Cracking a Hard Heart

The Gate just took part in our sort of quarterly event called Restoration. Essentially, it is a night to worship more through music than teaching, and most importantly, through observing the Lord's Supper, or Communion. This is our act of doing as Jesus commanded at the Last Supper to break bread and remember His body broken for us, and drink the fruit of the vine and remember His blood spilled for us.

It is also a call for us to examine our lives, to see where relationships are broken, with each other and with God. Done right, it can be painful.

This is a good thing, as we are called to share in the suffering of Christ. Repentance, or turning from our wrong actions, should not be taken lightly. When we repent, we are essentially killing a part of ourselves- a part of the sin that lives in us and grows like a weed or infection. Anyone who has ever had a garden knows weeds, unchecked will choke out the life of the plants you want to grow. Anyone who has had an infection (or seen Lonesome Dove) knows that infections unchecked can lead to painful consequences.

Sin, however, doesn't weaken the parts of our bodies- it hardens our heart. It makes us unreceptive to the gentle whisper of the Spirit. It makes us cold to the idea of holiness. It shuts down our desire for righteousness and creates a sort of fortress and prepares for siege. Sin makes our heart impenetrable by God or man.

Sin will lock out those closest to us, so we must break the hardened heart. But first, we must acknowledge that we are engaged in sin and want to be free. A lot of people I know, as well as myself, are good at acknowledging we sin. We feel it when we hear a message at church, we hear it in a song, or from a friend. We know we are screw ups. But for whatever reason, we just don't want to be free- at least, a part of us does. This is the infection.

Something must be put into the human body that will kill an infection- an antibody. Antibodies kill infections, but you must have the right one for the particular virus. That's why sin is so hard to get rid of, we try self-help, we try rationing, we try accountability-- these in themselves are not bad, but they are insufficient if done by ourselves. Our condition is so dire, we need not just the right antibody, we need the exact right person to administer.

Unless we go to Christ, genuinely and with a broken heart, we will not overcome. We may need to begin by asking God to break our hearts over a sin, or even to show us what our sins are. We cannot cure ourselves, only He can.

We don't believe than anything mystical happens when we take the bread and the juice. (Yes, we use juice, not wine. Largely, its because we meet in a bar, and there might be issues with us administering actual alcohol.) It is not that they are the vaccine for our sin- but they are a reminder of Him who is the cure, the rescue, that we so desperately need.

Chad