Why Enough Is Never Enough | Romans 1 | Crossroads Daily

I feel like we live in the highest idols per capita in the history of the universe, like especially in this country. It's like you don't have to look more than like a foot to see something luring you into it. And there's just so many things at every single second that are screaming our name and wanting our soul and our lives. Yeah. As you said that my phone buzzes in my pocket. It's calling me. 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 Caroline. I'm Peter. I'm Chris. Thanks for joining us. We are in Romans chapter one and Paul menses no words. I mean, he comes out swinging. And every time I read this, I just remember like, man, we are screwed without God's grace. I mean, our sin problem is so complex. It is so deep in and it affects us all. Right. And that's what Paul is saying in chapter one. And he says a lot there that we could step into. I mean, there's a million things we could cover, but he talks about this idea that rather than worship our creator, we've instead worshiped created things. So what do you think are some examples of that? Or honestly, what are some examples of that in your own life where you've put something that's created above the creator? Maybe this is too metaphysical, but I think about putting myself, like I'm a created thing. I'm a creative person. And I put myself, my desires, my needs. I mean, if I'm thinking through all the sins I'm reading about in this chapter, it all kind of boils down to myself, what I want in the moment. And my plans, the relationships I want, the goals I have, what success looks like for me, like all those things. So often that's what I'm putting above God. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. It's a good word that it starts with me and then it manifests itself in a million other things. I feel like we live in the highest idols per capita in the history of the universe. Especially in this country, it's like you don't have to look more than a foot to see something luring you into it. And there's just so many things at every single second that are screaming our name and wanting our soul and our lives. Yeah. As you said that, my phone buzzes in my pocket and it's calling me. A DoorDash notification. Yeah. I think for me, if I were to really be honest with myself, it usually comes back down to my own personal comfort, whether that's emotional, physical. I think my comfort can play out in things that I desire, like things that I want. Oh, I want the new couch. Well, I have a perfectly good couch at home, but I want that one because it's more visually comfortable or I'm tired of that. It's

like, what serves me? Those are the things that I find myself often drifting to. And the thing that I do, it comes back to me and my comfort. A lot of the time I'm with you on that. Yeah. Yeah. No, you know, I've been in recovery for sexual addiction and I'll never forget, you know, when you're in sessions with other guys, you pick up things and there's a guy, he actually passed away, but he struck me with these words. And we used to talk about like, what are your bottom line behaviors? I mean, what are the things that brought you in the door, the things you just can't control? And he would say, lusting and wanting to be lusted after. And I, that really stuck me, stuck with me. Cause like, yeah, I'm in the room in recovery because of lust. But the thing that really woke me up was like, but I also want to, I want to be worshiped. Like I am, it's kind of what you said, like my created, I want to be worshiped. That's part of what I'm trying to fill when I go down that path. That was just, I never forgot that. Like we want to be gods of our own lives. We do. Yeah. We do. And that was the first, like when, in the garden and Adam and Eve and Satan tempts her and basically says like, oh, he just knows that like your eyes will be open and you'll be like God. You'll be like God. Like that's, and to your point, Peter, like that's, it is what we're all after the end of the day is like, how can I be more God in this world, in my life and everything? Yeah. I think this is helpful too, because when we read chapter one, like maybe I'm the only one, I think of the worst things I've ever done. But you know what? My pride is an idol. If I gossip and I'm trying to tear somebody else down, it's cause I'm trying to, so nobody's excused. This, that's the thing. If you read this passage, it's easy to say, well, definitely this is wrong. And yes, that's wrong, but there's a whole lot of things. So, so let's just ask this question. Paul could have started this gospel. Yeah. By the way, Gospel means good news. Paul's getting to good news. His listeners, can you imagine, like they're gathering. Paul wrote us a letter. And like, for the first, I don't know, what is it, 15 minutes or 10 minutes, however long it is?

You debase yourselves. Yes. Do we want to finish this letter? I don't know. But this is getting to the good news, but you have to understand the bad news. You have to understand reality. So why do you think Paul started with this stark, no holds barred communication of sin and sinfulness? I think the thing that I respect most about Paul is he always sets the standard, before he starts talking to whoever he's writing to, he's like, I love you and I'm sending this to you because I want the best for you. And I think sin specifically, as we want to be gods of our own world, if we choose to not acknowledge our sin, that is the most dangerous thing that we can do as believers because without the acknowledgement of our own sin, what need do we have of a savior? And that is what we have to come back to every day. And I also find that the people who are most vocal and most repentant about their sins are often living lives that are more fruitful, the most fruitful. And those who ignore sin in their lives often have little idols that can get bigger and bigger because they neglect it or say, oh, it's not that bad, or God, I don't actually need you. And that's gotta be part of it, right?

Because he loves these people so much that he wants to keep them from the thing that's gonna separate them from God the most. At least that's my thoughts on it. As the young folks say, you can clock that. Clock it. And why are they more fruitful? It's because by openly acknowledging their sin, they're removing what separates them from God. I think that's what grieves God's heart about sin the most. We get caught up on the behaviors, on the specific things, on the comparing ourselves to other people, all that stuff. But ultimately, all sin is the same in the legal sense because it separates us from God. And that's what grieves God's heart the most about it. It's not the behaviors themselves as much as it is the relationship because that's all he's striving for. So why would we keep those obstacles in place if we're pursuing God in that way? And then if we are leaving them in place, what are we pursuing? That's the question we got to ask next. Yeah. I'm struck that actually he doesn't start with the bad news. He actually starts with the good news. He actually says that I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And he says it is the power of God unto salvation. That what we need because of our sin condition is the power of God to move mightily on our behalf,

to do what we can't do on our own. And in Romans, he's gonna break that down. How God answers our sin problem is what this whole book is about. So I'm super excited about getting to talk about Romans because it's one of those people ask, hey, where should I start in the Bible? And I usually tell people, start in the book of John because you just need to know Jesus. You need to know who Jesus is, his heart. And John does a great illustrative example of here's who Jesus is. But one of the other places I'll send people is if you want a more meatier thing after that, read Romans because you're gonna understand the whole arc of the story of God if you read Romans. And it ain't gonna be pretty at first, but it's gonna be amazingly beautiful at the end. So final question maybe for you guys, where is the power of the gospel alive in your life right now? Where are you experiencing that power of God unto salvation right now? I mean, to prove our points, I feel like I see it most prevalent when I am confessing sin to those in my life because it reminds me of how big the cross is. Because when I'm just trying to suppress my sin, like it's not a big deal, I'm not that bad, I'm not that messed up, then the cross is like this small.

And it's just like, okay, well, God's like kind of loves me and he's kind of good because I just kind of have a sin problem. But when it's like, no, this is like, I have an enormous disease called sin, then like the cross is that much more great in my life and that much more needed. And I feel like I'm trying to realize not out of a guilt or shame thing, but like the larger the sin I see it in my life, the bigger the cross becomes. That's good. I feel like what that looks like right now for me specifically is I have been confronting this ongoing sin in my life of having a critical spirit. I can pull things apart and it's kind of ugly because it's something that's taken me really far in life because I've been able to see where the problems are and fix them and make things better constantly. And it's made me a really good producer of things, but it's actually made me less joyful on the inside and more critical of others than I would ever want to be. And I have seen. the power of the gospel showing up in that so much recently because I have had to confront that sin in my life until I could name it and acknowledge it. God would have never given me the freedom that I'm currently experiencing in that. And it's transforming my marriage and my friendships and how I do my job.

And so it's been a really beautiful thing to see God working in that in me. And that is a 32 year long journey that I've been on, but it's been really cool. So you're saying you were born with a critical spirit? I'm just- I think I was. I think, I think, no offense, no offense, mom, but I do think I was born into that one. That's what Romans tells us. That's really profound, actually. We are born into this, but here's the good news. There is a power of God unto salvation. And as we walk through Romans, we're gonna be encountering that power together. So stay with us.