joy & sin

Joy & Sin

~ notes and meditations from a sermon by Douglas Wilson ~

The Bible tells us that disobedience sabotages our joy, and that sin is the enemy of joy. Thus it's easy for the pious to assume that any disruptions in our joy are always due to sin. In this way, the pious emulate our forefathers, those who believed that one's fortune--good or ill--was dependent on "hard karma": whatever happens to us happens because we deserve it. Jesus speaks against such a worldview, but the polar opposite of "hard karma"--that of the therapeutic age--does no better. We live in a therapeutic age where we shift blame and evade responsibility. We're victims no matter what, and even in the church we feel pressure to not name sin's role in life's ups-&-downs because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. The reality is that sin DOES bring problems; that doesn't mean, of course, that all life's afflictions (or even a lack of joy) is caused by sin. Sin may very well be the culprit; but it isn't always the culprit.

Why does sin corrode our joy? Joy is a function of our unimpeded fellowship with God; sin disrupts that fellowship, and consequently our joy is affected. Disobedience before God and clinging to sin kills joy. Hebrews 12 teaches us that God disciplines His children. Indeed, an absence of discipline is worrisome! What form does discipline take? How does God deal with us when we've strayed into sin? Oftentimes He does this by eradicating our joy. A lack of joy can sometimes (though not always) be a sign that we are being disciplined by God because of our stubborn persistence in continuing in our sin. Sometimes God will trip us up, put obstacles in our way, make things go wrong, and make things not go right. This isn't a sign that God is angry with us; it's a sign that He loves us, cares for us, and identifies us as His children. Divine discipline is fatherly chastisement to provoke us to repentance. God isn't upset that we've broken a few arbitrary rules; when He sees us living in sin, persisting in sin, and stubbornly clinging to sin, He sees it in its truest light. As an addict clings to his fix, so we cling to our sin; and as a good father mourns to see his son dehumanizing and destroying himself by his addiction, so, too, God mourns when His children stubbornly engage in dehumanizing and destructive sin. Only a bad father would tolerate or excuse such behavior; a good father takes drastic measures to get the child back on track not because he's angry but because He loves the child who belongs to him. Remember: the motive behind discipline, in whatever form it takes, isn't God's anger towards us. His anger has been exhausted on the cross. We are 100% justified, declared "in the right," and our sins aren't held against us in any way, shape, or form. God's wrath has been satisfied upon Christ. God's discipline of us is fatherly and loving, and the absence of discipline is worrisome: if it seems God never gives you a break, take heart! He's treating you as His children.

Psalm 51 is King David's meditation on his forgiveness after confessing his sin to God. David, remember, committed adultery and then arranged the murder of the married woman's husband. For months he tried to hide this sin from the world and from God, but God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke him. Nathan's rebuke provoked David's confession and repentance. In Psalm 51 we see, by David's own testimony, how harboring sin in our heart disrupts our joy. David pleads of God, Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Ps 51.12) Unrepentant sin and joy don't go together. Good bedfellows they do not make. Of course, we are all sinners and will continue to be so until the day we die; the Apostle John says in 1 John 1 that if we claim we don't have any sin, we're liars. It isn't hidden or unconscious sins that necessarily strip away our joy; sometimes there are sins in our lives that we know are sins, but because we love them and can't bear to part ways with them, we harbor them close to our heart. When we do this, we're setting ourselves in opposition to God and His desires for us; David writes in Psalm 32.3-4, When I refused to confess my sin, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. David connects his emotional misery not with unrepentant sin but with God's opposition to him. Those who refuse to repent of their sins are proud, and God opposes such as these; the humble, however, are the ones He exalts.

Why do we as Christians so often hesitate to confess our sins and turn from them? One answer is PRIDE. The attitude of those who refuse to repent and confess is the sort of attitude that refuses to humble itself. This pride is an adversary of joy, because if you're proud in this world, then you cover up your sin, disrupting any fellowship to may have with God. Another reason is FEAR. We fear that if we confess our sins to those we sinned against, they'll think negatively about us. Sometimes this is true: scandalous sins, such as adultery and embezzlement, make great gossip. Most of the time, however, those we fear confessing to are those who already know the sin. They're not surprised by the sin so much as they're surprised by the confessor's sorrow and repentance. When you repent, the change is noticeable. Repentance humbles us not by making the sin visible but by making the humility visible. 

What are some traits of a true confession of sin? First, true confession Names the Sin. In 1 John 1.9, the Greek word for "confess" means "to speak the same." If God calls it adultery, we shouldn't call it an episode of sexual indiscretion. We need to call sin what sin is and own up to it. When this happens, we are cleansed of ALL unrighteousness; our fellowship with God is totally restored. Second, true confession is brutally honest. Some people can be harder on themselves than God is in some areas, and often such people are less hard on themselves in areas where they consciously do wrong. We can be hypersensitive to the point of usurping the Spirit's role, convicting ourselves of sin and unrighteousness. This should be avoided, but that doesn't mean we ought not to take the time to reflect on our sin and take it seriously, praying for guidance; and if restitution is needed, then pursue that restitution. A third characteristic of genuine confession is that it deals with YOUR sins and not the sins of others. For example: say someone spreads lies about you. You're understandably angry, and when you go before God, you pray that God will forgive that person for what they did to you. It sounds pious, but that isn't true confession: true confession is admitting that you've been spiteful and malicious towards the one who slandered you. Confessing other people's sins, even when done in what seems to be the right light, doesn't change the bitterness and resentment seething in our hearts. Fourth, true confession happens in the present. We can know we sin, we can know we need to confess, but sometimes we put it off. We can stand on the high dive without jumping, without doing what we know we need to do. Confession of sin is a choice, not knowledge. True confession happens the moment the Spirit convicts us of sin; it doesn't wait until Sunday, or Wednesday night services, or even bedtime prayers. It happens NOW.

What can we expect when we confess our sin and repent of it? First, we can expect exaltation. James 4 tells us that God opposes the proud but exalts the humble; those who humble themselves under God, repenting of their sin, experience exaltation. Second, we can expect a restoration of our joy. David cried out for a restoration of the joy of his salvation, and he received it. We would do well to note that David didn't long for a restoration of his salvation but for a restoration of the joy of his salvation. His salvation wasn't lost because of his adultery, clever murder, and stubborn refusal to confess. His communion with God was affected, but He was still a part of God's family. When Christians come under God's discipline, it's not a sign of God's anger but a sign of our membership in His family. When we confess our sins and repent, God longs to restore to us the joy of our salvation. Third, we can expect restoration. If God disciplines His children by removing something, He will restore that which was removed upon repentance; sometimes this is the thing itself, or something of the same type. It's always an act of grace. Fourth, we can expect to prosper. The Bible is adamant that those who humble themselves before God will prosper, while those who are haughty and proud will be shown up for what they are and take a terrible fall. Sometimes, of course, this doesn't always flesh itself out the way we want; but we can rest assured that on the eschatological timetable, the story isn't over until it's over.

Wilson asks, "What happened to your original joy, that joy you had when you first became a Christian?" As a general rule, the longer you're a Christian, the less joy you feel. Why would God grant joy to baby Christians but deny it to mature ones? The answer is simple: HE WOULDN'T. God wants to give us joy. Joy is part of the Spirit's fruit in our lives. But to experience that joy, we need to have an unimpeded relationship with God. And in order to have an unimpeded relationship with Him, any sin to which we're clinging has go to go. Harboring sin in our heart, contextualizing sin, clinging to bitterness or unforgiveness, and shifting blame away from the self... All of these dismember joy.