Home but not Alone

So if you are popping in on the series late the gist of it is I’m reading Jerry Bridges Respectable sins and it’s not my copy as I’m reading it as part of our Reading Roundabout.  It’s just one of those books that (if it was your own copy) you would be underlining, writing in the margins or using way too much highlighter pen on.

And so for my future reference and any who feel like following along I’m noting down a couple of quotes per chapter here as I go along.  This works for me as I can refer back to my quotes by simply using the search tool on the top right to find any of the ‘respectable sins’ and if it encourages anyone to read this book that would only be of benefit to their soul.

Chapter Eleven brings the issue of pride.  Bridges opens this chapter by reminding us of the Pharisee in Luke 18 who prayed ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector’ he goes on to say “the irony is that even as we condem him, we can easily fall into the same self-righteous attitude. (page 89)

Addressing the certain expressions of pride that are particular temptations to believers Bridges says

“The sin of moral superiority and self-righteousness is so easy to fall into today, when society as a whole is openly committing or condoning such flagrant sins as immorality, easy divorce, a homosexual lifestyle, abortion, drunkenness, drug use, avarice, and other flagrant and scandalous sins.  Because we don’t commit those sins, we tend to feel morally superior and look with a certain amount of disdain or contempt on those who do.  It’s not that those sins are not serious sins that are tearing apart the moral fabric of  our society, but the sin we ourselves fall into is the sin of moral self-righteousness and a resultant spirit of contempt toward those who practice those sins”. (Page 90)

Bridges exhorts us to overcome this sin by identifying  ourselves with the acts of our nation by showing us Ezra 9:6 (‘O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens’) and also by seeing an attitude of humility based on the truth that “there but for the grace of God go I“.

The second area of pride Bridges opens up (with particular attention to believers) is Doctrinal Pride.

He says

“The assumptions that whatever my doctrinal beliefs are, they are correct and anyone who holds another belief is theologically inferior”

I like the personal example Bridges sites:

” I was once asked to comment about a book that taught a system of sanctification with which I strongly disagree.  In my letter, I wrote the following: ‘Please note that I am saying things with which I disagree, not things wherein he (the author) is wrong.  I may find out when I get to heaven that I am the one who was wrong”". (page 93)

“It means I want to hold my convictions with humility and treat the author of the book with the same respect I would treat people whose doctrine of sanctification is the same as mine”

The pride of achievement.

“There is no such thing as the “self-made man” – that is, the man (or woman) who has “pulled himself up by his own boot straps”.  From a human point of view, he may appear to have suceeded by sheer dint of tenacity and hard work.  But who gave him that entrepreneurial spirit and  business acumen that enabled him to succeed?  It was God.”

“We should remember the words of Jesus in Luke 17:10 ‘So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’”  When we have done a job well or served faithfully over a long time, our attitude should be, “I have only done my duty”.

“Discontentment, most often arises from ongoing and unchanging circumstances that we can do nothing about”. (Page 71)

While recognising there is a place for legitimate discontentment Bridges takes up the subject of sinful discontentment in this chapter.

Here are some of the examples  he sites of discontentment that may be triggered by unchanging circumstances.

An unfulfilling or low-paying job

Singleness well into midlife or beyond

Inability to bear children

An unhappy marriage

Physical disabilities

Continual poor health

Bridges says “We tolerate these sins like discontentment in our lives with hardly a second thought.  That makes them more dangerous because, in addition to the basic sin itself, they can open the door of our hearts to greater sin.  Discontentment, for example, can easily lead to resentment or bitterness toward God or other people. (Page 73)

If we find ourselves in circumstances that we know will never change we need to realise as Amy Carmichael said “it is neither in resignation nor submission but only in acceptance that we find peace”.

Bridges says ” Having then reached a state of acceptance, you can ask God to let you use your difficult circumstances to glorify Him.  In this way you have moved from the attitude of a victim to an attitude of stewardship.  You begin to ask “God how can I use my disability (or whatever the difficult circumstance may be) to serve You and glorify You?” (Page 75)

You can witness a practical example of this by watching these videos of Gianna Jessen who though she is an abortion survivor doesn’t view herself as a victim.

Respectable Sins is available at Amazon.com