Baking Cakes in Washing Machines
On the off chance you haven’t noticed recently, here’s a theological “step on your toes” reminder: there is a war in your heart between what the Bible has to say about you and what you would like to think is true about you.
You and I tend to think that we are wiser and more sanctified than we actually are. This is why we get defensive when someone points out our sin and weakness. This is why we are skilled at ignoring or minimizing our own sin while being highly sensitized to the sin of others.
As the Bible invites us to look intently into it, as into a mirror (see James 1:22–25), it invites a humbling and accurate self-assessment. There are two identities of every Christian: sinner and child of grace. To understand each, together, is to see yourself as you truly are. Today, I will examine sinner, and next week, child of grace.
Your Identity as a Sinner
The biblical doctrine of sin confronts each of us with the reality that we are not as good as we imagine, and therefore more needy and vulnerable than we typically consider ourselves to be.
Even though the Bible also reminds us that our environment has been broken by sin, our biggest problem is moral. There is something wrong inside of us, and in one way or another, it influences everything we desire, think, choose, say, and do.
Our greatest need does not derive from the fact that the brokenness of the Fall fractures every situation, every relationship, and every context. Yes, all our relationships are flawed in some way. And no, the world around me does not operate as God intended. But this environmental brokenness is not our greatest, deepest, most abiding problem.
No matter what we face in this fallen world, our greatest problem in life exists inside of us and not outside of us.
If you minimize in any way the significance of this war that goes on inside every sinner, you will tend to minimize your own vulnerability to the daily temptations that greet us all amidst the brokenness of this world. When you underestimate your potential for temptation, you don’t go through your day alert to it, planning to avoid it as you should. In that condition, temptation can easily slip past your lowered defenses, so you find yourself tricked and deceived again and again.
There’s no mystery here. You were unprepared because you did not enter the situation with a humble sense of your own sinfulness.
It is also true that when you minimize the presence and power of the sin that remains in you, you do not reach out for the help of God and others. Self-righteousness can cause us to try to live more independently than God ever intended. We do not reach out for help because, frankly, we do not think we need it.
So, we live independent and self-sufficient lives, the kind we were never hardwired to live. Trying to live independent of the daily intervention of God and others is like trying to bake a cake in a washing machine. That washing machine is a wonderful creation, but it was never designed to do what you are asking it to do. All you will end up with is a soapy batter, a dirty machine, and a badly dented pan!
Yes, you are a sinner. But you are far more than that. You are also a child of grace. More on that next week!
But to conclude today’s devotional, righteous, God-fearing living is always rooted in a humble sense of personal neediness. This neediness only comes when you begin to understand and accept what the Bible says about sin and reach out every morning for the help that can only be found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when we ask, he will abundantly provide mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14–16)
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8–9)
A Prayer for Today: Lord, I am a person of incredible need. Would you meet me in my need and provide your grace and mercy in my life? I confess that I have tried to live an independent, self-sufficient life, and it has done nothing but fail me. I need you even though I don’t always act like it, so please forgive me for my lack of humility. Your help is my hope, Jesus. In your name I pray, amen.
Discussion Prompt for Children
1. What do you think it means to be a “needy” person? Needy people can be kind of annoying people to other humans, but how do you think God feels about needy people? What makes you say that?
2. Why do you think it’s so easy to always want to do things on your own without anyone else getting involved? Why can asking for help be a good thing? Why do you think we don’t want to ask for help sometimes?
3. How does asking God for help show us God’s goodness?
Reflection Questions
1. Why is it so tempting to believe that your biggest problems in life are external and not internal? How does admitting that your biggest problem is inside you actually start to get on the solution side of your life’s troubles? How does minimizing your own internal problem of sin lead you astray in life?
2. In what ways does a humble sense of your own sinfulness guide you toward more godly living? How does it guide you toward the power of God changing your own heart? Why is self-righteousness the enemy of humility and how have you seen that battle play out in your own heart and life?
3. Why is it such foolishness to try and live independently from God and his intervention in your life? In what ways are you trying to “bake a cake in a washing machine” throughout your life?
4. Why is godly neediness such a good thing? In what ways is this a personally good thing for you? How can you embrace neediness in your life in ways that you currently aren’t doing right now?