Sanctification at its Finest

All I have to do is abide in what I have received. He cares for the immediate repression and removal of every bud which the old nature would still like to put forth.

-Andrew Murray; "Abiding in Christ"

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Hellooooo September—the month that calls our unhealthy, basic cravings for pumpkin spice EVERYTHING and sweater weather (please, Texas make this possible!) to attention.

Before I dive in, I thought I'd start with Sparknotes because this is a long one. I get it if you don't want to read the whole thing, but I'm also going to use this as a hook to hopefully trap you into reading the rest, so here we go: 
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Liv's sparknotes: 

• my thoughts on American Gospel, and how it convicted me (no, I don't believe in the Prosperity Gospel).
• worshipping idols without even knowing it in my life.
• learning the importance in informing yourself of what’s going on in the world because, sorry to break it to you, but even though you are not of this world, you are living in this world.
• sanctification: the title of this blogpost is also a trap. Because "sanctification at its finest" is a dichotomy that I came up with to show how life-giving and painful sanctification is. At its essence, sanctification is a deep, hard process you choose to allow yourself to experience when you accept a life completely for Jesus. It’s not the camp-high moment, but the deep and convicting process of the Lord rooting out your sin so that you may become more like Him. This entire blogpost, I claim, is a reflection of the sanctification that has happened in my heart, mind, and soul this past month.
• there's a tricky line of humility and truth when sharing the Gospel. It’s offensive in itself; therefore, it is our role to share the gospel in a way that isn’t distorting its truth, but in a way that humbly declares where you stand in the picture of it.
• being okay with not knowing all the answers. Enough said with that.
  
  

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 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourself from idols. 

1 John 5:20-21

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Thoughts on Netflix's "American Gospel", a documentary on the prosperity gospel (health & wealth gospel)  

Watching American Gospel was incredibly eye-opening to a world that I knew of, but not at the depth and magnitude that the documentary explained. It was convicting. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… you preach the Prosperity Gospel?  Haha—no. 
 
I don’t preach the Prosperity Gospel to people nor do I share that people's level of "religiosity" will be rewarded in wealth and health. I know this to be idolatry. You are placing yourself at the center and asking God to be a sidekick to work according to your needs. In other words, you are making yourself a God. 
 
Secondly, I believe that God uses every scenario, both times of celebration and times of despair according to His will and purpose. I have learned to be okay with not understanding everything in this world and why certain tragedies happen to people. However, people have taught me the importance of being informed on what’s going on, which means immersing myself in facts, even though I don’t always understand the “why”. This is one of the implications of believing the supernatural, yet living in the world (John 15:19). You are living in the world whether you like it or not. If you want to share heaven to Earth, do so in a way that works, and that requires being informed about what’s going on around you. Praise God that He offers us a way to live in this world without being conformed to it, and that way is only through Christ. Paul proclaims in Romans 12: 2,
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And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that we may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
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​Immersing myself in the current states of the world were moments of immense humility; I was stripped of my pride, which kept me from avoiding things I didn’t know about to protect my desire of wanting to be able to have all the answers. My perspective went from

“I’m going to not indulge in things of the world that I do not understand and just focus on the eternal life God promises me, so I won’t be confronted with my lack of answers”

to

“Let me learn from people who do know more about certain issues, who are differing in their beliefs, who will engage in fierce debate that make me think, and finally — be okay with still leaving that conversation without answers.

I know that my final authority is God; however that doesn't mean that I plug my ears from the world. I strongly believe that He uses my conversations with others to do a work in my heart, and their hearts, too. I also know (even though I don’t always like to admit) that God uses some of the most painful, embarrassing, scary, awkward, and aggravating moments in my life and other people’s lives to teach me and grow me in my faith.  ​
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Okay so how did this documentary convict me, then?

​When I talk about how this documentary convicted me, I talk about how it made me think about my heart’s posture, and the importance of this as I live my life. (Heart check? That’s getting added to my daily ‘priorities’ tab in my planner!)
Reoccurring + convicting thought that runs through my mind: I know and acknowledge I am sinful and prideful…but not as sinful and prideful of others...

STOP. That very thought is sin. But it’s okay right?... because I don’t think about it for too long...?
 
This thought that I threw out was so easy to dispose because I didn’t act on it, right? But does Jesus say that? He talks about how when a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)  So....again, I emphasize the importance in self-awareness and being honest with yourself. Aka — heart check!
 
So much of our sinful thoughts can be toxic to our relationship with Jesus when we just throw them out the backdoor instead of facing the sin embedded in our hearts. Do you really think God missed it because you let it leave your mind so quickly? He made you, for heaven’s sake! This, in of itself, is a form of idolatry. So many times I’ve worshipped the moralistic ways of myself with the Gospel by throwing out the toxic thoughts to avoid acknowledging them. Instead, I focused on building myself up instead of the God of the Universe. I worshipped my high morals rather than using them as evidence in how God has worked in my heart to make me who I am today.
 
For me, the biggest takeaway from “The American Gospel” was revealing the sin in humanity. After coming back from a mission trip last spring break, I remember a friend asking me what the biggest takeaway was from the trip. I told him learning the weight and gravity of my sin. It pushed me to wanting to share the Gospel to the ends of the Earth because I knew that only God could save me from my sin and make me righteous. But then this month happened, and while I still held this learning true after Belize, I thought about it even more this month (sanctification—an ongoing process!).

The gap between Belize and now was this gap that I finally called out in one word— complacency. The last thing God wants us to do is treat something as powerful as The Gospel, what we base our entire faith on, with complacency. But this gap was also something that actually supported the Gospel in that it got at the very fact that we humans will never be God. We will never be perfect, and just because I went on an insane mission trip where I learned more about who He is does not mean that I am radically promised a perfect life. That’s not what the Gospel says. 
 
The Gospel says that you are sinful, you are broken, you are nothing near perfect, but that in faith alone through Christ alone, you can be made whole in Him, you can be made perfect in Him, you can be made righteous and even holy in Him (sanctification!). He didn’t promise us perfection, moralism, wealth, health, or a life without suffering.  
 
I began to critically think about the intention of my heart in sharing the Gospel. And if I am being completely transparent, I want to share the Gospel, but I also feel good when I’m doing it. (Heart check: I feel good Lord because I am sharing the Gospel, but this could be because of the sin in me that allows this very act to boost my reputation.) Be honest and acknowledge the voice of your heart. God doesn’t tell us that we have to be perfect, but he does tell us to confess our sins because sin distances us from Him who is sinless and holy.
 
I loved and continue to love being lifted in my righteousness and how others see me morally; it gives me purpose and draws me harder and stronger to the Lord. Now that I’ve acknowledged this, it shouldn’t make me question the Gospel, but like I said before, actually serve in supporting and amplifying the truth of what the Gospel says about us. We are sinful. We will NEVER be righteous. AS a Christian, I can say with confidence that one can know the Gospel by memory, but be implicitly sharing it in a way that is not the Gospel. How? Because the real truth and intention can only be discovered by deep heart search, and our hearts are broken, sinful, and evil. (I hope you are starting to get to this point with my excessive repetition of how broken we humans are.)
 
Yep, I know that’s a really dark turn but something that I was reminded of this month. We preach this Gospel that promises full and abundant joy, but if we are to share the truth with others, we are called to share the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth. As Josh would say (from "Drake & Josh" if that was also the TV show of your childhood), we must be TRUTHERS, and not liars.
 
This whole truth that is the Gospel is extremely offensive. However, us trying to distort it in a way that makes it more catered to society or culture today is denying what it is—truth. We are doing the exact opposite of sharing the truth when we only highlight the “good parts,” aka — what the Gospel does for us. It’s not about us. It’s about him. 
 
While the Prosperity Gospel may do this distortion in a more radical way, I am guilty of it in more implicit and “behind the curtain” way. That doesn’t mean that my sin is less than others; I'm just savvy about it. I've entered a treacherous balancing act of comparing the magnification of sin with others. This is 1) not my job (God is the judge), and 2) God doesn’t see sin in magnitude of “how bad” but instead, tells us that sin is sin. Period.

So... then how do we go about sharing this gospel to those who don't believe when it is exclusive in its doctrine, but inclusive to all who believe? (I wish I could figure out how to write this sentence better, but please if you don't understand it, contact me)

Context is everything.
if only we met people where they're at

So...yes we've established the sin that is within us and how we will never be holy, perfect, or righteous in ourselves. BUT, that doesn’t mean that you bring on a fire and brimstone lecture about how sinful people are with everyone you encounter. While that is part of the Gospel, you are doing the same thing in only sharing part of the Gospel because the wrath of God isn’t all the news. 

• What about the part about God sacrificing his one and only son to become God incarnate to take on the consequences of our sin?
• What about the fact that when we put our faith in Christ, we can receive this salvation because He loved us that much?
• What about that truth that He knew us from even before we left our mothers' wombs, and knew about ALL of us— including our sin that we would both experience and cause in our world?

Wouldn’t it make sense to not give us the opportunity to even live, when he knew that we would only add to the brokenness of the world? That is one of the greatest mysteries of who God is— his love for us is so great and steadfast and sovereign and confusing because it just doesn’t make sense for a God so perfect to love such broken, sinful people. And out of all that I know of who God is to be true, I'm okay with living in this beautiful mystery. 
 
***CONFESSION — this confusing enigma that God is in the “why” to saving us and the unconditional love to sinners used to challenge me in a way that pushed me away from my faith my freshman year because it didn’t make sense and I wasn’t okay with not knowing the answers. But then I was humbled to know that one’s faith requires trust, and trust is taking a leap even when you don’t know all the answers. If you are struggling with this now, my piece of advice for you is to keep struggling. Keep asking questions. Keep challenging the inner-skeptic within you. But talk to people about it—people who love you. And to add on to that, talk to those who are believers AND to those who are unbelievers. Don't just let those thoughts wander but not go anywhere, or even worse—don't let those thoughts be disposed into the realm of ignorance. 
 
So, to get back to what I was saying, while we bring the whole Gospel to the table when we are sharing it with others, we shouldn’t alter the context of the Gospel itself…I believe that there is a way you can go about it in its delivery. 
 
For example, when talking about a specific passage of Scripture that is tricky to understand, I believe that a 1:1 conversation can be so much wiser than in a big sermon setting. Why? Because everyone is at different places in their walks of faith. While some have known Jesus since they were kids, others have never heard of this dude. That’s why how you share Jesus should be catered in terms of context of the person, but the Gospel and its context itself should not be altered.  
 
So how do we gain context about the person?
This seems like a no-brainer yet we fail to do this all the time— get to know the whole darn person! Love them like Jesus did! (I love getting to say that.) Learn about them; isn’t that what we all crave and desire? To not only be fully known but also fully loved? Let them tell their stories. Go into a conversation with words to say, but also ears to listen. We live in a world where we get First Amendment rights, so use your freedom of speech, but also give that right to others, too. God wants us to be in biblical community with those who are like us, but also with those who aren’t like us. In both of these communities, we are going to be differing in certain ideologies, beliefs, and perspectives because God has made us so unique in our own ways. I fully trust that He can and will use those differences to spark fierce debate and intentional dialogue that can allow us to grow in Him.

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Honesty is the best policy

To end, this month has been so crazy good and sucky. If I am writing a blog post about the importance of truth, it only makes sense to give an honest answer. I’ve had mornings where I’ve been so grateful of the things I still get to have— church in-person, spin classes to teach, education to learn, friends that care for me, finances that give me the margin to both live and even indulge at times, independence to speak my mind, leadership that listens, good health and delicious home cooked meals, shared Instagram posts, deep roommate conversations on the couch, the list goes on. (I know that’s a really bad sentence, but that is my honest answer of the good.)
 
Here’s the “bad"— sucky moments of anxiety about politics, stress about graduation, lack of sleep because heavy hearts and running minds, skepticism about megachurches, insecurity about looks, embarrassment on overlooked assignments, awkwardness on Zoom calls, shame of things I’ve said or done, etc, etc, etc. It was these sucky moments that reminded me of who I am— sinful and  broken. And I’ve loved how these moments, experiences, and emotions have brought me closer to knowing who I am in Christ. 
 
I am nothing without God, and my life means nothing without God. I will never be able to reach moral perfection, and no matter how hard I try, I’m going to miss the mark. I am insufficient, tired, and selfish. The dark desires of my heart are sneaky in that they are only revealed when I choose to not push them to the backboard, and instead engage in self-awareness and confession. Sitting in stillness with God in both prayer and silence have been some of the most active conversations for me because my thoughts and voice of my heart receive full attention. This requires 1) making time for this, and 2) bringing to light how broken I am. I have so many questions I desire answers for, and many that I’ll never know until I die. I’m okay with that. 

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

-1 John 4:10