Opus 2011-219, Christian Cliches: Why Me, Lord? Part III

Recently I was in a conversation about a man who turned from God to psychology to find his answers.  It did not seem to be working for him.  Why?  I observed that psychology is based on being a victim and salvation is based on being a sinner.  The answer to sin will take care of victims, but the answer of victimhood will not take care of  sin.

It is true that some people are victims.  Genuine victims are caused by sin in the life of an oppressor.  Other people are in difficulty because of their own actions.  Look at current events.  Some people are losing their homes.  In some cases it was because of factors beyond their control.  Those people are genuine victims.  We won’t debate those right now.  In many more cases than we want to admit, the reason for their loss is their own greed.  I am not talking about the corporate greed that the socialists like to attack, I am talking about the greed that is in the hearts of all sinners and is one of the seven deadly sins.  When people on limited incomes buy houses that they could never logically afford because they are counting on inflation, it is greed.  It is sin.  When it doesn’t work out they are not victims they are simply claiming the dividend on their investment.

The Bible makes it clear that many of the calamities of life are caused by our actions.  We have looked at the verses in I Kings.  What other places in the Bible does it make clear our responsibility?  Let’s do a few word searches and see where they lead us.

Hatred for Israel is an attitude that brings God’s curse.

(Deuteronomy 7:15 KJV)  And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

Disobedience is enough of a reason for calamity to strike.

(Deuteronomy 28:58-61 KJV)  If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.  Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.  Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

Sickness and desolation can come because of sin.  We need to be careful here.  While all sickness is a result of the original sin that tainted all of creation it is not necessarily the result of personal sin.  But the opposite is also true.  Some sickness is directly a result of sin.  We see this directly stated.  Here are two.

(Exodus 23:25 KJV)  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

(Micah 6:13 KJV)  Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

We also see sickness and sin linked with healing and forgiveness.

(James 5:15 KJV)  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Then we have the case of your spiritual condition before taking communion.

(1 Corinthians 11:29-30 KJV)  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Poverty can be caused because of sloth.  Proverbs deals with this repeatedly.  Let me give you one example.

(Proverbs 13:4 KJV)  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

We need to exercise care again.  Poverty can be caused by oppression or other factors outside a persons control.  I do not dispute that, but one reason for going hungry is being lazy.  One reason for being the first one fired is sloth.

I don’t think it is counterproductive to examine our lives when things go wrong.  Often God is trying to speak to us in areas we have refused to listen.  Let’s face it, sometimes we only listen when it is forced upon us.  At least that would be a testimony in my life.  If you are better, then I might suggest you get ready for some disaster.

To be continued...

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