An Unconventional Exercise in Gospel Understanding
I realize this is going to be a tough exercise to work through in a blog post, but give it a try with me. I'm going to start off by asking a number of questions. As I ask those questions, I want you to take the time to come up with an answer. They won't be hard questions. My guess is that you'll be able to think of answers quite quickly. I also want you to answer them without trying to decipher the purpose behind the questions. Just answer them and move on. Trust me, I think this will be a good journey in understanding the Gospel. Here we go...
Who is the most foolish person that you know? It is ____________. Who is the most disobedient person you know? It is _____________. (Let's keep going--trust me) Who do you know that has strayed very far from the path of life? It is _____________. Who do you know that seems to be chasing after every pleasure they can find? It is _________. Who is the most angry person you know? It is __________. Who is the most jealous person you know? It is __________. Who is the most hateful person you know? It is ___________.
I realize this may have been an uncomfortable exercise for you. Still, I hope you took the time to find a name for everyone of those spaces. I'm sure some of them came quickly, some took longer. That was all part of the process.
So, what's the point of all this? Let's take a look at Titus 3:3.
For WE OURSELVES were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
I would take a guess that you're not very fond of many people on your list, right? Isn't it an interesting exercise to realize that we were once like all of them? That's what this passage is telling us. At one point in our lives we were foolish, disobedient, led astray, chasing after pleasure, angry, jealous, and hateful. We used to be the very people that drive us crazy today.
There's two things I want to draw out of this. First, when we understand who we once were, we begin to truly understand the Gospel--the great "but" of the Bible. The great part of this passage in Titus is that we were "once" that way, "BUT when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7). Take a moment to realize who you once were, and what God saved you from. It's powerful. It changes everything. We were once....., BUT now we are different because of God's mercy and grace--not our own.
Secondly, when we realize we were "once" that way, it should change the way we treat those people on the list above. How can you be frustrated with someone who's struggling with something you struggled with? We shouldn't respond with frustration, but with compassion. We understand what their going through because we've been there.
John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, once said, "A company of travellers fall into a pit: one of them gets a passenger to draw him out. Now he should not be angry with the rest for falling in; nor because they are not yet out, as he is. He did not pull himself out: instead, therefore, of reproaching them, he should shew them pity. . . . A man, truly illuminated, will no more despise others, then Bartimeus, after his own eyes were opened, would take a stick, and beat every blind man he met."
Let the Gospel be at the forefront of your mind today--everyday. It will transform your life. It will transform how you view those wandering blind. It will allow compassion to swallow frustration.