Simple Advice

By Pastor Christian on 2/22/10

This Sunday, Brandon gave us a simple piece of advice. A little gem that would have saved our dear King David an astonishing amount of trouble – He told us to Get Out! Flee from sin. And, avoid dangerous situations that will get us in trouble.

Upon hearing his advice, I paused, remembered and grimaced. I thought, “oh that I would have followed this simple rule and would continue to for the remainder of my days.” But I have my doubts.

Why do I “have my doubts?” Why is the simplest advice the hardest to obey?

I think it’s because it cuts down to our most basic problem. I can follow all kids of short, situational advice like, don’t go that way it takes too long, or trust that guy he’s legit. It’s the big, universal, and daily tested pieces of advice that are my foil, like don’t procrastinate, don’t be lazy, don’t be afraid, don’t eat in excess – do stay fit, do love, do be courageous, do notice the world around you, do appreciate each day as a gift.

And, I genuinely want to avoid or embody all these characteristics. I really do. I commit myself to them daily. But, I am willing to confess, I still do not hold them flawlessly regardless of my earnestness.

And why is that? I am afraid it is because I can not.

Because our most basic problem is that we are broken – seriously, inherently and permanently broken until we are made new in eternity. And this simple fact creates two very real life outcomes:

One, we must regularly and regretfully discover just how broken we are. Sadly, we all have ample opportunity to discover that we have made mistakes and missed opportunities and ultimately to recognize that we did NOT follow very simple advice. Then we groan, regret, and possibly feel guilty, stupid, unsaved or unsavable, all of which hopefully drives us to outcome number two.

That is, that we increasingly appreciate and rely on the saving work of Jesus. When we run into our own brokenness, we are meant to run into the arms of Jesus, not to run away in despair. Remember, he already knows the deal. He knows us.  We are meant to look to him and say again, “I need you. I can NOT do this on my own. Thank you for knowing me, loving me, and saving me.” There was never a plan to combine our righteousness with his to create a working harmony. It has and will remain his work, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:9, “so that no one can boast.”

But now we are left with this genuinely good piece of advice – Get Out! Flee from sin. And avoid dangerous situations that will get you in trouble but our problem remains. So, what do we do? Are we unable to follow it? Should we just throw our hands up in the air and say, “sorry, I am broken. I can’t help it” and go on our way? NO! We must, in order, (1) admit our brokenness, (2) turn to Jesus and then (3) FIGHT against that old nature! (Romans 6-8). That is our Ultimate Fight. It is our adopted right as children of God to fight without fear. We have been set free to look our sinful nature in the face and deny it. We are free to get back up when we fall down precisely BECAUSE our brokenness does not come as a surprise to us and BECAUSE we are assured that we are at peace with God through Jesus (Rom 5)!

And therein lays the secret to following this kind of advice – not perfection - tenacity. We must start each day planning to follow the advice. We must take each moment planning to follow the advice. We must celebrate occasions we succeed and move past the ones we do not. And we must do this over and over and over until we die. And on those occasions when we fail to follow the simplest advice, we can not fall into despair. We can not surrender. We can not doubt our salvation. We get back up, fix our eyes on Jesus and keep on fighting.

Thoughts?

Christian

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