We discussed this in Sunday school today. Eli and his boys were judged by God and the whole nation of Israel was disciplined because of the lack of accountability on the part of Eli the "fat" priest. Samuel, being the godly and obedient one, had to confront Eli about his sin and proclaim God's judgment on his family. Later on, Israel was completely routed by the Philistines; the sons, Hophni and Phineas, were killed, and clumsy Eli broke his chair and died. Israel also lost the ark of the covenant to the Philistines. And such is the discipline of a holy God.
So, applying this to our lives today, is our level of accountability at a point where God would intervene and discipline us accordingly? How many times have we been aware of the sins of our closest friends and turned a deaf ear? How often do we ignore the counsel of those who approach us and confront us about the sinful things we are doing?
Let's face it. You can all think of several people in your close circle who are involved in things that don't agree with God's standards. And we can all point out things like that in our own lives. Mostly, we just go along, ignoring these things and acting like it's none of our business because if we get involved, then we are opening ourselves up for others to get into our business. So we play dumb. We don't want to be judgmental, after all. We act as if it's not our place to speak up against sin.
But the Bible clearly says otherwise. Here in 1 Samuel and later on in most all of Paul's letters, we are expected to be each other's spiritual alarms. What good is true fellowship without it?
What would happen if we really believed that ignoring sin was a bad thing? Sin is destructive behavior and leads to destroyed relationships, pain and heartache. It can hold back entire churches from fulfilling God's purposes. It can and does destroy lives. But we act like it's not a problem if we don't rock the boat. We think that because of God's deep love for us, sin is just something that He'll overlook just like we do.
We are fond of quoting Scripture that proclaims the unchanging God. He's the same as He's always been. But we act like He's become a mellowed out old man who doesn't have the stomach for being tough on His children anymore. That's what He did in the Old Testament; laid back, hippie Jesus took care of all the bad stuff and He isn't as strict.
Grace has become a "free spin" on Wheel of Fortune. It's a coupon that we cash in when we feel heat from our conscience due to our wrongdoing. Play the grace card, say a quick altar prayer, maybe roll out a tear or two, and it's all good. Clean slate.
I think that we don't really regard sin as a bad thing anymore. We aren't disgusted by it, we don't run from it, we don't view it as an obstacle in our relationship with God. We simply dismiss it as part of this fallen world, we're only human and, bless our hearts, one day we'll be free from it but until then, we'll keep throwing ourselves on the grace wagon.
Grace is the greatest gift God ever bestowed. It's a result of the awful punishment that Christ endured for us. When we blow it off as our own personal cop out, we mock the crucifixion. We treat Jesus worse than those who persecuted Him. At least they took Him seriously.
If we really want the things we say we want, then we need to start recognizing and confronting sin. We have to get over our habit of prioritizing sin and realize that, ultimately, bad language is just as destructive as rape. Lies are just as harmful as murder. Selfishness and pride influence people's view of the power of Christ just as much as drug abuse and pornography.
The church is struggling in today's world. We can pat ourselves on the back all we want but, overall, lost people are dying lost. The gospel isn't being spread. People's lives remain miserable and unchanged. God removed His glory from Israel due to her sin and lack of accountability and reverence. Do we think we are any better? Are we above the discipline of God? No, but we act like it.
It seems to me that the reason true accountability is so rare is because we don't want to be unpopular. Standing up for God's standards is no easy thing, and in our minds, doing so will cost us those treasured friendships. Honestly, this is my weakness. Who wants to be in a crowd of one?
So standing strong requires standing together. When we all commit to turning our backs on what we think is right and return to God and what He says is right, then maybe we'll start to see Him glorified in the community, and beyond.
Your homework is this: begin to change your attitude toward sin. Be willing to listen to those who love you enough to confront you about the harmful things in your life, even if you aren't willing to admit that they are harmful. And be aware of each other. Pay attention to the people you love, watch for behavioral changes and changes in attitude that may be indicators of something going wrong.
I doubt you'll have to look very far or very hard. Real love means getting involved. Staying out of the way is just loving and protecting yourself.
