The Gap Between Knowing Better and Doing Better | Romans 7 | Crossroads Daily

Sin is a signal of something that I'm desiring and a hole that I'm trying to fill. That doesn't mean, and Paul says that over and over again, that means sin a lot. No, that's not what that means, but it does mean I do sin a lot and I have repeated patterns of sin. And I think what the Spirit wants to invite me into is what is that a signal of? This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Hey, I'm Chuck. I'm Jamie. I'm Josh. I'm Alex. And we are talking about Romans 7. Paul's words, man, who can't relate to this? He says, for I do not understand my own actions. I guess we could just stop there. But he says, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate. And then later on, he says, I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do not want is what I keep doing. And he says, for I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I keep doing. And I think he's just recognizing this real, it's just a reality that we all are in that situation.

So I wonder if you can think of a way or a place in which you would say, yeah, I relate to those words. I feel like there's so many like deep things that I could go to, but the one that just now came to my mind was like, Go with it. When I'm eating a pint of ice cream, and you're like, surely I could only eat half of this pint of ice cream. And then you get to the end of the pint and you're like, why did I do that? Like, that's just what came to my mind. Like, I'm sure there are other more serious things, but for me, it's the ice cream. The thing for me that's like that is sugar wafers. Sugar wafers? Yeah. Like the ones with the cream? Not Nello wafers. Like the ones that are like a bar with the cream. It's so bad. I only buy them maybe like once or twice a year because when I buy them, I just eat them. And they're crummy. So I keep them in a plastic bag. I look like a wino. I'm literally walking around with like a plastic bag. You're like hiding it? Yes, it's bad.

It's bad. So I can relate to that. I don't want to turn the corner. But you can turn it. But so we're just saying the base of the human condition, the base of who we are, is that we will turn consistently to things that not necessarily are bad for us, but they're taking the place of something. That's right. So I think for me, I'm always trying to find affirmation. I'm always trying. Like even very few people would say, well, that guy, he needs affirmation. Deep down, like that is the thing. And I'm looking for people outside of what I know to be true about what God thinks about me. I'm looking for you all to tell me I'm good. And I think, I mean, there's many more bad things I do, but that's the thing that comes to my mind right now is that I am constantly posturing for someone to tell me I'm good. When all along the Lord has said, you are, I have said so. But that is the human condition. That's the human condition. Well, it's because we're always looking for something to make us feel good. Whether it's a bite of ice cream or other people's affirmations. Like it's, I think probably what he's talking about here

is like the human condition is selfishness. That's always gonna be our default is like, what's good for me? Or at least I feel like this, it's talking about this constant battle in your mind or like the cartoon of like the angel and the devil on your shoulders and they're like constantly battling. And whether you've been following Jesus for a day or years, I think there's some sort of battle that remains because we're always fighting against that human condition of like, what's good for me and selfishness because that's what my flesh is always going to want. Now, here's the question. Why is it good news that Paul and scripture is so honest about our sin condition? So honest about the fact that this is just part of the human experience to have these things. And it makes me think about the U2 song. I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Like we're always gonna have this hunger unless we allow Jesus to. Why do you think it's good that the Bible is so honest about that? And that Paul's so honest about that? I think part of it is the hope. If there isn't the hope that this is a struggle or this is something that everyone has dealt with, then it would be really easy to be like, well, screw it. I'm gonna just devolve to. my base or self.

Like there's no way that I can get there. I can't get there. And that's what the good news is, right? And I think sometimes if we ignored that, then we kind of fall into the place of like the Pharisees of like, well, then I'm whitewashed on the outside and I'm filthy on the inside. And I just think that that is just true. Yeah, I grew up going to a pretty like conservative Christian church. And I don't think that people talked enough about what their sins were, or even just, maybe it wasn't even sin, just like the hard stuff, maybe in general that you were going through, because I think in our culture, religion has kind of turned this into sin is bad and you cover it up. And what you're saying is no, sin is bad and we need to talk about it because we need that hope. And I don't know if I've always experienced that because I know that there have been times in my life where I've sinned and I haven't wanted to tell, I don't wanna tell anyone, I don't wanna tell anyone because I feel like there's like shame and like yuck to it. And so I'm not gonna like tell anyone about that, but we have to. Right, radical thought. Sin is a signal. Sin is a signal of something that I'm desiring and a hole that I'm trying to fill.

That doesn't mean, and Paul says that over and over again, that means sin a lot, sin a lot. No, that's not what that means, but it does mean I do sin a lot and I have repeated patterns of sin. And I think what the Spirit wants to invite me into is what is that a signal of? And how can you follow those clues, painful and difficult as it is in community, to actually figure out what will fill the longing that you are desiring? Yeah, well, you guys know any chance I get, I'm gonna bring up a musical. Okay. So here we, I mean, here we go. It's, well, this musical is Jacqueline Hyde. And so most people know that story. Even if you've never seen the musical, it's excellent music, go listen to it. But it's this whole concept that we were talking about of like good versus evil. Like that's the whole story of Jacqueline Hyde. And, but there's this song in the musical called Facade. And it talks about how everyone has this evil side to them. But during the daytime, we put on a facade. Like we put on this costume or this mask or this identity where I'm good, I'm perfect, I'm great. But then at the night you like let that out because there's that part of us that has to come out in some way.

And so if we're covering up the signals, then we're like suppressing it and can't actually address what it is that we might need. So there's your musical of the day. So I have been actually talking a lot about this kind of thing with different groups of people. So we are Christians, that's not a mystery. We follow Jesus. And what you were saying, it hit me. It's like what you went to a church and what you felt was I sin so I hide it. I would say the church is culpable in some of the ways we treat sin in our personal lives. We often as a body, though we are, I said this earlier day, we are supposed to be salt in the world and bring something to the world. And at the same time, we are supposed to be able to go, I'm a fallen, broken human. So are you, end of story. Let's go get some grace. So I think, and for me, it all boils down to it's not, so it's not, I know it's good and bad. I think it's a trust issue. I think it's a trust issue and a belief that God is real. What does Hebrews say? We have to believe that he is real and he exists and he has good things for those who earnestly seek him. That's right. How often do we deliver that message to people? Not enough.

Not enough at all. We deliver, even to my own soul, I say, just get better, do better, do better. That is not what the Lord says. He says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. That is good news. It is good news. I mean, and it's why I love how Paul finishes. I mean, he says, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I feel like he's been working up to that question for the first seven chapters of Romans. It's like, this is a problem. Sin is a problem. All of this, who's gonna, and then the next thing he says, he says, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, Lord. I think to the question of why this is good news, it's because there is a deliverance. That's right. It's because at the end of the day our sin problem doesn't have to get solved by us But there actually is a Savior. Yeah, and you know as we continue to have these conversations in Romans I think the beauty of Jesus is rescue Can only be seen if I am honest about the brokenness of my condition That's right. Mm-hmm. And so, you know today as we move into our day live in the tension of both of those things There is a brokenness That's probably greater than you can even imagine but man if you can just own that let sin be a signal even I Think it sets you up for the beauty of the rescue that Jesus wants to offer to you