Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter![b]Is 5:20[/b]
I write this knowing that this may offend some people. Although this is not my intention, nor desire, I strongly feel that this them needs to be discussed. I have noticed a subtle error that has befallen the church which has the appearance of being good, although at the heart of it is great wickedness, veiled by good intention.
There is an old saying that goes something to the effect of "A good deed done is it's own reward." The idea behind it was that their is no point blowing your trumpet, so to speak, in order to receive praise for doing a good thing, because the satisfaction of assisting another should be reward enough. This principle is seen in Christ's description of his servants, who say "We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." are doing all that is commanded of them.
Watchman Nee wrote a book entitled "The Normal Christian Life", which describes a life that many Christians would consider extreme, while Nee calls it normal. The implication is that anything less than this is substandard. Herein is my assertion: [b]Is the majority of the church guilty of considering sin to be normal, and obedience to be extreme?
The basis of my observation have come from some pms that I have received of late. As some of you might know, over the past few months, my family has been enduring an ordeal, of sorts, due to a sever case of depression, suffered by my wife. The condition has at times been so bad that she has been repeated suicide attempts. I have made an appeal for prayer, where I have given progress reports, from time to time, both positive, and negative. Anyway, these pms have been from people who have sought to encourage me that my family is in their prayers, of which I am truly grateful. However, often comments have been made complimenting me on stick by my wife. Perhaps I am taking this all a little far, but I can't help to wonder why a believer would consider this to be anything but normal.
I have raised my children to learn that obedience is normal. I try to avoid giving praise for obedience, but more for achievements, or general compliments regarding how special they are to me. From time to time I may comment that I appreciate how easy they make it for me to be their parent, which in a sense is praise for obedience, but it is for an expression of appreciation for my receiving the benefits of their obedience, than the obedience itself.
So, what do you think. Have we allowed ourselves to consider sin as normal, to the point that we overate obedience? I wonder if for some, the idea that their obedience is something special creates the idea that disobedience is a valid option. Regarding my earlier comments about the pms that I have received, the last time I received one, I replied back with comments about the normality of a husband's devotion to his wife, and they agreed with the sentiment. I add this to dissuade anyone from thinking that this is some kind of underhanded rebuke. I merely hope to open this up for consideration.
Thank you.
