DESIGNED FOR CONFIDENCE (34 OF 52)
Scripture: Romans 8:26-39
This content is part of a series.
Designed for Confidence (34 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Romans 8:26-39
We often lack the confidence we should have. We project all sorts of problems, short-comings, failures, and obstacles in our path. So much of what we concern ourselves with had little to no bearing on our lives, or shouldn't, anyway. Because of our concerns, however, we fall far short of living life to its fullest. We trade the joy of salvation, the security of God's love, the provision of God's care for doubt, worry, and a loss of peace. Why is it so difficult for us to rest in the good news of God's great love? Why do we keep the confidence of that message from impacting our lives more fully?
Fear and guilt often plague our lives in ways we don't even recognize. Growing up within evangelical circles in Brazil, I found myself surrounded by concerns of legalistic interpretations of the Bible. Though many pastors were not teaching legalism, the larger conversation around us was steeped in legalistic interpretations that reduced the Bible and way of Jesus to a static list of rules and regulations. If one stepped out of line, guilt and fear of condemnation hung over one's life like a dark cloud.
I saw churches dis-fellowship members who went through divorce. I saw cases where members were dis-fellowshiped because their child had become divorced, all in a quest for the church to remain pure and avoid the threat of condemnation and guilt for harboring people who were less than perfect. I saw parishioners anguishing over creating rules and interpreting isolated verses with an eye to keeping their fear of guilt and condemnation at bay. I heard others struggling with avoiding any appearance of evil, not in order to do good and practice love, but out of fear and lack of confidence in God's love.
It is a basic misunderstanding of the gospel, stemming from long centuries of tradition presenting a wrathful, vengeful God looking for any excuse to condemn fallen h ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Romans 8:26-39
We often lack the confidence we should have. We project all sorts of problems, short-comings, failures, and obstacles in our path. So much of what we concern ourselves with had little to no bearing on our lives, or shouldn't, anyway. Because of our concerns, however, we fall far short of living life to its fullest. We trade the joy of salvation, the security of God's love, the provision of God's care for doubt, worry, and a loss of peace. Why is it so difficult for us to rest in the good news of God's great love? Why do we keep the confidence of that message from impacting our lives more fully?
Fear and guilt often plague our lives in ways we don't even recognize. Growing up within evangelical circles in Brazil, I found myself surrounded by concerns of legalistic interpretations of the Bible. Though many pastors were not teaching legalism, the larger conversation around us was steeped in legalistic interpretations that reduced the Bible and way of Jesus to a static list of rules and regulations. If one stepped out of line, guilt and fear of condemnation hung over one's life like a dark cloud.
I saw churches dis-fellowship members who went through divorce. I saw cases where members were dis-fellowshiped because their child had become divorced, all in a quest for the church to remain pure and avoid the threat of condemnation and guilt for harboring people who were less than perfect. I saw parishioners anguishing over creating rules and interpreting isolated verses with an eye to keeping their fear of guilt and condemnation at bay. I heard others struggling with avoiding any appearance of evil, not in order to do good and practice love, but out of fear and lack of confidence in God's love.
It is a basic misunderstanding of the gospel, stemming from long centuries of tradition presenting a wrathful, vengeful God looking for any excuse to condemn fallen h ...
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