Humanity’s Rebellion Against God and With Each Other… AND the Comcomitant Battle with the Conscience
Stick Figure: “Argh, I refuse to worship God. He must be about me. Though I do not know I am doing this, I certainly am. I have treasured (made friends with) things of this world (like being appreciated by His creatures) more than Him. Given that I must worship something or someone…and I will not worship Him, I must worship myself AND things that give me pleasure.”
God: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4:4).
Stick Figure: “Why doesn’t God give me a wife that treasures me? Why does she not respect me…that is what I have told my entire life that I need. In fact, someone once used a Bible verse that actually says I must love her, not get respect from her, as proof positive that I need respect from her…and since I am about me I will go along with that text twisting to get want I want—a wife that treasures me.”
God: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jas 4:3).“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask” (Jas 4:2).
Stick Figure: “I guess I am at a cross-road. I can either repent of treasuring myself and instead worship God (and die to myself…I think I read that somewhere) and begin to love my wife more than I want her to love me…OR…I can dig my heels in and fight her to get her to treasure and worship me…Let’s see—it is either I repent OR I fight. If I repent then I will look like the bad guy an I still will not get what I want—namely myself on the throne. I choose to fight the bride of youth…to go to war with the one I am supposed to love in order to make her love me (never mind the illogic here sin is irrational you know).”
God: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” (Jas 4:1).
Stick Figure: “Great—now I am depressed. Not only is my wife not worshipping me, I feel miserable as well. I have this nagging feeling that I’m guilty about something. I wonder if I am guilty of not treasuring and worshiping God? Naw, that can’t be. I was told all guilt was false (whew…that was close. I almost repented. Thanks Freud…you saved me from repenting…and from finally being free of this guilt and being joyful). Yikes…nothing seems to assuage my conscience though. I know—I will indulge my body somehow (food, drink, sex, etc.). Those things make my body happy and ease my conscience for a day or two.”
God: “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (Jas 4:9-10; see also 7-8).