Case in point: last night we were invited to attend a large meeting of NA, Narcotics Anonymous. It was called “Cake Night” where several people stood and told about being clean for certain periods of time. Some were still struggling, but many were able to conquer their addiction for more than a decade. All of them confessed how this was impossible in their own strength and most told how God helped them and how much they needed the support of others too. A few used ‘colorful’ language, but for the most part, it was an exciting evening of hearing people confess their weaknesses and failures and share how God brought them to a better place. Humility and honesty stood out.
We left that meeting feeling as we had been worshiping, and at the same time wondering why most church gatherings did not glorify God as much as this gathering of people who fight the specific sin of addiction to narcotics. What does it take to bring a sinner to the foot of the cross and to openly admit their selfishness, their stubborn nature, and their helplessness to the point of crying out for help? Don’t we all battle something?
MacArthur speaks of the false teaching that led Jim Jones and his cult followers to commit suicide. He rightly said that spiritual deception is a serious issue to God. The Greek word translated “reproof” in 2 Timothy 3:16 means “to rebuke or confront someone regarding misconduct or false teaching.”
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
MacArthur also says, “If you have a thorough grasp of Scripture, you have a standard by which to measure all teaching.” He focuses on being able to easily recognize false doctrine and avoiding spiritual deception, but what about being able to acknowledge truth? I wondered what the average Christian would think of an NA meeting where people openly admit their sin and openly confess that without God they would be dead. How did they know their ‘habit’ was evil? It was a rough looking crew. The man sitting in front of me had green hair and several nose rings. But the point was, they struggled with a specific sin and admitted it. They talked also of overcoming and beginning to “give back” by helping others conquer their sin. Isn’t that biblical?
False religions share one lie: that we can save ourselves and we do not need God. They may have a moral code, but a relationship with God is not there, only a pretense or a claim but without substance, only lots of “I did it” talk. That was absent at this meeting.
PRAY: Jesus, these men and women blessed my heart with their stories and with the strong sense of support they have for one another and their battle with sin. They celebrated their victories and openly wept and hugged one another. They also told of how their sin had ruined their lives and how God and the support of one another was rebuilding what had been lost. Their integrity was obvious, an attitude I’d like to see more of when Christians get together in Bible studies and prayer gatherings. Your truth is truth, in a church service or in a college classroom, or wherever You are changing lives.
PONDER: There is a big difference between what we witnessed last night and the people I know who belong to cults or liberal ‘Christian’ denominations. Those groups need prayer and truth too, so they can be released from the deception that being “religious” or trying harder is the truth that will set them free.
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