Pet Peeves...we all have them. Those tendencies of other people, circumstances, inanimate objects, WHATEVER that drive you nuts! For example, when I was teaching, ENDING SENTENCES IN PREPOSITIONS was a sure way to draw my ire. It actually made my list of classroom rules at the beginning of the year, right next to "No Scrunching." Hey, another pet peeve...the sound paper makes when it is being balled up in an otherwise quiet room.
Don't judge my pet peeves! They are Mine!!
Some peeves develop with the times, and some are not timeless. Two more of mine that fit this category are when people start off a sentence with the phrase, "At the end of the day...." What does that mean? What you are about to say is not true until around 9:30 p.m.-ish? It is just a sad attempt to make your point sound more weighty. Doesn't work.
Another is the use in modern culture to refer to everything as a "Journey." If you watch a single two-hour episode of "The Biggest Loser," I guarantee you that you will hear them refer to their losing weight as a journey at least 6 times. AT LEAST! Everyone seems to be on some weird journey these days. I am currently growing out some facial hair. I am on a "beard journey." Annoys me.
Let's see...there's saying "Each and every one of you." (each already covered it.)
Chewing Ice
Saying nauseous instead of nauseated.
YOU HAVE THEM TOO!!!
One of my pet peeves involving the Christian walk comes straight from Scripture. Now, mind you, it is misquoted, misinterpreted Scripture, but MAN do we like to quote it. I would love to sit here holier-than-thou and tell you I have never done this. But I have.
What is the passage, you ask?
Hebrews 12:1 (King James Version)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
"The sin which doth so easily beset us" is misused by many evangelicals almost as a Free Pass, Get Out of Jail Free card that means we all have that one sin that we will do from time to time and...because it says this in Hebrews 12:1, it is OK. Why? If GOD knows we have such a sin, doesn't that mean that He will turn the other way when we do this? Like when we do this one thing, he just kind of laughs it off and shakes his head..."Oh, silly Bobby...Sinning again."
It is alarming the number of people I have heard refer to their SWDSEB almost like it is a lovable TV guest star that pops in and out in various episodes. Like Bud from the Cosby Show. Newman from Seinfeld. You get the point. We, as Christians, have resigned to the fact that this one sin will always be around, so we should just accept it, rationalize it, live with it, and even make light of it.
"Oh well, I got drunk again last weekend and blew my testimony"
"I just can't stop myself from gossiping...but, it is my SWDSEB!"
"Porn isn't a problem for me. Sure, sometimes I fall off the wagon, but it's no big deal."
"I haven't read my Bible or spent quality time with GOD in two weeks. I was on fire for GOD, but now, I am so busy trying to make ends meet."
We feel some sort of strange comfort in telling others about these and getting them out in the open. I am not sure GOD has the same passive attitude about this.
What about this passage? How does it match up with our becoming comfortable with our SWDSEB?
2 Peter2:20-22
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."
This post may sound more preachy than my others. It's because I am preaching to myself.
God is not amused.
And at the end of the day, each and every one of us on this earthly journey need to deal with our sin as He would. It is as disgusting as vomit. It is not cute. Not something we should just wink at and snicker about. It is not to be made light of. Ever.
Interesting. I have never heard anyone cite this verse as an excuse for sin--maybe it's a regional thing?
ReplyDeleteWhat I *have* noticed is that some sins are more socially acceptable than others, even in the church. It's like we have a hierarchy. Not sure God sees it that way though.
Amen!
ReplyDelete