon in your message, the Pharisees were focused on appearing holy and putting on a performance for the eyes of other men, but neglected the very real issue of the darkness and spiritual decay that was happening within themselves. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for these behaviors.Sadly, the Pharisee-like mentality did not end with the Pharisees and is still a problem for far too many in the church today. One of the major problems that comes from this mentality is a reluctance to admit oneâs weaknesses to others and even oneself, because of wanting to appear holier than others. Itâs a form of pride. The truth is, a person can refuse to admit their weaknesses to others or themselves, but it canât be hidden from God (1 Samuel 16:7, Jeremiah 17:10). We harm ourselves by refusing to acknowledge our struggles/weaknesses with the flesh. It also causes harm to others when people with this mentality proclaim that they have no weaknesses in the flesh (because they donât want to admit it for appearances sake or maybe they are blinded to their own weaknesses - or possibly a mix of both) and unfairly accuse others who are open about their struggles of being false Christians for having to battle the flesh - when in reality, this is a battle nobody is exempt from while running the race in this life. Paul talked openly about his battles with the flesh as a Christian. We canât deny that it is a major spiritual concern/red flag if someone claims to be a Christian yet embraces sin without any sense of remorse or conviction about it. This is something that we are to speak up about in truth and love for the sake of that person. But that situation is entirely different from a Christian acknowledging that they have a weakness to certain sins, knowing those sins are wrong, choosing and desiring to fight against it with Christâs help because He has convicted them, and seeking forgiveness/repenting if they should stumble.I completely agree with your pastorâs statement - it is critical that we look at our own hearts and, with the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit, recognize the weaknesses/sin that need to be addressed with His help. Itâs so important to be honest about our weaknesses with the flesh both to ourselves and to our brothers and sisters in Christ. There are certain weak areas that I took quite awhile to talk about openly on this blog, mainly because I felt ashamed and concerned about what people would think of me. But once I set my pride aside and spoke openly about it, others started talking openly about their same struggles and said seeing me speak up made them less scared to do so. Likewise, me seeing other brothers and sisters in Christ speaking up about these same struggles with the flesh helped me to set my pride aside and open up for the sake of others. Sharing our experiences with weakness in the flesh and our fight against it is a way He uses us to build each other up, encouraging one another to fight against sin and rely upon Christ for the sanctification we need. Itâs one of the ways we work together in fellowship to sharpen one another. Acknowledging the weak spots that we are ashamed of can be painful and embarrassing. But failing to acknowledge them for the sake of pride is the spiritual equivalent of ignoring a festering sore that needs medical treatment. Christ is our Physician and in order to seek His help that we so desperately need, we need to recognize that the festering sore is there to begin with.
