Symptoms vs. Disease

A couple of days ago, I was sitting at home thinking about AIDS.

I know how random that is, but think about it for a second. It's a crazy disease. You know why we haven't figured out how to cure it yet? It's because it mutates, the same reason we can't cure the common cold. These two diseases, with completely different outcomes, are invincible for the same reason. See, one minute, the virus looks one way, is shaped one way. The next, it's completely different. This keeps any of our drugs from working.

Once somebody is infected with AIDS, currently there isn't much we can do for them. We can provide them with antiretrovirals that slow it down, but we don't really have a cure. We can mask the symptoms, but we can't kill the disease. Eventually the virus catches up to everything we do to hide it, and the victim dies.

I've been thinking that sin is kind of the same way. Look at this parable that Jesus told:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 18:9-14

It seems to me that this man, the Pharisee, was a victim of sin-mutation. This Pharisee was a fallen man, which means he had in his heart the urge to live unjustly, just like Romans 8:7-8 says: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." This man also kept his nose in the law 24/7, and actually did a pretty good job keeping it by the sound of this parable. His problem was that his sin mutated. It changed from extortion, injustice, and adultery into pride, and pride is a dangerous thing. I think pride is probably the reason that we can't be justified by the law...those who follow the law can't possibly be sinless because they'll be proud they keep the law (or at least that they think they do). So what does it matter if you don't drink, don't steal, and don't sleep around if you're a proud person? Congratulations, you're moral but you commit the same sin that got Satan thrown out of Heaven: Pride. That's not really progress.

This Pharisee had things mixed up. He was treating the symptoms and not the disease. He failed to recognize that his actions stemmed from his condition. He didn't really understand what the word "righteous" meant. Being righteous, being justified, being holy...none of those come from what you do.

If you're an unbeliever and you seek to please God by living a certain way, you're wasting your time. All righteousness was and is lived through Jesus. Righteousness and Holiness are a Person, and Justification is given through that Person alone. That person is Jesus. By yourself, you have no power to live right. You have no power to change your nature. God is the only one who has the power to do that. If you try and weed the sin out of your life by any other means, you're on track to be drowning in pride. You're treating the symptoms, but not the disease. Eventually it will catch up to your patch job and it will kill you.

If you're a believer and you're concerned about the sin in your life that you keep coming back to, maybe you're trying to deal with it the wrong way. We all have our things that we struggle with. If you grit your teeth and fight tooth and nail against this sin that keeps yanking you back, you're going to lose. Attacking the sin in your life isn't really the way to deal with it, at least not directly. Let me ask you this question, and answer honestly to yourself: are there people in your life that you act differently around, for better or worse? Maybe a friend, maybe a youth pastor? We all do it, whether or not we want to admit it. If certain people are in the room, who we are shifts. We tend to take on the attributes, mannerisms, and tendencies of those around us.

Now, following that train of thought, does Jesus sin? No. Has He ever or will He ever sin? No. Does He love you and want good for you? Yes. So why not hang around Him?

The cure for the sin in your life isn't taking your computer away if you're a porn addict. It isn't pouring out your bottle collection if you're an alcoholic. The cure for your sin is Jesus. The more time you spend with Him, the more you'll look like Him and act like Him. Jesus said "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Mark 2:17). I don't necessarily know all of the underlying problems in your life, all of the ins and outs of who you are. Jesus does. For some people, certain things may be necessary. For others, not so much. Let Jesus do those things through you, because He knows you better than you do anyway.

Stop trying to treat the symptoms, and let the Physician heal the disease.